Meet our Team

Board of Directors

Jonathan AlterMSNBC Analyst, Bloomberg Columnist, Author

Jonathan is an award-winning author, reporter, columnist and television analyst. Since 2011, Jonathan has written a column for Bloomberg View, a worldwide commentary site housed under Bloomberg News. He spent 28 years at Newsweek, where he was a longtime senior editor and columnist and wrote more than 50 cover stories. He has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The New Republic and other publications.

Since 1996, Jonathan has been an analyst and contributing correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC. His 2010 book, "The Promise: President Obama, Year One," went to #4 on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List and was one of the Times' "Notable Books" of the year. "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope," published in 2006, was also a bestseller.

Yvette Nicole BrownActress

Actress Yvette Nicole Brown currently stars as Oscar Madison’s no-nonsense assistant on CBS’ hit revival of "The Odd Couple,” which is currently in its second season.

Brown began her entertainment career as a recording artist signed to Motown Records as a teen and has since successfully become one of the most sought-after character actresses in Hollywood. She’s appeared and often recurred on numerous hit TV shows including “The Office,” “Drake and Josh,” “Entourage” and most recently as the beloved Shirley on the NBC fan favorite, “Community” among others.

On the big screen, Brown voiced a character in the recent animated feature “Yellowbird”. She’s also appeared in the family film “Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters” as well as the blockbuster “Tropic Thunder” to name a few.

She’s also become a talk-show staple; making the rounds on various daytime shows like “The View” and “Anderson Cooper” along with repeat appearances on the daytime hit “The Chew,” a full season of guest co-hosting “The Jeff Probst Show” and multiple appearances on the Chris Hardwick hosted hit, “Talking Dead,” which is the popular companion show to AMC’s “The Walking Dead”.

Brown is honored to be a part of the DonorsChoose.org Board and looks forward to helping out wherever needed.

Peter Bloom, Board ChairAdvisory Director, General Atlantic, LLC

Peter is currently an Advisory Director at General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, where he worked as a Managing Director for 15 years before retiring at the end of 2009. Since he joined the firm in 1995, Peter led global technology due diligence on prospective investments, provided technology and risk management assistance to CEO's and senior management teams of portfolio companies as well as guidance on emerging technology trends for GA, its stakeholders, and several private and public entities.

Prior to joining General Atlantic, Peter spent thirteen years at Salomon Brothers in a variety of roles in both technology and fixed income sales and trading. While at Salomon Brothers, he received the Carnegie Mellon/AMS Achievement Award in Managing Information Technology. Peter graduated from Northwestern University in 1978 with a B.A. in Computer Studies and Economics.

He served as a member of the New York Electronic Crimes Task Force and as a judge for the Lemelson-MIT Invention Awards and the Legatum Fortune Technology Prize. He was a founding member of the BP Digital and Communications Technology Advisory Board and the New School for Social Research Technology Advisory Board. He is an active member of Business Executives for National Security and a consultant on security related technology issues as well as a member of the FCC Technical Advisory Council. Peter is a frequent speaker to private, educational and public sector organizations on technology related issues.

Stephen ColbertSatirist, Actor, Writer and Host of CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert is best known as the host, writer and executive producer of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. His long-running Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning series "The Colbert Report" aired on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014 and was nominated for 40 Emmys, winning a total of 6. The show was also twice honored with the prestigious Peabody® Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.

Carolyn EversonVice President, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook

Carolyn Everson is the Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook, where she leads Facebook’s relationships with its top marketers and agencies across the globe. Carolyn oversees a team of regional leaders, and the teams focused on global partnerships, global agencies and Facebook’s Creative Shop.

Prior to Facebook, Carolyn was the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Global Advertising Sales and Trade Marketing Teams. Carolyn led the company’s advertising business across Bing, MSN, Windows Live, Mobile, Faming, Atlas and the Microsoft Media Network. Carolyn also spent seven years at MTV Networks. Her last role was as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of U.S. Ad Sales for MTV Networks where she oversaw strategic planning, operations, and finance for MTVN’s U.S. Ad Sales department. She also was responsible for MTVN’s Direct Response business and the cross platform, cross brand strategic sales and marketing group called Generator.

Carolyn holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and communications from Villanova University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. She also obtained a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard where she was a Baker Scholar. Carolyn has been named a Woman to Watch and Fortune included her on the 40 under 40 list two years in a row. Carolyn is also on the Board of Directors of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc; serves on the Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Board; is a board member of the Effies and an advisor to Luma Partners. She resides in Montclair, New Jersey with her husband Doug and twin daughters Taylor and Kennedy.

Theresia GouwFounder, Aspect Ventures

Theresia is an engineer, an experienced entrepreneur, and successful investor in the new mobility space, focused primarily on Consumer, Social Commerce, and Security opportunities.

Prior to co-founding Aspect Ventures, Theresia was a partner at Accel for 15 years, with a number of successful exits, including IPOs for Imperva (IMPV), PeopleSupport (PSPT), Trulia (TRLA), and acquisitions of Kosmix (WMT), Xoopit (YHOO) and Zimbra (YHOO). Theresia serves on the boards of several private and public companies. She led the series A or seed rounds in several leading Mobile/Consumer Internet companies (Birchbox, HotelTonight, LearnVest, Trulia, Joyus) and Security Software companies (Imperva, ForeScout, TRUSTe).

As an entrepreneur, Theresia was founding VP of Business Development & Sales at Release Software, a venture-backed company that provided SaaS to enable digital rights management and payment technologies for the software industry. Earlier, she worked at Bain & Company and as a product manager at Silicon Graphics. Theresia holds a ScB in Engineering from Brown University, magna cum laude, and an MBA from Stanford University.

Genein LetfordElementary Music Teacher

Genein Letford is an elementary music teacher from Canoga Park, CA and believes that every child, despite socioeconomic status, deserves a quality education that includes the arts. Genein began her teaching career as a third grade teacher of low-income English language learners. It was there she discovered the power of using music and dance to help teach vocabulary and academic concepts to her students.

Genein is now the music director at the same elementary school and has created a dynamic award-winning music curriculum that not only teaches music standards but also incorporates corresponding math, science, language arts and social studies concepts. In 2009, Letford began the Music For All: Instrument Scholarship Fund, which awarded low-income high achieving students with instruments for their ongoing music education.

In 2010, Genein was named the Great American Teacher of the Year and was a recipient of the Los Angeles Music Center's Bravo Arts Educator Award. In 2014, she was honored with the 'Innovation in Education' Award from the Valley Economic Alliance for her dynamic arts program and has traveled to Japan and South Korea during the summer of 2014 as part of the prestigious Hilton Worldwide Teacher Trek program. Genein was honored with the Charter School Teacher of the Year Hart Vision Award in March of 2015.

Mrs. Letford received her bachelor degree from UCLA in psychology and completed her master thesis, 'Integration With Integrity: The Importance of Keeping Music in the Elementary Classroom' at California State University, Northridge in 2010. Due to her extensive knowledge in arts integration, she was recently appointed as a lecturer of the 'Interdisciplinary Arts Education' masters course at CSUN's Eisner College of Education. She has done numerous professional presentations on this topic and remains focused on bringing arts education to underserved communities.

Richard LovettPresident, Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

Richard Lovett is president of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the world’s leading entertainment and sports agency, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Nashville and Beijing. Lovett’s personal clients are among the world’s most accomplished actors, directors, writers and producers.

Lovett began his career in the mailroom at CAA, rising the ranks to become president in 1995. Since then, he has led the company in unprecedented innovation and growth, creating a new model for client representation in the 21st century. In addition to representing many of the most successful professionals working in film, television, music, video games, theater, and digital media, CAA provides a range of strategic marketing and consulting services to corporate clients.

Under Lovett’s leadership, CAA has also launched a highly successful investment banking affiliate, Evolution Media Capital (EMC); a private equity firm, Star Avenue Capital; five venture-financed Internet companies, including comedy content creator Funny or Die; and a digital media and consumer technology venture fund.

In 1996, Lovett and his partners created the CAA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the agency. Lovett has received numerous awards for his activism, including the Shoah Foundation’s Ambassador for Humanity Award, presented by Steven Spielberg.

A native of Milwaukee, Lovett attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Desirée RogersCEO, Johnson Publishing and former White House Social Secretary

Desirée Rogers was appointed CEO of Johnson Publishing Company in August 2010 and has an extensive track record in mature brand rebuilding. Most recently, Desirée served as the White House Social Secretary for President Obama where she spearheaded the establishment of the White House as the people's house. She completed over 350 events during her tenure. In addition she has an extensive network of relationships built over 25 years and experience working in both the public and private sectors. Rogers has a BA degree in Political Science from Wellesley College and a MBA from Harvard University.

