Board of Trustees

Lisa M. Colombo is the gubernatorial alumni appointee to the Board. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester Sate in 1987 following graduation from Framingham Union Hospital in 1985. She went on to receive a Master of Health Administration from Clark University and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from MGH Institute of Health Professionals in 2009. She is presently the Executive Vice Chancellor for Commonwealth Medicine at the UMass Medical School. Her career has been rooted in patient care, operational management and quality improvement at public and private academic health systems. She has also held high-level positions in health care management consulting. She is happy to be serving on the Board of her alma mater.

Aleta M. Fazzone is Director, Community & Customer Management, for National Grid based in Worcester, Massachusetts. In her position, Ms. Fazzone oversees customer and community relationships throughout her jurisdiction in central western Massachusetts.

Prior to joining National Grid in 1998, she was employed by GE’s Transmission & Distribution Systems Sales Business where she held a variety of sales and marketing management positions focusing on the electric utility industry. She also has utility experience with both the Pacific Gas & Electric Company based in San Francisco, California, and the Pennsylvania Power Company, now part of First Energy.

Ms. Fazzone earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and completed the Utility Executive Course at the University of Idaho. A native of Castle, Pennsylvania, she has lived in central Massachusetts for more than 15 years.

She is a graduate of the Leadership Worcester Program and serves on several local boards including the Worcester Research Bureau, the Worcester Business Development Corporation and MassEcon. She is also involved with the Worcester Education Collaborative.

Ms. Fazzone was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2014 and serves on the Finance & Facilities Committee.

Karen LaFond is an officer of the firm Fletcher Tilton and a member of the firm’s Transactional Group. She concentrates her practice in commercial lending and also practices in business, corporate law, and commercial real estate law. She earned a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire. She was named among the top Massachusetts lawyers by Boston Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine. Karen is a resident of Worcester, Massachusetts, and was appointed to the Board of Trustees in November of 2015.

Ms. LaFond joined the Worcester State Board of Trustees in November of 2015 and serves as the chair of the Academic and Student Development Committee and also sits on the Human Resources Committee.

William Mosley is a career public servant with 27 years of public safety experience with Worcester police and fire departments.

Mosley is a Captain for the Worcester Fire Department and since 2017, serves as the department’s Diversity Officer. He is an operations line officer, while also serving as an academy instructor. As Diversity Officer, he leads the department’s charge to increase diversity through community engagement and recruiting, ensuring equity for department members and promoting inclusivity in the department and community.

Mosley is also a recipient of the prestigious Thomas S. Green Award given to municipal government employees for their commitment to making Worcester and nearby communities a better place to live and work.

Mosley hopes to bring a public servant’s attitude to the Board of Trustees with a DEI lens, which has already seen progress as he was instrumental in making DEI a standing agenda item for the board, to expand its purview to include this important work, allowing the board to better serve the University faculty, staff, and students.

Dina Nichols is a graduate of Lesley University and is a full-time licensed Massachusetts real estate salesperson with Andrew Abu Realtors. She was a Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare Social Worker for over six years, after which she had a successful career in human resources for a Boston-based financial services company. Dina has had broad experience serving on many boards, currently serving on the Worcester Academy Board of Visitors and the Shrewsbury Development Corporation. In addition, Dina is a 15 -year elected town meeting member in her home town of Shrewsbury.

Ms. Nichols joined the Worcester State Board of Trustees in December of 2015 and serves on both the Human Resources Committee and the Finance and Facilities Committee.

Peterson graduated from Worcester State University in 2003 with a degree in communications and went on to become the director of marketing for the DCU Center for nearly 10 years before joining the City of Worcester’s Office of the City Manager. In her role with the city, Peterson is responsible for the city’s internal and external communications strategies, public relations efforts, brand development, and digital media management.

She has deep ties throughout the community, working closely with neighborhood and small business associations as well as partners including the Worcester Red Sox/Polar Park, DCU Center/Worcester Railers, Union Station/Worcester Redevelopment Authority, Union Station/MBTA, and Worcester Regional Airport/Massport.

As a civic leader, Peterson has been at the forefront of promoting Worcester’s many cultural, economic, and civic assets. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Discover Central Massachusetts, the marketing committee of the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District, and as a partner to the digital storytelling platform Food & Convo. In 2016, the Worcester Business Journal recognized Peterson among its 40 Under Forty.

She has been active as a member of the Worcester State University Alumni Association’s Advisory Board, and in 2019, she was recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award for Outstanding Young Alumna. Amy was newly appointed to the Board of Trustees in July 2022.

Emma Polak is a third-year student at Worcester State. She is an alumni of Ware High School where she was heavily involved in student leadership positions as well as sports.

Currently, Trustee Polak is studying Biology, with minors in Geography and Chemistry as she hopes to pursue a career in genetics research. In addition to being the current Student Trustee, she is also a part of the Student Government Association and the Hiking Club.

As the Student Trustee, she represents the students of Worcester State University on the Board of Trustees as she hopes to make student voices feel recognized and represented.

Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Sasso ’90, M.S. ’13, was appointed to the Worcester State University’s Board of Trustees in January 2021.

A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Sasso has been a 30-year financial services professional, is the owner of Larry Sasso Insurance & Financial Services, serving clients in Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, and Rhode Island. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Worcester State University, and graduated from Northcentral University with a DBA-Doctor of Business Administration, specialization-Organizational Leadership. He holds the professional designations of Certified Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant, and Registered Health Underwriter.

In his spare time, Sasso enjoys teaching, coaching, and working with young adults. His passion for sports and finances led him to a head softball coach position at Anna Maria College, and a book entitled Get in the Game: A young adult’s guide to baseball, softball, personal finances and a balanced life. A native of Worcester, Sasso now lives in Grafton, Mass., with his wife, Susan, and two children, Erika and Thomas.

Marina Taylor is Senior Vice President at Clinton Savings Bank. She is a graduate of Nassau Community College, Garden City, New York and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Dowling College in Oakdale, New York. Marina is a resident of Sutton, Massachusetts, and was appointed in November of 2015.

Ms. Taylor joined the Worcester State Board of Trustees in November of 2015 and serves on both the Human Resources Committee and the Finance and Facilities Committee.

Mr. Tuttle was appointed to the Board of Trustees in June of 2016.

He is a graduate of Worcester State earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. Presently, he is employed as the Superintendent/Special Sheriff at the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department in West Boylston, Massachusetts, previously serving as the Chief Deputy Sheriff, and has been employed there since 2011 to the present. He also served as the Executive Director of the Molly Bish Center & Government Relations at Anna Maria College; the State Director for Rural Development for the US Department of Agriculture in Amherst, MA; State Representative for the 5th Worcester District for the Massachusetts General Court from 1997-2001; and served from 1993 to 1996 as a Congressional Aide for the 3rd Congressional District of the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Tuttle also served from 2006 to 2016 as a Selectman for the town of Barre, serving on the finance committee as chair. A member of the United States Army Reserves/Massachusetts Army National Guard, he served as an infantry medic and as a leader provided supervision and oversight of a six-person medical squad.