Our Team

Susan J. Colby - Chief Executive Officer
Susan’s leadership reflects an abiding passion to ensure that all children get the education they need and deserve, and to expand the life options for children of color and poverty.

Prior to this role, Susan was a founding partner of The Bridgespan Group’s San Francisco office and led the group’s work in K-12 education and foundation strategy for more than a decade. Her focus was on client and knowledge-related activities with a lens on disadvantaged populations. In her work, she has engaged with foundations on major strategy and organization issues and has also consulted to a variety of nonprofit organizations, from smaller, local community-based organizations to large national agencies.

Prior to co-founding Bridgespan, Susan worked with Monsanto (now Pharmacia), where she served as co-president of the Sustainable Development Sector, an initiative that developed economically, environmentally and socially viable businesses. Prior to Monsanto, Susan spent 10 years at McKinsey & Company, where she co-founded and co-led the North American Environment Practice, serving clients in the areas of environmental management and strategy.

She is a co-author of several major articles on philanthropy and education — “Galvanizing Philanthropy,” which appeared in Harvard Business Review; “Zeroing in on Impact,” published in Stanford Social Innovation Review; “The Strategic Value of a Shared Understanding of Costs,” based on “Costs are Cool” (Strategy and Leadership special report on nonprofit leadership); “Going for the Gold,” published in Education Next; “Expanding the Supply of High Quality Public Schools;” and “Reclaiming the American Dream” — as well as several Bridgespan case studies. She also has addressed the NewSchools Venture Fund Summit, Grantmakers for Education, the Stanford Nonprofit Institute, and other audiences on topics related to strategy, planning and K-12 education.

Susan is a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute—NewSchools Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education, and has served as an advisor and board member for several nonprofits. She began her consulting career at Bain & Company after receiving her B.A. from American University cum laude. She then went on to earn her M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

James Cleveland - Mission Support
As Chief Talent and Administration Officer, James provides oversight and collaborates with with the Leadership Team to seamlessly integrate business and administrative systems to support successful program implementation.

A 1993 graduate of Stanford University, James has made a palpable impact in the education field for nearly two decades. From 1994-2000, he worked at SCORE! Educational Centers. SCORE! provided communities throughout the nation with centers that offered parents and schools a positive, effective supplemental education resource for children K-8th grades. As one of SCORE!’s first Region Managers, he managed up to fifty-five direct-reports and over $4 million in revenue. He also opened four additional centers, implemented new tutoring service offering, established new community partnerships with schools and youth oriented organizations, and ultimately improved year-over-year revenue generation by 300%. The success in his efforts allowed him to hold other significant roles at SCORE!, including the Director of Customer Service at eSCORE.com and the National Director of Professional Development and Recruiting.

Late in 2000, James connected with the original founders of SCORE! to build a new education company – InsideTrack – this time targeting college students. InsideTrack was created to help college students make excellent decisions about their academic and career goals, and then provide the support and resources needed to achieve their goals and succeed in school. As a co-founder and COO, James’ primary focus was to establish the company infrastructure and operational/financial processes, and contribute to an enduring organizational culture. Today, InsideTrack is the nation’s leading provider of student coaching services, having coached more than 250,000 students nationally.

James joined Jumpstart for Young Children in the middle of 2002, where he became an exemplary leader in the field of early education for the next nine years. Jumpstart is a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all preschool-aged children living in poverty enter school prepared to succeed. James’ extensive expertise in operations and performance management combined with his education experience made him an ideal leader for the organization. He served in several key executive roles, including Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, and four years as the Chief Executive Officer. James created and implemented a new growth strategy that immediately tripled Jumpstart’s annual impact from 3,000 to 9,000 children that will enable the organization to reach more than 50,000 children by 2015. James also built a talented leadership team, strengthened operations, and established a high performing culture to achieve this ambitious strategy and ensure the expansion of Jumpstart’s impact for years to come.

James has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He completed courses at Harvard Business School Executive Education Program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management.

Steven Johnson - Learning Lab Network
Steven comes to the position of Chief Program Officer after more than 35 years in the educational sector. Throughout his career, his focus has been on increasing students’ academic achievement through improving instructional effectiveness at both the elementary and secondary levels.

Most recently, Steven served as a Reading Specialist and Supervisor with the Portland Reading Foundation (PRF). PRF implements reading intervention programs in under-served elementary schools in the Portland (Oregon) metropolitan area, engaging both educators and parents in the effort. In addition to providing direct instruction to students and supervising site-based programs, Steven helped standardize certain programmatic operations to bring them to scale.