Trabian ShortersFounding CEO, BMe

Trabian has a long history of creating and running innovative networks for the public good. As Vice President of Communities for Knight Foundation from 2007-2013, he directed a $300M portfolio in 26 cities as well as the field-leading Knight Community Information Challenge (KCIC) which enticed over 300 foundations to experiment with funding new projects. Prior to that he led Ashoka-US, founded Technology Works for Good (Now 501ctech), and was one of the authors of the AmeriCorps national service program.

As founding CEO of BMe, Trabian envisions communities where we all do better specifically because we are willing to help each other. BMe is our opportunity to build such communities - beginning with inspired black men.

Trabian is also a coach for New York University’s Program for Social Entrepreneurship; and the proud first grandson of Kennis and Irma Lee Hutchons.

Jeff WeinerCEO, LinkedIn

Jeff is the CEO of LinkedIn, the world's largest and most powerful network of professionals. Under his leadership, LinkedIn has rapidly expanded its global platform to eighteen languages and more than 20 offices around the world, grown its membership base from 33 million to over 200 million members, and increased its revenue more than sixfold to $522 million in 2011.

Before joining LinkedIn in 2008, Jeff was an executive in residence at Accel Partners and Greylock Partners, where he advised the firm's consumer technology portfolio companies and evaluated new investment opportunities. Previously, Jeff served as executive vice president of Yahoo!'s Network Division, a business that generated $3 billion in annual revenue with more than 3,000 employees and responsibility for many of the company's consumer-facing and industry-leading products. Prior to joining Yahoo! in 2001, Jeff spent more than six years at Warner Bros., where he helped oversee the company's online efforts and developed the initial business plan for Warner Bros. Online in 1994.

Jeff holds a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fred WilsonManaging Partner, Union Square Ventures

Fred has been a venture capitalist since 1987. He currently is a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and also founded Flatiron Partners. Fred has a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Anthony YoseloffDeputy Executive Managing Member, Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP

Tony is the Deputy Executive Managing Member of Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP. He joined Davidson Kempner in August 1999 and became a Managing Member in January 2004, Co-Deputy Executive Managing Member in January 2012 and the sole Deputy Executive Managing Member in January 2013. Tony received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and an M.B.A. from the Columbia Graduate School of Business Administration in 1999. He earned an A.B., cum laude, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1996.

Executive Team

Charles BestFounder and CEO

Charles Best leads DonorsChoose.org, a nonprofit website which enables anyone to help a classroom in need. Charles launched the organization in 2000 at a Bronx public high school where he taught history for five years. To date, teachers at more than 70% of all the public schools in America have created classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org, and more than 2 million people have given to those projects. DonorsChoose.org is one of Oprah Winfrey's "ultimate favorite things" and made the cover of Fast Company as one of the "50 Most Innovative Companies in the World," the first time a charity has received such recognition.

Katie BisbeeChief Marketing Officer & EVP, Partnerships

Katie leads the marketing and partnership team, engaging 2.5 million citizen donors and 500 corporate and foundation partners in supporting public school classrooms.

Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Katie launched a customer acquisition business at Red Ventures, a company ranked on the Inc. 500 list as one of the nation’s top 20 fastest growing companies. She also conducted market research and political polling for corporate and media clients.

Katie earned her M.B.A. from the Darden School at the University of Virginia, where the faculty awarded her the Hyde Fellowship for her contributions to the school. In 2016, she was named to Direct Marketing News’ “Marketing Hall of Femme”.

César BocanegraChief Operating Officer

César and his team vet thousands of projects per month, and then facilitate the purchase and delivery of materials to classrooms across the country. In addition to office management and several IT functions, César also manages the organization's human capital, customer relations, and donor appreciation efforts. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, César spent 11 years with AT&T in various roles, including Sales and Finance. He was the national president of HISPA, a non-profit organization focused on developing Hispanic youth. César earned his mechanical engineering degrees from Caltech (B.S.) and MIT (M.S.) and holds an MBA in Strategic Management from the Wharton School of Business.
(See César talk about social entrepreneurship.)

Oliver Hurst-HillerChief Technology Officer and Head of Product

Oliver is responsible for the technology and user experience that power DonorsChoose.org's unique philanthropic marketplace.

Prior to joining the team in 2006, Oliver managed product engineering projects for Microsoft's new search engine, now called Bing. He also helped start Microsoft Live Labs, an applied research laboratory for Internet technologies, and is the co-inventor of 22 issued U.S. patents related to Internet search technologies. Oliver joined Microsoft when the Windows division acquired EQuill, a venture-backed startup that he co-founded and led for three years as CEO.

In 2011, the Microsoft Alumni Foundation honored Oliver with the Integral Fellows Award. He is the Chair of CTOs For Good and on the Advisory Council on Computing & Information Technology for Brown University. Oliver has a Computer Science degree from Brown and spent the first 13 years of his academic career attending New York City public schools.

Andy KaplanChief Financial Officer

Andy joined the team in 2006. Before joining DonorsChoose.org, Andy worked at Audible, Inc. (now an Amazon company) as Chief Financial Officer and served on its board of directors. Earlier in his career at Time Warner, he served in various positions in the US and Europe, including Director of European Operations and Chief Financial Officer of Time Life. Prior to that, he was with Ernst & Young LLP. Andy is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a B.S. from Florida State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves on the board of directors of the Westport Arts Center and Harvard Business School Community Partners of Connecticut.

Marketing & Partnerships

Ali AusterlitzPartnerships Director & Head of K-12 Learning Practice

Ali leads our partnerships with corporations and foundations who aim to make an impact beyond school supplies: through research studies, learning outcome-based rewards programs, and teacher professional development opportunities. She started working for the organization in 2014, originally leading teacher outreach on the West Coast. She comes to this work from a previous career as a public school teacher in a low-income community, where she used DonorsChoose.org to secure copies of The Giving Tree for students who were, in her totally unbiased opinion, the world's most adorable and generous preschoolers. An alumna of Teach for America (Bay Area Corps ‘11), Ali graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University and holds an M.A. in Urban Education from Loyola Marymount University.

Katie BisbeeChief Marketing Officer & EVP, Partnerships

Reyna BoothSenior Director, Partnership Operations

As our Salesforce administrator, Reyna works with team members to build our fundraising pipeline, forecast against our annual goals, and create streamlined internal processes for managing corporate and foundation partnerships. Reyna received a B.A. in Communications and Advertising from Loyola University Maryland and an M.F.A. in Fiction from New York University’s Creative Writing Program.

Stephen BurkeDigital Content Associate

Stephen works with the Brand and Communications team at DonorsChoose.org, where he manages social media and helps to develop other digital content. He’s spent his career so far working in nonprofit communications and marketing, building better cities with the Project for Public Spaces and advancing STEM education with the Ocean Exploration Trust. The proud son and grandson of public school teachers, he graduated in 2013 from Ithaca College with a degree in Television/Radio Production. When he’s not in the office, you can find him exploring NYC on foot and bike, reading in the sun, and browsing the stacks of book/record/comic shops around the city.

Alisa CatellierVice President, Partnership Activation

Alisa helps partnerships come to life by managing projects to develop new features, tools, and processes. She joined DonorsChoose.org in 2006, originally helping to scale and streamline work on our Operations team. Alisa graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a B.A. in Political Science and Theatre. As a K-12 public school alum, Alisa relishes having a job where she can help give other students access to essential and enrichment opportunities.

Danielle CurtisDonor Relationships Fellow

Danielle manages a team committed to developing and maintaining great relationships with our most active donors. She also streamlines the team’s processes in order to meet and exceed goals. Danielle enjoys Jeopardy, the phrase “find a need and fill it,” and singing in the shower. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Societies and a Master’s degree in Non-Profit Leadership.

Dorthea DamaskosPartnerships Associate

Dorthea supports the Partnerships & Business Development team by executing partnerships with companies and foundations. Her commitment to positive societal change, specifically involving gender and racial inequality and education inequity, drew her to the non-profit sector. Dorthea holds a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish Language & Literature from Wellesley College and is proud to be working in her home state of New York.

Abby FeuerVP, Marketing & Community

Abby leads the Marketing & Community team, focused on driving individual donations and engagement with DonorsChoose.org and empowering our community of teachers to increase their project and classroom success. Prior to this role, Abby earned her MBA at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and honed her marketing and community chops at LinkedIn and Etsy. In Seller Development at Etsy, Abby managed a team focused on seller engagement, retention and insights, organizing grassroots community efforts both on and offline and developing an email education strategy for existing sellers. Abby is an avid-yogi, bike rider and dog lover. She's inspired every day by the above and beyond teachers who use DonorsChoose.org.

Shantaa FosterPartnerships Associate

Shantaa develops and executes campaigns with corporate and foundation partners, bringing resources to classrooms nationwide. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she worked in Finance, specializing in trade execution and optimization projects. As a proud alumna of the Prep for Prep program and Columbia University, Shantaa is grateful for the opportunity to support teachers and students across the nation.

