Our Team
Staff
Board of DirectorsNational Advisory Council
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Charles Best founded DonorsChoose.org at Wings Academy, a public high school in the Bronx where he was a social studies teacher for five years. He thought up DonorsChoose.org during a lunch conversation with colleagues, and his students volunteered to help start the organization. To entice his fellow teachers to try out the new website, Charles offered them his mother's famous pear dessert. DonorsChoose.org has been growing since.
Andy Kaplan, Chief Financial Officer
Andy is responsible for finance and administration. Previously, Andy worked for seven years at Audible, Inc. as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Earlier in his career at Time Warner, Andy served in various management positions in the US and Europe, including Chief Financial Officer of Time Life. Prior to that, Andy was with Ernst & Young LLP. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Florida State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Andy serves on the Board of Directors of VIP Community Services, an agency which offers services to individuals with a history of chemical dependency.
Oliver Hurst-Hiller, Chief Technology Officer
Oliver leads the DonorsChoose.org engineering team and is responsible for the technology systems that power DonorsChoose.org's unique philanthropic marketplace. Prior to joining the team, Oliver worked as a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft where he managed product engineering projects for Microsoft's new Internet search engine. He also worked with renowned computer scientist Dr. Gary Flake to start Microsoft Live Labs, a new applied research laboratory for Internet technologies. Oliver joined Microsoft when the Windows Tablet PC group acquired EQuill, a venture-backed software start-up that he co-founded and led for three years as CEO. He is a co-inventor of an issued U.S. patent related to web-based document annotation and multiple pending patents for Internet search-related technologies. Oliver graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Computer Science and spent the first 13 years of his academic career attending New York City public schools.
Brita Lombardi, Executive Vice President for Strategic Development
Applying the lessons learned from starting, managing, and investing in high-growth companies and nonprofit organizations, Brita is responsible for driving the national expansion of DonorsChoose.org. Most recently, she served as Acting COO of the Bring Me a Book Foundation. Previously, Brita worked as an associate at Bain & Company; as President of VenusSports.com; and as Investment Principal of GameChange Venture Capital, a $100 million venture capital partnership between Softbank and Accenture Technology Ventures. Brita also spent two years overseeing a portfolio of social enterprises for Keystone Community Ventures. She graduated from Stanford University with Highest Honors.
César Bocanegra, Executive Vice President for Operations
César is responsible for leading the operations team of DonorsChoose.org and ensuring the operations workflow is fully scalable. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, César spent 11 years with AT&T in various capacities, including Sales, Finance, and Vendor Management. He was the national president of HISPA, a non-profit organization focused on developing Hispanic youth. César earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Caltech, where he specialized in Product Design and Development. He graduated with an M.S. from MIT, where he focused his education in designing Manufacturing Systems and making them more efficient and lean by eliminating non-value added activities. César recently obtained his MBA from the Wharton School of Business in Strategic Management. He will ensure that the operations at DonorsChoose.org are updated with the latest techniques and strategies available.
Missy Sherburne, EVP, Engagement
Missy leads the seven DonorsChoose.org regional teams and oversees national programs and regional expansion efforts. Previously, she served as the founding Executive Director of DonorsChoose.org North Carolina and South Carolina. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she was the North Carolina Executive Director with Teach For America, where she led efforts to quadruple the funding base during her five year tenure. She started her career as a Teach For America corps members in Baltimore, teaching the third and fourth grades. Missy holds B.A. degrees in Political Science and Speech Communication from Miami University and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government where she was a Public Service Fellow.
Linda Erlinger, Vice President, Teacher Engagement
Linda directs organizational efforts to ensure that all public school teachers know about DonorsChoose.org and use it as a resource to help make classroom ideas a reality. Linda joined the team in 2004 as the Chicago-based Executive Director for the new Midwest Region. Previously, Linda served as Development Director with Teach For America and as Manager of Applications of Research with the Chicago Panel on School Policy. Prior to this, she taught 6th grade in Oakland, California and wished that DonorsChoose.org was around when she had to sell candy bars to raise funds to take her students to Washington, DC. Linda graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University and earned a Master of Public Policy degree from the Harris School at the University of Chicago.
Business Development and Marketing Brita Lombardi, Executive Vice President for Strategic Development Kari Hayden, Director of Corporate Partnerships
Kari serves as the Director of Corporate Partnerships at DonorsChoose.org. Prior to joining the team, she was a consultant for Public/Private Ventures where she directed strategic partnerships and worked for The Corporate Citizenship Company. Previously, Kari led corporate giving at Educational Employees Credit Union, where her large-scale community service collaborations received back-to-back recognition with the Dora Maxwell Award in Social Responsibility. Kari received her Masters in Public/Nonprofit Management at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, as well as a Bachelor of Arts from California State University of Fresno.
