About Us
Discover Our Mission, Vision, and Values: Learn More About NEMPAC’s Commitment to Music Education and the Performing Arts in the North End and Beyond.
What We Do

North End Music & Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) is your 501(c)(3) community music school and performing arts center. We exist to enrich Charlestown, the North End, and surrounding Boston neighborhoods with accessible, high-quality arts programming and performances.
- We believe the arts are an expression of our shared humanity.
- We believe the arts are an antidote to stress, a source of comfort and hope, and an innate connection builder.
- We believe the arts transform a neighborhood into a community.
Accessibility is the drumbeat of our organizational song. We define accessibility as creating opportunities for all to experience the transformative power of the arts. One of the ways we create opportunities is through youth scholarships.
Our Mission
Rooted in Boston’s North End, our mission is to enrich lives through accessible, exceptional music education and performing arts programs that embrace our vibrant, inclusive, and diverse communities.


Our Vision
NEMPAC envisions dynamic Boston neighborhoods where music and performing arts fill the city with creativity, spark connections, and inspire us to be our best selves.
Our Core Values
EXCELLENCE
We strive for artistic and educational excellence.
COLLABORATION
We forge partnerships to cultivate an inclusive community.
LOVE
Love is the core of who we are and all we do.
CREATIVITY
We foster creativity and self-expression while ensuring art has a home.
EQUITY
We champion diverse voices, create access, and eliminate barriers to participation in the arts.
Our History
NEMPAC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2001 by a group of five local mothers who were seeking arts enrichment programming for their children. These mothers began the organization out of their own homes and used community spaces in the neighborhood to offer private piano lessons. As NEMPAC grew, its Board of Directors sought a physical home and began to work with the City of Boston and the office of Mayor Thomas Menino to acquire and renovate an abandoned 590 square-foot 1920s wash house in the heart of the North End.
The building had been abandoned since 1968. City Councilor Paul Scapicchio called it a “disgusting building, old and decrepit” (Boston Globe, 12/3/00). Located along the Freedom Trail in the Paul Revere Mall (known as the Prado), it stands between the Old North Church and Cyrus Dallin’s statue of Paul Revere.
With headquarters to house administrative offices and four private studios, NEMPAC began to flourish. As a music school, NEMPAC reaches approximately 1,355 students per week, offering programs across several art disciplines, including dance, movement, and theatre, focusing on music education. Through partnerships with local schools in the North End and surrounding neighborhoods, students receive free, in-school music education.
Mary O’Neill
Chair
Assistant District Attorney, Middlesex District Attorney
John Romano, Jr.
Vice-Chair
Chief of Staff, Mayor Michelle Wu’s Community Engagement Cabinet, City of Boston

Tchad Cort
Clerk
Boston Public Schools, Office of Transporation (sher, her, hers)
Tchad Cort is a Logistics Specialist who has been working with Boston Public Schools for the past 17 years. In addition to her dedication to BPS, she is involved in a wide array of local organizations, including the Friends of the Roxbury Branch Library and The Boston Teachers Union. She is an avid reader and traveler, and believes that bold exploration has the ability to enrich lives and broaden perspectives. She is an advocate for students of all ages having access to artistic outlets that contribute to their overall growth and development. Tchad is inspired by the organization’s founding story and mission, and is extremely grateful that NEMPAC has already forged a relationship with her BPS community. She is excited to lend her talents to NEMPAC as the organization grows.
Tchad holds an MBA from the University of Tampa, with a concentration in International Business, and a B.S. in Business Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology. She is a proud resident of Roxbury.

Caroline Twomey Lamb
Treasurer
Assistant Group Leader, MIT Lincoln Laboratory (sher/her/hers)
Caroline is a practicing aerospace engineer, specializing in aircraft modification and flight testing, with a love for math and music. Her children have participated in NEMPAC programming for nearly 10 years to include dance, music theater, and PMI piano instruction. At work she is known to incorporate song lyrics into her reports and presentations and to get out of her seat and jump around whenever the aircraft mechanic play House of Pain.
Doug Bowen-Flynn
SAG-AFTRA, Actors Equity Association, Massachusetts Production Coalition, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association
Teresa Chuang
Head of Global Client Engagement, Manulife Investment Management

Ramin Khoshatefeh
President and CEO, enLabel Global Services, Inc. (he, him, his)
Mr. Khoshatefeh is a visionary and energetic leader and entrepreneur, creating rapid growth and success for many businesses since 1982. He is a pioneer and a domain expert in the fields of information technology, manufacturing, logistics, bar coding, labeling, packaging, brand management and automatic data capture. He has published many articles and papers on his areas of expertise including authoring the “Principles of Zero-Defect Packaging” and “Integrated Packaging Management (IPM)”. Mr. Khoshatefeh developed the first commercial label composition and printing software “Generalized Barcode and Labeling (GBL)” for general manufacturing and “Chemical Industry Barcode and Labeling (CIBL)” for Chemical product labeling. He also holds the world’s only patent for the representation and transportation of dynamic structures for distributed labeling and packaging execution over worldwide networks.
In addition to his role as CEO of enLabel Global Services, Mr. Khoshatefeh is on the board of several companies, an active board member of NEMPAC (North End Music and Performing Arts Center) and other non-profit organizations. Since 2001, Mr. Khoshatefeh has focused his work on the life sciences industry and has become a highly respected industry influencer. His expertise is in global branding and packaging, regulatory compliance, process management and optimization, and enterprise resource planning. His concentration in this field has been mostly with helping medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies realize exceptional ROI by employing his teaching in streamlining their branding and packaging processes and methodologies. Mr. Khoshatefeh has been instrumental in increasing the bottom line for many clients throughout the world.
Ramin is in constant demand as a speaker, active in many associations, and frequently contributes articles to leading business publications. His wealth of knowledge and indispensable foresight has developed some of the industry’s most valuable strategies for business improvement. Mr. Khoshatefeh holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. President and CEO, enLabel Global Services, Inc.

