FY26 October Program

Anna Bishop has been the Director of Finance & Operations at the Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative (LPVEC) for 24 years, bringing extensive expertise in financial management and operational leadership. She holds an MBA in Business Management from the University of Massachusetts, is a Certified Administrator of School Finance and Operations® (SFO®), and has her MCPPO (Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official) designation. Her experience, education, and certifications make Anna an invaluable asset to the LPVEC team.

Katie Freeman is a veteran educator with 23 years of classroom experience and the mother of two school-age children. She serves as President of the Mapleshade Elementary PTO and Vice President of the Meadow Brook Elementary PTO in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, where she works to strengthen collaboration between families and schools. Katie is also the History Department Chair at Springfield Conservatory of the Arts and will complete her Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in School Administration in December 2025.

Matthew Gillis has been in the field of School Business Administration since December 2001 and has worked in a K-12 Regional system, and in small, medium, and large municipal school departments. In that time, he has overseen transportation in rural, suburban and urban communities and has been a procurer of transportation vendor services as well as an owner and operator.

He holds a current School Business Administrator license and Superintendent’s license from DESE.  He earned his MPA from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business, his BA from Marist College, and refined his knowledge of school administration field  15 graduate credits from Westfield State College. In the last 22 years, Matthew has built, helped present, and managed to live within: operating budgets, capital project budgets, grants, revolving fund budgets, and warrant articles. He has kept his knowledge and skills sharp over this period with membership and attendance the following organizations: MASBO, ASBO, MA Treasurer’s & Collector’s Association, the MA Inspector General’s Office, and workshops with MA Department of Revenue. Matthew is a past President of the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials (MASBO), and has presented on a variety of topics to his colleagues over the years. Currently, he is looking forward to joining the Natick Public Schools leadership team and helping the system reach its student achievement goals while providing strong value for parents and taxpayers.

Diane Fisk Johnson currently serves as President of MASBO and as Director of Finance and Administration for the Shore Educational Collaborative in Chelsea. Her pastpositions have included five years as the Financial Manager of Facilities andTransportation at the Cambridge Public Schools, more than seven years ofservice as the Chief Financial Officer for the Arlington Public Schools, abrief stint as the Chief Financial Officer of the Dr. Franklin Perkins School,Coordinator of Financial Operations and Purchasing of the Cambridge PublicSchools, and Senior Budget Analyst at WGBH Boston. 

These experiences give her an understanding of the intricacies of public schoolbudgeting and financial operations with both city and town municipal systems,as well as educational collaboratives and 766 private schools.

Her duties in Arlington and Cambridge included extensive work with both long-rangecapital planning and building project management, including two MSBA core andthree accelerated repair building projects.

Diane has a Master of Arts from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts andSciences and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College. She is an alpine skiinstructor at Loon Mountain, holding PSIA Level 1 and Children’s Specialist 1certifications, a Co-Leader of Girl Scout Troop 82030 in Cambridge, and anAssistant Scoutmaster for Scouts BSA Troop 56 in Cambridge.

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Mary Ellen Normen is a knowledgeable and skilled leader in public education and municipal management. She has spent 30 years working in municipal and school finance roles for MetroWest area communities in Massachusetts. She has held the roles of Treasurer/Collector and School Business Administrator in six communities during her career in municipal finance after starting her career as a Presidential Management Intern with the US GAO. She often serves as an instructor and mentor for many school business administrators in the areas of municipal finance law, policy analysis, program evaluation, and is an advocate for fostering collaborative partnerships within schools and municipal departments.

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