Joan Wallace-Benjamin
President & Chief Executive Officer

Joan Wallace-Benjamin

In May 2007, Joan returned to The Home for Little Wanderers as the President & Chief Executive Officer to continue the work she began when she originally assumed leadership of the agency in 2003. Under her guidance, the agency has gained prominence in the field of child and family service providers.

November 2006 brought an exciting new professional opportunity for Dr. Wallace-Benjamin when Governor-Elect Deval Patrick named her his Chief of Staff. In this role, she helped the Governor to move the Administration’s policy, legislative and political agenda forward. Her previous experience in management and organizational effectiveness in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors prepared her to assume this important responsibility.

Prior to joining The Home in 2003, Joan served as a Consultant with Whitehead Mann, a global executive recruiting firm; President & Chief Executive Officer of The Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts for 11 years; Director of Operations for Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston; Deputy Director of ABCD Head Start, and a Research Analyst for ABT Associates. She brought to all of her positions a remarkable array of skills that have empowered the organizations to fulfill their missions of service to children and families, prevention, expert clinical care, outcomes, research, and advocacy.

Joan has received awards too numerous to list in full, but a sampling includes the 2005 Pinnacle Award, Achievement in Management Non-Profit from the Boston Chamber of Commerce, the 2004 Exceptional Women Award for Community Service from Magic 106.7, a 2003 Lady Baden-Powel Good Scout Award from Boston Minuteman Council, Boy Scouts of America, a 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award from Rosie’s Place, Boston, and named by Boston Magazine, May 2003 edition, as one of Boston’s 100 Women of Power. In 2002, Joan was honored with Academy of Women Achiever’s Award from Boston YWCA, and a Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice. Joan holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Newbury College, Chestnut Hill, MA.

Joan is a Trustee of Wellesley College and a member of the Board of Overseers for The Heller School for Social Policy & Management. Additionally she has been a Corporation Member of Northeastern University and a Trustee of Pine Manor College. She graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Psychology and received her Ph.D. from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

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