New York, NY and Denver, CO

Margot McClendon Pinto has served on the Breakthrough national board of trustees since 2015.

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Senior Vice President and Registered In-House Counsel, Jordan Park Group

San Francisco, CA

Jennifer Ciresi is a Senior Vice President and Registered In-House Counsel at Jordan Park Group. In this role, she leads the legal function for an SEC-registered investment adviser. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Jennifer was at Hall Capital Partners LLC, where she advised the firm on legal and regulatory matters, assisted with the compliance program and served on various committees focused on firm operations.  Previously, Jennifer served as Deputy General Counsel and Compliance Officer–Asia in the Hong Kong office of Pine River Capital Management L.P., managing the legal and compliance function of the Asian offices of a global hedge fund.  Before joining Pine River, she was both a corporate and business litigation attorney at Robins Kaplan LLP.  Jennifer began her career in investment banking at Lazard Middle Market working on mergers and acquisitions and representing sellers of middle market businesses.  She previously served on the Board of Advisors of the University of Minnesota Law School.  She also served as a member of the AIMA Hong Kong Regulatory Sub–Committee for two years.  Jennifer graduated with highest distinction from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a B.A. in Economics and Spanish and earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and three children and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.

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Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Dodge & Cox

Larkspur, CA

Lucy Johns is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Dodge & Cox, an investment manager. She received her B.A. degree (magna cum laude) from Williams College in 1996 and her M.B.A. degree from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2004.  Prior to graduate school, she worked for approximately two years each at Merrill Lynch as a financial analyst, Dodge & Cox as a research assistant, and NBC Internet as a Senior Product Manager. Lucy rejoined Dodge & Cox in 2004.  Lucy is a shareholder of Dodge & Cox and sits on the firm’s two fixed income investment policy committees.  She grew up in Oregon and currently lives in Marin County with her husband, Todd, and their two children.   

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Educational Consultant

Chicago, IL/San Francisco, CA

Rick Ackerly is a nationally-recognized educator and speaker with 45 years of experience working in and for schools and the author of “The Genius in Every Child: Encouraging Character, Curiosity, and Creativity in Children.” With a master’s degree in education from Harvard University, Rick has devoted his career to building thriving learning communities. He has served as headmaster of four independent schools and has been a consultant and coach to teachers, school leaders and parents for many years. Rick speaks to parent and school groups across the country and presents at numerous education conferences. His articles about education and diversity have appeared in several newspapers and magazines and he publishes a new essay each week on his blog www.geniusinchildren.org.

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Vice President of Human Resources, Parsons Electric LLC

Maplewood, MN

Tamra has served as Director of Human Resources for two Minnesota manufacturing corporations, overseeing all aspects of HR from talent acquisition to employee relations to technical HR systems to leadership development. Her own leadership skills have been widely recognized with awards in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including that of Breakthrough Twin Cities. Tamra earned her BA in HR Management from Metropolitan State University and her MA in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University. She and her husband, Rick, have two adult children.

Architectural History and Theory Lecturer, Stanford University

San Francisco, CA

Thomas Beischer is a lecturer in architectural history and theory at Stanford University. He received a B.A. in art history from Stanford University, a M.A. in art history from Williams College, and a Ph.D. in history, theory, and criticism of architecture from MIT. Thomas has been involved with many community and national art and education groups including serving on the Board of Trustees for San Francisco Performances and on the National Board for the modern architecture preservation group, Docomomo. Thomas grew up in North Carolina and currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, Lily, and their two children.

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Human Resources Consultant, Allan Dowiak Consulting, Inc.

Hackettstown, NJ

Allan Dowiak is a human resources consultant who helps businesses achieve their strategic imperatives by working with their senior leadership team on organizational effectiveness, talent assessment, development, coaching, performance management and training. Prior to starting his consulting company, Allan served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the Investments Group and corporate areas of New York Life and held a number of human resources roles at both ADP and Macy’s. Allan has a BA in Sociology from Rutgers University. He and his wife, Judy, have four teenage and adult children.

