About Us

Robert F. Littleton, Jr. Ed.D.

Founder and CEO

Robert F. Littleton Jr. is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of numerous service agencies including Beacon ABA Services of Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Evergreen Center, Criterion Child Enrichment, BehaviorPedia Inc., and Human Services Management Corporation. Dr. Littleton has taught elementary and special education in the Barnstable Public Schools. He has held certifications as an Administrator of Special Education and as an Early Intervention Program Director. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his Masters in Education in Severe Special Needs from Lesley University.   Dr. Littleton completed his doctoral research in Special Education at Boston University on the treatment of toddlers with expressive language delay. He is a past President of the Massachusetts Association for Approved Private Schools and is a former Chair of the Council of Affiliated State Associations, a subcommittee of the National Association of Private Special Education Centers. He is also a founding incorporator of the Massachusetts Association for Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Littleton was the catalyst and has been a key contributor to the development of graduate training programs for behavior analysts at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and Cambridge College. He has served as a committee chair for the Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium and as a trustee the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He is currently a trustee of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Foundation and the Milford Regional Medical Center. In 2012, Dr. Littleton was an inaugural recipient of the Salute to Service Award from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

A message from the President

Robert K. Ross, Ed.D, BCBA-D, LABA

Chief Clinical Officer

Dr. Ross is the Chief Clinical Officer at Beacon ABA Services of Massachusetts and Connecticut. He received his Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis from Northeastern University and his Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Ross oversees all research activity at Beacon. He also provides direct and consultation services to families, schools and educational programs throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is a founding member and current Past President of the Massachusetts Association for Applied Behavior Analysis. Dr. Ross is also the President of the Autism Special Interest Group (SIG) of ABAI, and has served three terms on the ABAI Practice Board.

Paulo Guilhardi, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA

Executive Vice President of Operations

Dr. Guilhardi is the Senior Vice President of Operations at Beacon ABA Services of Massachusetts. He received his Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Experimental Psychology from Brown University. Dr. Guilhardi is responsible for the day-to-day business operations and expansion of the Beacon practice. Dr. Guilhardi works to ensure families have access to the highest quality and intensive Applied Behavior Analysis services.  Dr. Guilhardi oversees the business operations of Beacon satellite offices representing multiple regions across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dr. Guilhardi has extensive clinical experience working with children affected by the Autism Spectrum and their families in homes, schools, and residential environments

Dan Almeida, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA-MA

Executive Vice President of Clinical Services and Graduate Study

Daniel Almeida is the Executive Vice President of Clinical Services and Graduate Study.  He is also the Program Director for the Ph.D. in ABA program at Cambridge College.  Previously, he was the District Supervisor of ABA Services for a major public school district in Greater Boston and held a variety of director level positions at private, ABA-based schools is Massachusetts. He received his Ph.D. in ABA from Simmons College. Dan has provided ABA services to students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related disabilities for over 30 years.  He has published original research on staff training and interventions for students with autism in peer-reviewed journals and has presented research at national and regional conferences.  He has also conducted professional development workshops in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).  He served as adjunct faculty since 2002, teaching classes in certificate and graduate degree programs in ABA.  Dan is passionate about training and supporting staff to provide culturally responsive, evidence-based ABA treatment to families.

Charles Newfield, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LABA, LBA, Licensed Psychologist

Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Newfield is the Chief Operating Officer of Beacon ABA Services in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a focus in the Experimental Analysis of Behavior from Adelphi University. In addition to being a licensed and board certified behavior analyst, he is also a licensed psychologist in Connecticut. Dr. Newfield has been the Director for Behavioral Services at a private non-profit in Connecticut for the past 18 years. During his tenure, he was responsible for the agency’s dynamic growth in Connecticut where he oversaw development of a variety of behavioral services for children in school settings including founding a state approved special education school for students with high functioning autism and other disabilities. Under his supervision, the School Consultation Division began as a start-up and grew to become a division serving thousands of individuals and their families and over 50 school districts. Dr. Newfield was a founding member of a collaborative Master’s Program with Fitchburg State, MA in Applied Behavior Analysis. He began his career serving as a Behavioral Consultant for the ACES school programs in Connecticut for 10 years.

Kelley Henry, Psy.D., BCBA-D, LABA

Executive Vice President of Assessment Services

Dr. Henry is a pediatric neuropsychologist specializing in early identification and treatment of young children with developmental disabilities, social, and behavior challenges. She has almost 20 years of clinical experience working with children with Autism Spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities. Dr. Henry received her doctorate degree in clinical psychology from William James College formerly known as the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, earned a masters´ degree in child development from Tufts University, and bachelors’ degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She completed graduate work within the field of Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College. Dr. Henry has extensive post-doctorate clinical training within the pediatric neuropsychology specialty. She has worked in a clinical capacity in early intervention programs, with specialty service providers, in schools and hospitals, as well as private practice. Dr. Henry has worked at Beacon for five years. In that time, she has been instrumental in the development of the Beacon Assessment Center, a program of Beacon ABA Services developed to provide high quality diagnostic evaluation and neuropsychological assessments to families. In her role as Senior Vice President of Assessment Service, Dr. Henry oversees a team of Licensed Psychologists and Speech-Language Pathologists working out of seven satellite locations across the Commonwealth.

Dione Christy, Ph.D. (Consult)

Senior Vice President Office of Cultural Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity

Dr. Dione Christy leads the Office of Cultural Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity (OCEID) of Human Services Management Corporation. Previously, she served as a visiting adjunct Professor of Practice with Nova University, Advising Senior Consultant with Virginia Department of Education, Division of Quality Schools, and Chair/Senior Lead Evaluator with Cognia Corporation. Dr. Christy has also served as President of a Washington-based public service organization and Nonprofit Senior Executive of a Northern Virginia-based National Association overseeing superintendent and principal leadership development.  Dr. Christy has previously been appointed to the Educator Workforce Diversity Initiative Task Force and State Equity Plan of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Harvard University and Boston Public Schools Inclusion and Equity Advisory Committee and Equity Working Group. Dr. Christy has been invited to speak at thought leadership events and has numerous service honors and awards such as the United States President’s Education Awards for Educational Excellence, Chamber of Commerce’s International ATHENA Individual Leadership Award, Economic Council and the Education Foundation’s Administrator of the Year, Executive Women’s National Female Executive Award, and DWYER Award for Excellence in Special Education. Dr. Christy earned post-doctorate advanced certification in change leadership, education reform, and urban education superintendent from Harvard University; global education senior policy fellow designation from the institute of Education Leadership (IEL), a Ph.D. (College of Sciences Marshall, Kappa Delta Pi honors, distinction) in leadership and education from Barry University, and a M.S. in speech language pathology supervision and administration from Nova University. Additionally, she is certified in Facilitative Leadership for Social Change from the Interaction Institute for Social Change.

Susan Rapoza-Houle, M.S.Ed., BCBA, LABA

Associate Vice President of Employee Development

Susan Rapoza-Houle is the Associate Vice President of Employee Development at Beacon ABA Services. She received Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Bridgewater State College, a Master of Science in Special Education from Simmons College, and a post master’s certificate in Behavior Analysis from Pennsylvania State University. She has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2006 and is a Licensed Behavior Analyst in Massachusetts. Sue has more than 25 years of experience in the field of behavior analysis, working with learners with intensive special needs between the ages of 18 months to 25 years of age. Sue served on the Massachusetts Autism Commission’s Workforce Development Sub-Committee, has presented her research work at local and national conferences, and has worked at Beacon for more than 18 years. As the Associate Vice President of Employee Development, she is responsible for designing and implementing professional development trainings.