NFI Massachusetts Appoints Lydia Todd as Executive Director
DANVERS, MA, – Today, Lydia Todd, a resident of Peabody and a Newton Native, was appointed as executive director for NFI Massachusetts, Inc., after more than 30 years of professional work in human services and criminal justice. Lydia is replacing Steven Hahn who served as the agency’s executive director for more than 20 years.
“I am thrilled to be back at NFI in this new role, and to help bring attention to the amazing work our staff do to transform and save lives every day,” says Todd. She is humbled to be selected and aims to make her mentor, the previous executive director, proud.
Says Hahn, “Lydia is the perfect person to step into this role; the organization is in good hands and with peace of mind, I can slow down a bit and give more volunteer time to the various causes I believe in including the arts, my faith community and working with refugees.”
Lydia’s work is informed by her lived experience as a “DCF kid,” who received services from the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families before obtaining her GED and joining the United States Air Force. After active duty, she served in the Air Force Reserve as a healthcare administrator for 16 years. She was employed by the Massachusetts Parole Board as a research analyst and deputy chief; Massachusetts Halfway Houses, Inc., as a grant writer and director of program evaluation; the Department of Youth Services as director of organizational development; and NFI Massachusetts as deputy director. Before returning to NFI in her current role, she served as the first deputy commissioner for the Massachusetts Probation Service. She teaches at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she recently developed and delivered “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Justice System.” Lydia served as co-chair of the Massachusetts Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative subcommittee on racial and ethnic disparities and also co-chaired the data subcommittee of the Commonwealth’s Restraint Prevention and Elimination Task Force.
Lydia graduated magna cum laude from Park College with a Bachelor’s degree in social psychology and holds a Master of Arts in applied sociology from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Philosophy in sociology from Yale University.
About NFI Massachusetts, Inc.: NFI Massachusetts is a non-profit human service agency, based in Danvers. NFI was founded in 1974 to create innovative programs for individuals who had been previously served in institutions. Over the decades, the agency has evolved to include a highly diverse range of behavioral health, child welfare and juvenile justice services for youth and families, in addition to developmental and acquired brain injury services for adults. NFI operates 27 programs in Essex, Middlesex and Worcester Counties and employs more than 600 staff. NFI serves more than 3000 individuals each year.
