The Northampton Parents Center (NPC) is led by an Executive Director and supported by a dedicated team of volunteers that includes the Board of Directors and Advisors, Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), and other parent and community volunteers and supporters. NPC is always looking for new volunteers who are willing to donate time or resources toward the organization’s mission.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lindsey King
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PAST
Swansea Benham Bleicher
Swansea led NPC for 19 years, from 2005 – 2024. A graduate of NYU’s Gallatin Division, she moved to the Pioneer Valley in 1996 to raise her family. Her two daughters, who came to NPC when they were young, are now in college! Passionate about parenting, Swansea is a certified Aware Parenting instructor since 2000. She leads parenting groups and workshops for public schools in Hampshire and Franklin Counties, in-person and on Zoom, at Grow, and the Cooley Dickinson Center for Midwifery Care. Swansea’s hobbies include fiddling, singing, hiking, and birdwatching.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Barbara Black
Barbara is a retired Early Childhood educator. Her adult life has been spent as a teacher and administrator in community-based and Public School Early Childhood programs. She is passionate about supporting and advocating for young children and their families. She has also mentored many in the local early childhood community and sometimes describes her role as that of a matchmaker of the non-romantic sort – helping children and families find the services they need and grown-ups find their way into Early Childhood and family support careers.
Maria is a mother of two adult children and is a grandmother, too. She’s been working to support the healthy development of parents and their infants and young children for over 35 years. Maria worked for 18 years at Cooley Dickinson Hospital where she organized and taught classes, including facilitating the Beyond Birth parenting group. She helped to form the Hampshire County Family Network and the Perinatal Mental Health Collaboratives. She works now as a pregnancy, infant, and early childhood mental health consultant at Community Action/ Head Start. Maria served on NPC boards from 1994-2010 and is glad to be back supporting this treasured community resource for families.
Shannon is an Assistant Professor of Education at Elms College. She resides in Holyoke with her wife and two boys, Casey and Cooper. In their younger years, both boys spent countless hours peddling tricycles, playing in the rice table, painting, reading, dancing and rolling up the rug at the NPC. Although they are school-aged now, Shannon likes to stay connected to the NPC by serving on the NPC Board of Directors.
Erika is currently the Northampton Public School Preschool Coordinator. She is also coordinating the Northampton/Hadley Family Connection which is a family engagement grant through the MA Dept of Early Education and Care. She has more than 20 years of experience in the field of Early Childhood Education as a pre-k teacher, early childhood specialist, presenter, trainer, and coordinator. She resides in Florence with her husband and has two adult children. She learned about the Northampton Parents Center 25 years ago when her daughter was born and has been engaged with NPC ever since both personally and professionally.Corky Klimczak
Corky is a retired social worker who was involved in the original planning meetings for NPC when she was Director of Parent Support Services at Children’s Aid and Family Service, now Berkshire Children and Families. Later, she became Hampshire County Family Network Coordinator at Hampshire Educational Collaborative – now the Collaborative for Educational Services – where she managed a grant that provided funding and technical assistance to the eight Hampshire County family centers and led a family center coordinators support group. Since 1977, her work in the valley has been focused on family support, parent education and child abuse prevention. She is currently enjoying her five grandchildren and volunteers for a variety of social justice and racial justice causes.
Karen Korpinen, Treasurer
Karen is an Accounting and Audit Senior Associate at Meyers Brothers Kalicka PC in Holyoke, MA . She has an MBA from Clark University, an MSA from Merrimack College, and has worked in various administrative roles in the nonprofit and higher education sectors. She has served as the Treasurer for NPC since 2016, when she frequented NPC regularly with her two children.
Desiree Lalbeharlie-Josias, Ed.D.
Desiree is mother to three young adult children and she is from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She is an Amherst resident and works as the Director of the Early Childhood Department at the Collaborative for Educational Services. Desiree’s passions include family, friends, food, promoting equity, and long walks. Her career includes working with young children, with varying abilities and needs, and their families; early intervention clinical and management roles; college level teaching; designing professional development for early educators; and facilitating community partnerships. Her career has been dedicated to the field of early childhood development and education in the context of family, social-justice and public health issues.
Wendy Stein
Wendy is a retired business administrator and educator and a past President & Treasurer to NPC. In her capacity as a legal administrator and early childhood director, Wendy was responsible for the development and maintenance of the structure and systems of the organizations. As director of a play-based preschool, she celebrated with children and their families at the close of each week by singing to them as they departed. As a parent with young children participating in NPC activities, Wendy has developed relationships that have lasted over thirty years.
Updated 9/2021
