Cynthia K. Orellana, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Staff
Cynthia K. Orellana, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cynthia K. Orellana, Ph.D. is the President and CEO of Mass Mentoring Partnership, a statewide nonprofit organization committed to ensuring every young person in MA has access to high-quality mentoring relationships. With nearly 20 years of experience in community organizing and advocacy, civic engagement and social policy, cross-organizational partnerships, educational access and justice, and the development of startup programs and initiatives. Her professional trajectory is reflective of her passion and commitment for inclusive and collaborative practices, racial equity and epistemic justice, bridging the opportunity divide, and driving systems change.
Most recently, Dr. Orellana served as the Director of the Office of Community Partnerships at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she led university-community engagement strategies and strengthened reciprocal community partnerships that advanced the university’s mission as Boston’s public research university. Previous roles also include serving as the Assistant Commissioner for Access and Success Strategies at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education where she led strategic policy initiatives and oversaw over $3.5 million in federal and state funded grant programs to increase college readiness and participation of the Commonwealth’s students, particularly first-generation to college, low-income and under-represented students. Dr. Orellana also served as Director of the Commonwealth Corps in the Office of Governor Deval Patrick, one of the Governor’s cornerstone civic engagement initiatives, and promoted civic engagement through grassroots governance projects that touched upon an array of issues including immigration, income tax credits, public budgeting processes, and young adults.
Dr. Orellana has a history of service on boards and national and local advisory groups, including as a Founding Board Member of Chica Project focused on empowering young Women and Girls of Color with the skills, confidence, network, and mentoring relationships to succeed. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for Community Catalyst, a national organization which seeks to build the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice, and the Board of Trustees of Bunker Hill Community College.
She has been recognized for her work and leadership by The Dinner Group in 2025 as a Trailblazer Award recipient, Amplify Latinx in 2024 as an ALX 100 most influential Latinx leader in MA, the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus with a Latino Excellence Award in 2023, the Commonwealth Seminar’s Civic Engagement Amplifier Award in 2021, Campus Compact’s Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award in 2020, Get Konnected’s 25 Influential Millennial Leaders of Color and Amplify Latinx’s list of 30 Amplifiers for the Latino community in Massachusetts in 2018; and among 100 most influential people in Massachusetts to the Latino community in El Planeta Newspaper’s 2017 Powermeter list.
Dr. Orellana is a native and life-long resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts and the youngest of four children. She is the first generation born in the United States, the daughter of Salvadoran immigrants and first in her family to attend college. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education leadership from University of Massachusetts Boston, an MA in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University, and a BS in political science from Northeastern University.
Phillip Page
Vice President, Program Strategy & Impact
Mass Mentoring Partnership (MMP) is proud to announce the appointment of Phillip Page as Vice President of Program Strategy & Impact, effective November 2025. In this role, Phillip will lead MMP’s training and instructional design division, advancing the organization’s mission to build a statewide mentoring movement that supports youth and youth development across the
Commonwealth.
Phillip brings over two decades of leadership experience across higher education, nonprofit management, and urban design. Before joining MMP, he served as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Cambridge College for 13 years and, following its 2024 acquisition, for Bay Path University. During this time, he launched several high-impact initiatives, including the
Greater Boston Gaming Career Institute with Encore Boston Harbor and the college’s first allied health training program for EMTs, initiatives that strengthened enrollment, fundraising, and institutional performance.
Earlier in his career, Phillip held leadership roles at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies and The Partnership, Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit advancing professionals of color into leadership. He began his professional journey as a registered architect and urban designer, serving clients nationwide for more than 15 years.
Phillip serves on the Board of Directors of WordPowered (formerly WriteBoston) and holds a Master’s in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University.
Greg Smith
Director of Operations
Greg Smith joined MMP in 2015. As the Director of Operations, he provides oversight of financial processing and reporting and leads MMP’s administrative functions including human resources, IT and office management. Prior to joining MMP, he was a program manager at a cross-cultural consulting firm. Originally from Delaware, Greg attended high school in Switzerland and received his BA in Economics from The University of Vermont.
Email: gsmith@massmentors.org
Dishon Laing
Director of Training and Capacity Building
Dishon Laing is a public health and youth development leader with over 15 years of experience advancing systems-level change, organizational capacity, and workforce development. He currently serves as the Director of Training and Capacity Building at Mass Mentoring Partnerships, where he partners with organizations to strengthen leadership practices, build staff capacity, and drive sustainable impact for youth and communities.
