A 21-year member of the Swansea School Committee, serving seven years as chair and six as vice chair, Ellen Furtado has also brought her commitment and leadership skills to a number of the district's subcommittees, including: Building; Policy; Transportation; Sick Bank; Jr. High Renovation: Negotiations; and Contracts. For the past four years, she has been an active member of the MASC Board of Directors, serving as vice president (2006) secretary-treasurer (2005) and previously as chair of Division III, having also served as its vice chair and secretary- treasurer. She has been a member of the 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 Joint Conference Planning Committees and a member of the Federal Relations Network. In her community, she is a founding member of the Case High School PTO and served six years as its president. She is also past president of the Cardinals Athletic Association; the chair of the Swansea Council on Aging; a co-founder and co-chair of the Case High School After the Prom Committee; and past president of the Case High Alumni Association. Mrs. Furtado is currently a travel agent and former New England Telephone employee. She lists her greatest accomplishment as having raised eight children in collaboration with her husband, Jerry (himself a career educator) all of whom thrived and prospered in the Massachusetts public education system. Ellen, Jerry and their children are all graduates of Case High School in Swansea.