Meet the Reading Partners team!

Executive team

Adeola Whitney

Chief executive officer

Adeola (“Ola”) Whitney believes that all students deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential in school and beyond and that early literacy is a foundational driver of educational equity. Ola brings 20+ years of education leadership experience to the CEO role. Since returning to Reading Partners in the fall of 2020, Ola has led the organization through the development of a new strategic plan, the rollout of an online tutoring platform and several new partnerships, an increase in the size and diversity of the national board, and strengthening the organization’s commitment to race equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI). Ola was also named one of the Top 100 Influencers in EdTech in the 2023-24 State of EdTech report. Ola rejoined Reading Partners from iMentor where she led the expansion and implementation of the college-success program and managed executive leadership in the Bay Area, Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City. In a prior role at Reading Partners as chief regional operations officer from 2013 – 2016, Ola oversaw 85 percent of the organization while managing over a dozen executive directors across the country. Ola has also held leadership and management roles with Playworks, Kaplan, and McGraw Hill. Ola earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in English and African-American studies.
Kelli Doss

Chief talent & equity officer

Kelli Doss, a talent specialist and a professional coach, has spent her career focused on serving youth, communities, and urban education systems in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Prior to joining Reading Partners, Kelli served as chief talent and equity officer for iMentor. In her role, she developed key organizational strategies focusing on performance management, internal talent recruitment, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and organizational culture building. Kelli leverages her professional experiences to help individuals refine and develop their leadership competencies and management practices and supports teams to improve interpersonal dynamics and build interrelational trust.

Kelli received her undergraduate degree from Howard University and her J.D. from Tulane Law School. Following law school, Kelli worked as a law clerk for two years in Minneapolis, where she focused on tackling critical community issues. She launched her nonprofit career with the Children’s Defense Fund and developed and managed youth programs for the National Black Child Development Institute and the Harlem Community Justice Center. After that, Kelli honed her skills in recruitment and selection, human resources, and partnership development in education organizations including New Leaders for New Schools and the NYC Department of Education. Kelli also worked for Education Pioneers as the managing director of the New York/New Jersey office and subsequently vice president of human assets.
Dean Elson

Chief knowledge officer

Since July 2011, Dean has guided Reading Partners’ curriculum, program development, and evidence-based practices, including the design and oversight of pilot programs as well as several internal and external evaluation studies. Beginning in 2020, he oversaw the development and implementation of Reading Partners Connects (RPCx), the organization’s first ever online tutoring program and platform. He is committed to improving the lives of children in families experiencing economic hardship and who face inequitable access to high-quality literacy instruction. For the past 22 years, Dean has held various roles in nonprofit leadership, program development and evaluation, and K-12 data analysis and policy. He is a Board member of the OMNI Institute in Denver, and has past experience in advisory roles for nonprofit and city-wide data and evaluation boards in Massachusetts. Dean has a joint MA degree from Tufts University in child development and urban & environmental policy and a BA degree in political science from Duke University. He is a lucky husband and proud father of two wonderful children.
Karen Gardner

Chief development officer

Karen joined Reading Partners in 2015. She served as the senior executive director for the Washington, DC region prior to joining the national team as the chief development officer. She brings over 15 years of experience leading high-performing teams in the nonprofit sector, driven by the desire to create educational equity for students. Early in her career, she was a teacher and served as an AmeriCorps member in Washington, DC with Higher Achievement, an academic enrichment program for middle school students. She stayed with Higher Achievement for five years after her AmeriCorps term as the organization prepared for national expansion. Most notably, she created Higher Achievement’s volunteer management department from the ground up and co-authored the organization’s signature culture policy.

Before joining Reading Partners, Karen served as a program manager at Family Services of Western PA, where she was responsible for leading her teams to exceed statewide service-delivery goals and secured major, multi-year funding for the organization. Additionally, she managed a consulting practice for nonprofit and government entities, working primarily to develop systems for volunteer management, training, and HR management. Karen has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s in business administration from The George Washington University with concentrations in organizational development and nonprofit management. She is a volunteer reading partner and a former advisory board member for Higher Achievement.
Rosa J. Gutierrez, MBA, AIAF

Chief financial & operating officer

Rosa is an accomplished finance and operations professional whose experience spans both corporate and nonprofit sectors. She joins Reading Partners to provide strategic leadership across all business and finance functions, including the management of its financial and capital resources, oversight of IT and HR operations, and all legal matters. Her career spans more than 30 years of experience in financial management, business leadership, and corporate strategy. Prior to joining Reading Partners, Rosa led the finance, IT, logistics, and asset protection areas for Merlin Entertainments and before that she served as interim CEO of New-York-based nonprofit, Puerto Rican Family Institute. Rosa received her MBA in finance from Benedictine University, and she has earned the designation of Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance (AIAF) and is completing the designation of Associate of Regulatory and Compliance (ARC).

