LYNNFIELD — Once again, the Peabody Chamber of Commerce is seeking to fill a key staff vacancy.
Programs Director Maria Terris is leaving the chamber to become the first director of the Northeast Arc’s new Pathways to Opportunities initiative, a mentoring program for high school students who are not planning to attend college.
“Let me first quell any rumors or talk that I am leaving the chamber because I am unsatisfied with my role,” said Terris, of Lynnfield. “I have been given the right of first refusal on the executive director’s position twice in the last two transitions, but I said no each time because I love what I am doing. This opportunity at the Arc just happened and I thought after eight and a half years, why not?”
Terris said the opportunity first presented itself during a casual conversation with the Arc’s Director of Innovation and Strategy Tim Brown.
“We were just catching up and he told me about this new program and as he was telling me about it I knew it was written perfectly for me, so I just said, ‘why not try something new.'”
“I was just checking in with her to see how she was doing, especially now that Beth had resigned and she told me she enjoyed the Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurial Academy and she told me how she missed it after it was discontinued during the pandemic,” Brown said. “It was just two friends having some time to catch up, but when the subject shifted to Pathways, it was truly a moment of kismet.”
Pathways to Opportunities will be based at Lynn Classical High School. Terris and Brown said it will operate initially as a pilot program for 12-14 students with plans to expand to other schools in the future.
“This is brand new and has never been done before, so this year is really going to a trial run,” said Brown.”Our goal is to get the curriculum down and see where we can take it.”
Terris said the program will focus on neuro-typical students. Leadership, mentoring, and business skills will be stressed. Brown said that eligible students will have opportunities to participate in paid internships throughout the school year. The program aims to expose students to the Arc’s programs and will partner with many of the organizations they work with.
“Northeast Arc’s activity is so vast and wide with so many opportunities for these kids to see what we are all about,” Brown said. “This program will connect these kids to our mission and to each other and what we do as an organization.”
During her eight and a half years at the chamber, Terris served under four different executive directors at three different locations, including its current home at 58 Mills. The chamber moved there just one day before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shutdown.
“It was difficult during the transitions as we are basically a one and half member staff as I am part time, but in the end we pulled everything off seamlessly, so it was all good,” Terris said. “Right now, we are up to more than 290 members from about 230 pre-pandemic, and we have more diamond-level members than ever. The sheer number of events we run is incredible, so this is a really exciting time for the chamber. I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity.”
PACC Board of Directors Chairman Matt Genzale said Terris will be missed.
“We at the PACC certainly owe Maria an incredible amount of appreciation for all of her hard work and effort,” Genzale said. “Maria has offered the Chamber an incredible amount of stability through changes of leadership and always has had the best interest of the PACC at heart. Maria will certainly be missed, but I am sure we will continue to see her at many of our upcoming events in her new role.”
Terris said her first such event will be PACC’s Health and Wellness Expo on July 31 at Leather City Commons.
The chamber has experienced a bit of a revolving door of late. In June, Executive Director Beth Amico announced she was leaving to take an executive assistant position in the office of Peabody Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr. Amico was hired as executive director in late 2020. Last week, the chamber announced that former chamber Executive Director Deanne Healey was returning to serve as interim director until the search for Amico’s replacement is completed.
“I am proud to say that Beth and I are leaving the chamber as strong as it’s ever been,” said Terris. “After COVID, we had to crank it up a notch and we did. Now with Deanne, the chamber is in good transitional hands.”
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