Frankie Cheung, Senior Marketing Analyst
Frankie is responsible for providing reporting and analysis to guide decision making in the organization, specifically analyzing consumer behavior that will help drive our marketing efforts. Previously, he worked in a business management role for a technology division at Merrill Lynch and as a reporting specialist and database developer for smaller organizations. He has also spent time as a classroom assistant at a public elementary school. Frankie graduated from New York University with a degree in Computer Science.
Tatiana Josephy, Senior Marketing Manager
Tatiana works on marketing campaigns and the online giving experience. She graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She has worked for the Vera Institute of Justice in New York and the French Senate in Paris. She spent a semester studying in South Africa, where she conducted research on government roll-out of antiretroviral treatment in the Khayelitsha township.
Andy Kaplan, Chief Financial Officer Roger Carrion, Accounts Payable Associate
Roger manages the accounts payable function for DonorsChoose.org. In his role, he works with our operations team to manage vendor relations by ensuring the payment of all invoices in an accurate and timely fashion, as well as leading process improvement initiatives in the vendor processing realm. Roger brings over 5 years in accounts payable experience and has served on the accounting team of NYANA. He has an Associates Degree from the Borough of Manhattan Community College in Business Management and is currently attending Baruch College's Accounting program.
Rama first came aboard as a college intern and joined the team full-time after receiving her BBA in Finance & Investments from Baruch College. Rama's responsibilities include maintenance of our general ledger, managing our monthly close, financial reporting, keeping record of donated services, and acting as a liaison to state governments to ensure that our tax exempt status and business registrations are current.
Faran's primary responsibilities include cash receipts, grant administration, issuing gift codes, and gift certificate billing. He previously worked at JESNA as a full-time Accountant, and prior to that he was a College Assistant at the bursar office of Baruch College. He has also volunteered in a VITA program. Faran graduated from Baruch College with a degree in Accounting.
César Bocanegra, Executive Vice President for Operations Brandon Cavanagh, Operations Associate (Teacher Customer Service Team)
As a member of the Teacher Customer Service Team, Brandon oversees the workflow from the time a project is funded until the time the materials are purchased and is working to automate more of the process to help ensure DonorsChoose.org's scalability. Previously, he worked as an Environmental Advocate with Environment Ohio, where he worked to help pass Ohio's first renewable energy standard. Prior to his work with Environment Ohio, Brandon was a member of the Finance Team at DonorsChoose.org. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Economics and Environmental Studies, and he cannot walk away from a good cookie.
Jenni Davies, Fulfillment Manager (Vendor Relations and Fulfillment)
Jenni manages customer service inquiries, enhances procurement systems, and handles fulfillment of funded student projects. Previously, Jenni worked with Jumpstart for Young Children as an Americorps VISTA. At Jumpstart, Jenni focused on development events, individual giving, grant writing, and database design. Jenni graduated from Boston College with a BS in sociology and a minor in education.
Jonathan Evans, Vendor Relations Director
Jonathan develops and manages strategic relationships with DonorChoose.org's business partners to enhance operational efficiency and ensure its scalability. Previously, he was the Executive Director of Means For Dreams, an identical model in Washington, DC, that merged with DonorsChoose.org. A Harry S. Truman Scholar, Jonathan graduated magna cum laude from Boston College.
Abigail Feuer, Operations Associate (Screening Team)
Abby Feuer is the Screening Operations Associate at DonorsChoose.org, helping teachers submit and manage their projects and working with Alisa on the Teachers as Screeners Volunteer Program. Abby graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Psychology and a citation in Spanish as part of the Class of 2008. Over the past 2 years, Abby has done Cause Marketing work for the American Heart Association and Western Union at Cone, Inc. and Nonprofit Consulting with Lifelinks, Inc. She is intrigued by the ever-changing nonprofit sector and loves to learn about innovative nonprofits that are truly leveraging resources and finding new ways to solve problems. Abby also loves to travel, run, do yoga, and eat lots of different cuisines.
Alisa Catellier, Screening Manager
Alisa is responsible for overseeing the teacher submission process and managing volunteers. She previously fundraised for non-profits such as Care, Plan, and Oxfam. She also spent many hours working on the administrative side of V-Day, a non-profit aimed at ending violence towards women. Alisa graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a B.A. in Political Science and Theatre.