Before his work with the Portland Reading Foundation, Steven was Director, Assessments and Tools and Vice President of Instructional Content for Teach For America (TFA). His primary endeavor at TFA was leading a major initiative to set strategy, design, produce, and implement comprehensive sets of integrated instructional resources on algebra, biology, and history—part of a multi-year project to ascertain which types of tools were most helpful to first- and second-year teachers in developing their instructional effectiveness.

Prior to TFA, Steven had a 24-year, senior management career in the for-profit, supplementary education arena with Sylvan Learning Systems and SCORE! Educational Centers, a division of Kaplan, Inc. As a senior executive, he was responsible for the development and implementation of instructional programs offered at neighborhood learning centers.

Steven’s career in education began as a K-2 public school teacher for 10 years in Lakewood, Washington. During this time, he developed a passion for and expertise in reading instruction, especially teaching reading to students at risk in terms of reading proficiency. Steven is currently nurturing this passion by completing the certification process to become a credentialed Orton-Gillingham tutor working with learners diagnosed with dyslexia.

Tia Elena Martinez - Learning Lab Network
Serving as Chief Equity Officer, Tia joined the foundation from the Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at UC Berkeley Law School where she was acting director of education, leading a policy unit that produced research, policy prescriptions and curricular innovation on issues related to education reform and racial justice in California and the nation.

Prior to joining the Warren Institute, she served as strategic consultant to the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, the federal agency charged with ensuring equal access to education through enforcement of civil rights laws. In this capacity, she led a strategic planning process and supported nationwide rollout and implementation of the new strategy across 12 regional offices.

Tia was also a manager at The Bridgespan Group where she worked with a range of clients including the nation’s largest constituency-based Hispanic civil rights organization, an urban school district reform intermediary and the Mayor’s Office of Community Development. As a senior fellow at the Hewlett Foundation, Tia worked on issues related to disadvantaged adolescents and immigrant families. She has also worked as a policy analyst for the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the San Francisco Mayor’s HIV Health Services Planning Council.

Tia has an A.B. in History from Harvard University, a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Ingrid Roberson - Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation
Ingrid Roberson joins the foundation as the Chief Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation Officer. She brings significant experience serving historically disadvantaged students in urban school districts as a teacher, administrator, and researcher.

Most recently, Ingrid served as the Executive Director for Research, Assessment and Data in Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). She led the redesign of the department to better support the district’s new strategy of becoming a Full-Service Community School District, specifically developing the “Healthy Kids, Healthy Oakland” data framework to include non-traditional indicators in partnership with the Alameda County of Public Health and the Oakland Housing Authority. She is most proud to have worked with the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) to pass a data-sharing agreement between OUSD and OHA—one of the very few to exist in the country—in order to better meet the needs of the most underserved students. Prior to becoming Executive Director, she managed the district, state and federal accountability programs as a program coordinator in OUSD.

Ingrid also worked in San Francisco Unified School District in the Research, Planning and Accountability Department. As an evaluator, she conducted evaluation research on district, state, and national programs such as the district’s Students and Teachers Achieving Results (STAR) program, the state Reading First program, and the federal Character Education Grant program. She also served as a kindergarten, first, and second grade classroom teacher and a teacher on special assignment in SFUSD. Additionally, she directed a national evaluation of school reform, called Creative Learning Communities, at the University of California, Los Angeles’ National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.

Ingrid completed her E.D. in Education Leadership at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). She also has a BA in Mass Communications from the UC Berkeley and an MA in Policy and Evaluation from Stanford University.

Virginia Witt - External Affairs
As Chief External Affairs Officer, Virginia brings more than 20 years of experience leading strategic communications and policy work in the nonprofit and philanthropy sectors. Her focus has been on innovative initiatives to bring positive change on issues relating to children and youth. During her time in advocacy in Washington, D.C., she held senior roles at the Children’s Defense Fund, People For the American Way, and the National Education Association (NEA). At the NEA, she spearheaded a national campaign to modernize American schools, working closely with educators as well as White House officials and the Department of Education.

Her career in philanthropy began as a Senior Program Officer with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, where she partnered with Black Entertainment Television (BET) on the award-winning “Rap It Up” multi-platform campaign to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among African-American youth. She later joined the leadership team at Blue Shield of California Foundation, heading up the foundation’s public affairs and policy efforts during the historic debate over health reform. She was a founding member of the Advisory Board of MTV’s award-winning “A Thin Line” campaign against digital abuse, which has empowered more than a million young people nationwide to take action.

