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Staff Bios

Leadership

Mialisa Bonta, Chief Executive Officer
Mialisa Bonta brings over 15 years of experience in education and youth development field to The Breakthrough Collaborative. She joins us after six years as Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives and Legacy Development at the Stupski Foundation, a national foundation dedicated to supporting children in our nation’s urban schools by focusing on district-level reform. Prior to her work with the Stupski Foundation, Ms. Bonta served as Program Resource Officer at the San Francisco Foundation. At a young age, Ms. Bonta experienced her own breakthrough. She was offered an opportunity leading to her graduation from Friends Seminary, an independent school in New York. She later went on to pursue a B.A. from Yale College, an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a J.D. from Yale Law School. In addition, Ms. Bonta has had formative experience in early childhood education as a childcare provider, in bilingual education, child advocacy and with community development programs. In addition, she served for several years as City Director of Leadership, Education and Athletics and Partnership (LEAP) in Connecticut, a community based academic and social enrichment program for children and youth ages 7 to 23. She lives in Alameda with her husband, Robert Bonta, and two daughters, Reina (age 8) and Iliana (age 2).

Christa Roth, Chief Operating Officer
In partnership with the CEO, Christa provides organizational leadership in program development and management, site support, finances and operations. Christa brings 23 years of nonprofit management experience to this challenge. She created and managed Hands on Atlanta’s school-based programs, placing 75 AmeriCorps members and volunteers into six urban schools. Christa managed direct affiliate relationships as Director of Affiliate services for Hands on Network (formerly CityCares,) supporting their efforts to grow and expand by providing direct organizational development consulting services to staff and boards of 35 affiliates. During her tenure as Vice President of Finance & Programs for Hispanics in Philanthropy, the organizations capacity expanded by 400% with regards to staff, budget, grant disbursed and grew the program from five to twenty one communities in the United States and Latin America. Christa earned her B.S. in Marketing & Finance from the University of Oregon.  

Development
Erica Fortescue, Director of Development
Erica has been involved with Summerbridge and Breakthrough for more than fifteen years, in roles that include teacher, volunteer and homestay host. Since 2003 she has worked at the national office, first as Site Support and Development Director, and currently in the Development department. Prior to joining Breakthrough, Erica was the National Coordinator for Project ASTRO, a program of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific that partners volunteer scientists with 4th – 9th grade students. She has also taught French and Spanish in the classroom. Erica holds a Master’s degree in Education from Stanford University and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University.

Lydia Johnson , Director of Strategic Partnerships
Lydia Johnson has 15 years professional experience in marketing and development. Most recently, as a senior development officer for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, a national organization based in San Francisco, she developed an enthusiasm for expanding educational opportunities for underserved communities. She first learned of Breakthrough as a donor services officer for the San Francisco Foundation. Lydia has raised resources and managed marketing campaigns for such organizations as the United Way of the Bay Area, San Francisco Food Bank, and Hispanics in Philanthropy.

Zoë Reyes, Annual Fund and Events Specialist
Zoë oversees individual giving stewardship and special events put on for Breakthrough. Zoë has worked with Breakthrough for over two years as the National Staff Associate and most recently the Development and Communications Associate. Prior to Breakthrough, Zoe worked in the Advancement Office of Westmont College, also her alma mater, where she worked in Foundation and Corporate Relations as well as Major Gifts. She graduated from Westmont cum laude in three years with a double major in Philosophy and English. Zoë was first introduced to Breakthrough by volunteering in her high school, St. Johns School in Houston, Texas, host school to Breakthrough Houston. Outside of Breakthrough, she enjoys time with her husband, Manny; reads whenever possible; is working with a non-profit networking organization in the East Bay called Project Peace; and also serves as a part-time Marketing Director with Point of View, her father’s line of greeting cards to which she also contributes some of her own photography: www.pointofviewcards.com.

Ieesha McKinzie , Development and Communications Associate
Ieesha McKinzie serves two teams as Breakthrough’s new Development and Communications Associate. She is returning to the Breakthrough family after serving as an 8th grade science teacher for the Atlanta site in 2003. It was there that she grew a love for education and joined Teach for America after graduating from Hampton University in 2006. For the past two years, she has taught elementary school on the west side of Atlanta. A journalist by trade and a teacher at heart, she hopes to combine her loves for journalism and communications with her passion for education to help support Breakthrough’s efforts to increase educational opportunities for students. In her free time, Ieesha enjoys kite flying, trivia and board games -- when she isn’t shopping.

