Trustees

Photo: Breakthrough Houston

Community Leaders Advancing our Mission

The Breakthrough Collaborative Board of Trustees brings together leaders from a diverse range of industries to advance our mission, including three Executive Directors representing our national network of affiliates. Our commitment is to continue speaking out against racism and uniting for change as we ensure the pathways for a new generation of leaders, and, through them, a society with justice, equity and opportunity for all. Read the Breakthrough Collaborative Board Race & Equity resolution HERE.

Patrick Talamantes, Chair

CEO, Talamantes Strategies

Santa Fe, NM

Pat is a corporate executive with over 30 years of experience in media and finance. He was the president and CEO of McClatchy, a publicly traded publisher of 30 daily newspapers, from 2012 to 2017, and also served as the company’s CFO for 11 years. In his current role, he runs a management consulting practice advising companies on transformational and financial strategies. Pat has served on the advisory board of Breakthrough Sacramento since 2016, helping to deepen its connection to the community and increase its fundraising capabilities. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Christian Hendricks, Vice Chair

Managing Partner, Extol Digital

Raleigh, NC

Chris is the managing partner at Extol Digital, a business consultancy providing media and media-related businesses with strategic and operational guidance. He is also president of the Local Media Consortium, a collective of more than 90 news media companies working together to address common challenges. He is a well-known award-winning figure in the digital media industry with more than 25 years of experience in various corporate and executive leadership roles. Chris currently serves on the boards of directors for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, Recruitology, and Centro. He also serves as a board advisor to Report for America.

Elaine Weng M.D., M.S., Secretary

Radiation Oncologist

Englewood, CO

Dr. Weng is a board-certified radiation oncologist, award-winning researcher, and former assistant professor and clinical faculty member of Colorado University. She has served on boards for the Bonfils Blood Center and the Children’s Museum of Denver, which she currently chairs. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford and a medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is an active member of the Breakthrough Kent Denver advisory board.

Lucy Johns, Treasurer

Associate Director of Fixed Income, Dodge & Cox

Larkspur, CA

Lucy is associate director of fixed income at Dodge & Cox, where she is a shareholder and sits on the firm’s fixed income investment policy committees. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Pinney Allen

Lawyer, Philanthropist, Community Activist, and Education Leader

Pebble Beach, CA & Atlanta, GA

Pinney Allen, a 30-year lawyer, partner, and leader in Alston & Bird, LLP, and former head of school of the Atlanta Girls’ School, one of the most economically and racially diverse private schools in the country, has worked in and around organizations promoting education and support for under-served youth for many years. In addition to her head of school role, she has worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County, Breakthrough Atlanta, the Big Sur Land Trust, and public library foundations in both Atlanta and California. A native of Iowa and Missouri and a 40-year resident of Atlanta, Pinney now resides in Pebble Beach, California.

Jose Davila

Chief People Officer, J. Crew Group

New York, NY

Jose is currently chief people officer for the J. Crew Group. Across his 25 years as a leader in human capital management, he has held several executive positions at Gap Inc. and held global HR leadership roles at Godiva, Campbell Soup, and Nabisco. Jose holds a bachelor’s from Cornell University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.

Cathy Dean

Chief Operating Officer, Govern for California

San Francisco, CA

Cathy Cockrum Dean currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Govern for California and holds degrees from Brown University and Harvard Business School. She has 15 years of experience in financial services, industrial manufacturing, and high technology businesses. Additionally, she has nearly 20years of experience helping non-profits with strategic planning, sustainability/financial planning, and change management. Cathy has served on the board at several non-profit organizations focused on education including Breakthrough San Francisco and San Francisco Day School. She chaired the boards of Reading Partners (national and Bay Area) and Gateway Public Schools. Cathy and her husband, Sandy, have three children.

Kerin Fredman

President, Fredman Family Foundation

Coral Gables, FL

Dr. Fredman, a board-certified psychiatrist, heads the Fredman Family Foundation, which focuses on education, health, and the environment. She has served as a board member and community leader for many organizations, working on behalf of Brown University, Ransom Everglades School, the United Way, the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade, the University of Miami Center for Ethics and Public Service, Guardian ad Litem in the 11th Judicial Circuit, as well as Breakthrough Miami. She holds degrees from Brown and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Russell Glass

CEO, Ginger

San Francisco, CA

Russ, a serial technology entrepreneur and author of The Big Data-Driven Business, is currently the chief executive at Ginger, which provides personalized mental health advising online, on-demand to millions. One of his four previous enterprises, Bizo, a B2B audience marketing and data platform, was sold to LinkedIn, where he ran the marketing solutions products group. He currently serves on the board of Rock the Vote.

Michael Griffith

Executive Director, Breakthrough Central Texas

Austin, TX

With 20 years’ experience as an educator and nonprofit leader, Michael has been at the helm of Breakthrough Central Texas – Breakthrough’s largest affiliate – since 2008, first as director of programs and since 2014 as executive director. Under his watch, the organization has created strategic partnerships with multiple public school districts and expanded program support for students through college graduation. Named an emerging leader by Bank of America in 2011, Michael holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and a master’s in education from Texas State University and is a founding member of the Austin College Access Network. Michael also serves as policy chair for the Austin College Attainment Network.

Allan Dowiak

Principal, Allan Dowiak Consulting, Inc.