Sterling HardawayPartnerships Associate

Sterling supports the Partnerships team by bringing the standard elements to life and by scaling and streamlining processes. Committed to the nonprofit sector and the use of technology to affect positive societal change, he is a proud alumnus of Marquette University and enjoys running, reading, and discovering new music in his free time.

Morgan KazanDirector, Email Marketing

Morgan is responsible for our donor and teacher email marketing efforts. She focuses on retaining our donors through targeted, personalized campaigns, as well as ensuring teachers are knowledgeable about all aspects of using DonorsChoose.org through email.

Prior to joining the DonorsChoose.org team in 2011, Morgan was the Promotions Manager at the Big Apple Circus, driving ticket sales through email marketing and grassroots partnerships. She also worked in the music industry promoting artists through retail marketing.

A native New Yorker, Morgan grew up in the New York City public school system. She has a BA in History from Emory University. Morgan’s current passion is genealogy and seeing how far back she can dig.

Kimberly Torres KossPartnerships Manager

Kimberly is responsible for developing and managing corporate and foundation partnerships. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Kim served on the operations teams for two successful charter school networks, Success Academies in New York City and Rocketship Education in the Bay Area. As a product of New York City and Florida public schools, she has long been cognizant of inequality in education and has dedicated her career to working to eliminate the achievement gap. Kim graduated magna cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College with a degree in International Studies.

Janelle LinSenior Vice President, Business Development

Janelle works with corporations and foundations across the country to build partnerships to support local public schools. She first developed her passion for education when she managed mentoring programs for middle school youth in Los Angeles Unified School District. Prior to DonorsChoose.org, Janelle served as Regional Vice President, Sales for PlumDistrict.com, Managing Director of Step Up Women's Network, and Director of LA's BEST afterschool enrichment program. Janelle graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Studio Art and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. She was awarded the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, the Harvard Business School Leaders Fellowship, the Pomona College Inspirational Young Alumna Award, and the NAWBO Rising Star Award.

Kristina Joye LylesPartnerships Manager

Kristina ("Steen") develops and manages corporate and foundation partnerships. Steen previously served on the Operations team, where she helped maintain happy relationships with donors and teachers. Prior to joining the DonorsChoose.org team, she practiced corporate law, focusing on merger and acquisition transactions for private equity clients. Before that she taught Street Law to high school students in the D.C. public school system. Steen graduated from Spelman College and Georgetown Law and loves all things related to cheerleading, dance, Harlem and coffee.

Seba Martinez-MirandaPartnership Activation Fellow

As the 2016 RUFFIT Fellow for Partnership Activation, Seba will be working to help the team streamline and scale standard partnership elements. Originally from the Philippines, Seba moved to the US in 2011 to attend Bates College where he graduated with a degree in Economics and a minor in Music. In his spare time, Seba enjoys surfing the internet looking for as much new music as he can possibly find.

Katherine McLennanBrand & Partnerships Writer

Katherine supports the Marketing & Partnerships team by ensuring quality writing with a unified voice. She previously supported the west coast team as the San Francisco Office Manager. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she worked with education companies and non-profits around New York. She holds a BFA in Acting from NYU, where she focused on the arts as a tool for social change. Outside the office, Katherine can usually be found knitting socks or reading outdoors.

Orly MichaeliPartnerships Manager

Orly develops and executes partnerships with companies and foundations, supporting teachers and students across the country. She's been passionate about education since she became a counselor for her youth group at age 15, and is proud to be working to increase equity in public schools nationwide. Prior to working at DonorsChoose.org, Orly helped cultivate a community of education experts at Noodle, an EdTech startup, and worked on content strategy for SaleMove, a disruptor in the customer engagement space. Orly graduated cum laude from Columbia University with a B.A. in Creative Writing.

Lucia ModestoBusiness Development Associate

Lucia supports the Business Development team through research, communications, and corporate and foundation partnership design. Lucia is passionate about the DonorsChoose.org mission because she has witnessed the inequalities in education as a first generation student growing up in Brooklyn and as a former educator. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Lucia worked at Teach For America as a Coordinator for the New York Alumni Affairs team and at Project Creo as the Director of Operations. Lucia is a proud alumna of NYC Public Schools, the America Needs You fellowship program and New York University, where she graduated with a degree in Music Education.

Emilia MurphyEditorial Associate

Emilia develops content to help our community of teachers create successful projects and learn from one another. Before joining the team at DonorsChoose.org, Emilia was an editorial intern at Lapham’s Quarterly and The Paris Review. She also previously worked at the American School of Madrid in both the classroom and library. Emilia graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in English.

Lynn OvermyerDesign Associate

Lynn is responsible for designing our partnership communication assets. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she worked as a graphic designer for the Clinton Global Initiative and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Vanuatu. Lynn holds a B.S. in Graphic Design from Ferris State University with minors in Non-Profit and Product Marketing and Spanish Language.

Chris PearsallVice President, Brand & Communications

Chris leads the DonorsChoose.org Brand & Communications team, helping inspire donors, partners, and teachers through media, social media, events, brand partnerships, and communications design. He joined the team in 2013, and in his prior role worked with Charles and the executive team to manage a variety of special projects, including disaster relief, flash funding events, media inquiries, and the #BestSchoolDay campaign.

Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Chris managed communications for a health services company and was a consultant for a global public relations agency, where he supported clients at brand initiatives such as the Sundance Film Festival and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Chris graduated from Ithaca College with a B.S. in Communications Management and Design.

Jasmine PennyEmail Marketing Associate

Jasmine is responsible for our campaign-based teacher and donor email marketing efforts. Before joining the Marketing Team, Jasmine worked part-time at DonorsChoose.org as a Donor Experience Agent. She recently graduated from the University of New Haven with a BA in English. In her spare time, Jasmine enjoys going on new adventures, writing poetry, and looking for great places to get pizza.

Ombeline PicquetPartnership & Events Manager

Ombeline manages marketing partnerships and DonorsChoose.org’s annual Partner Summit event. Prior to her current role, Ombeline worked on the Strategy & Operations team to develop and maintain partnerships with companies and foundations nationwide. She joined the team in September 2014 after graduating from American University in Washington D.C with a degree in Global Business & Development and a minor in Spanish. She became passionate about education after spending time teaching in Mexico and Nepal during college.

Rianne RobertsPartnerships Manager

Rianne develops and executes corporate and foundation partnerships with the ultimate goal of putting invaluable resources into the hands of teachers and students across the country. Before joining the Partnerships Team at DonorsChoose.org in 2016, she taught at an alternative urban high school in San Diego, California, where many of her students were refugees, recent immigrants or former gang members. She saw first hand the impact that education and access to the tools necessary to learn could have on students’ lives and futures. In addition to teaching, Rianne also owned a floral design and event styling business where she designed the aesthetic details for countless weddings. Rianne is thrilled to be at DonorsChoose.org where every day she has the joy of contributing to the mission of changing the world, one classroom at a time.

Andie SafonManager, Donor Relationships

Andie works to build and manage relationships with our most active donors. She and her team strive to create opportunities that will delight donors, show gratitude for their generosity, and deepen their engagement with DonorsChoose.org. Prior to joining the team, Andie worked as a behavioral therapist and at an e-book subscription startup called Oyster. She holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, and spent 6 months studying in Barbados. Outside of the office, Andie can be found taking weekend trips, buying too much at farmer’s markets, and resisting the urge stop people on the street to pet their dogs.

Kirk SmileyPrincipal Partnerships Director & Head of Sports Practice

Kirk leads our efforts to partner with leagues, teams, companies, and athletes in the sports industry while also overseeing a variety of other corporate and foundation partnerships. He joined the team in 2007, originally directing our Indiana statewide expansion. Kirk previously worked as the coordinator of the Interns for Indiana program through the Discovery Research Learning Center at Purdue University. He graduated with honors from Purdue with B.A. degrees in English Literature and Religious Studies, a B.S. in Management, and an MBA from the Krannert School of Management. Coming from a long lineage of public school educators, Kirk is honored to be helping thousands of teachers and students.

Tim SommerPartnerships Director

Tim is responsible for developing and managing relationships with corporate and foundation partners. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org in 2016, Tim spent seven years in various roles with the Oakland Athletics. Most recently, developing new business and managing several of the team’s largest corporate sponsorships. A believer that every child deserves the foundation of a solid education, Tim is thrilled to help further the DonorsChoose.org mission. In his free time you can find him reading, golfing or spending time with family.

Katie VallasCommunity and Engagement, Teacher Success

Katie develops campaigns and programs to empower our community of teachers to connect with and learn from one another, celebrate their successes and continue to get the funding they need for their students to thrive. If you're a teacher looking to support and celebrate your fellow educators, you might be Katie's new best friend. Before joining DonorsChoose.org, she taught junior high U.S. history at a Title I school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Risa WardVice President, Partnerships

Risa leads a team that creates high-impact partnerships with companies and foundations. Before joining the Partnerships team, Risa led Customer Relations at DonorsChoose.org, expanding the team to deliver personalized support and a strong customer experience for a growing community of teachers and donors.

