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  Jennifer Harwood

  Executive Director

  Jennifer Harwood began her career in international development, working for AIESEC International in Australia and then the Middle East, facilitating youth leadership programs with a focus on cross-cultural understanding. Jennifer led the expansion of this program into Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman, setting up three local non-profits to become sustainable and self-sufficient. She then moved to the U.S. to work for City Year, an education non-profit working to bridge the education gap in high-poverty communities. Starting in the South Bronx and then going on to lead City Year's programs across New York, Jennifer was responsible for the execution of programs across 22 schools throughout the city. In 2012 Jennifer moved back to her hometown in Sydney, Australia and worked for Standards Australia. There, she led their national development team securing funding and partnerships with government, industry and other non-profits. In 2016, Jennifer joined the Reading Partners national team as the executive director of national and community service. Her team increased funding by over a million dollars and 100 AmeriCorps members. In 2018, Jennifer took on the role as executive director of Reading Partners New York. She is a tutor at PS 194. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in organizational development.

  Contact:  jennifer.harwood@readingpartners.org

• Erika Apupalo

  FAO Shwarz Family Foundation Fellow

  Erika Apupalo is a graduate of Baruch College, with majors in history and Spanish. She is a former Reading Partners tutor and is excited to foster her love for books and interests in education and literacy at Reading Partners. In the past, she has volunteered and worked with non-profits in the arts and youth development. On campus, she was involved with Baruch Dreamers Diplomat program, a storytelling program which shared the local stories of CUNY Dreamer students. Additionally, she enjoys writing creatively both in Spanish and English. As an FAO fellow, she hopes to engage with communities and develop her leadership skills. Erika manages tutor recruitment efforts in South Jamaica, Queens as well as collaboration with Federal Work Study students. Additionally, Erika tutors 20 hours a week at our South Jamaica schools.

• Steph Caballero

  Program Manager

  Steph Caballero grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, but has called Queens home for many years. She attended The Boston Conservatory for undergrad, earning a B.F.A. in theater, and later continued on to graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, where she received a M.S. in educational studies with a concentration in elementary education. Steph is overjoyed to return to Reading Partners New York, as she previously completed an Americorps year as a site coordinator on the Lower East Side and has seen firsthand the impact that Americorps members and tutors can have on students. Steph has previously worked in four out of the five boroughs teaching theater, music, and dance and most recently taught 4th grade ELA for two years in Baltimore City through Teach For America. When she is not getting excited about literacy, Steph does yoga, reads an excessive amount, cooks vegetarian meals, and tells anyone who will listen why iambic pentameter is so genius.

• Adrienne Evans

  Program Manager

  Adrienne Evans is a native New Yorker, born and raised in The Bronx. From an early age, she knew that she wanted to be an educator and has been dedicated for the past 15 years to raising the academic achievement of youth who come from underserved communities. She was a science and math teacher for an all-girls high school in NYC. She transitioned to the role of an education coordinator for an after-school program in Harlem where she developed and supported the implementation of literacy and STEM curricula. She has a Masters in adolescent education from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Adrienne is finishing her Doctorate in health education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where her focus is ADHD among African American youth. Adrienne is an avid reader - much of her free time is spent with a favorite book. She also enjoys running and yoga, traveling abroad (especially to Trinidad where she explores her heritage) and spending quality time with family and friends.

• Katie Hoole

  Program Manager

  Katie is excited to be joining Reading Partners as a program manager serving 4 schools in Queens - PS 160, PS 48, PS 40, and PS 33 - and one school in East Harlem - PS 375. Before joining Reading Partners, Katie taught for 5 years - K-2 - in Brownsville, NY and Tulsa, OK. Katie got her start in teaching with Teach for America in Tulsa. Katie earned her Masters of Education in educational administration, curriculum, and supervision from the University of Oklahoma and her Bachelors of Arts in education policy from Syracuse University. Katie loves reading, eating spicy foods, and spending time in the Adirondacks.

• Allison Hoyle

  Program Manager

  Alli is a program manager in NYC. Prior to joining Reading Partners, Alli taught third grade and first grade with Teach For America and was a middle school literacy coach in Miami, FL. Most recently, Alli completed a master's degree in public administration and social work at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH while working for the State Department of Education in the Office of Early Learning and School Readiness. Alli graduated from The University of Florida with a bachelor's in psychology and english literature. Originally from south Florida, Alli is happy to be living near a coast again and to be back in classrooms! You can reach Alli at allison.hoyle@readingpartners.org.