Allyson Gavaletz, Office Manager
As the DonorsChoose.org Office Manager, Allyson gets to work on a variety of projects with a variety of people, which she enjoys. When not ordering office supplies, you can find her attempting to help win kickball games, traveling to different points in the US and beyond, and cheering on her co workers as they sing karaoke. Allyson previously worked as a Site Director for Wingspan Arts, Inc., a non profit arts enrichment program serving K-12 students in NYC. She has a BA in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from the University of Northern Colorado.
Jeff Howard, Senior Vendor Relations Associate (Vendor Relations and Fulfillment)
Jeff is responsible for working with our vendors to streamline business, support operational scalability, and strengthen our vendor partnerships. He joined our team after leading several fundraising campaigns both in the U.S. and the U.K., for non-profits such as Amnesty International, Plan USA, Children International and the British Red Cross. Jeff also directed the first American Civil Liberties Union grassroots campaign in U.S. history and helped run the mid-term elections for the Democratic National Committee. Jeff was educated at Webster University and majored in International Relations. He volunteers part-time as the Development Manager for another non-profit, Race for Peace.org.
Laura Libby, Special Projects Manager
Laura manages all DonorsChoose.org special projects, including: class visitors, class trips and special requests. Calling on her earlier experience as part of the Vendor Relations and Fulfillment team, Laura helps to create new processes and enhancements that streamline all facets of these specific types of requests. She graduated M.A. (Hons.) in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and has been an avid volunteer of Habitat for Humanity and the British Red Cross.
Binna Lieh, Operations Associate (Vendor Relations & Fulfillment Team)
Binna Lieh previously worked at Association to Benefit Children, a non-profit that reaches out to vulnerable children and families of East Harlem. She focused on managing its early childhood program contracts, writing public grants, and tracking program data. She enjoys picnics, trying out new foods, and letting everyone know that New Jersey is awesome. Binna has an A.B. from Princeton University.
Karina Liu, Operations Associate (Feedback Team)
Karina oversees the assembly and mailing of Donor Thank-you Packages and co-manages the High School Internship Program. Before joining the team at DonorsChoose.org, she volunteered by teaching art and writing classes in schools and community centers all over the Bay Area. Karina has also worked with organizations such as Teach For America, Teachers & Writers, Inc., and the Asian American Writers' Workshop. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from Stanford University. Recreationally, Karina enjoys sewing and knitting her own clothes.
Neeta Nadkarny, Customer Service Manager
Neeta is responsible for overseeing teacher customer service and for implementing enhancements to ensure that our customer service system is scalable as we continue to grow. She joined DonorsChoose.org in 2005, serving as Program Coordinator, Teacher Engagement Manager, and Associate Director for the Central States region before taking on her current role. Neeta graduated from the University of Chicago, where she earned a B.A. in Sociology with honors.
Elaine Perez, Feedback Manager
Elaine is responsible for managing the Feedback Compilation process including: 1) creation of teacher thank-you kits; 2) checking-in completed teacher thank-you packages; and 3) creation and sending of donor thank-you packages. Her focus is on the standardization, scalability, and efficiency of those processes. Elaine also manages the High School/College Internship program. She enjoys her days in FeedbackLand with the company of her amazing team, interns and volunteers. Previously, she worked at PlasmaNet where she was the Director of Customer Service. Elaine earned her BS in Information Systems with a minor in Business from Pace University. Passionate about helping others and making a difference, she travels to Huaquechula, Mexico annually with her church, where her tasks involve distributing food to poor areas and working with children.
Andrew Protain, Operations Associate (Feedback Team)
Andrew Protain is responsible for the development and implementation of special projects that increase the efficiency of all feedback processes. He is also responsible for providing timely and quality customer service for inquiries relating to feedback. Previously he interned at NPower NY, a nonprofit that provides technology support to other nonprofits, Life Magazine and the South Bronx Health Center for Children and Families. He has done everything from designing ads and promotional campaigns to helping to develop pregnancy and parenting programs. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he loves technology and in his spare time enjoys listening to all kinds of music, reading, and running. Andrew received a Bachelor of Arts in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University.
Jeana Takahashi, Operations Associate (Vendor Relations & Fulfillment Team)
Jeana Takahashi was born and raised in Fujisawa, Japan and is a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she received a B.A in Government in June 2008. Through studying government and teaching health workshops in public high schools as a member of Peer Health Exchange, she was became disenchanted by government's inability to serve the nation's youth and opted to set foot into the world of non-profits. Aside from an interest in education and public service, she enjoys traveling and experiencing new cultures, anything related to music (does karaoke count?), learning new languages and playing sports.