Sustainability Team
Beth Porter, National Executive Director
Beth has worked for Breakthrough for eleven years in the development and program departments. In her current role, Beth and the sustainability team are charged with ensuring that all sites achieve financial sustainability as evidenced by a strong fundraising board, a diversified funding base, at least six months of cash on hand, and effective multi-year strategic and development plans. Beth brings 18 years of fundraising experience to her position, and has worked in education, arts and political action organizations. Beth has her Bachelors degree in Sociology and Japanese from Middlebury College and her Master’s degree in Asia Pacific Studies from the University of San Francisco. When she is not at Breakthrough, she is kept busy by her seven year-old daughter.

Froswa’ Booker-Drew, Southwest Sustainability Specialist
Froswa' Booker-Drew is the Southwest Sustainability Specialist for Breakthrough Collaborative. She was previously South Regional Director for the Alliance for Innovation, a national nonprofit that provides research, networking and learning opportunities for over 300 municipalities in the US and Canada. In this role, Froswa' worked with over 50 city managers and their staff in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. In addition, she has served in leadership roles for several nonprofits in fundraising, program development, and marketing/public relations. As the owner of Soulstice Consultancy, she provides capacity building services for nonprofits and works with a number of clients in Texas and Louisiana. Froswa' is also an instructor for the University of Texas at Arlington's Nonprofit Institute and a grant reviewer for several foundations, state and federal agencies. She has been married for twelve years to Charles C Drew and has one daughter, Kazai.

Randy Humphrey, Southeast Sustainability Specialist
Randy comes to Breakthrough with more than 15 years experience in corporate external affairs from The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola Enterprises. During his career with Coca-Cola, Randy worked in media relations, managed corporate contributions at The Coca-Cola Foundation evaluating funding requests from nonprofits nationally and, most recently, completed a three-year assignment as a community relations consultant to The Coca-Cola Company. Randy brings ten years senior management experience with him having directed Community Programs for Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Some of his responsibilities included management of all special events and philanthropy for the bottler in the Atlanta region working specifically with a number of nonprofits devoted to improving the lives of children. Prior to joining the Coca-Cola system, Randy worked as executive assistant to a former Georgia governor and gained valuable insights on how to work with diverse groups and reach consensus on issues. Randy has worked many years as a community volunteer providing leadership to several nonprofit organizations advising on development and sustainability issues. Randy will be based in Atlanta, and will support the Breakthrough sites in Atlanta, New Orleans, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miami and Washington, D.C. Randy attended Valdosta State University where he earned a B.S. in Criminal Justice. He and his wife, Gaye, are the proud parents of an eight-year-old daughter, Regan, who is an aspiring television news anchorwoman.

Randy Richardson, Northeast Sustainability Specialist
Randy is based in Concord, NH as the Northeast Sustainability Specialist. He has devoted his life devoted to kids and education. Randy started working as a baby sitter and camp counselor, and quickly worked his way into the classroom with the help of a BA from Hamilton College and MA from Wesleyan University. Not only has Randy taught a range of classes, from 6th grade geography to 11th and 12th grade U.S. History, he has also coached of lacrosse, soccer and ice hockey at many levels. Randy has spent the last ten years focused on improving schools as an educational administrator. He has served as a Dean of Students, Director of Residential Life, Curriculum Coordinator, Assistant Head of School and 7 years as Head of School of The Derryfield School, the host of our Manchester program.

Mike Turner, Midwest Sustainability Specialist
World-renowned Denver Director, Mike Turner, has agreed to use his innovative management skills for the good of the Collaborative as a whole, or at least for a geographically-defined region of it, as our newest Sustainability Specialist! Mike has been the Executive Director of Summerbridge at Kent Denver since 2005. His previous experience with Denver Summerbridge includes serving as a teacher in 2000 and 2001, School Year Program Director in 2002 and returning as Program Director in 2004. Mike also spent two years helping open and teaching at KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, a charter school in Denver. He recently completed a Masters in Public Policy in the spring of 2007 from the University of Denver. Mike and his wife have a 6 month old son, Jackson, who takes up most of their free time.