Risa has a B.A. in Anthropology from Harvard, where she researched national service in the U.S. She is a mentor with America Needs You and sings in the Manhattan Choral Ensemble. In 2015, Risa was named to the Mic 50 list, a celebration of the next generation of impactful leaders, cultural influencers, and innovators.

Chanae WilliamsPartnerships and Events Fellow

As the Partnerships & Events Fellow, Chanae spends the first half of the year supporting the Business Development team and the second half assisting the Partner Summit planning team as they coordinate and execute our 5th annual partner-facing conference. Prior to working for DonorsChoose.org, Chanae was a sales research intern at Univision Communications Inc. and a math tutor at Grace Outreach in the Bronx. Chanae holds a B.A. in Political Science from Williams College.

Finance

Taylor ChangVP, Finance

Taylor manages financial operations, working with her team to ensure transparent accounting practices. She is certified by the Financial Management Institute as a Non-Profit Accounting Professional. Prior to DonorsChoose.org, Taylor was a process improvement consultant at IBM, implementing system integration solutions for government clients. Taylor has volunteered with a number of educational programs, including America Reads and Junior Achievement. Taylor graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Finance and International Business and received her MBA from Columbia Business School.

Andy KaplanChief Financial Officer

Alliah MohamedSenior Accounting Associate

Alliah's main responsibilities on the Finance team are general ledger administration, grant management, and financial accounting. Before joining the Finance team full-time, Alliah worked on the team as a part-time Accounting Assistant. She holds a BA degree in Finance from Baruch College. Outside the office, Alliah enjoys traveling, exploring new foods, and spending time with family and friends.

Operations

Vashti BarranBusiness Relations Manager, Project Fulfillment

Vashti helps the Project Fulfillment team manage, develop, and improve relationships with current and potential vendors. She is a 2015 graduate of Hunter College where she majored in Economics. Vashti is a first-generation college student and is really inspired by her work at DonorsChoose.org because she, herself, is a product of the New York City public school and public college system. In her free time Vashti loves to volunteer, give advice to fellow first-gen college students, and take classes that teach her how to do new things like yoga, meditation, and pottery!

Dan BlumWorkforce Director, Project Fulfillment

Dan leads a team that helps ensure DonorsChoose.org projects come to life by providing exceptional customer support. With DonorsChoose.org since 2010, he previously managed corporate and foundation partnerships on the Partnerships team. Prior to DonorsChoose.org, Dan worked as a Community Director for the Connecticut Chapter of the March of Dimes. He also served as an AmeriCorps member in Federal Way, WA, tutoring potential first generation college students and instructing English language learning students. Dan is the son of a public school teacher and he holds a BA in Urban and Community Studies from the University of Connecticut where he lived in a log cabin.

César BocanegraChief Operating Officer

Liam CatesCommunity Engagement Associate, Content Operations

Liam manages a team of over 100 NYC based volunteers to connect classrooms to their donors through tens of thousands of handwritten Student Thank-Yous. He studied political science and education at American University in Washington, DC — his passion for education comes from his mom who is a public school teacher. Liam loves working at an organization with such talented and dedicated people. In his spare time, you can find Liam at the beach, at brunch or scouring the internet for cheap tickets to places across the world.

Jennifer DalyCustomer Relations Associate

Jennifer focuses on customer service and survey feedback to ensure teachers have a wonderful experience with DonorsChoose.org. Before changing careers, she was a proud public and private school teacher for many years. Jennifer taught both in the U.S. and in her native Ireland, and has been called Mom, Dad, and Grandma more times than she can count! She loves bringing her beloved puppy Paddy out and about, cheering on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, and finding tasty new restaurants in the Big Apple.

Rosanna DominoTeacher Experience and Workforce Manager, Content Operations

Rosanna focuses on strategy and support for the teacher experience of submitting a classroom project and creating a thank-you package. She leads a team of customer service agents who provide joyful and genuine solutions to teacher inquiries. Additionally, she is the Sherlock Holmes of the Content Operations team, solving thank-you package mysteries and helping lost letters find their donors.

With a background in hospitality management, Rosanna has a BA from SUNY Empire in organizational communication. She loves tea-cups and cupcakes (both baking and eating), and proudly cheers in her NYCFC soccer jersey on the weekends.

Erin EversCustom Partnerships Fulfillment Associate, Project Fulfillment Team

Erin helps facilitate partnership fulfillment as we expand the unique opportunity of class trips, visitors, and special request projects to more students and teachers. She previously worked as a Fulfillment Experience Agent to support teacher customer service prior to taking on this new role. Erin and her parents are all proud products of the public school system. She received her B.F.A. from The Boston Conservatory where she studied Musical Theater. She's had the wonderful opportunity to perform throughout NYC and the US. When not working Erin can be found playing the lottery for Broadway shows, making lists, watching horror movies, or singing at a piano or karaoke bar.

Molly GillCustomer Service Specialist, Project Fulfillment

Molly makes sure project dreams are fulfilled the way teachers envisioned them and supports teachers with seamless customer service. She also uses her project fulfillment insights to help manage our Amazon Business relationship. She has a B.S. in Culture & Politics from Georgetown, an M.A. in Human Rights from Columbia, and previously worked at Barnard College. She is an avid traveler, reader and puzzle-doer, consumer of all kinds of food and culture and has recently embraced mid-century modern design.

Karmay GorleyCustomer Relations Workforce Manager

Karmay spent 4 years at Yelp as a sales manager and before that was a sales and events coordinator at a science museum in Salt Lake City, UT. Karmay holds a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and a Minor in Business from Westminster College. She loves New York City and calls Brooklyn her home. In her free time she likes to take strolls in Prospect Park, work out and bake chocolate chip cookies. She also likes to draw, travel, read, listen to her favorite tunes and meditate.

Katy GrubbsCustomer Service Associate, Project Fulfillment

Katy helps to ensure teachers receive the materials they need, along with providing top-notch customer service. Before joining the team, Katy earned her B.S. in Education from Florida State University and taught in the public school system for seven years. She shared her love for recess with her students by using DonorsChoose.org to bring new play equipment to her school. Aside from making sure each teacher has a great DonorsChoose.org experience, she loves reading books into the wee hours of the night and exploring the Big Apple!

Cosette GutierrezVice President, Project Fulfillment

Cosette leads the Project Fulfillment teams that execute all fully-funded projects, support teacher customer service, manage key vendor partnerships, and improve the selection and pricing of resources. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Cosette held several leadership roles in Corporate Social Responsibility and Operations in the retail and financial services industries. Cosette graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s degree in Management Science, and obtained her MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She has been honored in Hispanic Business as one of the Elite 80 Hispanic Women, 100 Most Influential Hispanics, and featured in Hispanic magazine’s Top 100 Influential Latinas. Cosette's passion for education is further evidenced by her role on the Board of Directors of Literacy Inc. and her 10 plus years of service on the Board of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. In her spare time, Cosette enjoys photography, volunteering, spending time with family, and traveling the globe.

Mary HoltzhauserSenior Associate, Projects & Community

Mary manages a national volunteer workforce that helps teachers translate classroom dreams into concrete resources. Her focus is on training, innovating, and building community with over 170 volunteer teachers, while ensuring that projects submitted to DonorsChoose.org are eligible and safe for students.

A graduate of the University of Dayton, Mary has a B.A. in English and Psychology. In her free time, you'll find her traveling, reading, petting strangers’ dogs, and exploring Brooklyn.

Zobaida HossainCustomer Relations Associate

Zobaida supports a collaborative team of Front-Line Teacher Experience Agents who are committed to providing friendly and helpful responses to our teachers. She graduated from Fordham University with a BA in English and a passion for constant improvement. An avid lover of new experiences, Zobaida is up for anything! She loves eating Thai food with close friends, knitting colorful winter scarfs, and diving into an arts and crafts project just for fun.

Zatio KoneCustomer Relations and Integrity Associate

Zatio plays good cop to make sure DonorsChoose.org remains a site people can trust. Having studied psychology at Williams College and traveled for a semester in Bolivia she's drawn to understanding people in all their complexity. Through previous work in customer relations, marketing and publishing, Zatio loves to connect with people and appreciates the awesomeness that every teacher embodies. Her many passions include reading fiction, listening to podcasts, and hunting down the best dessert places.

Dot KuzniaProcurement Specialist, Project Fulfillment Team

Dot assists the Custom Projects team to bring classroom dreams to life by helping manage the fulfillment process. She uses her financial expertise to ensure the right materials and experiences are purchased for each project and helps cross-collaborate with the Finance team, where she previously worked as an Accounting Associate. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org she worked in banking and public accounting. Dot is a native New Yorker and a proud product of the NYC public school system, graduating from CUNY Queens College with a B.A. degree in Accounting. In her spare time she enjoys being a New York Rangers superfan, fantasy football, reading, baking, and cooking.

