Seven Hills hires executives from Springfield, Boston

Worcester-based Seven Hills Foundation & Affiliates has hired two new executives into its C-suite, helping lead Central Massachusetts’ largest human services nonprofit.

Jennifer O’Brien is the new chief information officer, and Leslie Tellalian will be the chief learning and development officer.

O’Brien joined Seven Hills in July, bringing her experience in information technology leadership to her new role, according to a Tuesday press release from the nonprofit.

Previously, O’Brien served in a number of managerial positions throughout Springfield-based human services organizations including acting as CIO for Center for Human Development, as IT director for Behavioral Health Network, and as project manager for Baystate Health. 

O’Brien replaces Robert Leonard, previous vice president information technology and data governance, who has since retired. 

Outside of Seven Hills, O’Brien is a member of the Chicago-based American College of Healthcare Executives and the Pennsylvania-based Project Management Institute. She volunteers as a court appointed special advocate. 

She earned her MBA in health care from Fitchburg State University. 

Tellalian comes to Seven Hills having previously served as assistant dean of lifelong learning at Boston University School of Public Health. At BU, she played an integral role in the establishment of the institute’s Population Health Exchange, a resource hub and continuing education platform for students and working professionals. 

As part of her work through PHX, Tellalian worked to develop the platform’s PopHealthExperience, a summer program for middle schoolers introducing them to the field of public health, and she collaborated with BU nurses to create vaccine administration training to more than 10,000 health workers during the COVID pandemic. 

Tellalian replaces previous chief learning officer Bill Sodeman, who has transitioned to senior technologist and instructional designer for Seven Hills. 

Tellalian earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and fine arts from Arcadia University in Pennsylvania and her master of science in education degree in intercultural communication from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Seven Hills is the largest human services nonprofit in Central Massachusetts when ranked by total revenue for the most recent fiscal year available, according to the WBJ Research Department. In the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023, the provider accumulated $408 million in revenue and had $280 million in assets.

Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.