Team

Dr. Tasheena Burnett is a lead learner in her work as Director of Boston Teacher Residency (BTR). She leads the BTR program and holds Boston families and their students learning at the center of all decisions she makes. Since graduating BTR in 2011, Tasheena spent a combined ten years in Boston Public Schools teaching English Language Arts and serving as a Data Inquiry Facilitator. She earned a B.S in English from Suffolk University, MS in Human Resource Management from Emmanuel College, M.Ed from UMASS Boston, and Ed.D from Regis College. Her research focus is on black male success in higher education. Her inspiration comes from her family, her students and their families, and her mentors. She is committed to developing teachers who bring joy, curiosity, and rich content knowledge to their classrooms.

Monique Davis served as a recruiter for the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) since the organization’s inception in 2003, recruiting talent on a local and national level and building relationships and cultivating partnerships. She currently oversees placement of BTR graduates in Boston schools and coordinates a network of over 250 alumni. Previously, Ms. Davis worked as an employment manager at the Home for Little Wanderers, a Boston-based non-profit human services organization. She has also worked for the Vinfen Corporation and the Boston Stock Exchange. Ms. Davis earned a BA in Finance and Accounting from Northeastern University and an Executive MBA from Dartmouth College in Minority Business.

Dr. Anjali Deshpande (she/her) is a mathematics education expert whose career is defined by a singular commitment: ensuring that all students have identity-affirming and empowering mathematics experiences, especially students in communities of color. She currently serves as a Board Member of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Massachusetts and as the Regional Team State Leader for Massachusetts with the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics.

Prior to joining BTR, Anjali served as a leader at EdVestors, a local education nonprofit organization; a faculty member at a competency-based, STEM-focused teacher education graduate school in Cambridge; and, most importantly, a math coach and middle school math teacher in the Bronx, NY. Anjali has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from New York University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Pace University, and a doctorate in Teaching and Learning from New York University, Steinhardt. Finally, Anjali loves a good math joke or pun, the spiciest spicy foods from around the world, and gardening with her two young children.

Ms. Jacquays has worked in the field of education for 20 years, having spent many years as an elementary teacher and reading specialist/consultant. For the past ten years, she worked with the Boston Public Schools as a district-wide literacy coach, Vice Principal/Director of Instruction at the Ohrenberger Elementary School, and as a Response to Intervention (RTI) Curriculum Specialist at the Haley Pilot School. She has taught graduate classes at the University of Massachusetts and has worked as a literacy consultant for Tufts University.

Dr. Nicholl Montgomery (she/her) is a secondary English Clinical Teacher Educator. She received her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development. Her dissertation was an analysis of Jacqueline Woodson’s middle grades and young adult literature with Black girl protagonists. Her dissertation topic was influenced by her work as an English teacher in Boston Public Schools and in the community where she used African American youth literature to engage young people and their families in critical conversations. When Nicholl isn’t teaching, she enjoys trying new recipes and knitting.

Adina Schecter is a veteran educator and teacher leader who has shaped teaching and learning at the classroom, school, and district level for over two decades — from pioneering restorative justice practices as a high school English teacher, to leading school-wide instructional coaching, to launching district-wide equity work as the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Coach for Milton Public Schools.

Adina now serves as a Secondary BTR Teacher Network Coach, taking a boots-on-the-ground approach to support new BTR graduates through their first three years in the classroom — working alongside them and helping them study and grow their own practice. She also leads BTR's "Grad Groups," this year focused on restorative justice and middle school teaching. Across every role, her passion has been empowering adolescents — especially those who have not been traditionally successful in school — to read critically, write boldly, and speak with confidence.