2017 Program Quality Conference 

To support and advance the quality of the MA Early Education and Care field, EEC is proud to offer this opportunity for professional development, collaboration and networking.

Thomas L. Weber, Commissioner

Welcome Address

Tom Weber was appointed Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care in September, 2013 after serving as Acting Commissioner of the department since March, 2013. During his tenure, the Department has expanded early education and care services for eligible families in need, advanced an agenda for higher program quality and increased workforce supports, and implemented a series of health and safety improvements and initiatives including the development and pilot of a differential licensing model that uses enhanced risk assessment tools and practices for monitoring programs.  Commissioner Weber led the Commonwealth's successful application for a federal Preschool Expansion Grant, which has the potential to provide $60 million over four years to support free, high-quality preschool in five communities across the state.  He also oversees implementation of the Commonwealth's $50 million Federal Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Grant.

Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Weber served as Undersecretary at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education where he oversaw budget and finance, legal and legislative affairs, information technology, policy, communications, and general administration.  During his tenure at the Executive Office of Education, he served as the Secretary of Education’s principal advisor for early education and care and designee to the Board of Early Education and Care, and was also responsible for formulating and implementing strategies leading to the Achievement Gap Law of 2010 and the community college reforms of 2012.

Previously, Commissioner Weber worked as Legislative Director at Strategies for Children/The Early Education for All Campaign, Director of Community Partnerships at the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, Deputy Research Director at the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), Assistant Director of Government Affairs at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and Senior Issues Manager at the Office of United State Senator John F. Kerry. 

Commissioner Weber is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School.  He is a native of Lynn, MA and currently lives in Reading, MA with his wife, Sarah, and their two children.

Marie St. Fleur

Keynote and Moderator

 Marie St. Fleur has been a lawyer, legislator, policy maker and motivational speaker and has launched strategic partnerships that create transformative change in people’s lives especially, women and children living in underserved communities. She has created on the ground outreach and engagement approaches: spearheaded the establishment of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care; launched the Put MA Kids First Coalition, a multi-year campaign to increase state investment in Early Education and Care and out of School Time in Massachusetts; and created the Early Education Small Business Innovation Center in Boston. She served as a Massachusetts State Representative, a Cabinet Chief for the late Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, an Assistant State Attorney General, Chair of the Advisory Council for the Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation, and President and CEO of a non-profit. She has used her talents to support women who represent over 50% of the American workforce, small business which represent 98% of all employers in the United States, and children from birth to 8, who represent 100% of the future skilled workforce, build their pathway to success. From her background as a state legislator, she also has an insightful understanding of state and local budgets and how to think strategically in not only blending and leveraging funding streams but also effective advocacy for new funding.