A longstanding community leader and champion for people in underserved communities, Rosa sits on the board of directors for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, where she serves as treasurer and has helped usher in a new era for this iconic New York institution. She is also a board member for Cornerstone Family Healthcare and a member of its finance committee. Rosa believes that Reading Partners provides a critical service to communities by ensuring children have the opportunity to build a foundation for future learning through literacy. Rosa is an avid reader whose love of books provided not just an opportunity to learn but a vision of the world and all its possibilities. Rosa and her husband love to travel and have three amazing children.
Paul Nehring

Chief of staff

Paul Nehring joins Reading Partners with experience in organizational strategy, leadership development, and program management. He spent the last five years as the chief of staff of iMentor, which builds mentoring relationships that empower first-generation students to graduate high school and succeed in their post-secondary pursuits, and originally joined the iMentor team in 2010 as a program manager in both the high school and post-secondary programs. Paul has also served as program director at Princeton AlumniCorps, engaging Princeton University seniors in post-graduate nonprofit fellowships to build the next generation of civic leaders, and he has a decade of experience in experiential education from a variety of roles in camp administration and outdoor leadership. Paul earned an A.B. in Politics from Princeton University. He volunteers with the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network which focuses on issues of identity on college campuses and as a mentor with iMentor. A native of Bismarck, North Dakota, Paul is now a proud ambassador of Jersey City, New Jersey where he lives with his partner, Julia, and two children.
Phillip M. Robinson, Jr.

Chief impact officer

As a senior executive with experience and a positive track record working in the private, public and nonprofit sectors, Phillip M. Robinson, Jr. has always had a passion for service. As the chief impact officer, Phillip is responsible for coaching, supporting, and managing all regional executive directors; overseeing more than 400 site and national operations staff; and building external partnerships and business development opportunities. Prior to his current role, Phillip served as the managing director and chief operating officer for Education Board Partners. In this role, Phillip was responsible for operations, strategy development, and leading the team in developing and delivering programs.

Previously, Phillip served as the senior vice president of regional and site operations at City Year, Inc. In this capacity, Phillip oversaw all aspects of operations for 28 U.S. sites, including five regional vice presidents, more than 700 site staff, 3,000 AmeriCorps members and a total budget of $168 million. Prior to joining the national senior leadership team, Phillip was the executive director and vice president of City Year Cleveland. Under his leadership, City Year Cleveland underwent a complete turnaround, doubling its revenue, growing its operations by more than 20 percent, and winning Best of City Year three years in a row. Early in his career, Phillip served as a legislative aide for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and then as an executive for several Fortune 500 marketing and public affairs firms.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Phillip currently serves as a state representative (House District 6) in the Ohio House of Representatives. In this capacity, Phillip serves as the ranking member on the education committee and sponsored legislation to help create jobs that was signed into law in his first term. Phillip earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The George Washington University and his Executive MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Also, he is a previous Pahara-Aspen Institute Next Gen Fellow, named a “Who to Watch in Education” in Cleveland and recognized as one of Crain’s Cleveland Business’s Forty Under 40. Phillip lives in Solon, OH with his wife, Elizabeth, and two young children.

Regional leadership

Reading Partners is headquartered in Oakland, CA, with program offices in each of the cities we serve throughout the US. To learn more about our program and leadership in the cities we serve, please see our regional pages.

National leadership

Alexis Acciani

Director of national community engagement

Alexis is an accomplished academic as well as a seasoned tutor committed to an inclusive and integrity-rich approach to education. She received a presidential scholarship to study at San Francisco State University and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in humanities. After her undergraduate studies, she worked for an after school nonprofit as a tutor and coordinator for a weekly self-esteem group for girls. In 2011, she received an international scholarship to complete a master’s in American studies in Norwich, UK, where she focused on children’s literature and gift theory. After receiving her master’s, she lived in Istanbul, teaching ESL to early learners, and then Seattle, where she began her relationship with Reading Partners. She’s served two AmeriCorps service terms with Reading Partners in Seattle and Baltimore and now serves full-time in Seattle as the community engagement and program manager.
Denise Blake

Vice president, regional operations

Denise Blake has held key positions in nonprofit, corporate, and governmental organizations. At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, she served as Education and Training Coordinator, where she was responsible for designing training curricula for adult learners. Also, she led important research on the philosophy of nonviolent social change. At the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Denise managed the Foundation’s educational scholarship, internship, and fellowship programs. Denise then served as Associate Director for the FaithFactor program at the Interdenominational Theological Center.

