About /

Board of Directors

The Delta Projects' Board of Directors is made up of recognized leaders across many areas of expertise. They contribute significant amounts of time, talent, and energy to further the mission of the organization.

Victoria Bifano

Victoria Bifano serves as Vice President, Corporate Services at New England Center and Home for
Veterans, bringing expertise in leadership and organizational development. In this role, they oversee
corporate service functions, contributing to the organization’s mission of supporting at-risk veterans. Their background reflects a strong focus on human resources leadership. Previously, Victoria held the position of Vice President, Human Resources at Rockland Federal Credit Union, where they focused on talent management and employee relations. Earlier in their career, as Director, Human Resources & Administration at Vantage Partners, Victoria led teams and managed resources, contributing to the firm’s consulting and training initiatives. These roles demonstrate applied knowledge of strategic
planning and organizational growth. Victoria is also a Member of The NEHRA, further demonstrating
their commitment to the HR profession. Victoria holds a B. S. from Western Governors University.

Venkat Chalasani

Venkat Chalasani is Vice President of AI Enablement at Q4, Inc., following its acquisition of Virtua Research, Inc., a firm he co-founded in 2005. At Virtua, Venkat served as President and Chief Product Officer, helping lead the company’s growth and development of technology and research solutions for the investment community. He also served as a board observer for OpenExchange Inc. From 2015 to 2022, Venkat was with GlobeFlex Capital, where he led research, project development, and
management of the firm’s Boston office and its wholly owned subsidiary in India, with a focus on big data models and fundamental investment research. Earlier in his career, Venkat was a partner at Concordia Capital Associates, LLC, a Boston-based hedge fund investing in global equities and related derivatives. Prior to Concordia, he was with State Street Global Advisors, where he served as Head of Global Equity Strategy and helped develop fundamental equity and quantitative investment strategies. Venkat holds an MBA from Boston College and a Bachelor of Technology degree, with honors, from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Kelly Manning

Kelly Manning is Executive Vice President at Manning Personnel Group, a family-owned firm founded in 1992 specializing in the temporary and permanent placement of accounting, finance, and administrative personnel. Kelly has spent 16 years of her career at the firm, joining Manning in 1992. Earlier in her career Kelly served as Manager, Temporary Staffing at Abbott Personnel Consulting. Kelly is a volunteer with Make-A-Wish America and the Department of Social Services Braintree, MA, and she is a Board Member at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. She earned a B.S. in Psychology/Sociology, graduating summa cum laude from The University of Massachusetts Boston.

Mike Oliver (chair)

Mike Oliver is a retired professional services executive who served in senior management roles in multiple firms during his career. He has been a member of the Delta Board since 2012. Most recently Mike was a Senior Vice-President and the COO for Fuld & Company, a competitive intelligence and research consultancy. Prior to joining Fuld & Company he was a partner at the Monitor Group where he served in various business operations roles. He joined Monitor as a part of their acquisition of Strategic Pricing Group in June 2005. At SPG he held the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Oliver also was a Managing Partner at the Consulting Group of CSC where he held a variety of positions during his eleven years at the firm including Managing Director of the Ohio regional office, Vice President of Services, Vice President of Technology, and Vice President of Electronic Business. Before joining CSC, Mr. Oliver was President and CEO of Just Technical Associates (JTA), a firm that specialized in technical consulting. He began his business career at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) serving in account manager, project manager, and systems engineering roles. Mr. Oliver has an Industrial engineering degree from the University of Oklahoma and served as an Officer in the Navy during the Vietnam era. He is married with one daughter and lives in Concord, Massachusetts.

Vishvas Paradkar

Vishvas (Vish) Paradkar is the Vice President for Technology Services and the Chief Information Officer (VP-CIO) at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Vish has over 25 years of experience in IT organizations across multiple industries – government, finance, telecom, consulting, and higher education. In the current role, Vish champions the digital strategies that enable, accelerate, and amplify university’s strategic goals and outcomes. Prior to joining the higher education sector, Vish served in IT service executive roles at EDS and Verizon overseeing development and implementation of technology solutions in IT applications, management, business intelligence, data analytics, and customer relationship management. Vish holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Mumbai, and MBA from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he also served as an adjunct faculty/lecturer in the Bachelor of Innovation program. He is a certified Project Management Professional. Vish’s hobbies include playing cricket, skiing, enjoying Indian classical and film music, playing tennis, and volunteering. He has been involved with multiple K-12 school forums, and non-profits serving children, education, and technology.

Kate Prouty

Kate Prouty is Chief Information Officer at Cambridge-based Akamai Technologies, a global content delivery network, cybersecurity, and cloud service company. In her 22 years at Akamai Kate has worked in a variety of technology roles supporting the company’s business operations across Financial Planning and Analysis, Corporate Accounting, Human Capital Management, Supply Chain, Procurement, Product Development and Sales. In her leadership role at Akamai Kate has contributed to the company’s growth and maturity from start-up to $3B in revenue. Kate co-chairs the Executive Women’s Forum at Akamai.

Scott Sargis

Scott Sargis is a partner at IEC Partners, a management advisory and execution firm for early stage and large enterprise clients with locations in Newton, MA and Sao Paolo, Brazil. Scott was formerly with the Monitor Group, a global consultancy that was acquired by Deloitte. Earlier in his career, Scott was with Strategic Pricing Group, a boutique pricing strategy consulting firm. Scott has spent significant parts of his career with several engineering and environmental consulting organizations, as well as alternative and mainstream energy companies, including the Chevron Corporation. In addition to Delta Projects, Scott is a Board member of the Boston Rescue Mission, a homelessness support and recovery organization. He is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. In addition, he holds a JD degree from Suffolk University Law School and is licensed to practice in Massachusetts.

Deborah Wahlen

Deborah Wahlen is Executive Director of the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College. She brings extensive experience in strategic planning, program design and delivery, technology implementation, and change management. During her time at Babson, Deborah has held leadership roles spanning strategic operations of the College’s entrepreneurship centers and institutes, information technology, and the College’s Project Management Office. Prior to joining Babson, she held several leadership positions at Simmons University, including Director of the Project Management Office and Director of Strategic Initiatives. Earlier in her career, Deborah worked in corporate finance at Iron Mountain and spent several years in management consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Deborah also has a longstanding commitment to community service. She has been recognized with the Boston Celtics’ Heroes Among Us Award and the U.S. Department of Defense ESGR Seven Seals Award for charitable work supporting disabled veterans and families of fallen firefighters.

Regina Yando

Regina (Sunny) Yando, PhD, has long been active in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. In 1968, as a member of the faculty of Harvard University, she assumed the directorship of Psychological Research and Training on a Kennedy-funded multidisciplinary University Affiliated Training Grant conducted at the Fernald State School. It was during that period that a respite care program, which eventually became Delta Projects, was started by one of the Harvard students in training. Although she functioned in an advisory role early in the formation of Delta Projects, it was not until 1983 that she became a full member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Yando has also served as an expert witness for the US Department of Justice, Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division, responsible for monitoring State Institutions caring for individuals with intellectual, developmental, and emotional disabilities. Moving from the faculty of Arts and Science to the faculty of Medicine at Harvard, Dr. Yando assumed the position of Chief of Psychology at the Judge Baker Guidance Center/Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a position she held for a decade. Currently, she is looking forward to retirement and has moved to part-time professorial faculty status at Harvard Medical School.