Staff
Strategy Development Partners
Advisory Boards and Panels
  - Business Development
  - National Strategy Review Panel
  - National Mentoring Board

While volunteering as a reading tutor one day in 1997, Gary's student, Monique, brought homework to the tutoring session that asked her to underline the predicates of several sentences. Gary, nor any other tutor, student or supervisor knew what predicates were.  Unable to find a dictionary or other reference, Gary sent Monique home with incomplete work.  Monique's family was unable to help her that night, and she arrived at school the following day with incomplete homework. 

After learning from his tutoring colleagues that they also had periodic challenges helping students grasp language arts and mathematics concepts, and then conducting extensive research of tutoring and tutor training programs across the United States, Gary dedicated himself to improving the practices of tutoring and academic mentoring.  "If we're going to tell our communities' most marginalized children that we're going to provide them with supplemental help," Gary often says, "we need to do whatever it takes to ensure that help is of the highest quality."

Gary was named among the ten best emerging social entrepreneurs worldwide by Echoing Green, the global social venture foundation.  In September 2007, former President Bill Clinton recognized Gary in his latest book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.  Gary, along with Grace Chiu (see below), received an iParenting Media “Excellent Products of 2007” award for his work developing the parenting book, Bonding While Learning: Activities to Grow Your Relationship While Preparing for Reading Success. Gary serves on advisory boards for Centro Latino for Literacy, VizCommunication and Energy Trek.

Reading Strategies Analyst & Developer
Grace Chiu

Grace has witnessed the power of literacy in the lives of thousands of young people.  As a former National Blue Ribbon teacher, she has nurtured pre-emergent readers into voracious, thoughtful ones.  As a technology educator and freelance illustrator, she has marveled at how all forms of literacy not only allow youth to communicate their thoughts and ideas, but provide them a launching point for leading successful lives and fulfilling futures.  Grace joined America Learns with the passion to “support reading volunteers in order that struggling learners are not left behind in the educational dust."  She writes that, "Literacy is the hinge between knowledge and empowerment.  It provides a series of doorways that open new possibilities for the heart, mind and soul.”   

Grace is not only a literacy expert in theory, but in practice.  She can often be found mentoring children in South Los Angeles, and is passionate about creating literacy strategies that are culturally relevant to students of color.  Grace has worked extensively with both students and teachers as a Literacy Professional Developer in the Baltimore City Public School System.  As a trainer of trainers, Grace provided training workshops on effective literacy instructional strategies, and daily modeling and coaching for administrators and teachers.  In addition to her coaching role, Grace co-authored training materials for the district's literacy institutes, sharing best practices on authentic student assessment for purposeful instruction.

From 2000 to 2002, Grace served as Education and Training Manager for the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network (ICCN) and was responsible for training the new, 100 rising youth coordinators throughout the world, as well as developing and running training programs for volunteers at the “Flagship” Clubhouse in Boston.  Through her work with the Clubhouse, she collaborated extensively with the ICCN’s co-founders, the Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Museum of Science, Boston.  In helping to pioneer the ICCN’s expanding global network of technology playgrounds, Grace provided exclusive implementation training and on-going consultation for Clubhouses across the United States, the Netherlands, Ireland, China and Taiwan. 

Grace is currently a Ph.D. student in Urban Schooling at the University of California, Los Angeles.  She holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, and both a teaching credential and B.A. from the University of California, Irvine.  Grace has spent many joyful hours volunteering as a church youth counselor, a children’s coordinator for a neighborhood food pantry, and a public-speaking coach.  She currently serves as a mentor and goodwill ambassador for the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network.

Interpersonal Strategies Analyst & Developer
Jill Goldberg

Jill is currently in her fifteenth year as an educator. She teaches fifth grade public school students in  New York. Prior to her current work, Jill held the position of Instructor of Early Childhood Education at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York where she taught undergraduate pre-service and graduate in-service teachers.  She also has experience teaching pre-school and elementary school in urban, rural, and suburban settings. While teaching, Jill has served as a mentor for new teachers, as a mentor for children, and as a supervisory expert teacher for student teachers in college.  Additionally, she has worked with a variety of classroom volunteers throughout her career. Jill also volunteers as a New Member Greeter for the Feingold Association, an organization that provides support and assistance to families of children with multiple food and chemical sensitivities.