Mia LivingstonOperations Associate, Teacher Relations

Mia collaborates with teams across DonorsChoose.org to ensure that teachers have the perfect project experience, particularly when it comes to partner funding. She holds a BA in Religion and French from Vassar College, where she studied everything from Belgian comic strips to the enduring millennial obsession with Harry Potter. Mia is delighted and proud to support public school teachers, but when she's outside the office she loves hiking, finding four leaf clovers, and spoiling her feline companion.

Maya LundhagenVice President, Operations & Customer Experience

Maya leads the Customer Relations team, which ensures a productive, intuitive, and delightful DonorsChoose.org experience for donors and teachers. Before joining DonorsChoose.org, Maya co-founded 100Kin10, a STEM teacher-focused non-profit applauded by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. She has extensive K-12 education reform experience, having led a STEM education initiative for the Institute for Advanced Study/Carnegie Corporation of New York, worked on change management at the New York City Department of Education, and held positions at several other NYC-based education nonprofits. She also served in the Peace Corps in Honduras as a water/sanitation engineer. Maya holds engineering degrees from the University of Michigan (Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering) and Cornell University (Masters in Engineering Management). She lives with her family on a wonderfully Sesame-Street-esque block of Prospect Heights, where she attempts to see friends, bake unhealthy desserts, and read books about nearly anything when she’s not pretending to be a dinosaur with her two young children.

Jennifer MaoCommunity & Content Operations Manager, Content Operations

Jennifer oversees engagement and operations strategy for our DonorsChoose.org volunteer communities who annually review thousands of project submissions and student thank-you notes that forge meaningful connections between donors and classrooms across the country.

Prior to joining the team, Jen led community engagement efforts for Reading Partners, where she managed strategic partnerships and volunteer recruitment to support San Francisco Bay Area students. She graduated from the University of Washington, with dual degrees in Psychology and Photography. When not at work, you will likely find her at a used bookstore, getting lost on the subway, and/or on the hunt for NYC's best bagel.

Karen MegoStrategic Initiatives Fellow, Project Fulfillment

Karen joins our team as the Strategic Initiatives fellow. She was inspired while volunteering at DonorsChoose.org by the student thank you letters she read and fell in love with our mission. Karen has supported the Project Fulfillment team as a Fulfillment Experience Agent, helping teachers receive their materials and assist with payment processing. She holds a B.B.A. degree in Business Management from Baruch College, and an A.S. in Industrial Design from City Tech. Outside of the office, Karen enjoys trying new things like painting, volunteering, and spending time with family and friends.

Jessie MohkamiManager, Custom Projects Experience

Jessie supports students and teachers as they dream up adventures inside and outside the classroom. She advocates for user-focused innovation to scale seamless class trips and visitor experiences for all public school teachers. Jessie is a graduate of Wheaton College with a B.A. is Sociology and Political Science. In her free time she loves to explore New York City, wander around museums, listen to NPR, read on the subway, and use exclamation points!

Sol ParkCustomer Service Specialist, Project Fulfillment

Sol supports teachers and donors so that they see every project funded results in students enjoying their new classroom resources. Previous to joining the team, Sol had the pleasure of working as a newspaper editor, a substitute teacher, and a tech support specialist. He enjoys PC gaming, reading poetry, and watching YouTube videos of people who dance really well.

Julia PrietoVice President, Content Operations, Projects & Gratitude

On our website, teachers tell the story of their classrooms through two pieces of creative content - the project essay and the thank-you. Julia leads an Operations team that delivers on the DonorsChoose.org promise of vetting each classroom project and providing vivid feedback from teachers and students to every donor.

Prior to DonorsChoose.org, Julia led digital fundraising programs for the 2012 Obama campaign and oversaw digital engagement at the Robin Hood Foundation. She is a graduate of Williams College and earned a M.A. from the New School for Public Engagement. She lives in Brooklyn Heights and can be found cheering on the U.S. Soccer National Team in her free time.

Gwendolyn RoyerDonor Relations Manager

Gwen works to maintain a happy relationship with our donors, and to ensure that our growing community of supporters has a great experience using DonorsChoose.org. Her primary responsibilities include helping our team provide timely and effective support to donors every day, evaluating trends and feedback, and generating new ideas for improvements and enhancements. She comes from a background in digital PR, and holds a BA in Business and Theatre from Muhlenberg College. In her spare time, Gwen loves spending time outside, traveling to new places near and far, and eating ice cream.

Amy SolerDirector, Business Relations, Project Fulfillment

Amy is responsible for managing relationships with current and potential suppliers, as well as our e-procurement providers. Before joining DonorsChoose.org, Amy worked in the advertising world developing media strategies. Amy gained first-hand experience in the NYC public school system as a Learning Leaders' volunteer working with students in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. As a lifelong media enthusiast, Amy continues to love music, movies, magazines and the simple joys of several fully-loaded TiVos.

Rick SuchanCustom Projects Specialist, Project Fulfillment

Rick supports teachers as a Custom Projects Specialist. He’s passionate about social justice and improving education equality. Rick is a recent graduate of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, with a Masters in Public Administration in Public/Non-Profit Management. During his masters program, he focused his coursework on food and nutrition policy, youth development, and fundraising. Rick is an avid runner and loves everything outdoors. In his spare time, he likes to explore NYC parks, volunteer with City Harvest, listen to music, and take trips upstate.

Jeana TakahashiOperations & Integrity Analyst

Jeana Takahashi manages efforts to create, monitor, and improve our systems to ensure the DonorsChoose.org process works as it should for our teachers, donors, and partners. Her primary responsibilities include documenting organizational policies and working with our tech team to create and maintain website content related to our integrity assurance efforts. In her spare time, you'll find Jeana trying to relive her college a cappella glory days at a local karaoke place, experimenting in the kitchen, or running a few laps around Central Park.

Diana TimkoContent Operations Associate

Diana drives complex partnerships, pilots and expansions for the Content Operations team, with a keen eye toward the donor and partner experience. By reviewing the project essays that teachers submit to DonorsChoose.org, and the thank-you notes that students create for donors, the Content Operations team facilitates inspiring communication between classrooms and donors.

After graduating from McGill University with a BA in Humanistic Studies and a deep love for Montréal-style bagels, Diana traveled and worked abroad in Canada, France, and the U.K. She developed her project management and communication skills in the financial sector after returning to New York. When she’s not in the office, Diana loves to escape the city for outdoor adventures and trips abroad.

Jenni Davies TorresDirector, Strategic Partnerships, Project Fulfillment

Jenni manages strategic partnerships on the Project Fulfillment Team to ensure teachers have what their students need to suceed. She joined DonorsChoose.org in 2007 to help the Operations Team scale to serve every public school in the nation! Previously, Jenni worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Jumpstart for Young Children, where she 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. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with family, especially her two children.

Erica VendettiDirector, Custom Projects & Strategic Initiatives

Erica leads the Custom Projects & Strategic Initiatives team to bring classroom ideas to life, including requests for trips and visitors. She specializes in process management and daydreams in flow charts. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Erica served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Talin, Armenia and graduated from Temple University's College of Liberal Arts. Whenever possible, Erica enjoys tea, political discussions, online web comics, and one minute dance parties.

Amit WadheraDirector, Operations & Customer Experience

Amit works closely with teams across the organization to bring complex partnerships to life and ensure a great customer experience. He joined the team as an Operations Associate, making sure classroom materials were delivered to schools safe and sound. He’s studied brains, raced cars, and loves chocolate chip cookies.

Jess WrightSenior Manager, Fulfillment Experience

Jess provides critical leadership for our team’s responsibility of successfully executing student learning experiences - including getting funded resources into classrooms and ensuring streamlined class trip and visitor experiences. When she moved to NYC in 2010, she jumped into action through volunteering in ESL classes and tutoring. Prior to joining the team, she worked for 5 years at Women for Afghan Women as the Education Coordinator and later as the Administrative and Finance Officer. Jess enjoys being outdoors, spicy vegetarian food, tackling new art projects, and completed checklists.

People Operations

Aubrey BlyPeople Operations Associate

Aubrey is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College with a degree in Health Science and minors in Business and Psychology. She became passionate about nonprofits after spending the summer backpacking throughout Europe. Her drive for meaningful work led her to DonorsChoose.org where she now works to support the People Operations team. As a daughter and sister of public school teachers, she is thrilled to support the education reform movement. Aubrey hails from a horse farm, and now embraces everything the city life has to offer. In her spare time, you can find her reading in the park or searching for the best dessert in NYC.

Margie CadetDirector, Talent, Diversity and Inclusion

Margie is responsible for the Internship and Fellowship programs at DonorsChoose.org. She also leads the organization’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, striving to build a workplace culture that is equitable, inclusive, and reflective of the diverse teacher and student population DonorsChoose.org serves.