Later, Denise served as the Senior Project Director for The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections Media Outreach Initiative. She managed the charitable foundation for former Atlanta Falcons’ defensive tackle Rod Coleman, providing support to youth in foster care, and served as Project Director for the Twenty-First Century Foundation’s Black Men and Boys Media Outreach Campaign. In 2013, Denise became the Executive Director of WINGS for kids – Atlanta, where she oversaw delivery of WINGS’ award-winning social-emotional learning after-school program. Most recently, Denise served the United Negro College Fund’s Atlanta office as Senior Development Director and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as National Director of Field Operations. In her role at MADD, Denise managed and coached executive directors representing 14 states and was responsible for ensuring that revenue and programmatic targets were met in all regions. Denise Blake is a Northern California native and a graduate of Spelman College.
Robin Bowman

Director of national service
Sarah Buss

National program director
Chris Campbell

National director of financial planning and analysis

Chris Campbell has always been inspired to use his skills in finance and accounting to support organizations that work towards making a positive social change. He has both public and private accounting and financial analysis experience with a strong focus on the nonprofit sector. Chris started his career at Ernst & Young where he worked on financial statement audits for both start-up and multinational organizations. Following his public accounting work, Chris joined the education reform non-profit College Track as a finance manager. Chris joined College Track through the ProInspire Fellowship Program and worked on forecasting, budgeting and financial planning, and analysis tasks supporting College Track’s multiple sites across the United States. Following that opportunity, Chris worked at EdTec where he supported Charter Schools across California with their financials and budgets. Most recently, Chris was the controller at the national equity nonprofit PolicyLink where he lead the financial reporting and compliance efforts for the organization.

Outside of work, you can find Chris training for an upcoming marathon race, or volunteering through one of the many other initiatives he supports.
Bridgette Ginyard

National director of talent
Patia Ingraldi

National director of HR operations

Patia Ingraldi holds both PHR and SHRM-SCP credentials and has spent more than a decade of her career in multi-program, social service non-profit environments, including most recently as HR director for LifeWorks Austin where she oversaw all aspects of human resources. She has a passion for building and enhancing robust people operations systems and supports that empower excellence in service to the organization’s mission. Patia’s experience also includes translating data into action plans, leading initiatives from inception through implementation, and managing the people and cultural elements of organizational change.

Patia enjoys spending a quiet evening reading, writing, or working on cross-stitch projects, and on the weekends can be found browsing farmer’s markets and bookstores. She shares her current home in Austin, Texas with her husband and their trio of black cats, but is looking forward to relocating back to the East Coast.
Lulanne Jacobs

National director of operations
Jennifer Joyce

Vice president, national programs
Mandeep Kaur

Controller
Jeff Manas

National director of IT
Alan Miyakawa

Managing director, data strategy & evaluation
Phil Nguyen-Tran

Vice president of innovation and partnerships

Phil Nguyen-Tran joins Reading Partners with deep experience in the education-equity space, formerly serving as a school and systems administrator, EdTech executive, nonprofit leader, and social entrepreneur. In his tenure as the founder and executive director of EdChiefs, Phil supported 40+ early-stage organizations accelerate their impact through sustainable growth systems, product innovation, revenue diversification, and intentionally designed go-to-market strategies. In addition to EdChiefs, Phil has led in various leadership capacities at BrainPOP, Discovery Education, and New Leaders, while also serving as a founding board member/strategic advisor for multiple nonprofit organizations across the education sector.

In 2021, Phil was recognized as a National Champion of Equity by The American Consortium for Equity in Education, and was honored with the prestigious Changemaker Award by The National Alliance of Public Charter Schools. He proudly celebrates his identity as a First-Generation College Student receiving his Master’s of Education in School Leadership from Harvard University, Master’s of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University, and Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences from Washington State University. Although Phil’s life and career have taken him to various cities across Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and now the shore of New Jersey, his true roots remain in his home state of Washington.
Angela Quezada Padron

National director of curriculum and instruction

Angela Quezada Padron is the new national director of curriculum and instruction at Reading Partners. She holds six college degrees, including an Ed.S. in Reading, M.A. in Instruction and Curriculum (Bilingual/Bicultural Education), M.Ed. in Educational Administration, MFA in Children’s Book Illustration, BA in Art, and AA in Music. Angela has been an educator since 1995. Her roles have included: elementary classroom teacher, art teacher, ESL/bilingual and reading resource teacher, literacy and writing coach, curriculum architect for digital courses, freelance developmental editor, curriculum writer, and illustrator and standards aligner for K-12 educational print and digital materials. Her areas of expertise are elementary education, bilingual education, English as a second language (ESL), world languages (Spanish), and art. In her spare time, Angela is an author and illustrator of children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction. She loves to sew, draw, sing and play music, and collect shells at the beach. She lives in Southwest Florida with her Air Force family: husband Alberto (Air Force vet), two stepsons Alberto Jr. and Andres (current Airman), 15-year-old son and future paleontologist Alonzo, and two fur babies Coco and Cici. Learn more about Angela at www.angelapadron.com.
Charley Ryder

Managing director, regional operations
Wendy Stewart

Interim director of foundation relations
Melanie Teng

National director of development operations
Michael Todd

Managing director, marketing & communications
Alexis Walls

Director, executive office
Chrishana White

National director of equity
Caitlin Wolf

National director of donor engagement