Thank you to everyone who came together to make our A View from All Sides conference such an amazing event. More than 625 individuals joined us in person or online and both days were filled with engaging and thought-provoking presentations, meaningful connections, and a renewed energy that will power our work forward.  

Congratulations to this year's Award Recipients!

Frances Litman Leadership Award: 

Maria Mossaides

“Her accomplishments are many and reflect her intelligence and deep caring for the well-being of others,” said Jennifer Valenzuela, Children’s Trust Executive Director, when giving Ms. Mossaides the Frances Litman Leadership Award. 

Ms. Mossaides contributions include being appointed as the Child Advocate for the Commonwealth in 2015, leading an independent state agency that oversees children’s services. For almost forty years, as attorney and administrator, Ms. Mossaides has held a wide range of positions in both the public and independent sectors including senior positions at the Office for Children, the Department of Social Services, the Office of the State Comptroller, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. She most recently served as the Executive Director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service, now Bridges Homeward. Ms. Mossaides has served as the chair of the Children’s League of Massachusetts and the Public Law Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association. To honor her commitment to public service she was recognized as a Top Woman in Law in 2010 and received the Steadfast Award from the Frances Perkins Center in 2019.   

Ms. Mossaides is an adjunct professor in the Public Management Program at Suffolk University. She holds an Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Juris Doctorate from SUNY at Buffalo Law School, and a bachelor's cum laude from Mount Holyoke College 

About the Frances Litman Award: The Frances Litman Award recognizes an individual who has been in family support and parent education for at least 20 years. The awardee exemplifies the qualities of a strong leader and has made a significant contribution to families across the state. The Frances Litman awardee is thoughtful, hands-on, and has made an impact beyond their job responsibilities and their organization’s mission. The awardee demonstrates their commitment to families and children and guides, directs, and inspires others.

Community Partnership Award: Square One

Since 1883, Square One has been offering a range of family-friendly education and support services that are unique to each child and every family served. Square One’s focus is on providing opportunities for children and families to build a foundation for long-term success in life: academically, socially, physically, and emotionally. No matter what challenges our families encounter, Square One stands ready to support them on their journey to success.  

Programs include early education and care, where we serve 500 infants, toddlers and preschoolers each day; and family support services that impact over 1,500 families each year.   

In her presentation of the award Marissa Daley, Children’s Trust Associate Director of Home Visiting shared, 

“Square One and the Children’s Trust are also now working together on a family financial pilot project. Square One’s amazing recruitment into this pilot was so successful that 130 families were enrolled months before the expected target date.” 

About the Community Partnership Award: The Community Partnership Award recognizes an organization that has demonstrated a commitment to the mission of the Children’s Trust. The Community Partnership awardee has developed strong and long-lasting relationships, understands our shared responsibility to support families and children, and has directly impacted the goals of the Children’s Trust.

Community Visionary Award: Man Y(Yoyo) Yau

Yoyo Yau, MA, LMHC, is the Executive Director of Bridges Homeward and adjunct professor at Lesley University. Prior to this role, she was the Chief Program Officer at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center. Yoyo is a licensed mental health counselor with a background in early intervention, mental health counseling, and brain injury recovery. She has worked with non-profits, hospital settings, and state agencies to provide assessment, therapy, treatment, and crisis intervention.  

Yoyo was also trained as a facilitator by Cordoba Group International LLC in 2012 and conducted a series of Boston Public School student assignment community meetings. In 2013, she was selected in the Boston-Haifa Exchange Learning Program which she had firsthand experienced the dimensions of social justice and leadership in America and Israel. Yoyo graduated from the Emerging Leaders’ program of Leadership Education for Asian Pacific, Inc in 2016. She was selected as a member of Anna Faith Jones & Frieda Garcia Women of Color Leadership in 2020.   

Most recently, she was appointed by the Massachusetts governor as a subcommittee member of the Gaming Policy Advisory Committee (GPAC) on Addiction Services in 2021. She is also a member steering committee member of Tisch College Community Research Center at Tufts University since 2022. In 2023, Yoyo graduated from the Nellie Mae Foundation Leadership Development Program and received the EXTRAordinatory Woman’s award from the City of Boston.  

“Her visionary leadership and tireless dedication to supporting families in Massachusetts are an inspiration to us all, and she deserves the highest recognition for her outstanding work,” said Sarita Rogers, Chief Program Officer at the Children’s Trust as she presented Yoyo the award.  

About the Community Visionary Award: This Award recognizes the outstanding work of individuals and organizations that improve the quality of services in their communities through their passion, hard work, leadership, and dedication to helping families and children. A Community Visionary improves and promotes the well-being of their community members by advocating for and implementing services to improve the lives of all families and children.

Emerging Leader Award: Rachelle Hannoush

Rachelle Hannoush is the Early Education Director at Jump Start Preschool, a certified leader trainer through the Children’s Trust, and Positive Solutions for Families, and a behavioral consultant through the Fitzgerald Institution. Rachelle is an educator, a leader, and a community partner to several local towns, and her passion is helping and supporting children, families, and educators daily. 

“Rachelle’s compassion and drive to build better communities for families is exemplified by how she engages with community partners and draws them into partnerships with one another, all in service of strong staff and families,” said Delbar Mamedzade, Parent Content and Prevention Specialist at The Children’s Trust, who presented Hannoush with the award. 

Rachelle started her journey as an assistant in early childhood education and built her way up into leading her own early childhood program and structuring it to meet her vision of a program that has strong family and community engagement, and a good workforce–a program that serves the individual child and inspires everyone that enters its doors. The road to get to where Rachelle’s program is today was hard and included many trials and errors, trainings, and experience and will always be evolving. As a leader in early childhood education and as a parent, parent education has a significant value to Rachelle. 

As early childhood educators and community partners, Rachelle believes we owe it our community to serve, educate, train and support families as the world keeps evolving. That is what started her journey as a trainer, as it truly fills her heart to make a difference one parent and one educator at a time. 

Rachelle is trained in many areas of early childhood development, including pyramid model coaching, PTRYC (Prevent Teach Reinforce), ASQ screenings, positive parenting, child sexual abuse prevention, Keeping Kids safe, Culture in Parenting, and the list goes on. Rachelle has also created her own training curricula that she uses with her families and with educators.

About the Emerging Leader Award: This award recognizes an individual who has worked in parenting education or family support for at least five years. An Emerging Leader excels in their role, goes above and beyond their work responsibilities, and has the potential to make a significant impact in the lives of children and families in the future.