Zach Walker, Donor Customer Service
Zach does his best to help create and maintain happy relationships with our donors. He comes to DonorsChoose.org after working as a marketing and advertising consultant for Google. Prior to that he spent 4 years at Warner Music Group marketing and selling records. He received a BS in Management Science & Information Technology from Virginia Tech in 2001. While there, he volunteered at a local residential treatment facility teaching music to at-risk youth.
Partnerships & Development: Teacher Engagement Missy Sherburne, EVP, Engagement Linda Erlinger, Vice President, Teacher Engagement Melanie Duppins, Manager of Teacher Engagement Partnerships
Melanie is responsible for growing the reach of DonorsChoose.org by expanding the base of teacher users through strategic partnerships. Formerly a Teacher Engagement Manager, Melanie doubled teacher participation in the Atlantic region in less than one year. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Melanie taught 6th grade English in Baltimore City. Melanie Duppins holds a B.A. in Literature from American University. She currently lives in Maryland with her husband and a lifetime supply of world poetry anthologies.
Charlotte Weiskittel, Director of Teacher Marketing and Communications
Charlotte is responsible for the online teacher experience at DonorsChoose.org. She joined the organization in 2006, serving first as Assistant to the CEO and then as Project Manager before joining the Teacher Engagement team. She spent a gap year studying in Paris and in Oxford and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in June 2006 with a B.A. in psychology. She has conducted research on Huntington's Disease at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution and designed and executed fMRI memory studies at Princeton University. Charlotte never pictured herself living in New York but is now becoming quite the city girl!
Partnerships & Development: Central & South Regions (Central: IL, IN, IA, KY, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI / South: AL, AR, FL, GA, LA, MS, OK, TN, TX)
Keecia brings DonorsChoose.org more than 9 years of teaching, philanthropy, program, and fundraising experience. She leads a team of four individuals dedicated to building a strong donor community for K-12 students in the Central and South Regions. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she served as Development Director and Director of Alumni Affairs for Teach For America Atlanta. She also taught English and Language Arts to middle and high school students in Eastern North Carolina through the Teach For America program. Keecia received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College, and a master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Illinois.
Alicia is responsible for cultivating new and existing individual, corporate, and foundation supporters, as well as developing and executing strategies for district outreach and teacher engagement. Alicia comes to DonorsChoose.org with extensive private sector marketing experience, having worked for consumer products companies such as Terlato Wines International and L'Oreal USA, where she held a management role. In her past positions she has helped spearhead cause marketing partnerships and developed strategic marketing plans for numerous luxury brands. Alicia has a B.A. from Northwestern University and has vast volunteer experience.
Kirk Smiley, Associate Director
Kirk is responsible for all aspects of the organization's expansion throughout the state of Indiana as well as St. Louis, MO. He previously worked as the coordinator of the Interns for Indiana program through the Discovery Learning Center at Purdue University. Kirk graduated with honors from Purdue with a B.S. in Management, B.A. in English Literature and Religious Studies, and, most recently, an M.B.A. from the Krannert School of Management. Coming from a long lineage of public school educators in the Midwest, Kirk is very excited to be working with such an amazing and committed organization.
Natalie French, Associate Director
Natalie is managing our efforts in Texas and Oklahoma. Prior to joining the organization, she worked at Allyn & Company where she handled media relations for DonorsChoose.org. The daughter of a Houston public school teacher, Natalie graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in History, and is a candidate for an MBA at The University of Texas at Dallas.
Partnerships & Development: East Region and Mobilization Marketing (CT, District of Columbia, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, VA, VT, WV)
Katie Bisbee and her team are responsible for building a strong donor community for K-12 students from Maine to South Carolina. Katie also manages DonorsChoose.org's mobilization campaigns, including Blogger Challenge, Mustaches for Kids and Donate Your Birthday. Katie comes to DonorsChoose.org with experience in both social and entrepreneurial settings, from working at the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, to conducting public opinion research studies for commercial, non-profit and political clients. Most recently, she launched a direct marketing venture in Charlotte, NC for an entrepreneurial marketing firm. Katie earned her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Darden School of the University of Virginia.