As Executive Director of the San Francisco Beacon Initiative from 2003 to 2006, she brought new strategic partnerships to this citywide youth development program in the city schools, winning a grant award from the National Science Foundation to engage minority youth in innovative learning programs, and joining with Kaiser Permanente to promote health and fitness. In 2006, she was awarded a Certificate of Honor by Mayor Gavin Newsom for her “visionary leadership” of the Initiative.

Caitrin Moran Wright - Learning Lab Network
Serving as Senior Director of Program, Caitrin came to the foundation from The Bridgespan Group, where she most recently focused on clients and projects in education and foundation strategy. Her assignments included supporting major U.S. foundations in developing “Next Generation” education strategies and managing the implementation of a multi-hundred-million-dollar foundation strategy focused on transforming human capital practices in school districts.

During her time at Bridgespan, Caitrin was also responsible for leading a team focused on a strategic planning project with a network of 22 high schools serving disadvantaged youth; early data from this project indicates improved student outcomes.

Prior to The Bridgespan Group, Caitrin was engaged in strategic consulting for multinational corporations as a member of McKinsey & Company, focusing on strategic and implementation planning.

Caitrin graduated from Harvard University with a magna cum laude B.A. in Environmental Science and Public Policy and an M.B.A.. She received the Hoopes Prize for her senior thesis, which focused on the intersection of science and politics in the planning of the Los Angeles water supply. Caitrin is the co-author of Who Decides? Mapping Power and Decision Making in Nonprofits (Nonprofit Quarterly, September 21, 2008) as well as co-author of Next Generation Learning: Can We Crack Four Problems to Unleash Quality for All? (June 2010).

Maida Brankman - Learning Lab Network
Maida comes to the foundation with experience in both the multimedia and education sectors. Upon graduating from college, she spent five years working in customer service and marketing for Wired Magazine and then CNET in San Francisco. She made the transition to teaching in 1999 and spent the next 10 years teaching English in a variety of school settings. Maida proudly serves as the Board President of First Graduate, a program dedicated to helping San Francisco youth finish high school and become the first in their family to graduate from college. She is also on the Mills Teachers Scholars Advisory Board. Maida received her B.A. in English and Comparative Literary Studies from Occidental College in Los Angeles and Masters of Education with an Emphasis in Teaching from Mills College in Oakland.

Corrine Conklin - Mission Support
Corrie brings over 16 years of professional finance experience to her position as controller. Prior to joining Stupski, she served as managing director of financial planning and analysis at Bonddesk Group in Mill Valley. She has managed and implemented a variety of accounting system conversion projects, spearheading a conversion to Great Plains while at Bonddesk. Corrie was also a project manager and senior applications consultant at Tectura, and held controller and analyst positions at King Brown & Partners, McCune Audio/Video and The Sierra Club. Corrie holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from University of Wisconsin. She is a Certified Management Accountant and Microsoft Certified Accounting Application Specialist.

Joseph Gamino - Mission Support
Joseph brings more than 20 years of experience in office operations, facilities management, human resources, benefits administration, and property management to his position as the foundation’s Mission Support Coordinator. He has worked in a variety of professional industries, including legal, real estate, investment consulting, and corporate retail. At the Stupski Foundation, Joseph is responsible for providing administrative support in human resources, payroll, and facility operations. A native Chicagoan, Joseph relocated to San Francisco in 2006 to enjoy life with better weather on the west coast. Prior to joining the Stupski Foundation, he previously held office management positions with companies such as Sephora; Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon; Mellon Financial Corporation; Equis Corporation; and he started his administrative support services career at the law firm, Neal, Gerbdser & Eisenberg.

Darlene Hale - Learning Lab Network
Darlene is the assistant to the Learning Lab Network team. Prior to joining the Stupski Foundation, Darlene was the office manager and executive assistant to the president of Arc Worldwide. She has several years of experience supporting senior management teams in both an administrative and marketing capacity. During her tenure at Gensler Architecture, she served as a task force coordinator for one of the firm’s largest departments. Darlene is a former shelter volunteer for Marin Abused Women’s Services and enjoys writing and playing music in her spare time. She attended College of Marin.

