Newton Resident Farzana Mohamed Appointed To DESE Board

NEWTON, MA — Newton resident Farzana Mohamed, an author and management consultant, has been appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker to serve on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and work to strengthen the Commonwealth’s K-12 public education system.

Mohamed has focused much of the last decade on coaching students and young professionals, and is the author of “How to Negotiate Your First Job,” which aims to help college graduates and young professionals negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment. She is also a management consultant to global clients with expertise in negotiation, process improvement, and corporate governance.

Previously, Mohamed served as the chief of staff and director of strategic planning at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham, where she was on the hospital’s senior management team with primary responsibility for organizational governance. She holds a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees from the MIT and has served in a variety of leadership roles, including youth education, sports programming, and clergy functions in the Shia Ismaili Muslim community.

Mohamed was appointed along with Tricia Canavan, CEO of Tech Foundry, to serve along seven other DESE Board members.

“Both Ms. Canavan and Ms. Mohamed bring a unique combination of management expertise and experience in the education sector that will benefit the Commonwealth’s schools and the students they serve,” Baker said in a statement. “We are grateful for their commitment to help create strong educational starts for children and families in schools throughout Massachusetts.”

“Ms. Canavan and Ms. Mohamed have developed strong community partnerships and have engaged businesses to help strengthen educational progress in their communities,” Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said in a statement. “We are very pleased they will now bring their experience and commitment to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.”

Mohamed and Canavan replace board members Amanda Fernandez and James Morton, who completed their five-year terms on June 30.

“James and Amanda have been outstanding contributors to our work by providing hands-on leadership across a range of critical policy issues, and more importantly they always put the interests of children and equity front and center, for which I am truly grateful,” Education Secretary James Peyser said in a statement. “We welcome Tricia and Farzana to the Board and look forward to working with them.”

The board will meet on Monday, August 15 at 12 p.m. at DESE headquarters in Malden.