Margie is a proud product of New York State public schools and joined DonorsChoose.org after receiving her B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College. Prior to stepping into her current role, she was a member of the Marketing & Community team, where she led a team responsible for building relationships with organization’s most generous and highest-potential donors.

She enjoys exploring Harlem, celebrating Restaurant Week, and playing with any bulldog (be it French or English) she passes on the street.

Austin GaloobPeople Operations Assistant

Austin is a graduate of New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study where he concentrated in media, public policy, and social impact. He is excited to be working at an organization that is dedicated to improving the educational system in the country. In his spare time, Austin can be found watching theatre, discussing pop culture, and admiring the dogs of New York City.

Natacha GomezPeople Operations Fellow

Natacha ensures that staff’s day-to-day needs are met and coordinates a series of fun social events for staff. Before joining the team, Natacha graduated from SUNY Purchase with a B.A. in Math and Computer Science. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and watching shows of the romantic crimedy genre — yes, it’s a thing!

LucyRose MollerOffice Manager (NY)

LucyRose works to create a hospitable, well-resourced and playful office atmosphere for the New York team. After earning a B.A. in International Studies and Psychology from Stonehill College, she spent a year in India as part of a post-graduate service program, taught kindergartners at an urban community farm and instructed students to get their hands dirty during after school program science lessons. Following these educational excursions, she worked at The George Washington University’s Center for Civic Engagement & Public Service coordinating a literacy program and then at a non-profit dedicated to black male achievement. Among a few of her favorite things are Rumi's poetry, apple cider donuts, and aggressively dancing to pop music or a Yo-Yo Ma quartet.

Christopher Prince-BarryIT Manager

Christopher leads Information Technology at DonorsChoose.org, working to ensure that our staff members have the technology they need to best support our teachers and students. A product of NYC public schools, Christopher fell in love with technology while volunteering at an after school homework help program in The Bronx. Since then, he's earned a Bachelor of Technology degree at the New York City College of Technology and spent the majority of his career helping organizations to use IT to drive business decisions while streamlining their processes. After eight years of IT consulting, Christopher joined our team to combine his passion for technology with his deep commitments to helping public school students recognize their potential and honoring our teachers as heroes.

Soumary VongrassamyDirector, People Operations

Soumary runs human capital operations for our organization. Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, she served as a community organizer, policy advocate and grant maker to increase opportunities for students from disadvantaged communities.

Product & Engineering

Sebastian AskenazySenior Software Engineer

Prior to joining DonorsChoose.org, Sebastian, as an independent software developer, helped build web applications for several industry-leading companies. He also gained valuable experience assisting in several academic research projects, including at Columbia University's Center for Decision Sciences. In addition, he has worked closely with a national volunteer organization and served as the co-director of its New York chapter. He graduated from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU with concentrations in cognitive science and music, and studied piano and composition at a conservatory.

Dan BetzDesign Director

Dan leads the small but mighty design team, whose job is to synthesize user research, data, and business goals into an experience that helps DonorsChoose.org deliver on its mission statement. He believes that the best way to do that is to create a frictionless, enjoyable experience for everyone involved. That means empowering teachers to tell their story in a compelling way and making it easy and gratifying for donors to find projects to support.

Dan comes to DonorsChoose.org from the startup world, where he spent the last several years at Etsy and Seamless (née SeamlessWeb). When not designing or spending time with his family, Dan can usually be found lifting heavy weights in his garage and then tracking them on BNCHMRK, a side project he built with some friends.

Susan ChowSenior 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.

John CiardulloDirector of Engineering

John works on our business software and database systems, ensuring that our technology keeps DonorsChoose.org moving at top speed. He values software design practices that result in a reliable, scalable and maintainable product. He is thrilled to build the software that helps teachers and donors who visit our site everyday; but to really see his eyes light up, just ask him about payment processing or systems monitoring.

His favorite type of activity is one that has a solution. John has a BBA in Management Information Systems from Pace University.

David CraneDirector of Engineering

David has 19 years experience building distributed systems and internet services. He has deep expertise 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.

Barbara CvenicData Scientist

Barbara believes in the power of gratitude, and a story well told. She is committed to facilitating a best-in-class experience for partners and donors by creating opportunities for them to connect with the teachers and students they support. Before joining DonorsChoose.org, Barbara spent time working with refugee youth in classrooms overseas and in New York. She holds a degree in Communication and Media, but astronomy, theatre and international relations excite her, too. On a typical Sunday you can find her on a bike adventure through the boroughs, slightly burning a pie crust in her kitchen, or snuggling up with a crossword at her favorite coffee shop.

Tea HoSenior Product Designer

Tea uses her blended background in art and technology to design and build the experience and interface of DonorsChoose.org. Her goal is to make DonorsChoose.org as simple and delightful to use as possible. Before this, Tea was a product designer at Grovo. When she’s not working, she can be found doing improv or parkour. Tea once jumped out of a moving train in India.

Maggie HorikawaProduct Manager

Maggie works closely with our entire team to prioritize features, drive product development and iterate to deliver an incredible experience to our teachers and donors. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College with a minor in Religion. She grew up in Asia, Europe and Australia and now calls New York home.

Oliver Hurst-HillerChief Technology Officer and Head of Product

Chris Judkins-FisherSenior Software Engineer

Chris came to DonorsChoose.org from the city of Madison and the world of health IT. Prior to joining the DonorsChoose.org team, he worked at the UW - Madison Center for Health Enhancement System Studies (CHESS) developing mobile and web applications for those with chronic health problems. He also has experience contributing to EpicCare Ambulatory, the outpatient component of the most-used electronic medical record in the United States. He has a degree in computer science from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.

Boris KerznerSoftware Engineer

Boris' primary expertise is Java, though he's been known to enjoy getting knee-deep into modern JavaScript as well. In the past he worked in the financial industry as part of Accenture and helped redesign Nikon U.S.A.'s online Press Center while working at Kanban Solutions. Boris graduated from Brandeis University with a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.A. in Math.

Nancy MondPrincipal Software Engineer

Before joining, Nancy designed and built applications and websites at Rutgers University and Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bell Communications Research). She was also a principal contributor to the open source project OpenRegistry. Nancy has a BS in Computer Science and Applied Math at SUNY Albany and an MS in Computer Science from Brown University.

Jackson PopkinSoftware Engineer

Jackson Popkin is a newly-minted software engineer. Before joining Donorschoose.org, he learned to build Rails apps at App Academy. He graduated from Princeton University in 2013 with a B.A. in East Asian Studies.

Jim SteinbergerSoftware Architect

Hailing from southeast Michigan, Jim gained substantive experience in all aspects of web development while leading a team at Dynamic Edge, Inc. Armed with a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, he seeks to bridge the common problems and solutions of academia and industry. Jim is also a strong advocate for developers in general, and the open source community in particular, and strives to make software development more efficient, enjoyable, and cost-effective for everyone involved.

Paul TaiSoftware Engineer

Paul is a 2015 graduate of Rutgers University, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science. His favorite classes included algorithms and artificial intelligence. Beyond his coursework, Paul attended numerous student hackathons and contributed to a variety of hackathon projects. A long-time fan of games and game-design, Paul assisted in founding the Rutgers Creation of Game Society, a student organization focused on game development.

Thomas VoData Scientist

Thomas strives to make data accessible, useful, and fun through stories and visualizations. He also works closely with the product team to ensure that DonorsChoose.org maintains its data-driven philosophy in product design. Thomas holds a BS in Physiological Science from UCLA and a MPH in Epidemiology and Applied Biostatistics from Columbia University. When not at his desk, Thomas enjoys taking photos, biking, and cooking. His favorite fruit is the coconut.

Tommy WalkerDirector of Technical Operations

Tommy Walker most recently worked as the QA lead at the internet startup Temboo, Inc. Before his Adventures in Software Engineering began, Tommy could be found working knee deep in databases as an Archivist at Pixar. Tommy has also worked as a Truck Driver, a Piano Mover and a Vegan Cook. Tommy has his Masters In Library and Information Science and his BA in Conceptual Art

National Advisory Council

Kristopher BrownPartner, Dechert LLP

Kristopher D. Brown negotiates and structures private equity and venture capital financing transactions. He also advises on corporate and transactional matters for numerous financial and corporate strategic investors as well as emerging growth companies in the healthcare, life sciences, information technology, software, consumer electronics, and telecommunications industries.

Kristopher also has experience in the full range of complex commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, public offerings of both equity and debt securities, licensing transactions, the formation of investment partnerships, and the creation of strategic and collaborative alliances and joint ventures. In addition, he advises investors, management executives, and boards of directors on governance and regulation issues and securities laws.

Mitch CohenVice Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Mitch Cohen is the firm's Vice Chairman responsible for Strategy as well as the New York Metro Region. Mitch is also engaged in a variety of activities related to the US firm's involvement in PwC's global network.