When she is not enjoying the challenge and excitement of her professional endeavors, Jill and her husband, Howard, are devoted parents to their own two young sons. Jill is also a published writer. Her personal essays on parenting issues have appeared in Parenting from the Heart and Natural Jewish Parenting.

Jill graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and she completed her Ed.M. in Risk and Prevention at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Adult Literacy Strategies Analyst & Developer
Sally Ianiro

Sally began teaching adult literacy students twenty years ago as a classroom teacher in a San Francisco Bay Area adult school.  When she knocked on the door of the local library literacy program looking for tutors for her students, she was invited to join the library’s tutor training team.  Ever since then, Sally has provided professional development services for tutors and teachers in schools and library literacy programs across California.

Sally has run a number of grant-funded literacy projects for community-based agencies and schools. In collaboration with Berkeley Adult School, the California Department of Education, and a local homeless assistance agency, she coordinated a program that assisted homeless adults in completing their GEDs.   Sally also coordinated a large urban English as a second language (ESL) program for adults in Richmond, California, and also designed ESL curriculum with an innovative group of educators at Oakland Adult and Career Education.

Sally has written a number of published articles on adult education.  She contributed to the book Life at the Margins: Literacy, Language, and Technology in Everyday Life, and wrote a series of research digests for the California Department of Education's California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project on teaching reading to adults.

Sally holds a B.A. in social science from San José State University and an M.A. and teaching credential in adult education from San Francisco State University.  She has lectured at SFSU, and has taught at UC Berkeley Extension and California State University East Bay Extension.  In 2002, the SFSU College of Education presented Sally with an alumni award for her contributions to the adult education community.

Analyst
Liz Fremer

Liz spent seven years during high school and college tutoring students in math and foreign languages, and participating in formal mentoring programs. Since graduating Washington University in St. Louis in 2003, she has worked for a number of non-profit organizations and socially responsible businesses. Liz has acquired a diverse skill base fulfilling outreach, development, and organizing roles. She comes to the America Learns team with a strong foundation in relationship building, database management, and client support.

Our Strategy Development Partners are nationally recognized organizations that use their expertise in specific niches to respond to the challenges faced by tutors and mentors we serve nationwide.

Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate (BRMA) is a comprehensive support program for students in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools in North Carolina that provides students with mentoring, tutoring, advocacy, enrichment, leadership training, and scholarship support services.  BRMA is an authority in the complex cultural, racial and gender challenges faced by tutors and mentors, and develops comprehensive resources in those areas for tutors and mentors using the Network nationwide.  Learn more about BRMA at http://www.chccs.k12.nc.us/brma/index.asp.  

Vanessa Van Petten is a 23 year-old teen expert on the Net-Generation.  She is a speaker and the creator of OnTeensToday.com, the popular parenting blog and advice column.  She is also the author of a parenting book she wrote when she was 17 from the kid's perspective, called You're Grounded!: How to Stop Fighting and Make Teenage Years Easier.

Peace Games is a national leader in empowering students to create their own safe classrooms and communities by forming partnerships with elementary schools, families, and young adult volunteers.  America Learns Network users have access to an always growing number of Peace Games' cooperative game-based conflict resolution, cultural understanding and peacemaking activities.  Learn more about Peace Games at http://www.peacegames.org.

This advisory board guides our efforts to create a thriving organization that fulfills our social mission.

Jan Berk is the founder and owner of Berk | Associates, a marketing, strategic planning and business development consulting firm. Prior to Berk | Associates, Jan was Vice President, Marketing and Planning for a direct marketing agency where she directed the creative/marketing team and helped to grow the company’s client base/billings by 40% to $11 million.  Jan has also served as the Director of Communications & Public Affairs for the Los Angeles Times, where she developed a $30 million public outreach initiative called Reading by 9, a bilingual multi-media awareness campaign to promote the issues of K-3 literacy with the goal of moving the community into action. Additionally, Jan served in the Marketing and Sales department at The Times, growing special products and sponsorship programs from $17 million to $30 million dollars in 2 years.  Jan is heavily involved in her community, serving on the Board of a community organization and offering her services pro bono to multiple small companies and individuals.