Thalia Theodore, Executive Director, Northeast
Thalia manages the Northeast team and focuses on building corporate, donor and school district relationships throughout the Northeast region. Thalia has eight years of experience in the education and nonprofit sector. Previously, she was a public school teacher in the Bronx and one of the first 100 DonorsChoose.org teachers! Prior to joining the staff of DonorsChoose.org, she served as an administrative director at Teach For America in Los Angeles and coordinated volunteer and community programs at The Wonder of Reading, a Los Angeles-based literacy nonprofit. Thalia holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland College Park and an MPA in nonprofit management from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.
Alexandra Cerkovnik, Associate Director
Alex establishes and maintains relationships with DonorsChoose.org partners and supporters across the Atlantic region. She has been a member of the DonorsChoose.org team since 2006, previously serving as program coordinator for the Atlantic region. Alex graduated magna cum laude from North Carolina State University in 2006 with a B.A. in Communication & Public Relations.
Yaritza Olmeda-Cedeño, Associate Director
Yaritza supports the Northeast Team's efforts through grants management, teacher engagement, fundraising, and donor development. She has been a member of the DonorsChoose.org team since 2007, previously serving as program coordinator for the Northeast region. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she worked in the South Bronx as an English Tutor/Teacher's Assistant with the Middle Grades Initiative. Yaritza, who is married to a NYC public school teacher, graduated Marist College with a dual B.A. in International Communication and Spanish and holds an M.A. in International Education from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at NYU.
Daphra Holder, Manager, Mobilization Marketing
Daphra manages Mobilization Marketing initiatives in our national office, including the Blogger Challenge, Mustaches for Kids, Donate Your Birthday and a slew of other new media special projects. In her spare time, Daphra mentors for iMentor, an innovative technology-based youth mentoring program catering to inner city public school youth. She earned an A.B. in Political Science from Princeton University and previously worked as an equities analyst at Goldman Sachs.
Partnerships & Development: West Region (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY) Carolina Martín, Vice President
Carolina manages DonorsChoose.org in the West region. She is responsible for all on-the-ground activities: developing partnerships in schools, raising funds, recruiting volunteers, and most importantly, building a strong community of donors for students in the West region. Carolina comes to DonorsChoose.org from a diverse career in the corporate, non-profit, and education sectors. She started her career as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles and San Diego, served as the Executive Director for Summerbridge in the Bay Area, she then worked at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, where she served as the Director of Community & Scholar Relations. Most recently, Carolina served as Vice President for Hispanic Initiatives for Sallie Mae in California and the Northwest. Carolina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a Masters degree in Educational Leadership from the University of San Diego.
Julie Lacouture, Deputy Director
Julie has almost 10 years of work experience in advertising, marketing, non-profit finance, and general management. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.Org, she worked at Sempra Energy Utilities promoting low income customer assistance programs. Julie has also worked at the UCLA Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows Program, SeeitandStopit.org (an organization dedicated to ending teen dating violence), Peace Games, and Oscar Mayer, where she toured the country in a Wienermobile. She has a dual BA in Advertising and Psychology from Syracuse University and an MBA from UCLA.
Candice Chesson, Associate Director
Candice assists with the organization's expansion, outreach and project management throughout the West Coast. Before joining DonorsChoose.org, she practiced law in New York, focusing on commercial and securities litigation. Prior to that, she worked in advertising production, managing projects for advertising and public relations campaigns. Candice earned her J.D. Magna Cum Laude from Seton Hall Law School and her undergraduate degree in advertising from the University of Georgia.
Oliver Hurst-Hiller, Chief Technology Officer Mitsu Hadeishi, Principal Architect
Mitsu is the former Tech Director of DonorsChoose.org, and he's returned in the role of Principal Architect, with a focus on technical architecture, software engineering, and development methodologies and practices. In the last few years Mitsu has served as the CTO of the internet startup Temboo, in Tribeca, and has also worked for Google in Chelsea. Prior to his first stint at DonorsChoose.org, Mitsu was one of the founding partners of the software consulting company Ministry of Thought, where he was the lead programmer on many projects for companies such as Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Disney, and others. Mitsu has a B.A. in Physics from Harvard College. In his spare time, he's also involved in a variety of other software and arts projects, including his Synthetic Zero Loft Events art and performance series, as well as collaborative simulations and visualization web projects with the user experience designer Heather Anne Halpert.
David Crane, Senior Software Engineer
David has 19 years experience building distributed systems and internet services. He has deep expertise in in object-oriented languages, relational databases and middleware technologies, as well as a healthy respect for software engineering discipline. David has built software systems for financial service companies including NASD, Thomson Financial, Salomon Brothers, and Knight-Ridder Financial. Most recently, David served as Director of Front-End System Development at CheckFree. He was also responsible for capacity planning for the CheckFree Investment Services platform, which processes portfolios with assets under management totaling more than $1.8 trillion. Prior to his career in financial information systems, David earned his M.S. degree from NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratories.
