Abby Buccella is the Director of Institutional Advancement. In her role, she oversees the Advancement office which includes parent and alumni relations, communications, and the School’s fundraising initiatives including the annual fund, capital campaigns, and planned giving. Prior to this role, she worked at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for 12 years in the principal and major gifts and planned giving programs partnering with doctors and scientists to raise money for pediatric cancer care and research. Previous to that, she worked at Court TV in New York City as a Booking Producer. Abby lives in her hometown of Newton with her husband, two Fessy boys, and their dog, Boomer.
In her role as the Director of Donor Relations, Dori strives to build meaningful relationships between donors and Fessenden, and helps to lead the daily operations of the Office of Institutional Advancement. Prior to Fessenden, Dori served for four years as the Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations at Shore Country Day School and previously held development positions at Pitzer College, Salem State University, and Bradford College. She earned a B.A. in English from Wheaton College. Dori is also a Fessenden parent, P '20,'29.
Danielle brings administrative experience to Fessenden from companies such as ReBuilt, Boston Standard, and Racepoint Marketing. Most recently, she was a French language tutor and child care provider and is excited to join the Fessenden community.
Myrhia Brewer serves as the Director of Alumni Engagement and Development. In her role, Myrhia works with Fessenden's Alumni Executive Committee to plan meaningful engagement opportunities between alumni and the School, to drive alumni to participate financially by donating to Fessenden, and to communicate between the School and its alumni body. Myrhia also leads the Advancement team in the execution of Fessenden's annual Day of Giving each spring. Prior to joining Fessenden, Myrhia worked in development and alumni relations at Georgetown University, Nashoba Brooks School, and Franklin and Marshall College, her alma mater. A Newton native, Myrhia grew up playing hockey at Fessenden's ice rink, is an alumna of The Rivers School in Weston, and proud parent of a Fessy boy.
As Director of Community Engagement, Deb is the primary liaison between the School and the parent body, especially the Parents' Association. She is also responsible for nearly all school events in an effort to build and maintain the sense of community at Fessenden. Her prior experience includes over two years of fundraising and supporting patients at The Ellie Fund, a non-profit organization providing funding and services to patients receiving treatment for breast cancer, and 10 years in finance as a Commercial Loan Officer with local Boston banks.
Suzanne has over 20 years experience successfully driving the strategy, marketing, and business development efforts of a variety of professional services firms. In her most recent role as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Work Systems Affiliates, a leading management consulting firm, she helped the organization achieve double-digit growth for each of the past 10 years. She is highly skilled at using traditional and emerging marketing technologies and best practices to achieve breakthrough results. Suzanne is a Boston native but has lived, studied and worked in Spain, France and England. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she majored in Spanish and earned her M.B.A. at Cranfield School of Management in England.
In her role as Director of Annual Giving, Rachael is responsible for managing the School’s Annual Fund strategy and partnering with parent volunteers to build a deeper culture of philanthropy. She joins Fessenden with many years of experience working on fundraising campaigns at other independent schools in the Boston area as well as with nonprofit community organizations based on Cape Cod. Earning her B.A. in Creative Writing from Pacific University in Oregon, Rachael lived and worked on the West Coast for 9 years before returning to New England. She is married to alumnus Ross Singmaster ’96.
As the Director of Communications, Jessica is responsible for developing and implementing Fessenden’s communications strategy and serves as a key member of the advancement team. Jessica is also a dorm head at Groton School, where she lives with her husband and son. Prior to joining the Fessenden community in 2017, she served as the Communications Manager for the Autism Science Foundation, and previously she held various communications positions at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Jessica earned her BA with High Honors from Wesleyan University.
