Our Team

Jetta Bernier ~ Executive Director

The Board is pleased to introduce you to Jetta Bernier, who serves as Executive Director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children or “MassKids,” the nation’s oldest private, statewide child advocacy organization established in 1959. Since 1986, it has served as State Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America.

Jetta directs the Enough Abuse Campaign, a citizen education and mobilization effort to prevent child sexual abuse in schools, youth-serving organizations and communities. Launched through a 5-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2002 to 2007), and supported by the Ms. Foundation for Women (2007 – 2014), the Campaign has now been adopted in Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Maine, South Dakota, and several California counties.

She is developer of “Enough! Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in My School”, a one-hour, evidence-informed e-learning course for school personnel, and “Pledge to Prevent ™” a social media campaign aimed at educating, empowering and engaging citizens to take specific actions to prevent child sexual abuse from ever occurring.  Jetta co-chairs the Policy Committee of the National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and served on the 11-member National Independent Schools Task Force on Educator Sexual Misconduct which in February 2018 released recommendations for the country’s 1,5000 independent private schools.  She was Co-Chair of the Coalition to Reform Sex Abuse Laws, a grassroots coalition that succeeded, in 2006 and 2014 respectively, in reforming Massachusetts’ criminal and civil statute of limitations in cases of child sexual abuse.  Click here to read more>>>

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Lindsay Hawthorne ~ Communications Coordinator

Lindsay Hawthorne has served as the Communications Coordinator at MassKids for two years, and she enjoys furthering its communications and prevention efforts. She promotes the prevention curricula and resources that MassKids and its Enough Abuse Campaign provide, including the two Enough! e-learning courses for schools and youth serving organizations, the It's Not Just Jenna video and discussion guide, and much more. Lindsay grows the reach of MassKids and Enough Abuse through e-newsletters and social media, as well as strategic outreach. 

Lindsay has an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University and a B.A. in International Relations with a minor in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies from Boston University. Prior to coming to MassKids, Lindsay worked at Northeastern University’s School Health Academy, coordinating professional development programs for school nurses. Lindsay has also served as a Communications Consultant, Intern, and Volunteer for several social justice-oriented organizations, including the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization, SurvJustice, Oak Foundation, The Huntington Theatre Company, and the MA Governor’s Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.  

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OUR TRAINERS

Beverly Costa-Ciavola ~ Certified Master Trainer

 For over a decade Beverly has been a leader in training citizens and a broad range of child and family serving professionals about child sexual abuse and its prevention. She has conducted “Training of Trainers” session to equip other vetted community volunteers to deliver the Enough Abuse Campaign’s research-based curricula series including: Strategies for your Family and Community, Strategies for your School, Strategies for your Youth Organization, Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behaviors of Children, and the “It’s Not Just Jenna” video and facilitated discussion.

Additionally, Beverly is a certified trainer for three developmentally targeted trainings for children and youth including:

• Care for Kids©, an early childhood sexual abuse prevention curriculum for children from Pre-K through 2^nd Grade that teaches communication skills, nurturing skills, and an understanding of healthy boundaries.
• We Care Elementary©, a sexual abuse prevention curriculum for children in Grades 3 through 6 that includes six lessons at each grade level on a variety of topics related to building healthy relationships.
• SAFE-T (Sexual Abuse Free Environment for Teens©,) a positive and trauma-informed health education program for youth in 7^th and 8^th Grades, designed to decrease the likelihood of youth being sexually abused and/or sexually abusing others.  

Tommy Morris ~ Certified Enough Abuse Trainer

Tommy has been a Certified Trainer for Enough Abuse since 2013, providing highly evaluated trainings on child sexual abuse prevention for school and youth serving organization personnel.

He brings over a decade of experience on the front lines bringing public school and community-based programming to underprivileged urban minority youth across central Massachusetts and the Merrimack Valley areas. He has worked tirelessly to help victims of sexual abuse, violence, and neglect receive the care and attention they need.

Tommy’s engaging training style, his expertise in community-based programming and his marketing and advertising skills honed with Comcast New England, makes Tommy a sought out member of our training team.  

Tommy received his Masters degree in special education from Lesley University and his undergraduate degree in communications from the University of New Hampshire.

Mary Wyszynski, MS, RNC, NNP ~ Nurse Educator on Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby

Syndrome Prevention

Mary is co-developer of the MassKids’ in-hospital training program for Maternity Nurses and Nurse Educators whose goals are to prevent infant deaths and disabilities from Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby Syndrome – the leading cause of non-accidental injury and deaths in children under 3.

An experienced Nurse Educator, Mary has conducted hundreds of trainings on Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention for a variety of audiences, including medical professionals, child care agencies, undergraduate and graduate students, and social service agencies.

Mary’s extensive background includes a Masters Degree in Science from Northeastern University, with a concentration in critical care neonatal nursing, as well as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Certificate from All Children’s Hospital in Florida. In addition to serving as lecturer, Mary has published AHT/SBS and family violence prevention articles in national peer reviewed journals. She is staff nurse at Newton Wellesley Hospital and has over 25 years of experience caring for critically ill newborns.

Rachel Kurlandsky ~ Intern

Rachel is currently a senior at Newton North High School and interested in the fields of government and economics.  Since moving to Massachusetts in 2019, she has worked on two political campaigns and is the chairperson of a high school political club. She counts the protection of children and advocacy on their behalf as two fields in which she wants to be most involved. She is excited to be working as an intern with MassKids and the “Enough Abuse” Campaign, assisting with drafting social media posts and promoting programs including the Pledge to Prevent and the Enough! Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in My School online course. 

OUR M.I.T. BOARD FELLOWS

Ruchie Bhardwaj ~ Board Fellow, MIT Sloan School of Management             

Ruchie is an MBA Student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to coming to Sloan, she worked in the healthcare technology industry and holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering. She has spent many years volunteering with various organizations committed to expanding STEM Education to students in low-income communities. She is excited to bring this hands-on community service experience, as well as her business acumen to MassKids by serving as a Board Fellow. 

Emma Kaye ~  Board Fellow, MIT Sloan School of Management

Emma is currently studying for her MBA at the Sloan School and her interests focus on  large-scale transformation of organizations. Throughout her life, Emma has volunteered with programs aimed at improving the lives of children, including Junior Achievement of NY and 826michigan.  She brings her business background and her passion for child advocacy to the MassKids team by serving as a Board Fellow.