Alan Jarrick has more than 30 years of experience in finance and management, including 10 years at Teledyne Inc. serving in a number of senior financial positions, including group financial officer of the $1 billion Insurance & Finance Group. His experience includes four years as chief financial officer for the Cooperative of American Physicians and five years as chief executive officer at St. Jude Radiology Medical Group. He previously founded and served as chairman for his own company, Compudocs LLC.  For the past seven years, Alan has worked as a private investor and an independent financial consultant to a number of companies, including Fresh Express Farms, TransFRESH Corp., Cooperative of American Physicians/Mutual Protection Trust, St. Jude Radiology and Fullerton Orthopedic. He serves as a financial advisor to the board of Fresh International Corp., and has served as a volunteer board member for a number of charitable organizations.

John Kobara is President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. He was previously senior vice president of Sylvan Learning Systems, where he led the division of online higher education. Prior to his position at Sylvan, he was president and CEO of OnlineLearning.net, which was acquired by Sylvan to become the cornerstone of its continuing education strategy. He has served as Vice Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles and as director of the UCLA Alumni Association. His community involvement stems back to childhood, when he counseled juvenile felons, and led the largest student-run community service program in the nation. He currently is involved with the California Community Foundation, the Coro Fellows Program, UCLA's Management School, and Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics.

It's essential that the voices of the tutors, mentors and student teachers we serve are heard loud and clear when we produce resources for the America Learns Network's National Strategy Database.  For that reason, in 2006 we created the National Strategy Review Panel.  The Panel is composed of top notch tutors, mentors and student teachers who review and offer detailed, straightforward feedback on early drafts of our strategies.  This process helps to ensure that every strategy we post to the Network is practical, relevant and user friendly.

Courtney Harkness
Alumnus, University of Michigan America Reads Tutoring Corps

Sarah Kurachek*
Alumnus, City of Lakes AmeriCorps

Noah Robert Smith
Alumnus, University of Michigan America Reads Tutoring Corps

*Denotes Founding Member

National Mentoring Board members mentor us around the development of new features for the Network.

Inclusion in this list does not imply any endorsement or use of the Network by the individuals listed or by any organizations with which they're affiliated.

Whitney Begeman
University of Michigan America Reads Tutoring Corps

Bill Bewley
National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards & Student Testing (CRESST)

Kari Dunn
Case Foundation

Elizabeth Ferber
Fifth Avenue Committee

Patrice Fisher
Launch Pad

Theresa Hall-Brown
America Reads - Mississippi

Nancy Hatch
Author

Liz Henderson
Duke University

Morgan Hughes
IUPUI America Reads*America Counts

Michelle Hynes
Experience Corps

Tina Koneazny
University of Southern California, USC ReadersPLUS

Heather McGrew
Echoing Green

Heather McLetchie-Leader
Citizen Schools

Esther Mosimann
University of Pittsburgh

Anne Schink
Maine Commission for Community Service

Melanie Stephens
Centro Latino for Literacy

Connie Sun
Columbia University

Rachel Tronstein
Clinton Global Initiative

Robyn Wasserman
Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles

Dave Whitaker
ProLiteracy America

George Whitehead
Salisbury University

Kaye Scholer is an international law firm with approximately 500 lawyers in eight offices around the world.  Its global transaction and litigation capability covers a multitude of practices in areas including litigation, corporate, real estate, business reorganization, wills and estates and tax.  Organizations seed funded by Echoing Green such as ours have the opportunity to receive pro bono legal counsel from Kaye Scholer.  The service the firm has provided to us has been nothing short of extraordinary.

The Public Patent Foundation (“PUBPAT”) is a not-for-profit legal services organization working to protect the public from the harms caused by the patent system.  Seed funded by Echoing Green, PUBPAT provides the general public, particularly those persons or businesses otherwise deprived of access to the system governing patents, with representation, advocacy, and education.