Chief of Staff
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Milly Arbaje-Thomas joined the team as Chief of Staff, bringing more than twenty-five years of experience in education equity, anti-poverty strategies, and nonprofit leadership. Milly most recently served as President/CEO of METCO Inc., the nation’s largest and second-longest-running voluntary school desegregation program. Under her leadership, METCO modernized its application system to a fully digitized online lottery with parent choice, secured an $8M increase in state funding, launched a comprehensive antiracist initiative to help districts address bias and discrimination, expanded programs for students, families, and alumni, and updated both physical facilities and internal operations.
Before her tenure at METCO, Milly spent two decades advancing antipoverty programs at Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD). She led staffing, programming, and partnerships across four neighborhood offices and created the first accredited Immigration Clinic, supporting thousands of immigrants in securing citizenship, employment, and the ability to vote.
At Campus Without Walls, Milly leads district engagement and statewide expansion—building trusted partnerships with superintendents, school leaders, and educators while shaping the development of rigorous, live, virtual credit-bearing courses that students can access regardless of geography. Milly holds a BA in Psychology with minors in Women’s Studies and Education, and a Master’s in Clinical Social Work, both from Boston College; a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Boston University; and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Emmanuel College. Additionally, she has been honored with the following awards: Mission Hill Hero, NASW Outstanding Human Rights and Social Justice Practitioner, the Latinx Excellence Award, Mass State Caribbean of the Year, and the 100 Most Influential Latinos in Boston.