• Kate Kotsko

  Program Director

  Kate is excited to be joining Reading Partners New York as the senior program manager. After graduating from University of Georgia, she started her career in education as a fourth grade teacher in Charlotte, NC. She then transitioned to a staff role at Teach For America, where she recruited over 100 teachers to join the teaching force to end educational inequity in our country. After that, she worked for Teach For America in New York as a coach and manager of first and second year teachers. Most recently, she worked in a charter school in Harlem as the English language learner program manager and as a kindergarten teacher. Kate has a passion for providing young students with all of the resources and opportunities needed to become lifelong readers and learners! In her free time, Kate enjoys exploring great restaurants in New York, catching Broadway shows, and training for her first NYC marathon! You can reach her at kaitlin.kotsko@readingpartners.org.

• Rhea Quinones

  Community Engagement Director

  Rhea is honored to join Reading Partners as the community engagement manager for the New York region. Rhea spent three years with Achievement First Charter School Network where she developed community partnerships in Brooklyn, ensured strong family engagement, and managed community outreach for student recruitment efforts. Prior to her work with Achievement First, Mrs. Quinones worked as a community organizer for a decade, supporting grassroots education, housing, and transit organizing in Mammoth Lakes, CA, Chicago, IL, Manhattan, NY, and Patterson, NJ. Rhea is committed to giving all students access to an amazing education and is passionate about using volunteers to help address critical problems facing our country.

• Megan Ross

  Director, New Business Development

  Megan joins the Reading Partners New York team as the first senior major gifts officer in the network. Most recently, Megan served for six years in a similar role at City Year New York. Megan's experiences focus primarily on individual giving, piloting national major gifts programs, and relationship development on all levels. Megan is thrilled to be joining a wonderful team in New York and is very excited about the prospect of developing a major gifts program both locally and nationally for Reading Partners. Megan lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children and has seen first hand the importance of developing strong literacy skills at a young age. Megan is honored to be working with a national nonprofit organization with a proven model and measurable results that will literally be changing the educational outcomes for countless of our country's youth. You can reach Megan at megan.ross@readingpartners.org.

• Danica Stewart

  Development Manager

  Danica Stewart is excited to be re-joining the Reading Partners New York team as the development manager. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, she started her career in research and healthcare. After volunteering with Reading Partners, she became fueled by impacting education and previously worked as an education manager with an NYC charter network. Danica served as an AmeriCorps member with Reading Partners NY and is excited to be returning to Reading Partners as a staff member. Danica enjoys relaxing with a good book, spending time eating with good friends and traveling.

  Contact:  danica.stewart@readingpartners.org

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AmeriCorps Team

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Advisory Board

Erin Argo, Assistant United States Attorney, US Attorney’s Office

Matthew Baldwin, Board Committee Chair

Kerri Martin Bartlett

David Berg, Corporate Partner, Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel, LLP

Gillian Francis, Sustainable Solutions, Lockheed Martin Energy

James Hobson, Board Chair, Chief Executive Officer, Attune Insurance

Brandon Lower, Head of Financial Sponsors Group, William Blair & Company

Melissa Magner, Board Committee Chair, Director, BlackRock Solutions

Marshall N. McIntosh, Sr. Vice President, Head, U.S. GWM Internal Sales, PIMCO

Carlos Moreno, CEO & Founder, MonkeyBroker

Matt Perelman, Garnett Station Partners

Bill Ribbecke, The JPB Foundation, Vice President of Investments

Elise Rosenberg, Director – Capital Solutions, Barclays

Alexander Sloane, Trustee, Heckscher Foundation for Children; Garnett Station Partners

Amy M. Starck, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Stephen G. Tomlinson, P.C., Partner, Real Estate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Daniel Zarkowsky, Managing Director – Middle Market Group, Goldman Sachs

Associate Board

AJ Alexakos, Credit Analyst, Tetragon Financial Group

Sonia Bouclainville, Program Manager, The Chapman Perelman Foundation/ Green Beetz Inc

Zack Coleman, Associate, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC

Angela Cui, Analyst, Blackstone Group

Tiffany Fariole, Principal, Blackstone

Joe Fiorie, Account Manager, Dealogic

Chris Gillings, Strategic Partnerships Team, OnDeck

Ramyata Joshi, Associate Board Chair, Winton Capital

Jake Meister, Dominus Capital, L.P.

Emily O’Shaughnessy, Graduate Student, Columbia University Teacher’s College

Katherine Schafler, Psychotherapist / Private Practice / In-house at Google

Caroline Shirk,Director of Corporate Development & Strategy, Domio

Anupama Yerramali, Associate, Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel, LLP

Sam Zaretsky, Real Estate Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Tutor Advisory Council

Mahmadou Bah

Dana Bricken

Mary Gherty

Nancy Hemmes

Iris Keitel

Ingrid Leter

Christina Mason, former Tutor Advisory Council Chair

Anne Mullin

Devi Ramchandran

Darlene Reid-Dodick

Christopher Simon

Joan Stamler, Tutor Advisory Council Chair

Cindy Tannenbaum

Cinder White

Tom Wornom