Governor Baker Nominates Colette M. Santa as a Member of the Parole Board

 Governor Baker Nominates Colette M. Santa as a Member of the Parole Board

 

BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker nominated Colette M. Santa for a new term as a member of the Massachusetts Parole Board. Santa has served as a member of the Parole Board since 2018.

 

“Colette Santa’s experience as a Parole Board member and prior service to the Commonwealth have prepared her well for continued service on the Board,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am pleased to submit this nomination to the Governor’s Council for their advice and consent.”

 

“Colette Santa’s knowledge of the Parole Board and experience serving the Commonwealth will bring valuable insight to the Parole Board and those appearing before it,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito.

 

The Massachusetts Parole Board resides within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and is authorized to grant paroles and supervise parolees. The seven members of the Parole Board are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Governor’s Council. Board members serve on a full-time basis. The Governor designates one member of the Board as the Chairman, who acts as the executive and administrative head of the Board.

 

Learn more about the Parole Board.

 

About Collette M. Santa

 

Colette M. Santa has served as a member of the Massachusetts Parole Board since January 2018, after being nominated by Governor Baker in October 2017. Before she was appointed as a member of the Board, Santa served as the Chief of Transitional Services for the Parole Board, where she was responsible for Institutional Parole Officers assigned to 34 state and county facilities. In that role, she also ensured that Parole Board members were provided with accurate information for inmates’ parole hearings. She was instrumental in guiding the agency through the accreditation process by the American Correctional Association for the first time in the agency’s history.

 

Prior to her work at the Parole Board, Santa’s work included various positions with the Department of Correction, including as the Deputy Superintendent for the North Eastern Correctional Center and at the Bay State Correctional Center. She also served as Deputy for Reentry at MCI-Framingham. In Puerto Rico, Santa worked with the Department of Correction as a Regional Director and Field Inspector where her responsibilities varied from conducting quality control audits and monitoring operational processes to the direct supervision of the operations, administrative services, and construction for the West Region of the Administration of Correction (7,000 inmates and 4,000 staff). She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Management from Seton Hill College in Pennsylvania. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico School of Law and her Master’s in Public Administration from Framingham State University. She lives in Milford with her family.