Our Extraordinary Team
Willie Brown
College Persistence Advisor​
​​
"A warm smile is the universal language of kindness."
-William Aurther Ward
Laura Garcia
College Readiness Advisor, 5th & 6th Grade
​
"If all else fails, at least I can say I tried."
-Laura Garcia
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Noemi Garcia
High School Team Lead and 9th Grade College Readiness Advisor
​
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." -William Ernest Henley
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Matthew Hixon
College Readiness Advisor, AAMI/Middle School​​
​
"Life is a game, you are either playing the game or being played."
-Matthew Hixon
Jackie Lopez
Middle School Team Lead and College Readiness Advisor, 8th Grade
​
"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it."
-Maya Angelou
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Jesus Martinez
Operations Manager
​
“Be curious, not judgmental."
-Ted Lasso
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Gaby Nevarez
Community Engagement Coordinator
​
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
-Nelson Mandela
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Estrella Ortiz
College Readiness Advisor, 7th Grade
​
"You are exactly where you need to be to become exactly who you are supposed to become."
-C. Robert Cargill
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Mayra Perez
College Access Advisor, 12th Grade
​
“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”
-Winnie the Pooh
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Laura Rios
Program Director
​
"Where there’s a will, there’s a way."
-My 7th Grade Reading Teacher
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Tyshun Robinson
Student Experience Coordinator
​
"Hope if it looks impossible, have faith when it appears inconceivable, believe the unthinkable."
-Tyshun Robinson
Ashley Rodriguez
College Readiness Advisor, 10th Grade
​
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
-Maya Angelou​
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Victoria Velazquez
College Access Advisor, 11th Grade
​
“Where there’s hope, there’s life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.”
-Anne Frank
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Angie Sage
Individual Giving Manager
​
"The problem isn’t the problem, the problem is your attitude about the problem."
-Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Jared Verdejo
Marketing and Communications Specialist​
​
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."
-Pablo Picasso
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Joseph Young
College Persistence Manager
​
“If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.”
Translated African Proverb
​
Bilingual: English & Español
Board of Directors
OFFICERS
Steve Rice
President
Lake County State's Attorney's Office
Valerie Lopez Finn
Treasurer
Retired/Accenture
Gilberto Colin
Vice President​
Abbvie
*Alumni
Kim Furrer Lenzini
Secretary
Jackson Buckley & Pfanenstiel LLP
MEMBERS
Karen Papp
Retired (Takeda)
Najet Torres
Self-Employed
*Parent
Walter Calhoun
Retired
Josué Pasillas
City of Waukegan
Jennessa Lystlund
Amgen
Pat Ludwig
Retired (Takeda)
Kristen Malecki
Professor, UIC School of Public Health
Claudia Phalen
First Bank of Highland Park
Gala Torres
Grayslake Dental Clinic
*Alumni
John Malecki
Teacher, ​St. John Berchmans School