2012 SCI Idealists
Bob Giannino-Racine
Bob is Chief Executive Officer of ACCESS, a national leader in providing college affordability services to young people and families, whose mission is to ensure that all young people have the financial information and resources necessary to find an affordable path to – and through – a postsecondary education. Since joining ACCESS in 2005, Bob has overseen a dramatic expansion of the Boston-based non-profit’s impact – quadrupling the number of high school seniors served, launching new programming that serves middle, early high school and college aged youth, and opening two new locations in Springfield and Lawrence, Massachusetts. Today, nearly 9,000 young people across Massachusetts, in grades 7-16, are served by ACCESS. In the coming year, ACCESS will scale its impact nationally, through partnerships with schools and community-based organizations, to reach an additional 5,000 students in ten U.S. cities and regions – including Miami, Philadelphia, Silicon Valley, New York City, and Houston.
Under Bob’s leadership, ACCESS has been recognized for the important role it plays in the college access and success field. In the last three years alone, ACCESS was named a Social Innovator by the Social Innovation Forum, received the Committed to Access Award by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, was awarded the Friends of Education Award from the Harvard Club of Boston, and received the Boston Foundation’s prestigious Out of the Blue award recognizing “exceptional non-profit leadership” in Boston.
As the first in his family to attend college, and a product of the Somerville (MA) Public Schools and a graduate of Harvard College, Bob knows first-hand the need for high-quality advising services and the role that financial aid plays in making a difference in one’s life. In addition to his work with ACCESS, Bob is on the Board of Directors of Strong Women Strong Girls, is Treasurer of the Board of idealist.org, the world’s leading non-profit career internet site, and is a Trustee of Mount Ida College. Bob and ACCESS have been featured in numerous media outlets for their expertise in the college access and success field, including Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Boston Business Journal and several local newspapers. He resides with his family in Concord, Massachusetts.
Pam & Alan Trefler
Pam Trefler is Trustee of the Trefler Foundation. After 18 years as an investment banker, Pam completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at UMass Boston and received a Master’s in Education at Harvard University in 1994. She interned at Dorchester High School, a district public high school, and is certified to teach English and English as a second language (ESL). In 1999, Pam and her husband, Alan Trefler, founder of Pegasystems, formed the Trefler Foundation, which has focused resources on public education, including school restructuring and teacher training, and youth development. Pam has served on many boards in the Boston area, including Boston Partners in Education, Teen Empowerment, Cambridge College and the Advisory Board of the Center for Collaborative Leadership at UMass/Boston’s School of Management. She is a Board Member Emeritus of Year Up.
Alan Trefler is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pegasystems. He also serves as Chairman of the Pegasystems Board of Directors.
Alan was named The American Business Award's “Software CEO of the Year” for 2009. He was also named “Public Company CEO of the Year” in 2011 by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. Alan has frequently presented to international audiences, written for major publications, and consulted extensively in the use of advanced technologies and work automation. He has been profiled in national print and broadcast media including CNBC, Fox Business News, Fortune Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Forbes, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Bloomberg Television, Barron’s, Reuters, and Investor’s Business Daily. Alan has also been named the inventor of five issued US patents and several US and international patent applications for Pegasystems' distinctive Inherited Rule-Based Architecture, which provides the framework for Pegasystems' rules-based Business Process Management (BPM) solutions.
Alan’s interest in computers originates from collegiate involvement in tournament chess, where he achieved a Master rating and was co-champion of the 1975 World Open Chess Championship. Alan holds a degree with distinction in Economics and Computer Science from Dartmouth College.
