Executive Team

Linda Mason, chairman and founder, co-founded Bright Horizons in 1986 with her husband, Roger Brown, and a small team of committed parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and served as president until becoming chairman of Bright Horizons Family Solutions in July 1998. Linda Mason is also the author of The Working Mother's Guide to Life: Strategies, Secrets, and Solutions, published in November 2002. She and Roger Brown co-founded Horizons for Homeless Children, a nonprofit organization that serves the needs of homeless mothers and their children throughout the Boston area. Prior to founding Bright Horizons, Linda Mason managed large-scale relief operations overseas. She served as co-director of Save the Children's emergency program in Sudan, serving 400,000 famine and war victims, and directed a large feeding program for children in Cambodian refugee camps along the Thai border. She is a 1998 honoree in Redbook's "Mothers and Shakers" awards for her work to improve the quality of child care, and she and Roger Brown were the 1996 recipients of the Ernst & Young/USA Today "Entrepreneur of the Year" award. Linda also was honored by Working Mother magazine as one of the "25 Most Influential Mothers in America." Linda Mason serves on the boards of Yale University and Horizons for Homeless Children. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Management, Cornell University, and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She and Roger Brown have three children, all of whom are graduates of Bright Horizons child care and early education centers.

Roger Brown, vice chairman and founder, co-founded Bright Horizons with his wife, Linda Mason, and a small team of committed parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1986. Roger currently serves as president of Berklee College of Music. Prior to founding Bright Horizons, he was co-director of the Save the Children’s relief and development effort in Sudan and had worked on the border of Thailand with Cambodian refugees through CARE and UNICEF. Roger co-authored the book Rice, Rivalry and Politics, which examines the management of emergency relief efforts. He serves on the governing board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and on the boards of the Child Care Action Campaign and Horizons for Homeless Children, which he co-founded with Linda Mason, to help homeless mothers and their children throughout the Boston area. In 1996 he and Linda Mason received the Ernst & Young/USA Today "Entrepreneur of the Year" award, and he was honored by Working Mother magazine in its "25 Friends of the Family," recognizing men who have made it easier for working parents to raise and nurture children. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Management and Davidson College. He and Linda Mason have three children, all of whom have attended Bright Horizons child care and early education centers.

David Lissy, chief executive officer, joined Bright Horizons in 1997 as the chief development officer and served in this capacity prior to becoming chief executive officer in January of 2002. He is responsible for leading the company's growth strategy, including its global expansion into Europe and Canada. Dave serves as an executive resource to many of the company's client partners and has helped to develop new and innovative services that meet the evolving needs of working families. In July of 2001, he was elected to the board of directors of Bright Horizons and currently serves on the boards of Social Service Coordinators, a proprietary elder care company, and the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children. Dave also serves as a trustee of Corporate Voices for Working Families. Prior to joining the company, Dave held several marketing and general management roles in the health care field with Aetna and U.S. Healthcare over 11 years, including senior vice president/general manager for the New England region of Aetna U.S. Healthcare. Dave is a graduate of Ithaca College, and he and his wife are the parents of three children, two of whom are graduates of Bright Horizons centers.

Mary Ann Tocio, president and chief operating officer, is responsible for Bright Horizons' domestic and global operations. She also has overarching responsibility for human resources, construction and facility management, program development and education services, administration, and information technology. Mary Ann joined Bright Horizons in 1992 with many years of experience managing a multi-site service organization and more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry. She was previously the Senior Vice President of Operations for Health Stop Medical Management, Inc., in Boston, a national provider of ambulatory care and occupational health services. In that role, she was responsible for day-to-day operations of the health care units, sales of occupational medical services, and the development of affiliation agreements with participating hospitals and corporations. Mary Ann received her MBA from Simmons College Graduate School of Management, and was honored by Simmons with the Phyllis Rappaport Alumnae Achievement Award, which recognizes alumnae who further the school's tradition of creating broader opportunities for women. Mary Ann serves on the boards of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and MacGray Corporation. She was elected to the board of directors for Bright Horizons in 2001. Mary Ann and her husband, Doug, live in Concord, Massachusetts and have two grown children and three grandchildren.

