We Are College Track
Commitment. Passion. Joy.
Authenticity. Excellence.
College Track is fiercely committed to ensuring that every one of our students earns a four-year college degree and with it, a future of their own design.
Realizing this goal requires the collective efforts of team members who are passionate about this work, derive joy from what we do, and engage in authentic relationships with each other and the College Track community of students, families and partners.
We are educators and mentors. We are marketers and fundraisers. We are financial gurus and data nerds. We are professional advisors and Salesforce navigators.
We are each others’ champions. We are a family.
Our Team
Filter Staff
Elissa Salas
Chief Executive Officer
Julia Chih
Chief Finance & Operating Officer
Leela de Souza Bransten
Chief Development & Marketing Officer
Angie Peluse
Chief of Regions
Karen Draper
Vice President of Finance & Operations
Jeannie Johnson
Vice President of Programs
Vishal Shah
Vice President of Org Performance
Jon Thornton
Vice President of Development
Lindsey Adams
Database Administrator
Jonas Aquino
IT Manager
Heather Berkley
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Tina Colby
Quality & Learning Director of Academic Affairs
Daryl Cook
Financial Planning & Analysis Manager
Elizabeth Dukovich
Director of Proposal Management
Abdul Duso
Quality & Learning Director of Student Life
Jessica Forsyth
Executive Assistant
Gabriela Garay-Ash
Accounting Manager
Stella Glodek
Director of Employee Experience
Atziry Gutierrez
Director of Marketing & Alumni Strategy
Janiece Hill
Management Fellow
Katie Hooper
Director of Communications
Oliver Huang
IT Helpdesk Specialist
Julian Jackson
Director of Talent Acquisition
Danielle Jarvis
Development Associate
Nadja Jepsen
Financial Programs & Scholarship Director
Katie Kantor
Senior Quality & Learning Program Manager
Brian Kramer
Grant Writer
Sara Kunitake
People Manager
Selena Liu
Marketing Manager
Zoe Melczer
Director of Philanthropic Initiatives
Miccaela Montague
Quality & Learning Director, College Completion
Aja Moore-Ramos
Communications Manager
Danielle Morton
Financial Programs and Scholarships Fellow
Robel Negussie
Controller
Kurstin Nelms
College Advising Manager
Siddharth Patel
Financial Analyst
Baker Renneckar
Performance Manager
Isabel Reyna
Data Analyst
Paul Rodriguez
National Operations Manager
Suzanne Samuel
Internal Communications Manager
Catie Steinman
Human Resources Generalist
Cornelius Tan
Talent Acquisition Coordinator
Ryan Terada
Staff Accountant
Jennifer Ting
Prospect Research Manager
Shria Tomlinson
Senior Director of Quality & Learning
Darwin Velasquez
Dreamer Coordinator
Jonny Volan
Performance Manager
Raynisa Wilson
Accounts Payable Specialist
Macky Yamaguchi
Grant Writer
Shasta Zenelle
Director of Development Operations
Our Board of Directors
College Track is governed by a board of directors that bring together a wealth of experience in philanthropy, operational management, and development for non-profit organizations.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Chair and Co-Founder
David B. Singer
Vice Chair
Charles D. King
Vice Chair
Nancy Lue
Secretary
Michael Beckwith
Andy Dreyfus
Lynn Feintech
Cynthia Keely
Darell Krasnoff
Debbra Lindo
Marc Mazur
Jonathan Mildenhall
Tony Prophet
will.i.am
Timothy C. Wu
Roger Zamora
Our Founding Story
In 1997, while advising high school seniors from East Palo Alto about the college admission process, Laurene Powell and Carlos Watson realized that students who wanted to be the first in their families to attend college received little or no guidance about how to get there. They also discovered that most students who were hungry for information and eager to attend college had not taken the classes necessary to qualify for admission to a California state university.
Recognizing that starting to work with seniors in their senior year was too late, the co-founders spent a year investigating area support programs and nonprofits that worked with teens. They found many programs for elementary and middle school students, but no comprehensive program supporting high school students. Organizations that served teens provided only limited service, focusing on one area, such as tutoring, or youth leadership, but never taking a comprehensive approach.
So, Laurene and Carlos created a program to address the community needs they had observed. That program was College Track.
