2023 Alumni Awards

Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development is pleased to announce our 2023 Alumni Award recipients: Zhongfeng Tian, Cinique Weeks-Bynoe, Kyla McSweeney, Karen Lo, Nicole Homerin, and Alice Shea. These awards recognize members of our alumni community for their outstanding contributions, exemplary service, and dedicated leadership. In addition, this year’s ceremony will include a posthumous special recognition for alumnus Rick Hoyt.

This year’s recipients will be honored at the 2023 BU Wheelock Alumni Award Ceremony, which will be held Thursday, September 21, 5:30–7:30 pm, during Boston University’s Alumni Weekend. Learn more and register for the 2023 Alumni Awards Ceremony.

2023 Alumni Awardees

Young Alumni Award: Zhongfeng Tian (Wheelock’16) and Cinique Weekes-Bynoe (Wheelock’16)

Zhongfeng Tian is an assistant professor of bilingual education at Rutgers University–Newark. Informed by his multilingual (Mandarin, English, and Cantonese) and transnational (China and US) background, his research centers on developing equity-oriented pedagogies with teachers to advance cultural and linguistic pluralism and justice in schools and society.

Cinique Weekes-Bynoe is an assistant principal at Brooke East Boston. He serves on the boards of several educational nonprofit, such as LEAH and Minds Matter Boston for educational equity. Before joining Brooke, he taught middle school English & language arts at Roxbury Prep Dorchester for several years and coached at several schools in Greater Boston through Teach For America as a manager in teacher leadership development.

Distinguished Contribution to Alma Mater & Alumni: Kyla McSweeney (Wheelock’94,’97)

Kyla McSweeney is a longtime early childhood educator who currently serves as the director of comprehensive system supports for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. Beginning as a Head Start teacher in Roxbury, Massachusetts, she has dedicated her career to early childhood education, holding positions such as child care center director, public interest attorney, adjunct professor, and child care resource and referral specialist. She currently serves as the president of the Lucy’s Legacy Foundation.

Global Impact Award: Karen Lo (Wheelock’13)

Karen Lo is a sport psychology practitioner, author, and university lecturer from Hong Kong who has worked with professional athletes, teams, and organizations all across Asia. The founder of Inner Edge, a sport and performance psychology consultancy, she is the first Certified Mental Performance Consultant of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (USA) in the greater China area. Today, she continues to advocate for the field in her native country and to bring ethical sport psychology practices to the East.

Trailblazer Award: Nicole Homerin (Wheelock’17)

Nicole Homerin is an educator and disability advocate. She serves as inclusion communities manager at Partners for Youth with Disabilities and is owner of Homerin Educational Services, LLC. She was recently named the recipient of the 2023 Steve Bartlett Award for her work in disability advocacy, leadership, and empowerment.

Lucy Wheelock Award: Alice Shea (Wheelock’95)

As an advocate for educational equity, Alice Shea addresses systemic barriers that hinder access to educational resources and workforce opportunities in the state of Maine. Through her work in partnership with the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, Cumberland County Adult Education, and Southern Maine Community College, she has dedicated herself to closing the opportunity gap and promoting social mobility for Maine adult learners.

Special Recognition (posthumous): Rick Hoyt (Wheelock’93)

Rick Hoyt was born on January 10, 1962, and passed away on May 22, 2023. Rick had cerebral palsy, which affected his ability to speak and walk. Despite this, he completed a master’s degree in special education at Boston University and over 1,200 road races, including 35 Boston Marathons.