During his time at PwC he has served a number of Fortune 500 telecom and technology clients. He has also held a variety of industry leadership roles. He was the Technology, InfoComm and Entertainment (TICE) leader for Central and Eastern Europe and Russia and was based in Budapest from 1998-2001. He relocated to New York and in 2001 was appointed Global Leader of the Information/Communications industry practice. In 2005 he became the Global Leader for the TICE practice and served on the Global Leadership Team. Mitch then became the Strategy Leader for the US Assurance practice in 2008 and assumed his role as Vice Chairman and Strategy Leader in 2009.

Mitch graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in accounting.

Ron ConwayAngel Investor

Ron has invested in and worked closely with hundreds of startups including Google, OpenTable, Facebook, Zappos, Groupon, and Twitter. He was also the founder and managing partner of the Angel Investors LP funds. Ron was included in Vanity Fair's 2010 list of the "100 Most Influential People in the Information Age" and ranked No. 13 on Forbes' 2011 list of the year's top deal-makers. He worked at National Semiconductor Corp. in marketing positions from 1973 to 1979. He founded Altos Computer Systems in 1979 and took the company public in 1982. He was CEO of Personal Training Systems from 1991 to 1995.

Lisa DallosCEO, High 10 Media

Lisa has spent more than two decades providing media strategy, production, reputation management, crisis communications and consulting to some of the world's best brands and most respected companies. She has directed communications for major media brands, including GQ, US Weekly, Talk and George. In the broadcast industry, she has been director of public relations for CNN's Washington Bureau, led publicity and produced programming for MSNBC, and managed communications for The Daily Show's Indecision 2000.

Before founding High 10 Media, Lisa was Senior Vice President at HL Group and has been CEO of Freud Communications New York.

Anil DashDirector of Expert Labs, Founding Partner of Activate

Anil is an entrepreneur, technologist and writer acknowledged as a "blogging pioneer" by the New Yorker for having started his site Dashes.com in 1999 as one of the earliest and most influential blogs on the Internet. Today his work focuses on applying the techniques and technologies of the startup world to the transformation the major institutions of society and culture.

Anil is cofounder of Activate, the strategy consulting firm which helps the world's major media and technology companies reinvent their businesses, and cofounder and CEO of ThinkUp, a new app which helps people get more meaning out of the time they spend on social networking. In addition, he is an active advisor to several of the most prominent and innovative technology startups and non-profit organizations and has been a columnist for Wired magazine.

Landon Donovan

Landon plays soccer for the Los Angeles Galaxy and the United States men’s national team. Having joined his first competitive soccer team at age 5, Landon is now a veteran of three FIFA World Cups. His three goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup made Donovan the highest scoring American player in World Cup history and the third American player to score in more than one World Cup.

Now entering his 12th season in MLS, the Galaxy MVP in 2011 and the MLS Cup MVP that season as well after scoring the championship-winning goal, Donovan will look to lead his team to the fifth MLS Cup title of his career.

Landon’s mother and twin sister are both public school teachers.

Cheryl DorseyPresident, Echoing Green

Cheryl is president of Echoing Green, a pioneer in the social entrepreneurship movement. This global social venture fund has awarded over $30 million in start-up capital to over 500 next generation social entrepreneurs worldwide since 1987. Cheryl received an Echoing Green Fellowship in 1992 to help launch The Family Van, a community-based mobile health unit in Boston.

Cheryl has served in two presidential administrations as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Labor (1997-98); Special Assistant to the Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Labor Department (1998-99); Transition Team Member of the Innovation and Civil Society subgroup of the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group (2008-09); and Vice Chair for the President's Commission on White House Fellowships (2009-present). In 2009, Cheryl was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by US News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School. For 2010 and 2011, she was named as one of The Nonprofit Times' "Power and Influence Top 50."

Cheryl received her Bachelor's degree in History and Science magna cum laude with highest honors from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges, her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and her Master's in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. She completed her pediatric residency at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Adam FamularoGeneral Manager, Cloud Computing business, CA Technologies

Adam is the general manager of Enterprise and Cloud Solutions at CA Technologies, leading the team that brings to market the company's new and innovative cloud computing solutions. In this role, he is responsible for establishing and driving the overall vision and business strategy, including product management and marketing, and for managing the P&L for the business.

Adam has held various leadership positions since joining CA Technologies in 1998. Most recently, Adam was senior vice president and general manager for the Recovery Management and Data Modeling business unit, where he led the turnaround of the ARCserve and ERwin product lines. Earlier, Adam served in numerous leadership roles including as vice president of global channel strategy and partnerships, prior to which he managed the global OEM division, the ERwin channel sales division and the inside channel sales organization for CA Technologies.

Adam completed the general management program at Harvard Business School, earned a Master of Business Administration from Dowling College and a bachelor's degree in business economics from the State University of New York College at Oneonta.

Timothy FerrissDirector, Alta Malbec Investments and #1 NY Times Best-selling Author

Donna GolkinPerry & Donna Golkin Foundation

Jenny HaegFounder and CEO, Custom Spaces

Jenny Haeg is the founder and CEO of Custom Spaces. Jenny founded Custom Spaces after over a decade of experience in the commercial real estate industry, in response to a need she saw in the market for a firm that is exclusively focused on the needs and demands of startups and technology companies. Built from the ground up to meet that need, Custom Spaces has since become the leading startup and technology company focused firm in the country.

Some of Jenny’s most recent clients include Airbnb, Square, Medium, Instacart, Science Exchange, Lookout, and Spotify. TechCrunch recently referred to Jenny as the "startup whisperer" in a recent profile on her work with startups in San Francisco and the launch of the CustomSpaces.com website.

Prior to founding Custom Spaces, Jenny was a Senior Vice President at The CAC Group (since acquired by CBRE). At The CAC Group Jenny was named “Rookie Of The Year” her first year at the company, and quickly became a Top Producer. She was the youngest SVP in the company’s history, and the quickest ever to be promoted to that role. During her time at CAC she was part of the team that negotiated the lease for Del Monte’s San Francisco Headquarters, Dropbox’s San Francisco Headquarters, and Twitter’s original Headquarter space.

Since founding Custom Spaces, Jenny has been named a Northern California Real Estate Woman of Influence by the SF Business Times, and has won numerous CoStar Power Broker of the Year awards. CoStar also named Custom Spaces the Top Leasing Firm in the San Francisco Market.

Jenny received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Southern California majoring in Communications with a minor in Business. Jenny graduated with honors and is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Association.

Neeru KhoslaCK-12 Foundation

Carolina Martín

Carolina spent eight years building new corporate partnerships for DonorsChoose.org. Her largest partnership is Chevron's Fuel Your School initiative, which has delivered over $35 million to classrooms across America. Before working at DonorsChoose.org, Carolina had 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 and served as the Executive Director of Summerbridge in the Bay Area. Carolina 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 at Sallie Mae in California and the Northwest. Carolina holds a B.A. degree in Education and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from the University of San Diego.

Tom Miglis

Katie MiticCo-Founder and CEO, Three Koi Labs

Katie is a consumer products entrepreneur and executive, currently founder and CEO of a new startup. Previously she led platform marketing at Facebook, with responsibility for shaping and growing innovative web and mobile products.

Prior to Facebook, Katie was SVP of Global Product Marketing at Palm, expanding the company's webOS product line and global footprint. Previously, she served as VP & GM at Yahoo!, managing a portfolio of community and communication products. Katie landed at Yahoo! with the acquisition of Four11, where she led the development of RocketMail which ultimately became Yahoo! Mail.

Katie started her Internet career at NetDynamics (acquired by Sun Microsystems) and co-founded and served as CEO of Desktop.com, a pioneer in web development platforms for consumer applications.

She holds a BA in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Katie also serves on the boards of eBay and Special Olympics International.

Craig NewmarkFounder, Craigslist

Craig is the founder of craigslist, the web-based platform that has fundamentally changed classified advertising. Since its founding in 1995, craigslist has become one of the world's 10 most-visited English language web platforms. Today there are craigslist websites virtually everywhere and serving every continent on earth (except Antarctica). craigslist provides users with mostly free advertising opportunities, and is meant to allow people to help each other with basic needs like housing and jobs.

He attended Case Western Reserve University where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science in 1975 and a M.S. in Computer Science in 1977. His thesis was entitled "Fundamental Models of Computer Systems and Their Relationship to Information Security." In 1976, Craig began his business career with IBM, where he spent nearly 17 years. He subsequently worked in programming for Charles Schwab, Bank of America, and other firms.

In 1995, while working for Charles Schwab, Craig launched craigslist in his flat as a free way for people to share information about events in San Francisco. In March 2011 Craig launched craigconnects, his initiative to link up everyone on the planet using social media to bear witness to good efforts and encourage the same behavior in others.