Deputy Director, K-12 Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 

Washington, DC

Josh Edelman is deputy director, Place Based Delivery, for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the K-12 Education team, working most closely with K-12 investments in Tennessee and Florida. Previously, Josh worked with DC and Chicago public schools to support the development of programs that would target student achievement and performance. He has also held various leadership positions at The SEED Foundation, first on the board of directors, then as principal of The SEED School, a public charter boarding school in Washington DC. Prior to SEED, Josh taught social studies for three years at Milton Academy in Massachusetts and seven years at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California where he was also the founder and executive director for RISE (Realizing Intellect through Self-Empowerment), a youth development program targeted at African-American youth. Josh has a bachelor’s degree in American history from Harvard University, a master’s degree in education from Stanford University, and a second master’s in educational administration with an administrative credential, also from Stanford University.

Executive Director, Breakthrough Central Texas

Austin, TX

Michael Griffith has close to 20 years’ experience as an educator and nonprofit leader. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas and a Master of Education degree from Texas State University, Michael started his career as an elementary teacher, honing his skills in teaching, learning, curriculum development, and student assessment. He earned distinctions for his teaching and took on leadership roles as a mentor teacher and team leader. He supported students in and out of the classroom to fulfill their potential, and envisioned a future career as a school and district administrator. He joined Breakthrough Central Texas as the Director of Programs in 2008. During his six-year tenure as Director of Programs, Michael managed a three-fold increase in students served, the organization’s first expansion to Manor ISD, the buildout of its college completion programs, and the creation of the a customized Salesforce database to monitor the progress of students on their path to college graduation. In 2011, Michael was honored by Bank of America with the distinction of Emerging Leader. In 2014, Michael took on the mantle of Executive Director at Breakthrough. Since that time, he has supported Breakthrough as it has expanded extensively to serve more students in multiple school districts in Central Texas. Michael has expertise in educational best practices, partnership development, research and reporting, project planning, and organizational leadership. Michael is a founding member of the Austin College Access Network and is widely respected in the Central Texas nonprofit community.

Chief Operating Officer, BVF Partners, L.P. 

San Francisco, CA

Jason McCune is Chief Operating Officer at BVF Partners, L.P., a biotech focused investment management firm. Prior to joining BVF in 2019, he was a Managing Director at Hall Capital Partners LLC where he was a senior member of the investment research team overseeing the firm’s investments in absolute return and credit strategies. Mr. McCune graduated cum laude from Northwestern University with a B.S. in industrial engineering. He also earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 
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Coral Gables, FL

JuliAnne McDowell’s background is in corporate marketing and advertising as well as community volunteerism. After earning a BA in French Studies from Stanford and an MBA from INSEAD in France, JuliAnne worked for advertising agencies, as well as L’Oreal and McDonald’s. In her hometown of Miami, however, JuliAnne has focused on community engagement in educational and arts organizations, particularly in fundraising and friendraising. JuliAnne has served on numerous boards, frequently as Chair/Development Committee chair – serving in both capacities at Breakthrough Miami. JuliAnne and her husband, Derek, have three teenage and adult children.

Executive Director, LearningWorks at Blake: A Breakthrough Program

Minneapolis, MN

Natalie Owens-Pike is the Executive Director of LearningWorks at Blake: A Breakthrough Program, where she is in her fourth year of leadership. Natalie is the incoming chair of the Affiliate Committee of the Board of Trustees, and serves on the Strategic Planning Team as well as the Development Committee. At LearningWorks, she previously served as the Director of Alumni and Community Outreach, a social studies Instructional Coach, and even as a social studies teaching fellow while in college. After graduating from Macalester College, she was a Teach For America corps member in the Mississippi Delta, where she taught Spanish in a rural public high school. Natalie is an active community board member in the Twin Cities, serving on the YMCA Camp Menogyn board since 2014, where she is co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is also a founding board member for the Boys and Girls in Outdoor Leadership Development (BOLD/GOLD) program of the YMCA, which expands access to wilderness camps through programming and scholarships for students of color or students with economic need.

Governance Consultant, The Governance Group

Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN

Chris Porter has been widely recognized for her communications work and facilitation skills. In 1976, she founded Writing Consultants, a national firm focused on improving organizational communications and facilitating communications training. There, her clients included Delta Airlines, Wells Fargo, IBM, and Prudential Insurance, among many others. After selling the firm in 2002, Chris founded The Governance Group to assist nonprofit boards in successfully leading their organizations. She has received excellence awards for her facilitation skills, and has served on many boards, including those of Breakthrough Twin Cities, the American Society for Training and Development, Gillette Children’s Hospital, Mounds Park Academy, Children’s Home Society of Minnesota, the Waldorf School of Minneapolis, and Unity Church Unitarian. Her background includes undergraduate and graduate degrees in English language studies.