Elizabeth Boland, chief financial officer, is responsible for the financial management of the company, including the implementation of financial policies and procedures and the development of a flexible infrastructure to support quality and growth. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, Inc. in September 1997, Elizabeth was chief financial officer of The Visionaries Inc., an independent television production company. From 1990 to 1994, Elizabeth served as vice president-finance for The Olsten Corporation, a publicly traded provider of home health care and temporary staffing services. From 1981 to 1990, she worked on the audit staff at Price Waterhouse LLP in Boston, completing her tenure as a senior audit manager. Elizabeth Boland is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Danroy "Dan" T. Henry, chief human resources officer, has been recognized as a values-driven business professional throughout his varied career. He is a contributing author to Inside the Minds and has been featured in Insights magazine, a publication of the Northeast Human Resources Association (NEHRA) and Exec blue prints. Dan has also been a featured speaker at the NEHRA annual convention, The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Conference Board and NAAHR. In his current role as chief human resources officer, Dan is responsible for the overall people strategy and the delivery of leading-edge people solutions to more than 18,000 global employees.

Read Dan's blog posts

Dan joined Bright Horizons in May 2004. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, Dan was the Executive Vice President, Retail Market Manager of Fleet Boston Financial, where he managed the largest retail branch and investment centers for the bank. He has also held human resources and operations leadership positions within international organizations including Blinds To Go Superstores, Inc., Staples, Inc., Reebok International, Inc., and The Pepsi Cola Company, Inc. Dan is an advisory board member of the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children. He is currently the chairman of the board of directors of the Northeast Human Resources Association and is serving on the boards of the Society of Human Resource Management Foundation and Squash Busters.

Dan is a graduate of Cornell University’s College of Industrial and Labor Relations. He and his wife Angella are the parents of three children.

Stephen Dreier, chief administrative officer, oversees legal issues, contracts, information systems, and purchasing. He was named chief financial officer and treasurer of Bright Horizons Inc. in 1988 and chief administrative officer of the company in 1997. He was previously senior vice president of finance and administration for the John S. Cheever/Paperama Company for 12 years, where he managed that company's growth from $2 million to more than $60 million in annual sales. Previously, Steve was manager for financial control for the $600 million Westinghouse Worldwide Construction Products Group. Steve has a master's degree from the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management, where he also received his undergraduate degree in economics and engineering. He has served on the board of directors of several agencies, including Norwood Hospital.

Jackie Legg, senior vice president of operations, oversees child care operations throughout the U.S. for Bright Horizons Family Solutions. She has been with the company for 10 years. Prior to joining the company, Jackie held various positions within the early childhood profession. She was a senior partner and founder of a child care consulting firm specializing in feasibility studies, facility design, and center start-ups for corporate-sponsored centers. Jackie also served as the first U.S. army coordinator for child care services in Europe, where she was instrumental in the conceptualization and conversion of 12 private child care programs to officially sanctioned, army-operated programs. Notably, Jackie managed the first infant/toddler child care center to be accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs. She presents at national and regional child care professional conferences and has been published in Child Care Information Exchange. Jackie has a bachelors in elementary education from Eastern New Mexico University. She has taken graduate courses in guidance and counseling, and in early childhood education at Fitchburg State University and Boston University.

Mary Lou Burke Afonso, senior vice president of client relations, oversees the management of a variety of business systems, including the management and tracking of all new centers in development. She is responsible for the implementation of support services for our centers and operations in Europe. Previously at Bright Horizons, Mary Lou served as a division vice president for the New England area and as the company controller. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, Mary Lou served as the French controller for BOSE Corporation and later headed their retail division in the U.S. She received her bachelor degree in accounting from Boston College and is a certified public accountant.

