MassCUE announces our Executive Director, Shelley Chamberlain, as our Featured Educator for June 2022!

Shelley Chamberlain is a trailblazer. She started out as a special education teacher who understood the power of technology to support the differing learning styles of children and spent her career helping students and educators reimagine the role of technology in education. After a long and successful run as an educator and leader in educational technology, she took the helm as executive director of MassCUE, where she worked to support countless educators in their teaching journeys. She is retiring from this encore career this June, but her legacy remains.

“Shelley’s vision and leadership has transformed MassCUE,” said former MassCUE board member Wendy Haskell. “She took an average organization and moved it to become one of the finest in the country in Ed Tech. She has had an impact on every aspect of the organization.”

Shelley was the first person to serve as executive director of MassCUE, which operated solely under the leadership of the volunteer board of directors before she was hired in 2010. Through her attention to detail and dedication to MassCUE’s mission, Shelley made an impact on the organization in a myriad of ways, from streamlining financial procedures to implementing new and innovative professional development offerings, to building relationships with vendors and partners.

Under Shelley’s leadership, MassCUE has grown and thrived – offering grants to help teachers realize their dreams, handing out awards to recognize excellence in education, coordinating Special Interest Groups that support educators and expanding partnerships with digital learning companies. The Fall Conference has grown into the premier event in Massachusetts for educational technology and other events were added and expanded. Shelley worked with outside agencies such as the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS), Massachusetts Educational Technology Administrators Association (METAA), the Massachusetts Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (MASCD) and the MA School Library Association (to name a few) to expand the spring conference and workshops for specialized constituencies throughout the year.

“She is a fabulous ambassador for our organization and our mission,” Haskell said.

Board members and staff who have worked with Shelley over the years call her a consensus builder who is dedicated to doing the right thing for the organization, members, boards and staff.

“Loyalty to her staff is one of her strongest traits,” said longtime MassCUE Conference Chair and former Board Member Lory Santos, who has worked with Shelley since her first day as executive director. “She is also incredibly organized, unbiased and willing to go the extra mile.”

“Shelley ALWAYS has the best interest of MassCUE at the forefront,” said staff member Julia Colby, who has also served as a board member and conference presenter. “Working for Shelley, you know that she will support you. She is patient, kind, driven and goal oriented. It has truly been a pleasure to work with Shelley.”

Shelley started her career in the Haverhill Public Schools, teaching in a self-contained special education classroom. She moved on to work in the city of Cambridge, where she was instrumental in developing the first resource room for special needs. During her years in Cambridge, she trained and supported classroom and special needs teachers to use technology to help integrate students with varied learning styles into mainstream classrooms.

She served as the coordinator of educational technology for the Lexington Public Schools, where she helped implement their technology plan and created professional development programs for technology use in their nine K-12 schools. She finished out her “first” career as Director of Information Technology for Newton Public Schools. Here, she developed and implemented programs to infuse technology into the curriculum, including 1:1 learning using net books and cloud computing more than a decade before this became the standard that it is today.

But for her MassCUE colleagues, her biggest impact has been on the nonprofit organization she loves.

“I know she had a long and successful career before coming to MassCUE, but I truly believe that her legacy is what she has built for us in MassCUE,” said MassCUE President-elect Heidi MacGregor. “We would not have the organization we have today without her leadership and dedication.”

“Shelley is a tireless advocate for the important work of our organization. As a leader in education in Massachusetts, Shelley’s impact has resonated throughout school districts throughout New England,” MassCUE President Chris Gosselin said. “Under her leadership, MassCUE has grown to be one of the leading organizations for educators in Massachusetts. We are so grateful for all that she has done and congratulate her on her retirement, and wish her the best!”

Want to learn more about this trailblazing educator and leader? Listen to the latest edition of the Get A CUE Podcast (Podcast Link), where host Brandon Hall shares more interviews and stories about Shelley.