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Executive Director, Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano 

San Juan Capistrano, CA

Alex Serna joined Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano as the Program Director in 2014 and was appointed Executive Director in 2018. After graduating high school with a 2.1gpa, he become a father when he was 17 and enrolled into community college to provide his daughter with a better future. A transfer-student from Santa Ana College and the first in his family to graduate college, he earned his B.A in American Studies from UC Berkeley in 2011, later enrolling at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education where he received his master’s degree in urban education and secondary social studies teaching credential. He completed the College Advising Program at Teachers College, Columbia University and Seth Godin’s altMBA workshop.

He’s a 2017 New Leaders Council, Los Angeles fellow and served on the Millennial Commission on Education as a Senior Fellow where he supported the development of key policy recommendations in advancement of education reform. An Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development 2017 Emerging Leader and serves on the advisory boards for the UCI School of Social Ecology field study program and Hispanic Education Endowment Fund. His thoughts on college access, educational policy and equity have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, The Hechinger Report, Diverse Issues in Higher Education and NACAC’s Journal of College Admission. He is a father of four and when he’s not chasing them around, he can be found training Brazilian jiujit-su or discovering the best vegetarian food in southern California.

Executive Director, Breakthrough San Francisco at SF Day School

Berkeley, CA

Originally from New York, Andy taught at the Breakthrough sites in Long Island and Cambridge as an undergraduate and was immediately hooked. He subsequently taught sixth grade math and science in Oakland as a Teach For America corps member before returning to Breakthrough as Program Director at the Cambridge site. Andy has done short-term work for The Steppingstone Foundation, Aim High, and Summer Search, where he served as an Education Pioneers Fellow. He holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University and was an Urban Scholars Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, receiving an Ed.M. in School Leadership. He lives in Berkeley with his wife and two daughters.

Santa Fe, NM 

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

Radiation Oncologist  

Englewood, CO 

Dr. Weng is a board certified radiation oncologist who grew up in New York and California. She completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in biology at Stanford University and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles Medical School and Residency Program. She began working in Colorado in 2000 where she was an assistant professor and clinical faculty at the University Hospital in the Radiation Oncology Department prior to joining a private practice group, Medical Radation Oncology Consultants in 2010.  During her many years at the university, she participated in many clinical trials and clinical protocols for both pediatric and adult radiation oncology and has focused on advances in radiation oncology for head and neck cancers, and stereotactic radiosurgery. 

Dr. Weng also served on various committees at the university including ethnic minority affairs, the Protocol Review Committee, faculty senate representative, and the CU Medical School Curriculum Reform Committee. During her time at the University of Colorado, she received the prestigious K12 Grant, which was a clinical oncology research development program for junior faculty in oncology disciplines.

Outside of her practice, Dr. Weng is active in supporting numerous medical and community outreach programs. She has served on the operations board of the Bonfils Blood Center since September of 2007 to 2013, the board of directors for the Children’s Museum of Denver for which she is vice chairman this year, the Stanford Colorado leadership committee for Alumni Interviewing, Stanford Special Gifts Committee Member and the Breakthrough Kent Denver organization. She balances her practice with a busy family schedule. Together they love skiing, hiking, and biking in Colorado, as well as travel.

Retired Vice Chairman of the Board, Level 3 Communications

Atlanta, GA

Charles (Buddy) C. Miller III was an executive in the telecommunications industry from 1988 to 2014. In June 2013, he retired from his executive position at Level 3 Communications, a global provider of high-capacity communications services to businesses. Buddy had been vice chairman since 2000 with duties including corporate strategy, M&A, business development, marketing and information services. He retired from Level 3’s Board of Directors in 2014. Before Level 3 Buddy was an executive officer at BellSouth Corporation from 1987-2000, his roles included senior vice president, corporate strategy and development, as well as president-BellSouth International. Buddy received A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard. Before his telecommunications career he practiced law at Ropes & Gray in Boston and King & Spalding in Atlanta. He and his wife Pinney Allen reside in Atlanta and are also active supporters of Breakthrough Atlanta.

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Executive Director, 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.

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