Hackettstown, NJ

Allan Dowiak, former senior vice president of human resources at New York Life, runs a strategic organizational development consultancy serving major corporations. Formerly an HR leader at ADP and Macy’s, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.

John Hiester

Executive Director, Breakthrough Silicon Valley

Redwood City, CA

John is the executive director of Breakthrough Silicon Valley and holds a deep-seated commitment to ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to realize their full potential. A Colorado native, he has worked to expand educational and economic opportunities to youth and young adults in San Jose for the past 10 years.

Prior to Breakthrough, he served in a variety of leadership capacities for Year Up, a national workforce development nonprofit. He was director of operations and strategic planning for Year Up Bay Area, founding site director of Year Up Bay Area’s Silicon Valley campus in San Jose, and as launch lead for Year Up’s expansion into Arizona.

John has also served on boards and committees for several community organizations and initiatives, including the Santa Clara County Opportunity Youth Partnership, All-Stars Helping Kids, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and the East Side Alliance. He worked with Mayor Liccardo’s office and several partners from nonprofits and community colleges to support the City of San Jose to be designated as a TechHire city by the Obama administration.

John earned a B.A. in Spanish literature from Kenyon College and an M.B.A. in public and nonprofit management from Boston University. He lives in Redwood City and enjoys world travel, hiking, and is an avid mountain biker.

David Howard, Esq.

Attorney at Law, David Howard P.A.

Miami, FL

David A. Howard, Esq., is a Miami-based criminal defense attorney. He has focused predominantly, though not exclusively, on criminal law. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law.

Aditya Kaddu

Founder, Edstruments

Redwood City, CA

Aditya Kaddu, formerly a consultant with McKinsey & Company, founded Edstruments in 2019 to provide K-12 leaders with tools to more effectively manage financial resources for the benefit of students. After serving as a teaching fellow at Breakthrough Fort Worth while he was a student at Rice University, he switched from engineering to education, joining Teach For America upon graduation. He also holds a joint MBA and MA in education from Stanford and sits on the board of Hatua Network, which fights poverty among youth in Kenya.

Miho Kubagawa, Ed.L.D.

Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund

Birmingham, AL

Miho invests in entrepreneurs who design and launch innovative public schools at NewSchools Venture Fund. She spent eight years at KIPP NYC as the director of talent and was the founder and director of the teacher residency Program and 7th grade math teacher at KIPP Infinity Middle School in Harlem. In 2013, she co-founded Breakthrough Birmingham in her hometown and currently sits on the board of New Schools for Alabama. She holds a doctorate in education leadership from Harvard, a BS from Duke, and a master’s in adolescent education from Pace University.

JuliAnne McDowell

Coral Gables, FL & Park City, UT

After earning her degree in French studies at Stanford and an MBA from INSEAD, a leading global business school in Fontainebleau, France, JuliAnne worked in corporate marketing and advertising for DDB Needham, L’Oreal, and the McDonald’s Corporation. As a board member for Breakthrough Miami, she created unique strategies for community engagement and fundraising, leading to the organization’s growth and recognition by the Miami Foundation in 2017 as one of the city’s leaders in creating opportunities for youth.

Kimmy Richardson

Head of Workplace Technologies, Palantir

Orange County, CA

Kimmy Richardson is a problem solver who brings people together to perform at the best of their ability and find innovative solutions to technical problems. She is a mother of three active school-aged children. She holds a B.S. in computer engineering from U.C. Davis and has been an engineering leader at top tech companies, Google and Palantir, seeing them through from small startup phase to going public. She is a trusted mentor, advisor, and ally to talented students and engineers on their growth path to success.

Jabali Sawicki

Compass Director, nXu

Brooklyn, NY

Jabali is the founding Compass Director of nXu, a non-profit organization whose mission is to catalyze and equip youth and adults to explore, articulate, and pursue their purpose while developing their social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. He currently sits on the advisory board for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy located in South Africa, the Leadership Council of the Robin Hood Foundation based in New York City, the National Board of Summer Search, a leadership development program focused on low-income youth, and the Board of Uncommon Schools in New York City. Originally from San Francisco, Jabali found his calling as an educator early in life and had the opportunity to participate both as a student and as a teacher, at Breakthrough Summerbridge.

Monique Shields

Executive Director, Breakthrough Atlanta

Atlanta, GA

Monique became executive director of Breakthrough Atlanta in 2018, after more than two decades advancing opportunities for children. She was COO at Hands On Atlanta, where she directed one of Georgia’s largest school-based AmeriCorps programs, and served in various roles at The Carter Collaboration Center, National CASA, and Cool Girls, Inc. She is an alumna of Iowa State and Georgia State universities.

Elissa Vanaver, Chief Executive Officer

CEO, Breakthrough Collaborative

Coral Gables, FL

Elissa Vanaver became the CEO of the Breakthrough Collaborative in 2017, after more than a decade of leading growth at the Collaborative’s Miami affiliate. At Breakthrough Miami, her roles included volunteer, founding board chair, director of strategic development, and CEO. In spring 2018, Elissa was a judge for the New York Life Foundation’s Excellence in Summer Learning Awards. Before joining Breakthrough, Elissa was an award-winning newspaper editor and media executive, holding a variety of positions, including managing editor, vice president of human resources, and chief of staff for The Miami Herald, which publishes in English and Spanish. Her 25-year journalism career also included management, editing, and news-writing at the Dallas Times Herald and the San Jose Mercury News.