Alexis OhanianCo-Founder, reddit and Chief Swine Defender, Breadpig

Alexis is a startup founder and investor in Brooklyn, NY. After graduating from UVA in 2005, Alexis and his co-founder Steve Huffman started reddit, now a top 100 website. Now a reddit board member, Alexis focuses on social enterprise Breadpig, publishing authors like xkcd and SMBC -- profits donated to worthy causes.

Alexis helped launch hipmunk and ran marketing/pr/community before becoming an advisor and joining the fight against SOPA & PIPA. Alexis invests and advises over fifty tech startups. He's Y Combinator's Ambassador to the East, co-founder of the non-profit IHAS, and is writing a book, Without Your Permission.

Along the way, Alexis spoke at TED, volunteered in Armenia as a Kiva Fellow, and was named on Forbes and Inc Magazine 30 Under 30 lists.

Bob Daly, Los Angeles Founding PartnerFormer Head of Warner Brothers and CEO, Rulemaker, Inc.

Miguel QuirogaExecutive Director, Customer Experience, Verizon Communications

Miguel Quiroga is Executive Director of Customer Experience for Verizon Communications’ Video/Broadband Division. In this role, he is responsible for establishing and leading the business integration strategy and execution of cross channel customer engagement efforts for both contact center and digital channels including TV, online, mobile, social, and voice. He leads a team focused on creating and implementing customer engagement practices to balance both customer experience and profitability.

Miguel was previously Director of Employee Experience and Customer Business Intelligence where he was accountable for the user experience design strategy and technology operations of Verizon’s self-service intranet that reached 200,000 employees in 50 countries as well as capabilities such as Voice of the Customer analytics, Voice of the Employee ideation, and social business collaboration. Earlier, he served in various technology director roles in CRM and sales operations, capital planning, and program management functions.

Miguel holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BS in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Dallas. He is a member of HITEC, a global leadership organization of Hispanic business and technology executives.

Scott RofeyPartner, Goldman Sachs

Scott Rofey is head of North America Interest Rate Swap Derivatives Trading for Goldman Sachs in New York. As a partner within the Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities trading group, Scott oversees a team that helps corporations, asset managers, banks, and other financial entities manage their risk to fluctuations in interest rates. He previously traded options and structured products for Goldman in both the New York and London offices. Scott began his career at JPMorgan where he traded swap and security options as a Vice President in the bank's Fixed Income department.

Scott holds a BA in Biology as well as a Certificate in Teacher Preparation from Princeton University. He and his wife Olivia live in New York City where they are active in causes ranging from education and early childhood literacy to community development and the design of public spaces.

Ruthanne Feinberg RothPartner, Hudson Gate Partners, LLC

Ruthanne is a partner and co-founder of Hudson Gate Partners. She brings to the firm several years of recruitment experience; since 2002, Ruthanne has made hundreds of placements with multiple top-tier financial firms. Prior to starting Hudson Gate Partners, Ruthanne worked for several years at another executive search firm where her most recent role was Head of the Human Resources Practice, which she founded in 2007. In earlier years, she also founded the Admin/Support Practice. Throughout her tenure with the firm, Ruthanne held the titles of Managing Director, Head of Internal Recruiting and Partner. Earlier in her career, Ruthanne had several years of experience in hi-tech/international marketing where she worked for Oracle, Lucent, and later Volera, a Novell subsidiary. Prior to business school, she worked in business development for the French Trade Commission of San Francisco where she assisted French technology companies in establishing a presence in the United States.

She has a BA in International Relations from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

Mark SilvestriCOO, Premium Outlets, Simon Property Group

Mark Silvestri is Chief Operating Officer of the Premium Outlets platform for Simon Property Group, a global leader in retail real estate and an S&P 100 company. Simon owns or has interest in 230 properties including Malls, Premium Outlets, and Mills comprising 190 million square feet in North American, Europe, and Asia. Mark is responsible for leading global growth strategy, including development, leasing and operations for Simon's portfolio of outlet centers, and is a 25+ year veteran of the shopping center industry. Prior to joining Simon, he managed acquisitions for Vornado Realty Trust.

Mark attended Seton Hall University, and lives in NYC and the Hudson Valley. He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and serves on the board of the Simon Youth Foundation.

Rachel SklarCo-Founder, Change The Ratio

Rachel Sklar is a writer and social entrepreneur based in New York. She is the co-founder of Change The Ratio, which increases visibility and opportunity for women in tech & new media, and TheLi.st, a network & media platform for awesome women (supported by the Knight Foundation). A former lawyer who writes about media, politics, culture & technology, she was a founding editor at Mediaite and the Huffington Post. She has written widely for publications including New York Times, Newsweek/Daily Beast, Politico, Mashable, Medium, Mother Jones, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire and co-created and hosted the first Daily Beast video interview show. Rachel speaks widely at conferences, events and on TV, and is the co-host of “The Salon" on The Jewish Channel (check local listings!). Occasionally, she sings.

Dana StalderPartner, Matrix Partners

Dana is a general partner at Matrix Partners, a venture capital company in California's Silicon Valley, where he specializes in Internet and software investments. In addition to leading Matrix's Internet and software-based accounts, Dana also serves as Chairman of the QuinStreet Audit Committee.

Dana has almost 15 years of leadership experience in developing and managing growth at several leading Internet and software technology companies, including Netscape, PayPal, and eBay. Prior to joining Matrix Partners, he was the Senior Vice President of PayPal. Before he joined PayPal, Dana served as the Vice President of Finance, Internet Marketing, and Strategic Partnerships at eBay.

Dana studied Commerce, Accounting, and Marketing at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1990.

Biz StoneCo-Founder, Twitter

Biz has been named Nerd of the Year by GQ, one of the Most Influential People in The World by TIME magazine, Entrepreneur of the Decade by Inc Magazine, one of Vanity Fair's Top Ten Most Influential People of the Information Age, and was honored with the International Center for Journalists' first Innovation Award.

Biz is best known for over a decade of developing collaborative web systems freely accessed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. As a progenitor of the early social web, Biz became an Internet entrepreneur in 1999 and went on to work for Google in its formative years. Later, he co-founded Twitter which launched in 2006. In June of 2011 with his long time collaborators Evan Williams and Jason Goldman, Biz co-founded The Obvious Corporation to focus on building systems that help people work together to improve the world. In addition to deploying time and resources to outside projects, he works with the Obvious team on their main effort, a publishing platform called Medium.

Biz holds an honorary Doctor of Laws from Babson College, membership in the Senior Common Room at Exeter College, Oxford, is an Executive Fellow at UC Berkeley Haas, and an Associate Fellow at Said College, Oxford. Stone has debated at Oxford Union and won on whether or not entrepreneurs can affect positive change with regard to the world's biggest problems. Together with his wife, he operates The Biz and Livia Stone Foundation supporting education and conservation.

Livia Stone

Mark SusterPartner, GRP Partners

Mark joined GRP Partners in 2007 after having worked with GRP for nearly 8 years as a two-time entrepreneur. Most recently Mark was Vice President, Product Management at Salesforce.com following its acquisition of Koral, where Mark was Founder and CEO. Prior to Koral, Mark was Founder and CEO of BuildOnline, the largest independent global content collaboration company focused on the engineering and construction sectors, which was acquired by SWORD Group. Earlier in his career, Mark spent nearly ten years working for Accenture in Europe, Japan and the U.S.

Mark received a BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He grew up in the U.S. and is also a citizen of the UK.

Max Temkin

Max Temkin is a designer from Chicago, Il. He works for good causes like Obama for America and the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, and makes the games Cards Against Humanity, Humans vs. Zombies, and Werewolf. The Sun Times said that his company has "the sophistication of a lemonade stand," and Inc. Magazine said it "barely resembles a business." Max has a degree in philosophy from Goucher College.

Tom UhlmanManaging Partner, New Venture Partners

Tom is a founder of New Venture Partners. Previously, Tom served as President of Lucent Technologies' New Ventures Group from 1997-2001. Between 1995 and 1997, Tom held senior executive positions at Lucent Technologies and AT&T. At Lucent, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Public Affairs responsible for strategy, mergers and acquisitions, planning and government affairs activities. Tom was Vice President of Corporate Development in charge of merger, acquisition and divestiture activity at AT&T. From 1985 to 1995, Tom was Director of Corporate Development at Hewlett-Packard, leading worldwide equity investment, strategic alliance, and strategic planning efforts.

Tom has also worked in both the government and academic arenas. In 1983 and 1984, he managed the President's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness on behalf of the Chief Executive of Hewlett-Packard, who chaired this White House Commission. In 1981 and 1982, he was Director of Productivity Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education. Previously, he was an Assistant and then an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. At the university, Tom was the author of a book, a dozen journal articles, and received an award for the best U.S. doctoral dissertation in the field of law.

Tom holds a Masters degree from Stanford University's School of Business. He also holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where he currently serves on the College of Arts and Sciences' Foundation Board of Directors. He received his BA in Political Science from the University of Rochester.

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