Meet our New Board Members!

The Rennie Center is pleased to announce the addition of two new board members, Dr. Pam Eddinger and Dr. Jessica Boston Davis. 

Dr. Pam Eddinger has been the president of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), the largest of the 15 community colleges in Massachusetts, since 2013. Prior to this, Dr. Eddinger served as the president of Moorpark College in Southern California from 2008. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Barnard College and her master’s and doctorate in Japanese Literature from Columbia University. 

Dr. Eddinger has been active and engaged in the Community College movement for over 25 years, serving in senior posts in academics and student affairs, communications and policy, and executive leadership. In addition, Dr. Eddinger is a member of a number of other boards and commissions, including the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), GBH Boston, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Boston Foundation (TBF), the Massachusetts Workforce Development Board, the Boston Private Industry Council, Achieving the Dream (ATD), and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU). In 2016, Dr. Eddinger was honored by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change. 

Dr. Jessica Boston Davis currently serves as the Director for Equity and Excellence for the Somerville Public Schools in Somerville, Massachusetts. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University, where she teaches Culturally Responsive Teaching with the Lesley University and Somerville Public Schools partnership. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Spelman College, Dr. Davis obtained her Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and M.S. in Teaching from Hunter College. Dr. Davis graduated from the Doctor of Education Leadership (EdLD) program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2019, where she also served as the president of the Black Student Union. She received the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching for her work as a teaching fellow at Harvard College and the Torch Bearer Award for Excellence in Leadership within the Black community at Harvard.

Dr. Davis was the founding principal of Life Academy, a turnaround school in Newark, New Jersey. While Dr. Davis served as principal, Life Academy was recognized as a “proof-point for an effective restart” and profiled by the Wall Street Journal for the academic growth made by students.  Prior to her principalship, Dr. Davis taught in Newark, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York. 

Rennie Center Board Chair Celine Coggins welcomed the two new members onto the Rennie Center board, saying, “Drs. Davis and Eddinger bring critical perspectives, a wealth of knowledge, and a refreshing energy to the board and will drive our work forward in all the right ways. We are eager to partner with them as we engage the education community in Massachusetts (and beyond) to confront the challenges that have been laid bare over the past year by the global pandemic and renewed focus on racial justice, particularly the vast inequities that remain in our early education, K-12, and higher education systems.”

Rennie Center Executive Director Chad d’Entremont added, “Drs. Eddinger and Davis offer new and crucial insights into our collective work to support students and families across the Commonwealth and it is a privilege to have them on our board. I am grateful for their commitment to the Rennie Center and its mission. They will be a tremendous asset in our efforts to bring about a more equitable and effective education system.”