Meet the 2026 A View from All Sides Award Recipients

Meet the 2026 A View from All Sides Award Recipients Strengthening Families Across Massachusetts

The Children’s Trust recognized five individuals and organizations for their leadership, collaboration, and commitment to supporting children and families at its October 21 conference.

What does it take to make family support stronger across Massachusetts? Changing systems to better support families is not a simple answer or just one action; it requires sustained change over time. That’s the message we talked about at our annual training conference, A View from All Sides. and to show that work in action, we recognized the individuals and organizations that are already doing it. It looks like creating more opportunities for fathers to connect with their children, building safer environments for young people, strengthening the skills of family support professionals, and making sure parents have a welcoming place to turn.

These are just some of the ways this year’s Children’s Trust award recipients are strengthening support for families. Each honoree brings a different perspective and approach to their work, but together, they reflect the relationships, partnerships, and dedication that make family support and child abuse prevention possible across the Commonwealth.

Emerging Leader Award: Shawn Elijah Proctor Sr.

For more than a decade, Shawn Elijah Proctor Sr. has worked to create more opportunities for fathers to connect with their children, one another, and the family support resources available in their community.

As Program Manager in the Community Engagement & Family Support Division of the City of Cambridge’s Department of Human Service Programs, Proctor oversees initiatives including Baby University, Cambridge Dads, the Center for Families, and Case Management.

His commitment to father engagement began during his time as a Father Engagement Specialist with Baby University. Through targeted outreach, workshops, and individualized support, he helped double father participation in his final three Baby University core sessions.

He has continued to build on that work through Cambridge Dads, peer-to-peer groups, and father-focused programming that encourages connection and participation.

The Children’s Trust Emerging Leader Award recognizes professionals who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to family support and the potential to make significant contributions to the field. By creating more opportunities for fathers to participate, Proctor has helped ensure that dads are not only invited into family support programs but have meaningful ways to connect, contribute, and build relationships with other parents.

Community Partnership Award: MSPCC/MassAIMH Partnership

That commitment is at the heart of the partnership between the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) and the Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health (MassAIMH).

Since 2019, the organizations have worked together to implement the MassAIMH Endorsement®, a professional credential recognizing specialized expertise among those who work with infants, young children, and their families.

Together with the Children’s Trust, the organizations have helped make Massachusetts the first state to systematically implement the endorsement within the Healthy Families America home-visiting system.

Through this partnership, home visitors have opportunities to deepen their expertise and strengthen the relationship-focused practices that guide their work with parents and caregivers during children’s earliest years.

The Community Partnership Award recognizes organizations whose collaboration advances the Children’s Trust’s mission. MSPCC and MassAIMH demonstrate how shared expertise and investment in the family support workforce can strengthen the quality of services available to families throughout Massachusetts.

Community Visionary Award: Medford Family Network

For three decades, the Medford Family Network has helped families find something essential during the early years of parenting: a place to connect, learn, and feel part of a community.

Founded in 1996, the Medford Family Network is a free family support and parenting education program within Medford Public Schools. It serves families who live or work in Medford and have children from the prenatal period through age eight.

Through playgroups, parenting education, developmental screenings, referrals, and community activities, the organization brings families together while connecting them with resources and opportunities to support their children’s development.

Its motto, “A friend to know and a place to grow,” reflects the welcoming environment that has made the network a familiar resource for generations of Medford families.

This year’s recognition was especially meaningful as the organization celebrated the retirement of its founder, Marie Cassidy, whose leadership helped establish the network and its longstanding commitment to community connection.

The Community Visionary Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose leadership improves services and strengthens their communities. Medford Family Network’s work shows what can grow from a simple but powerful idea: when families have opportunities to build relationships, share experiences, and support one another, the entire community benefits.

Frances J. Litman Leadership Award: Dr. Anthony Peter Rizzuto

Preventing child sexual abuse requires more than responding when harm occurs. It means helping organizations establish the policies, practices, and knowledge needed to create safer environments for children from the start.

For nearly 25 years, Dr. Anthony Peter Rizzuto has worked alongside the Children’s Trust to advance that approach to prevention.

As the founder of Abuse Prevention Solutions, LLC, Rizzuto has dedicated his career to helping organizations develop and implement child sexual abuse prevention strategies, policies, and training.

His collaboration with the Children’s Trust began in 2002, when he sought its support while serving as the first Director of the Office of Child Advocacy, Implementation and Oversight for the Archdiocese of Boston. That work helped establish comprehensive child safety policies, screening practices, training, and prevention education.

Rizzuto later served as a senior consultant to the Massachusetts Legislative Task Force on the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse, co-chaired by the Children’s Trust and the Massachusetts Child Advocate. He helped develop statewide guidance for youth-serving organizations and contributed to the creation of Safe Kids Thrive, the Children’s Trust’s free resource for developing and implementing child sexual abuse prevention plans.

His expertise has also helped inform prevention efforts in schools, universities, and youth-serving organizations internationally.

The Frances J. Litman Leadership Award honors professionals whose decades of leadership have made significant contributions to families across Massachusetts. Rizzuto’s work reflects the importance of turning research and expertise into practical tools that organizations can use to make child safety an ongoing responsibility, rather than a response to a crisis.

Unsung Hero Award: Community Teamwork Home Visiting Program

Some of the most meaningful family support work happens away from the public eye, through the relationships built during regular visits to families’ homes.

Across the Greater Lowell area, the Community Teamwork Home Visiting Program provides free, weekly home visits to expectant parents and families with children from birth through age five.

As part of Community Teamwork’s Early Head Start and Head Start services, home visitors work alongside parents and caregivers to support children’s development, strengthen parent-child relationships, and help families work toward their goals.

Their support is shaped by each family’s strengths, experiences, and priorities. During visits, staff help parents incorporate learning into everyday routines, recognize their children’s developmental progress, and connect with resources that support their family’s well-being.

That might mean helping a family access housing or health care resources, supporting a parent as they work toward an educational goal, or simply being a consistent source of encouragement during a challenging time.

Our Unsung Hero Award recognizes individuals and organizations whose dedication and behind-the-scenes efforts make a meaningful difference for families. For Community Teamwork’s home visiting staff, that commitment is reflected in the trust they build, the relationships they sustain, and the steady support they provide, often without public recognition.

Celebrating the People and Partnerships Behind Prevention

This year’s honorees share an understanding that supporting families requires more than any one program or organization. It takes professionals who listen to parents, partnerships that bring resources and expertise together, and communities committed to creating opportunities for families to connect and grow.

Their work also reflects the many ways prevention happens: through stronger parent-child relationships, welcoming community spaces, a well-supported workforce, and organizations equipped to keep children safe.

At A View from All Sides on October 21, the Children’s Trust celebrated these five honorees and their contributions, offering a reminder of what becomes possible when families, professionals, and organizations work together to support children and strengthen communities.