Community Action Council Welcomes New COO and Development Director Rosa Talero

GLCAC

LAWRENCE – Executive Director Evelyn Friedman has appointed Rosa Talero as Chief Operating Officer and Tracey Chalifour as the new Director of Development and Planning for the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council Inc. The two new members of senior management add a combined three decades of professional experience in operations and fundraising for non-profit organizations.

Filling a newly created position, Talero is responsible for overseeing all internal operations of the $34 million social services agency with about 300 employees in 18 programs. Chalifour is replacing Maureen Mulcahy who is retiring after more than 45 years with the agency. Chalifour will concentrate on private fundraising, grant applications and strategic planning. 

“The experience and skills that Rosa and Tracey bring to GLCAC will help us to improve our service delivery and expand our reach as we strive to help families achieve self-sufficiency. Improving our internal operations while seeking private funding sources are two priorities I have for this agency,” said Friedman, who assumed leadership of GLCAC in September 2012.

 Talero brings more than two decades of experience in community, economic and housing development, and specifically 11 years of first-hand, non-profit management experience. She most recently served as Director of Operations for the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, where she oversaw internal operations including human resources, technology initiatives, policies and procedures, budget planning and internal communications. In addition, she managed the department’s real estate portfolio.

Prior to that, Talero worked for the City of Miami’s Department of Community Development. A native Spanish-speaker, Talero holds a master’s in business administration from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano.

Chalifour joins the agency with a successful track record of grant writing, fundraising, special event planning, and marketing and communications for non-profit organizations in the economic development and health care sectors.

She joins GLCAC from Winchester Hospital where she served as the Stewardship and Communications Liaison, a multi-faceted role that included writing grant proposals, maintaining existing donor relationships, planning events, and development of communication collateral and annual reports.

Prior to that she worked as Special Events Manager for Partners HealthCare’s North Shore Medical Center, where she directed an annual fundraising event that topped $5 million over five years. Previously, she served as Membership and Marketing Manager for the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, where her duties included production of the annual visitor guide with distribution of 100,000 copies. 

A certified project management professional, Chalifour holds two bachelor’s degrees from UMass-Amherst, in business administration and in hospitality administration.

GLCAC encourages and promotes the improvement of community life in Greater Lawrence with special emphasis on programs in education, social services, child care, health, housing, youth employment and related fields. GLCAC last year served 29,000 individuals in Greater Lawrence. Since its inception in 1965, the GLCAC has been a consistent partner in working with local, state and federal governments and private agencies in creating opportunities and providing hope for people living in poverty.