Susan Brenner, Ed.D., senior vice president of operations, has been with the company for more than 10 years and has more than 20 years of experience managing quality child care programs. Prior to assuming her current role, Susan was a division vice president in the Northeast. She was instrumental in the development of the Chase Back-Up Child Care Center in New York, and under her guidance this center became the first back-up center to achieve National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation. Susan has her doctorate in leadership and policy studies from Temple University.

Read Susan's blog posts

Michael Day, senior vice president of client services, is responsible for developing and coordinating key aspects of our overall growth strategy. He works to ensure that we are offering solutions to meet our clients’ unique needs and that our team is positioning our services in an intelligent manner that is appropriate for each situation. He is responsible for analyzing past results to better inform future strategy. Michael also serves as an executive resource across the country, where his strategic insights and proven skills can help with key stages of structuring long-term solutions for our existing and prospective clients. Michael joined Bright Horizons in 1990 and has directly led the development of more than 100 early care and education programs, the successful transition of more than a dozen programs, and the creation of many new unique client solutions. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, Michael founded Day by Day Care, a work-site child care consulting practice. Michael is a graduate of Babson College. He and his wife are the proud parents of triplet daughters and a son, all of whom graduated from Bright Horizons centers.

Gary O'Neil, senior vice president of marketing and partnership services, coordinates the development and implementation of the organization's client relations strategy and oversees the Bright Horizons consulting practice and marketing department. Gary brings nearly 10 years of work/life experience to his role. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, he served as the director of business development for Work Family Directions and Ceridian Performance Partners. Before joining WFD, Gary spent five years as a high school teacher, coach, and advisor, and two years as a mental health counselor in a psychiatric hospital. He received his master's in education from Harvard University and his bachelor's in economics from Hamilton College. He and his wife are the parents of three sons and a daughter.

Sandy Wells, senior vice president of client services, has primary responsibility for the development of company growth strategies and client services efforts across the United States. Sandy has more than 20 years of experience in the field of child care, education, and customer service. She was the co-founder and owner of Cradle to Crayons, a child care and early education company whose first center opened in 1986 in the central business district of Dallas, serving more than 280 children. Prior to founding Cradle to Crayons, Sandy spent eight years as a management consultant at Deloitte and Touche. Under her leadership, Bright Horizons' client services team remains focused on delivering value-added solutions that respond to our clients' and families' evolving needs. Sandy received her master's and bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Kansas. She is the mother of two children and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Dave Shaby, senior vice president of business operations, is responsible for all strategic elements and implementation of parent marketing, enrollment programs, and customer service for all of Bright Horizons child development centers. In addition, Dave manages corporate infrastructure and systems, including information technology, facilities maintenance, supply management, and the business operations team. He was formerly a division vice president with Bright Horizons for two years, managing the business and operations of 40 locations in the Northeast and consulting with and serving clients including Pfizer, UBS, The United Nations, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Time Warner. His 20 years in management include 10 total years in education management with prior roles at Linkage, Inc. as director of sales and operations, where he was responsible for launching and managing university-based adult education campuses, and several years working for Berlitz International as a director of sales and education.

Dave has a degree in business management from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in journalism from Northeastern University. He and his wife, Claudine, reside in Westwood, Massachusetts, and are proud parents of Hannah, 6 and Dani, 3.

Ann Pickens, senior vice president of strategic planning, has been with the company since 1998. She has overall responsibility for the global acquisition efforts of Bright Horizons, focusing on finding high-quality child care and early education providers who meet the stringent criteria of the company in terms of achieving a strategic, operational and financial fit. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, Ann was the manager of financial analysis for AlliedSignal, where she had global responsibility for all financial aspects of the automotive business’s $3.2 billion in annual purchases. Before working for AlliedSignal, Ann worked for Federal-Mogul Corporation in various purchasing and marketing roles. Ann has a master's degree in business administration with focuses in finance and corporate strategy from the University of Michigan School of Business and a bachelor's in economics from Kenyon College. She and her husband are the proud parents of two daughters and reside in Nashville, Tennessee.