2025 – 2026 Board Members
Barbara Black, Co-Chair (she/her)
Barbara is a retired Early Childhood educator. Her adult life has been spent as a teacher and administrator in community-based and Public School Early Childhood programs. She is passionate about supporting and advocating for young children and their families. She has also mentored many in the local early childhood community and sometimes describes her role as that of a matchmaker of the non-romantic sort – helping children and families find the services they need and grown-ups find their way into Early Childhood and family support careers.
Jen Godlesky (she/her)
Jen is the Director of the Smith College Center for Early Childhood Education at Fort Hill. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke and a master’s in education from Smith College. She is certified at the Director II level through EEC, and licensed to teach both Pre-K–2 and 1–6 through DESE. Jen joined the Fort Hill teaching staff in August 2002, and has been a Supervising Teacher across all age groups, from infancy through preschool.
Desiree Lalbeharlie-Josias, Ed.D. (she/her)
Desiree is mother to three young adult children and she is from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She is an Amherst resident and works as the Director of the Early Childhood Department at the Collaborative for Educational Services. Desiree’s passions include family, friends, food, promoting equity, and long walks. Her career includes working with young children, with varying abilities and needs, and their families; early intervention clinical and management roles; college level teaching; designing professional development for early educators; and facilitating community partnerships. Her career has been dedicated to the field of early childhood development and education in the context of family, social justice, and public health issues.
Devon Boulay
Karen Korpinen, Treasurer (she/her)
Karen is an Accounting and Audit Senior Associate at Meyers Brothers Kalicka PC in Holyoke, MA. She has an MBA from Clark University, an MSA from Merrimack College, and has worked in various administrative roles in the nonprofit and higher education sectors. She has served as the Treasurer for NPC since 2016, when she frequented NPC regularly with her two children.
Laura Frogameni, Preschool & Partnership Coordinator, Northampton Public Schools (she/her)
Laura is a lifelong educator. From her first job as a childcare assistant to coordinating the work of the Early Childhood Center, developing environments and learning opportunities for children, families, and educators is the work that inspires her. She’s a passionate supporter of early education and care partnerships. Banded together, public schools, community-based centers, and family child care programs can offer increasingly equitable access to quality programs for all kinds of learners. Laura holds licenses in Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) grades 1-6, Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Director, Preschool Teacher, and Toddler Teacher, as well as a Montessori Primary Teacher Certification.
Niki Lankowski, Co-Chair (she/her)
Niki is the Executive Director at Manna Community Kitchen and a proud board member of the Northampton Parents Center since 2024. She was previously the Communications Manager at Grow Food Northampton, managed Tuesday Market, and has worked on communications and fundraising projects both professionally and as a parent volunteer for decades. Niki lives in Whately, where she enjoys experimenting with new recipes inspired by what’s in season. Though her two children are now young adults, she fondly remembers their days at the Parents Center.
Stella Conyer, Secretary