About Project Coach
We Coach for Change
Project Coach is a partnership between Smith College and Springfield Public Schools that provides a sports-based life skills program that teaches teens to coach and mentor youth within their community. Our teen coaches work side by side with Smith staff, Smith graduate and undergraduate students, and Springfield Public School educators to run a free out-of-school time program for elementary students in Springfield, closing the play gap for children as they build their own life and leadership skills. By applying the high-impact skills they use on the playing field in school and community, our coaches create powerful change in their own lives and communities.
In the Media
Smith College Project Coach, Academic Year 2021 – 2022
Social Capital Builders
Project Coach Aims to Reinvent Mentoring Program in Springfield
Healthcare News
Project Coach: Doctors challenge youth leaders to go viral to fight COVID-19
Mass Live
Meet the Project Coach Team

Graeham Dodd is the Director of the Education Initiative at Smith College. In this role, she oversees all aspects of the administration of a portfolio of education programs for college and high school students, including Project Coach, and several research projects. Previously, Graeham taught and served as an elementary school teacher and administrator in a range of school settings for over a decade. Graeham has mentored preservice and first-year teachers throughout her career and has extensive experience designing and leading professional learning for both new and experienced educators. Graeham holds a bachelors and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Smith College and an Education Specialist degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of Virginia. She is a doctoral student in the Teacher Education & School Improvement program at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.
If you’re interested in partnering with or sponsoring Project Coach, please contact Graeham at gdodd@smith.edu for more details on how you can support our mission.

Brittany Gaetano is the Program Director of Project Coach at Smith College. Brittany came to Smith with an extensive background in coaching and youth development. She was a college women’s basketball coach for 12 years, holding positions at Amherst, Drew and Colby. In 2019, Brittany left college coaching to join the nonprofit, Shooting Touch, where she served as the Boston Program Director and used basketball as a platform to create opportunities for future pathways for underserved girls. Through her work at Shooting Touch, Brittany provided experiential learning opportunities to the youth in the program that offered mentorship, health education, and life skills. Throughout her work experiences, Brittany has found her greatest joy in being able to create meaningful relationships and mentor young people to reach their fullest potential. Brittany holds a Master of Secondary Teacher Education from UMASS Amherst and completed her student teaching at Peck Middle School in Holyoke.
If you have any questions or someone you know is interested in becoming a Red Shirt, please don’t hesitate to contact Brittany at bgaetano@smith.edu for guidance and information on how to join our team.

Yesenia Valentin, born and raised in the North End community, started her journey with Project Coach back in 2011 as a freshman in high school. Yesenia enjoys sports, music, and sneakers. Growing up in the North End, playing sports at the local park was how she spent most of her free time. She was a coach and mentor to the elementary students that we served directly in her community at schools that she herself used to go to as a child. We call that role a Blue Shirt. She was a blue shirt until 2015 when she graduated high school. After that, she became what we call a Purple Shirt. A purple shirt is someone who graduated through the program and becomes a direct mentor to our blue shirts. It was important for Yesenia to stay involved in the program after high school as it served as a stepping stone to her in life so she wanted to continue to do that for other youth in the program and it also kept her connected directly to her community. In 2018, the role of Assistant Director was created for PC in which Yesenia proudly fulfilled and is the role she is currently in, being a part of Project Coach for 13 years now.
If you have any questions or someone you know is interested in becoming a Blue Shirt, please don’t hesitate to contact Yesenia at pcsuper@smith.edu for guidance and information on how to join our team.

Laura Boban is the Education Initiative Coordinator. Before coming to Smith, she worked in a variety of roles in education, including coordinator of a free design internship program for high school students at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in 2021-22. Earlier in her career Laura was a high school art teacher for 10 years in Chicago, IL and a middle school art teacher for one year in Milwaukee, WI. She is passionate about community-building through art and integrating contemporary art practices into curriculum. Laura earned a BFA in Art Education from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2008 and an MFA in Studio Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020 with a focus in textiles. In her art practice she explores the intersections of identity formation, craft and the body through quilting traditions and sculpture.