Leadership Team

Meet UTEC’s Leadership Team

Gregg Croteau

Chief Executive Officer

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Hired as UTEC’s first Chief Executive Officer by the founding group of young adults and community leaders in 2000, Gregg has overseen the growth of the agency from a grassroots safe haven to a nationally recognized youth development organization. Gregg came to UTEC with youthwork experience that ranged from streetwork to program development in Detroit, East Boston, and his hometown of Revere, MA. With an interest in Vietnamese culture stemming from his work with gang-involved Southeast Asian youth, he spent two years working and conducting research in Hanoi, gaining fluency in Vietnamese language.

He has testified at the state and federal levels – one highlight being the 2007 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gang violence through the invitation of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. He has had the pleasure of leading coalitions to help advocate for the passage of key bills, as well as new programs in our state budget. He is honored to have received awards over his career as a testament to UTEC’s overall work, but most appreciative of the relationships with young adults and staff that have helped bring UTEC’s values of madd love and clean slate to life in so many ways.

Gregg received his B.A. from Wesleyan University (majoring in East Asian Studies). He earned his Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan, along with associated masters coursework in Southeast Asian Studies. He is a proud son, father, grandfather, grand-dog dad, and third baseman for the Boston Astros (“professionally” amateur baseball league!).

Emma Concepcion

Chief People Officer

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Emma serves as UTEC’s Chief People and Culture Officer, reporting directly to the CEO. In this role, she leads UTEC’s people and talent strategies, manages organizational risk, and oversees the continued development of human resource-related strategies, policies and procedures. She acts as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on employee relations, leadership development, organizational culture and talent management. Emma also plays a key leadership role in advancing UTEC’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion across all areas of management, helping to embody UTEC’s DEI vision in both workplace culture and practice.

Emma joined UTEC from Bay Cove Human Services, where she served as Vice President of Human Resources and previously as Director of Human Resources. As part of the leadership team, she established Bay Cove’s workforce development team, co-chaired the DEI committee, implemented HR initiatives, improved staff retention and engagement, and aligned human resources strategies with broader organizational goals. Under her leadership, Bay Cove was named one of Boston’s Top Places to Work for five consecutive years.

Earlier in her career, Emma spent a decade as Bay Cove’s Director of Housing. She also brings extensive mediation experience through her involvement with the Harvard University Mediation Program, where she participated in court mediation and training focused on civil, housing and harassment prevention cases.

Anita Moeller

Chief of Staff

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Anita Moeller started her career in Lowell, MA as a community organizer with the Coalition for a Better Acre. From there she became the founding Executive Director of Acre Family Child Care, a non-profit early education and women’s economic development organization. After 15 years at AcreFCC, she joined the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). During her 16 years at EEC, she held many leadership and management roles including Head Start State Collaboration director and Deputy Commissioner for Program Administration. In her current role as Interim Chief of Staff at UTEC, Inc. Anita combines community-based development with her experience in management as she works to support UTEC in its work focused on social justice and increased opportunities for the young adults and families we serve. Anita’s favorite value is Planting Seeds of Peace.

Jessica Parker

Chief Operating Officer

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Jessica joined UTEC in April 2021 as a Special Projects Consultant. In March 2022 she transitioned into the role of Sr. Director of Special Projects. Today, she is the Chief Operating Officer. Before starting her own consulting business, Jessica was the Chief Operating Officer for various organizations in the Education, Training, and Development industries. Jessica has over 15 years of experience and has helped organizations and teams expand their skills, learn how to support each other, and put knowledge into practice for overall personal and professional success, thus increasing productivity and effectiveness. She successfully prioritizes and drives multiple concurrent projects while utilizing data and analytics to inform decision-making processes. In addition Jessica was simultaneously and successfully writing, administrating, and reporting on state and federal grants. Over the years, Jessica has also provided consultation for non-profit organizations, helping them identify, create, and implement key new start-up programming and providing guidance and/or creating systems for effective operations.

Emily Forbes

Chief Financial Officer

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Emily joined UTEC in 2017 and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2024. Emily received her Bachelors Degree in Managerial Accounting at Thomas College. After graduation, she entered the nonprofit world and began her career at a Mental Health Agency. She joined UTEC in 2017 and has seen the Agency grow tremendously in the support it’s able to provide not only to Young Adults, but Community Partners as well. Emily’s favorite UTEC value is Be a Sponge, stating that being open to learning, new ideas and experiences allows us to create something valuable from everything we take in.

