by Rebecca Smith '99
Theresa Lynn '87 has been working in the nonprofit field since graduating from Holy Cross. Currently the executive director of ReadBoston, a nonprofit children's literacy program, Lynn attributes her career path to her involvement in the College's SPUD (Student Programs for Urban Development) program.
"At Holy Cross, I taught religious education and volunteered at Abby's House women's shelter," explains Lynn. "I don't think I would have even thought of doing this kind of work today had I not had such positive exposure to nonprofit organizations in college."
Founded by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino in 1995, ReadBoston is a citywide leader in the field of early literacy. With a mission to have students reading at grade level by the end of third grade, ReadBoston does a lot of work with the public schools, after-school communities and other nonprofits. Lynn 's responsibilities in the organization include fund raising, strategic planning, developing new initiatives and strengthening collaborations with community partners. She recognizes that the knowledge she gained as an economics and religious studies double major at Holy Cross enables her to succeed in her professional life.
Although most of her work is with the mayor, Lynn is overseen by fellow alumnus Mark Maloney '72, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. And the Holy Cross connections don't end there— Lynn also works with Erin Smith '04, formerly a Holy Cross summer intern at ReadBoston who did such an impressive job that she was hired by Lynn to a full-time position. In her role as development and community relations manager, Smith directs the Storymobile program, a summer initiative that promotes reading among the city's at-risk youth.
Last summer, with the assistance of two Holy Cross interns, Rachel LaPal '06 and Gregory Salvucci '06, Smith coordinated and oversaw 82 Storymobile visits, complete with readings by professional storytellers and the donation of 10,000 books for children.
This Holy Cross trio staffed Storymobile sites daily and helped organize over 28,000 books, ensuring that the subject matter and quantity of books were appropriate for each visit's demographic. Lynn expresses her sincere gratitude to the College's Summer Internship Program (SIP) and the Holy Cross Club of Boston—which pays most of the interns' salaries—for making their participation in this program possible.
"As a nonprofit, the SIP has helped us tremendously—we'd never be able to afford such qualified help without it," she explains. "In fact, we look forward to hiring Holy Cross students every summer!"
Lynn stresses the significance of the work that the Holy Cross team members perform as well as their deep commitment to the communities they serve.
"Putting reading and literacy in the middle of a summer day for kids in a fun way is so important for their education and the development of their love of reading," she says. "And we simply wouldn't be able to run the Storymobile program without Erin, Rachel and Greg. "
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