Program Support
Ben Martinez , National Program Director
Ben started his career in education as a Summerbridge teacher at the San Francisco Day School in 1995, and is enjoying the return to the program. In the interim, Ben has been a teacher and counselor for similar programs such as Upward Bound in Los Angeles and Prep-for-Prep in New York City. In addition, as a researcher and evaluator for the American Institutes for Research in both Washington DC and California offices, Ben has worked on statewide and national education evaluations for the California Department of Education, US Department of Education, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, most recently evaluating the development and effectiveness of the high school small schools movement. Ben received a BA in Politics from Pomona College and an MA in Education & Politics from Teachers College, Columbia University. Outside of the office, Ben is avid sports fan, playing tennis & volleyball regularly and watching just about any sport.

Carlos Alvarado, Research and Evaluation Specialist
Carlos serves under Ben Martinez as the Research and Evaluation Associate, working to continue strengthening the Social Solutions database and help ensure that data analysis and reporting is timely, useful and effective for the national office as well as for all individual programs. Lured by the promise of free pizza, Carlos was sold on the Breakthrough program and taught his first summer at the Fort Worth site in 1996. He signed on for three more summers after that, serving at the Lehigh Valley site in 1997 and in Fort Worth in 1998 and 1999. After teaching at a variety of sites he returned to Breakthrough in 2002 to serve as Dean of Students for the Fort Worth site for almost three years before moving on to pursue his Master’s degree. While pursuing his Master’s Carlos worked as an evaluator for a National Science Foundation program, and assisted in various research projects for his professors at Texas Christian University. For the last year, Carlos worked as a Prevention Specialist for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Fort Worth, implementing leadership programs for older teens who wished to help younger club members learn the skills needed to live a substance free life. Carlos earned a BA in English and Geology from Texas Christian University and hopes to have defended his thesis successfully to complete his Master’s in Educational Foundations and Administration from TCU by Summer 07. It is highly probable that Carlos can be seen at local comedy venues making people laugh, and getting lost in San Francisco after leaving his beloved lifelong home, Texas.

Bobby Cupp, Teacher Excellence Program Specialist
Bobby is a Breakthrough lifer, and he is happy to add Teacher Excellence Specialist to the list of roles he has served in so far. In this capacity, he is responsible for recruiting teachers nationwide, ensuring that our teachers are supported during their service, and helping to guide them into teaching careers. He taught at the San Francisco (2003) and Day School (2004) sites, while also interning at Breakthrough as a college student. Bobby has since served as an Associate Teacher in the 4th grade at San Francisco Day School, where he also tutored in the Breakthrough program’s school-year program. He holds a B.A. in American Studies from U.C. Berkeley. His undergraduate coursework focused on Education and Urban Communities, and culminated in his thesis, for which he created a high school literacy curriculum. When not in the office, Bobby enjoys seeing live music, sitting in cafés with good books, and fully appreciating urban life.

Elizabeth Cutler, Research and Policy Specialist
Elisabeth brings over ten years of experience in K-16 education, as a university admissions coordinator, researcher and policy analyst, to her work as the Research & Policy Specialist. Prior to joining the Breakthrough Collaborative, she was most recently a Research & Evaluation Associate at the Education Alliance in Providence, RI and the Data & Policy Analyst at the Education Trust-West. Her past research has focused primarily on systemic education reform and improving educational opportunities for under-served students. Elisabeth has a BA in American Studies from Barnard College and a Masters in Public Affairs from Brown University. When not working, Elisabeth enjoys wandering around San Francisco’s neighborhoods and watching movies.

Janet Ferraiolo, Research and Evaluation Specialist
Janet serves on the Program Support team working to continue developing use of the ETO database system by the national office and program staff to inform our work and continuously strive for excellence. Most recently, Janet worked on the Education Data Systems team at the Stupski Foundation, an organization committed to improving the quality of public education by developing the capacity of urban school district leaders. Prior to working at the Stupski Foundation, she worked at non-profit organizations supporting the environment, health, and early childhood education. Janet has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Tech, a Master’s degree in Information Management from The George Washington University, and brings over ten years of experience designing, implementing, and supporting information systems. When not at work, Janet enjoys hiking, reading, and practicing bodywork and healing.

Adam Gardner, Recruitment Associate
Adam Gardner (Philadelphia ’04) serves as the Recruitment Associate, working to ensure that Breakthrough recruits the best teachers for the job. He also provides support for the Program Team and contributes to the blog for Breakthrough teachers (and aspiring teachers!), http://www.TeachBreakthroughs.org. He earned his B.A. from the University of California, San Diego in Urban Studies & Planning and Latin American Studies, spending semesters in México and Brasil. He is enthusiastic about the goings-on of the collaborative and excited to see it grow! When not at work, Adam enjoys keeping on top of current events, practicing his Spanish and Portuguese, eating tiramisu, reading his horoscope, and spending as much time as possible in public spaces.