Susan Chow, Senior Web Developer
Susan builds new donor- and teacher-facing website functionality for DonorsChoose.org, and enjoys bringing pen-and-paper plans to life. With over 12 years experience in website development and interactive design, she has created transactional and informational websites for Hewlett Packard, SpaFinder, and a host of smaller sites. Susan has also authored interactive games and fiction for clients that included Disney Software, Sony Music, and Popular Science. Susan graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Music.
Ken Kim, Senior Software Engineer
Ken is a software engineer who specializes in application development and transactional systems. Prior to DonorsChoose.org, Ken was a Developer/Analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he worked on the implementation of various provisioning systems. Before that, he worked as a Developer for Tallán, a software development consulting company. At Tallán, Ken worked on projects for Columbia House, ClassesUSA, and FedEx Kinkos. Ken also built www.glovesbybruno.com, an e-commerce website selling luxury Italian leather gloves, as a side project. Ken graduated from the School of Engineering at Columbia University with a B.S. in Computer Science.
Frances Lee, Senior Software Engineer
Frances has more than 7 years of software engineering experience, specializing in web application development. Previously, Frances spent 3 and a half years at Citigroup as a Senior Programmer Analyst in the Foreign Exchange eCommerce group, developing trading platforms such as CitiFX Benchmark, Chief Dealer and eOrders, and various back-end systems. In addition, she also served as a Disaster Recovery Coordinator for Citigroup's Foreign Exchange Front Office. Prior to Citigroup, Frances spent 3 years at Novantas developing Mindswift, a CRM platform used to improve the effectiveness of customer interaction. Before working at Novantas, Frances started her career designing and prototyping applications for Scient. Frances graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Computer Science.
Boris Kerzner, Software Engineer
Boris is a software developer at DonorsChoose.org. Prior to joining, he consulted on finance-related projects at Accenture, and took a brief foray into the world of rapid web development. He holds a B.A. in Computer Science and Math from Brandeis University as well as an M.A. in Computer Science.
Alan McGee, Senior Marketing Analyst
Alan is responsible for Donorschoose.org site analytics, including search engine and email campaign management. Prior to joining the team, Alan spent three years as a systems integration and technology consultant with Accenture. Taking a leave of absence from consulting in 2007, Alan accepted a Kiva Fellowship and spent three months in Kenya studying the effects of microfinance lending in rural communities. He has since worked with Kiva's Customer Support and Data Analytics teams to improve end-user experiences and analyze user growth patterns. Alan has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University, with a minor in business administration.
David Puketza, Principal Designer
Re-engineering the phrase "jack of all trades" to have it end: "why settle for one?," Dave has held a wide assortment of positions. He has worked cross media, lending design leadership to: user interface work for web and TV, graphic design, animation, video, copy writing, sound design and virtual worlds. He has worked with a wide range of clients, including: Sony, TV Guide, Yahoo and David Bowie. David balances work with various pursuits and interests, including, but not limited to: running, creative writing, basketball, trainhopping, photography, art gallery combing, and traveling hither and yon. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Architecture and is excited to add DonorsChoose.org to his list of accomplishments. Design with purpose, a fantastic combination!
Jonathan Alter Jonathan Beyman Peter Bloom, Board Chair Michael Brader-Araje Bill Bradley Maxine Clark Stephen Colbert Cheryl Dorsey Edwin A. Goodman Matt Halprin Joshua Levine Theresia Ranzetta Trabian Shorters Jeff Weiner Fred Wilson Anthony Yoseloff Pro Bono Legal Counsel Kevin K. Albert Ethan Beard Chuck Beck Andrew Braccia J.B. Buxton Lisa Dallos Bob Daly, Los Angeles Founding Partner Ruthanne Feinberg Timothy Ferriss Donna Golkin Steve Jones John Keller Neeru Khosla Sherry Lansing Lenny Mendonca Katie Mitic Craig Newmark Jeffrey Patchen Dr. John J. Ramos Dan Rosensweig Carole Bayer Sager, Los Angeles Founding Partner Anne K. Shane James Slavet David Snelling Dana Stalder John E. Thompson, Jr. Tom Uhlman |
 
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National Leadership Partners
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National Partners
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Approved by
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Featured by
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National Leadership Partners
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National Partners
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