Meet Charlotte Tuminelli, SBNDC’s newest board member

Through her volunteer work with the South Boston Neighborhood Aid Network during the COVID-19 pandemic, Charlotte Tuminelli was introduced to South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation. 

“Hearing more about SBNDC’s primary mission, I was excited to be involved with it,” said Charlotte, the newest SBNDC board member. 

“At the start of the pandemic, I was looking around at Facebook groups and people connecting online within the community just at a loss for what to do to help people in our immediate area,” said Charlotte, 32, Senior Training Manager at Evidence for Policy Design at Harvard Kennedy School. She found the Aid Network -- a place for residents and service providers to find information and share resources and a way for neighbors to offer and ask for help.

“I really enjoyed being part of that,” said Charlotte, noting that volunteers were empowered to help build the Network as it was taking shape.

Charlotte got involved in a steering committee with the Aid Network and in conversations with members learned more about SBNDC’s work and got connected with Executive Director Donna Brown.

“We are excited to have Charlotte join our board after all her hard work with the Neighborhood Aid Network,” said Donna. “Our board will become even stronger as she brings her skills, work ethic, and enthusiasm.” 

SBNDC is dedicated to providing affordable housing and engaging in community development activities, including the creation of economic opportunities and quality of life improvements, that will improve South Boston.

As a board member, Charlotte is “excited to be in this dual mode of listening and understanding more and absorbing all the experience from the board members. I have so much to learn. And Southie is such an institution in its own right.”

In her work with the Harvard Kennedy School, Charlotte, who has lived in South Boston since 2018, helps train global policy makers to use data and evidence in their daily decision-making.

Charlotte has also served as a teacher in rural India, worked for a number of Boston-area nonprofits, and consulted on local and international education projects. She earned her Master’s in Education in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in International Studies and Foreign Languages from Stonehill College.

“I am excited to try to bring in some of the work that I do on a daily basis, and some of that perspective as a younger resident having only been here three years,” Charlotte said, noting she hopes to help connect the disparate communities within Southie. “I don’t think I can handle that on my own, but as I’m coming out of that young professional phase and trying to think about bridging those gaps, I’m hoping that it’s something I could at least lend thoughts to.”

Her work has prepared her well for her role as a board member for SBNDC. She is a fundraiser and grant writer, is well-versed in communications and social media, and has a sales pitch mindset. 

“I think those skills are very transmissible to the extent that I can start ... to look more at the local landscape and think about how SBNDC is securing resources and getting the right people to hear about our work to be able to get more and more support. That, for me, I’m excited to contribute to.

“There’s the comms piece, too. That’s something I can be helpful in thinking about social media strategy and publicizing the work within different networks. I can try to step in there.”

Her daily work also focuses on different research projects, including women’s economic empowerment and female labor force participation in Morocco. “Those are very important things to be doing in Morocco and I think they are also very important things to be doing at home,” Charlotte said.

Donna and Charlotte talked about financial literacy training: “Oh, I support projects that do that in India,” Charlotte said. “That’s important to do that in South Boston, too.”

After her first board meeting, Charlotte is now on an ad hoc finance committee, which is not her background. “I think it’s going to be helpful for me to learn as much as I can right now. I just want to absorb it.” 

Having worked in nonprofit management, Charlotte knows the financials are a good place to start wrapping her head around the big picture and where the organization's priorities are. 

Outside of work, Charlotte is very active. “I love all the volunteer stuff I got involved with during the pandemic. Supporting causes that I care about is a constant.”

She’s an avid runner and is currently training for the Boston Marathon, running on behalf of Project Hope in Roxbury, which focuses on economic empowerment for women. “That’s been keeping me very busy because there’s the training and then for fundraising I’ve been doing lots of little events.”

She’s run other marathons but never tackled Boston before. “I’ve always wanted to do [Boston] and I never thought I would because it is a daunting thing to take on. The pandemic made us all … you just get grateful for any type of opportunity.”

Her other love is photography.

Going forward as a board member, Charlotte’s priority is trying to bring more local businesses into events, such as the Street Festival, and helping to certify women- and minority-owned businesses. Knowing SBNDC is looking to hire a Small Business Specialist for that role, “I’d be excited to help with that integration, too, as a person who benefits from all these businesses.”

“I just want to be able to help continue to support the existing pieces of the community. I'm excited to hear more about how SBNDC wants to do that and how I can contribute.”