Lois Loofbourrow, Middle School Academics Specialist
Lois helped launch Summerbridge San Francisco in 1977 and remained its founding director until she left to become the Founding Executive Director of the Breakthrough Collaborative (formerly known as Summerbridge National) in 1991. After she left our organization she went on to work with YouthBuild USA and with The Beaumont Foundation of America. She recently returned to California and has joined the staff of The Breakthrough Collaborative supporting our goals working with middle school students.

New Site Development
Casey Budesilich , National Growth Director
Casey brings a diverse background working with nonprofits and community organizations to his work identifying and supporting new site development at Breakthrough. His past experiences include coordinating management and infrastructure services for over 90 nonprofits at the Tides Center, and working with local school districts in California on impact and demographic studies. Casey has a B.S. in Planning, Public Policy and Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon, and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. His research concentration while at Berkeley was in non-profit collaboration and community development. When not in the office, you can find Casey volunteering at Magnet, a public health clinic in San Francisco, or training for a triathlon.

Laura Gonzalez, National Growth Manager
Laura has spent the last eight years working in nonprofit organizations with a common mission to better serve underprivileged youth. Most recently Laura was working for the Stupski Foundation, an organization committed to improving the quality of public education by developing capacity of urban school district leaders. As a specialized team member, she was primarily focused on how the organization would expand its own impact through strategic partnerships and influencing public policy. Laura is also in the final stages of completing a master’s degree in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco. Her thesis is an exploratory study of how Bay Area youth serving organizations planned to achieve a greater scale of impact. Laura is also a San Francisco native and a product of its public school system. When not at work you can find Laura running on Mt. Tam, at Cirssy Field with her dog Guinness, or playing on inter-mural soccer team.


Mission Support

Eric Fischer, Director of Finance
Eric brings over 15 years of experience in working with community-based, non-profit organizations in the areas of strategic financial & accounting management, organizational and fund development, and technological and human resource management. After graduating from Santa Clara University with bachelors degrees in accounting and decision & information sciences, Eric worked with a local CPA firm specializing in audit, accounting, and computer consulting services for professional services and not-for-profit organizations. He later spent 10 years with the Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County as their Director of Finance & Administration, helping to facilitate the growth in their annual budget from $4 million to over $20 million during that time period. After moving to Marin County, Eric became the Chief Financial Officer for the Hospice of Marin (now Hospice By the Bay), assisting in the design and deployment of new financial, accounting, and budgeting systems that facilitated their strategic expansion into four Bay Area counties and the purchase of a new, modern headquarters facility in Larkspur, California. He also worked with other Marin-based community organizations including the Bernard Osher Marin Jewish Community Center and Dominican University of California. An advocate for excellent educational opportunities for all, Eric is the father of three children, an avid photographer, and an aspiring Latin jazz percussionist.

Kelley Scarmeas, Human Resources Operations Manager
Kelley firmly believes that the life work we engage in should genuinely excite us and motivate us. As a former Breakthrough/Summerbridge teacher in Manchester (1998) and Pittsburgh (1999) and a Program Coordinator in Cambridge (2003-2004), she is thrilled to be working at the national Breakthrough office as Human Resources/Operations Manager. In this role, Kelley will support the Finance department in the coordination of a variety of items relating to human resources, office management and bookkeeping. Kelley’s past experiences include teaching English in Japan and working as a Program Coordinator for an international public health consulting firm. Kelley holds an M.A. in International Relations from Syracuse University and a B.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Outside the office, Kelley enjoys hiking, yoga, and traveling and has explored over 25 countries.

Spencer Kuroiwa, Office Coordinator
Spencer brings over 20 years of non-profit experience – starting with community organizing in the San Francisco Japanese community, in the late 70’s, and last working with WestEd, a regional educational lab, serving all levels of education (K through Higher Ed), in all aspects of education (teacher training, program development, research & development, testing, etc.), globally. He has been officially classified as an endangered species – one of the few remaining “native” San Franciscans. He graduated from S.F. State University, with a Social Work Education major and Asian Studies minor. His profound interest in Buddhism, drew him to study at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, in Berkeley, where he completed his academic studies to become a reverend. He has also finished seven marathons (who would of thought)!