PENGUIN HALL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Trustees
As Co-Founder of The Academy at Penguin Hall (APH), Albert Martins brings his operational knowledge and leadership qualities to enrich the development and advancement of APH.
David has served on several not-for-profit organizations in the capacity of president, treasurer, and board member. More recently he served on the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce Legislative Affairs Committee.
Erica Miller values first and foremost her roles as a wife and mother, her life experiences have shaped her interactions and relationships in a meaningful way. Raised by her grandfather, a second generation Italian American immigrant, her childhood home was strong in values of love, family, relationships, and the world.
George Balich holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame, an MBA from Northeastern University and a Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts. He is a practicing, registered Architect in MA and NH. As an architect, George's work included hospitals, college and public libraries, college facilities, a regional bank and planned unit development projects. He has served on numerous architectural boards over the years including the Boston Society of Architects (Director and Commissioner of Technology), Massachusetts Society of Professional Engineers (Director and Vice President), the Commonwealth's Joint Committee of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors on Professional Practice (State Chairman) and The Society of Value Engineers - Paul Revere Chapter (Director and President).
While practicing architecture, George taught architectural courses part-time at the Boston Architectural Center and Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. He became a full-time educator at Wentworth and continued for a thirty year career as a Professor of Architecture, department head of Architecture, and first dean of the College of Design and Construction at Wentworth where he developed professional degree programs in architecture, interior design, industrial design, construction management and environmental engineering. His educational career culminated as the Provost and VP of Academic Affairs at Wentworth. He was responsible for all academic programs and services including continuing education, library services, academic computing services, academic resources, academic advising, Institutional and program accreditations, and special programs. His responsibilities included the education of approximately 3,500 students and the graduation of approximately 600 students per year and the management of 140 full time faculty, 140 part-time faculty, and over 60 staff members with an annual operating budget of approximately 18.5 million dollars and an additional 1.5 million dollars in annual capital equipment. While in this position he worked with numerous regional and professional degree programs and was a founder of the College of The Fenway - a consortium of colleges in the Fenway area. He also organized a "Women in Technology program to encourage high school girls to enter science, engineering and technology. As an educator, he has been recognized and received a number of awards from the professional societies that he worked with as well as receiving the Notre Dame Alumni Exemplar Award for Service in Education.
Dr Balich has also served as a director at the Don Bosco Preparatory High School formerly in Boston and was a trustee and president (board chair) of the Glen Urquhart School in Beverly,
Job Titles:
- Founder of the Academy
- President / Head of School / Ex - Officio & Non - Voting Member
As founder of The Academy at Penguin Hall, Molly Martins brings over 29 years' experience in leadership and higher education. Her pioneering spirit and depth of experience are the foundation for the intentional development and expert management of APH.
Providing young women with an equitable and exemplary education is Molly's passion. As the mother of five daughters, she often envisioned a school that would truly allow girls to be seen, heard, and challenged in a supportive and enriching environment. When the opportunity to acquire Penguin Hall came along, Molly was able to bring her vision to life - an independent school that provides an exemplary education in grades 9-12 and supports young women in developing the confidence to blaze their own paths in college and in life.
Molly's career in higher education combined with her experience in finance has provided her with the management skills and visionary prowess that are essential to successfully leading APH.
Her decades of experience has spanned industries and included leadership roles with Coca-Cola
Job Titles:
- Aubergine Group LLC As a Founding Partner
- Retired
Paulette Balich is retired after over fifty years in various business endeavors. She began her career as a substitute teacher in the Boston Public School System. When New England Telephone Co. offered her a job teaching "repair clerks," she took the opportunity. In the thirty years she spent in telecommunications, Paulette was involved with NE Operations in the area of installation, maintenance, construction and engineering of telephone services. Her career included tours in Public Communications, which involved coin telephones throughout NE, a stint in Human Resources during the divestiture with AT&T as well as the role of VP of Accounting and Treasurer for NE Telephone. As the Baby Bells merged, Paulette became involved with Process Re-engineering as the VP for Support Services. She ended her career as the Region President of New England Operations for Verizon, managing an expense budget of $550M and a capital budget of $450M with a customer base of approximately 7 million access lines across 7 Customer Service Centers, 5 state regulatory bodies and 10 IBEW union locals responsible for approximately 5,000 employees.
Paulette then joined Aubergine Group LLC as a founding Partner. Aubergine Group was a family company that bought multi-family housing, renovated and converted them to condos for resale in the New England area. All properties were sold and LLC dissolved in June 2020.
During her career, Paulette received many awards and recognition in the areas of diversity and Women in Business Leadership. She was involved in several Boards, the most notable, the Girl Scout's Patriot Trail Board which included a summer camp for young girls, called Camp CEO. She was a Board Trustee and subsequent Board Chair of her Alma Mater, Marygrove College, an all-women's college in Detroit MI. She also attended an all-girls, Catholic high school in Detroit, MI.
Paulette's most cherished and notable role is as wife to George, mother to Jason and Garrett, mother-in-law to Nicole and grandmother to Aurora, Gwenevieve and Ariella. She resides with her family in Beverly MA.