Tamara Soraluz

Chief Programs Officer

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Tamara Soraluz is a Peruvian immigrant who has worked with young adults for over 10 years. As a social worker and youth worker, Tamara’s favorite value has always been “Assume Goodness” because the heart is always good and young people have always proved this to be true.

Nichelle Sadler

Executive Director of the Training Center for Excellence

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Nichelle served as a senior program director at UTEC in 2012-2013 and then, in 2018, rejoined UTEC as Interim Chief Program Officer. She is now serving as the Director for the Training Center for Excellence (TC4E), the premier training facility in Massachusetts for addressing gun violence through both a public health and racial equity lens. Between her UTEC roles, Nichelle served as Chief of Staff to District Attorney-Elect Rachael Rollins and Chief of Staff to Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson. Raised in Boston, she actively participated in Boston’s local community centers throughout her youth. Following college, she joined the staff of Boston Community Centers’ Streetworker program where she began her career working high-risk youth at a very difficult time for the city when crime among youth was high. Prior to her work at UTEC, Nichelle was the Boston Area Director for Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, where she oversaw two community-based programs. Nichelle’s experience provides her with the kind of leadership and experience that is needed to undertake community initiatives serving impact young adults.

Ricardo Febles

Chief Social Enterprise Officer

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Ricardo Febles is the Senior Director of Social Enterprises for UTEC. He leads strategic operations of three social enterprises (Mattress Recycling, Culinary and Woodworking), and is responsible for determining opportunities for enterprise growth and expansion. He believes in being a sponge and is always striving to strengthen his skills by embracing feedback and working collaboratively.

Ana Victoria Morales

Sr. Director of Policy

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Ana Victoria Morales-Capellán is a highly accomplished policy professional with extensive experience in government affairs, advocacy, and coalition building. As the Senior Policy Director at UTEC, Inc. in Lowell, MA, Ana has successfully advocated for statewide funding for gun violence prevention, re-entry services for returning citizens, and probation services for formerly incarcerated individuals in Massachusetts. She also leads statewide coalitions for innovative justice reform initiatives through a family prosperity lens and two-generational approaches to services provided for families who are justice-involved and for emerging adults. Prior to her current role, Ana served as a Policy Manager at the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund, where she was a lead advocate representing the organization on the Roe Act coalition and built relationships with state-level and federal legislators on outreach for events, community forums, and actions. She also designed and led the endorsement process for all state-level races in Massachusetts. Ana has held several other notable positions, including Chief of Staff for the City of Lawrence, MA, Political Coordinator for the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, and Deputy Political Director for Senator Elizabeth Warren. Throughout her career, Ana has demonstrated a strong commitment to community leadership and activism, serving as a Lawrence Licensing Board Commissioner, Essex Art Center Board Member, Lawrence Mayoral Candidate, and Member of the Lawrence Evangelical Church. Ana is a skilled communicator and is fluent in both English and Spanish. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University in Political Science, Spanish, and Dance.

Leslie Rivera

Chief Programs Officer

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Leslie Rivera is a community advocate and youthworker from Lowell, Massachusetts. Leslie is currently the Senior Director of Training and Capacity Building supporting UTEC’s Training Center for Excellence. Leslie has worked in the youth development and community-building field for the last 20 years, the last 15 years at UTEC working with disconnected young adults in Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill. Leslie is a facilitator and culture keeper with experience in gang meditations, establishing gang peace treaties, coordinating community peace events, and street outreach. Leslie has held many roles at UTEC including supervisor of the Streetworker team, a Theory of Change committee member, and supervisor of the Transitional Coaching team at UTEC. Leslie is a trained Peacemaking Circle Keeper and is a Psychology major with ample life experience. She is currently part of the Leadership Team at UTEC and Chair of the DEI Advisory Committee. The community recognizes Leslie as a key person in Lowell as someone you can turn to for any type of help. She is affectionately nicknamed, “The Ghetto’s Angel.”

Anthony Ellis

Director of Transitional Coaching

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Anthony is the Director of Transitional Coaching . He is a long time resident of Lowell, working with UTEC for the past 18 years in a variety of roles. He is a graduate of UMASS Lowell with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Anthony loves helping young adults, seeing them accomplish their goals, and moving on to be successful.

Will Vilas-Novas

Director of Workforce Development

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Will Vilas-Novas (a.k.a Will from Brazil) joined UTEC in January of 2013. Will’s favorite UTEC’s Core Values are Madd Love and See Beyond the Mask. He enjoys spending time with his family, coaching soccer, and traveling around the world.

Leadership Representation

We believe it is essential that the team responsible for making decisions represents the community we serve.