Collins Center Staff
David Sparks, Executive Director
Stephen McGoldrick, Deputy Director
Michael Ward, Director of Municipal Services
Sandra Blanchette, Education Program Developer
Kathleen Sullivan Corrigan, Senior Associate
Robert O'Keefe, Operations Manager
David Sparks, Executive Director
617.287.4824
david.sparks@umb.edu
Education: MPA, Kennedy School of Government; BA, Political Science, Tufts University
David M. Sparks is the director of the Collins Center. He has had a long and varied career at all levels of government as well as in the private and political sectors.
Sparks was chair of the Nashoba Regional School Committee in Bolton where he led its labor negotiation team. A graduate of the Massachusetts Correctional Officers Training Academy, he was an assistant to the sheriff of Middlesex County. As assistant to the chairman of the Boston Finance Commission, Sparks participated in an investigation of the Boston School Committee and its campaign fundraising practices. Sparks was New England regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and also served as director ofiIntergovernmental relations in the Maine Governor’s Office.
Sparks has significant experience as a consultant, having coordinated the public sector practice of a national productivity improvement firm, worked with a utility engaged in a business challenge in New Mexico and represented a national university in the state licensure process. He has extensive political campaign experience in local, Congressional, state and national campaigns, including serving in senior staff positions in the 1980 and 1988 campaigns of former President George H. W. Bush.
Sparks is a former fellow at the Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics. He also served on Maine’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education Governance and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bangor Theological Seminary.
Stephen McGoldrick, Deputy Director
617.287.4824
stephen.mcgoldrick@umb.edu
Education: MSM, Lesley University; BA, Political Science, UMass Amherst
Stephen McGoldrick is primarily responsible for developing programs and providing consulting services within the productivity and government services areas. Before joining the Center, he served as the deputy director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council for ten years. In that position, he was responsible for developing regional service delivery mechanisms, facilitating strategic alliances among governments and providing technical assistance to local governments on management, organizational and governance issues. As a member of the senior management team, he held primary responsibility for developing the MAPC operating budget, human resources administration, board relations and strategic planning. McGoldrick has provided consulting services to dozens of local governments, public school systems and housing authorities.
McGoldrick served as chief of staff to the Chelsea receiver from 1991-1996 and subsequently facilitated the establishment of Chelsea's post-receivership government as the Commonwealth's transition officer. In 1990, he served as the executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association. From 1983 to 1990, he held leadership positions in the administrations of former mayors of Everett and Somerville. He has been a technical advisor to the Massachusetts Municipal Association. McGoldrick co-authored the Final Report of the Regionalization Commission that was established and chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Michael Ward, Director of Municipal Services
617.287.4876
michael.ward@umb.edu
Education: MPP, Kennedy School of Government; BA, Sociology, Amherst College
Michael Ward works on a variety of municipal government projects, including regionalization and service-sharing work, performance management efforts, research projects, and charter reform work. Ward has worked for local government in Massachusetts and New Mexico. As a budget analyst for the Town of Concord, he helped the Town begin integrating performance measurement into its annual budget process, assisted with the financial management of a Recreation Center enterprise fund, and worked on numerous budget and procurement projects. As an intern with Doña Ana County, he helped the Health and Human Services Department bring together local agencies and providers to improve coordination of service delivery and lower costs.
Ward studied innovative urban policy in Curitiba (Brazil) and Singapore as a Thomas J. Watson fellow. He looked at how these cities both managed to reshape themselves through creative public transportation, economic development, and service provision strategies. He has also worked on numerous political campaigns, including managing a mayoral campaign in Massachusetts.
Sandra Blanchette, Education Program Developer
617.287.5534
sandy.blanchette@umb.edu
Education: EdD, Higher Education Administration, UMass Boston; MS, Public Affairs, UMass Boston
Sandra Blanchette is responsible for developing and managing the career education and training programs for the Collins Center. Blanchette served as assistant dean of the McCormack Graduate School for six years prior to joining the Center. She participated in the planning of the McCormack Graduate School as it brought together a variety of academic and research departments under one college identity.
Blanchette has an extensive background in higher education administration, healthcare, and municipal service. Her municipal experience includes membership on her town’s school committee, finance committee, personnel board and recycling committee.
Blanchette is a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator practitioner.
Kathleen Sullivan Corrigan, Senior Associate
617.287.6226
kathleen.corrigan@umb.edu
Education: MPA, Kennedy School of Government; MS, Journalism, Boston University; BA, Political Science, Trinity College (Washington, DC)
Kathleen Sullivan Corrigan brings more than 25 years of state government experience to the Collins Center. She was the first woman in Massachusetts history appointed budget director of either the legislative or executive branch. In the latter, Corrigan served as deputy state auditor, deputy secretary of transportation, and director of administrative services for the Highway Department. Her legislative experience includes working in the offices of the Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker, the Senate President and the Governor's legislative office, as well as on the staffs of both the Senate and House Committees on Ways and Means.
Corrigan also has private sector experience, including work as an investment banker with Kidder Peabody and also with the Professional Services Group, a firm that specializes in staffing and training.
Corrigan was named a Bradford Fellow by the Kennedy School of Government.
Robert O'Keefe, Operations Manager
617.287.4824; FAX: 617.287.5566
robert.okeefe@umb.edu
Education: BA, Political Science, UMass Boston
