RICARDO O. NEAL, PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER

Mr. Neal is a seasoned executive with 15 years of experience in social services, public health, and public policy. Recently, Mr. Neal completed a successful tenure as Executive Director at Boston’s historic Freedom House. Prior to his tenure at Freedom House, he was the Director of Program Planning and Development for Caribbean U-turn, Inc., a youth program in Boston. After graduate school, Mr. Neal worked for the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) where he managed portions of federal Ryan White Care Act funding for the provision of a broad spectrum of HIV/AIDS care treatment delivery. While at BPHC he managed the Congressional Black Caucus Minority AIDS Initiative aimed at identifying and bringing more people of color into the healthcare system. He also served four years as president of Boston’s leading social change foundation, Haymarket People’s Fund, helping the foundation to restructure during its organizational change process. Additionally, Mr. Neal was the President-elect of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, working to advance the rights of immigrant populations.

Mr. Neal is a leading advocate for progressive education reform. On the school district level, Mr. Neal served on the steering and executive committees of the Boston Campaign for Proficiency, an initiative aimed at closing the achievement gap through the effective use of academic data and coordinated involvement among the Boston Public School district, community-based organizations, parents and students. Moreover, he represented community interests through Community Partners for a New Superintendent; was the founding chair of the Multi-cultural Outreach Drop-out Collaborative; and served on the High School Renewal Working Group for Boston Public Schools. Working on a national scale, Mr. Neal served on the Multiple Pathways to Graduation Workgroup, consisting of school districts and organizations from Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Portland, working to develop educational strategies for local and national options for off-track and struggling youth. Furthermore, he was a founding board member of the Heart of Boston Scholarship Foundation, an organization that worked with high-risk middle school youth, and provided scholarships to students unable to finish their college education. Additionally, Mr. Neal lectured at Northeastern University, and is a member of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Political Science Advisory Board.

Mr. Neal graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and later earned a Master of Social Work from Boston University. He is a native Jamaican, immigrating to the United States with his family in 1984. Mr. Neal has been recognized numerous times for his professional accomplishments, and was the recipient of Boston University School of Social Work 2005 Hubie Jones Service Alumni Award and the University of Massachusetts Amherst 2008 Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

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