Across his career, Dishon has designed and led large-scale initiatives that support effective youth engagement, professional learning, and cross-sector collaboration. His expertise includes developing practical tools and training strategies, facilitating learning for diverse audiences, and supporting organizations in implementing equitable, strengths-based approaches. Dishon also comes with experience delivering comprehensive health education and direct youth support, grounding his leadership in deep, on-the-ground experience.
Dishon brings a collaborative, results-driven approach to consulting and leadership, with a continued commitment to helping organizations and communities thrive.
Emily DeLuca
Operations Associate
Emily joined Mass Mentoring Partnership in July of 2025 as the Operations Associate. Prior to starting at MMP Emily spent most of her professional career working in Cognitive Neuroscience research at Brown University and Massachusetts General Hospital. She holds a BA in Health Science and Psychology from Northeastern University, and a MSc in Performance Psychology from the University of Edinburgh.
Email: edeluca@massmentors.org
Lauren McCabe
Manager of Training and Capacity Building
Lauren joined MMP in August 2022. In her role as Manager of Training and Capacity Building, she trains and supports youth-serving programs implementing high quality mentoring programs across the state. Lauren comes to MMP from Boston After School & Beyond, where she led the Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative with Boston Public Schools. Lauren grew up in New Hampshire and holds an Interdisciplinary Degree from Stonehill College. After graduating, she completed an AmeriCorps term with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest in Aberdeen, WA, and completed a second year of service in Brockton, MA with the Stonehill College Service Corps. Over the years, she has worked with young people, consulted with programs to integrate SEL, facilitated retreats, led book clubs, and shared her efforts to live sustainably. Lauren values community, solidarity, simple living, and joy.
Email: lmccabe@massmentors.org
Noel Rubio
Foundation Manager
Noel Martin Rubio (he/him) is the Foundation Manager at Mass Mentoring Partnership, where he engages with advancement, operations, and program team colleagues to co-lead institutional fundraising aimed at strengthening the mentoring and youth development ecosystem across Massachusetts. A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Noel has raised over $15 million for nonprofits in the disability rights, immigrant education, youth development, arts and culture, health equity, and global economic development spaces.
Before joining MMP, Noel founded Future Tense Strategies, a consulting firm that specializes in fundraising and narrative strategy for grassroots, justice-motivated organizations across the Northeast, and he served in advancement leadership roles at the Multicultural Arts Center, Disability Policy Consortium, Friends of the Waltham Family School, Community Art Center, and Veterans Legal Services. Earlier in his career, he coordinated a $40 million portfolio of international development programs with PYXERA Global in Washington, DC. Noel’s recent thought leadership has been published in Blue Avocado and the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and his writing explores how fundraising can be leveraged as a transformative driver of systemic change and community power-building. He is an alumnus of the University of Chicago’s undergraduate public policy studies program and earned a graduate-level certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Economics in Data, Economics, and the Design of Policy (International Development track) in August 2025.
Email: nrubio@massmentors.org
Hannah St. Laurent
Marketing Manager
Hannah St. Laurent joined Mass Mentoring Partnership in October 2023 as Marketing Manager. She is a passionate storyteller, and hopes to be able to amplify the mission of MMP through the implementation of an intentional, impactful marketing strategy. She joins the team equipped with over 15 years of client-facing role experience, which also includes communications and development experience in the non-profit sector. She is a Board Member for an MA-based Therapeutic Riding Center, BINA Farm Center (where she was a former employee).
Email: hstlaurent@massmentors.org
Olivia Taylor
Advancement Operations Manager
Olivia Taylor joined Mass Mentoring Partnership in November 2019 as the Administrative Assistant and was promoted to Operations Associate in 2020. Olivia joined MMP’s Development Team as the Development and Events Coordinator in August 2021. As of October 2022, Olivia now holds the title of Advancement Operations Manager. Prior to coming to Mass Mentoring Partnership, she held the position of Social Innovation Lead with retailer Warby Parker. Olivia enjoys giving back and was a mentor and executive board member in Strong Women Strong Girls at the college chapter level while at UMass Boston. She also worked as the volunteer fundraising manager for Ruff Tales Rescue, where she also crafted monthly newsletters as a volunteer. She holds a Communication and Public Policy degree from UMass Boston, and earned a Grant Writing Certificate from the UMass Boston CAPS program. Olivia is a native of Franklin, MA and a Young Philanthropist Fellow with The Philanthropy Connection, acting as a grantee liaison.
Email: otaylor@massmentors.org