Rose Koch
Independent Consultant specializing in handheld chemical analyzers and algorithm development.
Rose has over 25 years’ experience in product development for the chemical industry. She specializes in handheld analyzers and algorithm development. She has run Product Management departments for successful startups. She is a graduate from Manhattan College and holds a master’s degree in chemistry from MIT. Rose lives with her family in Charlestown and has two children, 15- and 12-years of age, who have been NEMPAC students.

Marly I. Roche Pabon
Associate Director Biology, Blueprint Medicines (she, her, hers)
Marly I. Roche Pabon was born and raised in Puerto Rico and moved to Boston 20 years ago to pursue a graduate degree in Immunology at Boston University and post-doctoral studies at Mass General Hospital. As a child, she was fortunate to grow up in a community that provided a strong influence of traditional Puerto Rican dance and music (“bomba y plena” and “aguinaldos”) and performing in school events and family gatherings, shaped her passion for the arts. She strongly believe that promoting the arts can have a tremendous impact in people’s upbringing. NEMPAC has provided a welcoming community for her children to learn and develop an appreciation for the arts for the past 10+ years, and has inspired her to continue my support and commitment to the organization. Her training as a scientist allowed her to establish collaborations, manage and allocate limited resources to deliver quality results and commit to achieve goals, and she is eager to bring my expertise to the organization.

Clarinda Massengill
Clarinda Massengill is a seasoned financial professional who owns a small accounting firm. She’s worked with companies to balance the budgets and position companies for pre- IPO. She is a graduate of Lesley University with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and has co-founded 2 nonprofits that address food insecurities within food deserts. She is passionate about the arts because both of her children are musically talented. During her free time she enjoys reading and gardening.
Alex Senchak
Managing Partner, Duarte Pond Investments & Consulting

Phil Smith
Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel & Regional Manager, Liberty Mutual Insurance (he, him, his)
Phil Smith, Founder + Partner, The East Cambridge Company – with 20 years of commercial real estate experience, Phil oversees acquisitions, asset management, leasing, and firm operations. Previously, he was a Vice President at Calare properties, serving in various roles including leasing, asset management, and acquisitions for 5 years. He has also held prior roles at Hackman Capital, JLL, and ProLogis. Outside of the office, he is involved with the North End Music and Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC; Board of Directors), various neighborhood and community groups in Charlestown, and is a golf, soccer, Formula 1, and travel enthusiast. Phil holds a BA in Economics from DePauw University and an MBA in Finance + MS in Real Estate & Construction Management from the University of Denver, and lives in Charlestown with his wife, Angie, and their daughter

Lynne St. Andre
Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel & Regional Manager, Liberty Mutual Insurance
Lynne St. Andre is Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel and Regional Manager in the Litigation Department at Liberty Mutual Insurance. Since joining Liberty Mutual in 2009, Lynne has provided strategic legal advice and litigation management for various matters, including environmental and toxic tort matters, and enterprise and emerging risks. In her current role, Lynne manages a team of attorneys handling coverage and extra-contractual litigation. Before joining Liberty Mutual, Lynne was a partner at a law firm in Boston. Lynne received her B.A. from Wheaton College and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.
Strategic Plan
Learn about the organization’s long-term goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving its mission of promoting music education and the performing arts. Explore the strategic plan to discover how NEMPAC plans to expand its reach, enhance its programming, and deepen its impact on the community. Whether you’re a supporter of the organization, a current or potential partner, or simply interested in the future of music education and the performing arts, the strategic plan provides valuable insights into NEMPAC’s vision for the future. Join us on this exciting journey towards a more vibrant and musical community.



Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), and Anti-Racism
We at NEMPAC use the arts to tell stories that represent the communities and cultures of Boston. Through music and performance, we speak in sound—rather than words—about the shared experiences of artists and audience members. Diversity is one of our core values, and in 2021, we’ll strive to prove this value through our actions as a nonprofit.
Our campus
- Access
- Health Safety Policy
- Land Acknowledgement

Facilities
NEMPAC operates out of three buildings in the North End, Boston as well as several satellite locations in neighborhoods across the City of Boston. Performance space is also utilized at several arts partner locations, including the Boston Center for the Arts, Bijou de la Vida Gallery, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
Learn More
Our Health Safety Policy
If a student, staff member, faculty, or concert attendee is experiencing signs or symptoms of cold or flu or otherwise resembling COVID-19, the individual is not permitted to attend the program nor enter any of NEMPAC’s facilities.
Learn More
Land Acknowledgement
NEMPAC acknowledges that the land our non-profit resides on is the ancestral homeland of the Pawtucket and Massachusetts tribal nations. We honor these communities and the elders of these nations...