Jamie Johnston – Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation
Jamie Johnston comes to the foundation with significant education research experience. Most recently, she spent two years in Mongolia with Innovations for Poverty Action directing field activities for the randomized evaluations of several Millennium Challenge Corporation projects. Previously, Jamie worked at the American Institutes for Research’s Federal Statistics Program, where she analyzed large-scale international assessment data focused on student outcomes, including the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Jamie also completed a Fulbright fellowship at the Chinese University of Hong Kong where she investigated the educational outcomes of immigrant students. Jamie has a B.S. in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University and an M.P.P. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago.

Johannah Kaplan – Mission Support
As Director of Talent and Administration, Johannah brings more than 14 years of experience in operations, program development and management, and people development. Prior to joining Stupski she served as the Managing Director of Institute Operations for Teach For America, overseeing the operations of eight national teacher training institutes serving over 5,000 new teachers each year. During the previous decade, she worked for SCORE! Educational Centers, serving in a variety of roles that included working with students and parents in neighborhood academic learning centers, developing new programs and curriculum, training and developing staff, and overseeing corporate office operations. Johannah has a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ann Kung - Mission Support
Ann brings over 20 years of strong managerial and financial experience to the foundation’s finance and accounting staff. She has supervised accounting and finance operations for a number of companies and organizations in a variety of fields, including Restoration Hardware and the San Francisco Jewish Community Center. She also served as a financial systems analyst and financial reporting consultant for Genentech and various prominent retailers. She received a B.S. in Finance from California State University East Bay and is a native of San Francisco.

Jason Kuo - Technology and Web
Jason provides organization-wide computer support, manages internal systems and helps facilitate effective technology use at the foundation. Previously, Jason served on the pastoral staff of Baylight Church Community in Mountain View. He also worked as a software engineer for NetIQ, then as technology coordinator at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto. In addition, he worked as a volunteer and supervisor for Amigos de las Americas in Ecuador and Paraguay, and participated in the Semester at Sea study abroad program. Jason received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Divinity at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

Juwen Lam - Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation
Juwen comes to the foundation with more than 10 years of assessment experience as a teacher and district administrator. Most recently, she managed the development and implementation of customized, research based, data driven assessments at the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). She also led OUSD’s school portfolio management strategy and advised chief management on key policy decisions. Additionally, she served as a Cantonese bilingual elementary school teacher and a Senior English Language Instructor in Tianjin, China. Juwen has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.A. in International Economics from California State University East Bay.

Brett Miller - Technology and Web
Brett provides technical support to the foundation’s employees. Prior to joining the Stupski Foundation, Brett was a systems administrator for AudioBase and later worked as an independent support consultant for small businesses based in Marin County. He received a B.A. in literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and he spends much of his spare time reading and writing. Brett also enjoys working with young people and is currently matched with an amazing teenager through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

Donna Hoylman Peduto - Learning Lab Network
Prior to joining the foundation, Donna worked in the West Virginia Department of Education in the offices of Professional Preparation, Leadership and School Improvement. She served as the state director of the USDOE 21st Century Community Learning Centers, a liaison with the state’s higher education institutions and the coordinator of the WVDE Innovation Zone initiative. Donna also brings a broad knowledge of technology tools and applications garnered from designing and leading technology training efforts for school leaders, strategic planning and school improvement efforts. She began her leadership career with two decades of public teaching experience that included educational technology professional development for school leaders and teachers, as well as the creation and delivery of higher education courses.

Katie Petrovich - Learning Lab Network
Katie provides a wide range of administrative and project-related support to the foundation. Katie brings to the foundation extensive experience in meeting and event planning at Ernst & Young’s headquarters in Times Square. Katie’s most recent role was at Shands, University of Florida, where she performed a variety of office administrative tasks and roles. While living in New York, Katie was a member of New York Cares, volunteering her time to soup kitchens and park restorations. She also completed an internship with the American Lung Association during her senior year of college. Katie graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.S. in Business Administration.

Natasha Proctor - Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation
Natasha provides general administrative support for the foundation’s Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation team. She comes to the foundation with extensive experience in customer service and administration, including her most recent work as a senior loan processor at Greenpoint Mortgage in Novato, California. For the past 10 years, Natasha has worked with the California Autism Foundation, which provides people with autism and other developmental disabilities opportunities for lifetime support, training and assistance in helping them reach their highest potential for independence, productivity and fulfillment. Natasha attended Laney College in Oakland, California.

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