BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Dr. Gretchen Mielke is the post-secondary director for Summer Search Philadelphia. Gretchen joins Summer Search with more than 15 years of experience in higher education focused on experiential learning, civic engagement, student development and local-to-global partnerships. Gretchen is passionate about access to education, fostering civic values and career pathways, forging deep partnerships, and training the next generation of change agents and purposeful professionals.

Previously, Gretchen served as the executive director of The Philadelphia Center, a fifty-five-year-old domestic study away center and internship semester. There she worked with faculty, and staff to bring college students from around the country to live, learn and work in Philadelphia. Students explored issues of race, equity and inclusion, urban economics, and gained work experience in 32 hour per week internships in the Greater Philadelphia region. Gretchen oversaw strategic planning, a marketing rebrand, a center build and relocation, and data reporting. Gretchen fostered relationships with key academic partners and external stakeholders including alumni, an advisory board, local employers, higher education institutional partners, and the state of PA.

As the former assistant dean for civic engagement at Widener University, Gretchen led the university’s civic initiatives including cultivating and sustaining meaningful, reciprocal partnerships with community organizations, supporting faculty’s experiential learning efforts including service-learning, community-based research and political engagement, designing and overseeing cohort scholarship students, and leading ongoing civic evaluation efforts.  Gretchen’s additional previous roles included: the manager of general education, academic living learning assessment at American University, the assistant director of academic community engagement and global partnership consultant at Siena College, and program associate at the Bonner Foundation. Gretchen also was a Fulbright grantee in South Korea.

Gretchen holds an Ed.D in higher education leadership from Widener University, a Master’s in international affairs from American University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in American Studies from Dickinson College. Her hobbies include going to the library, reading, watching HGTV and raising two little boys with her husband and dogs. Gretchen is also a lifelong advocate for neurodiverse children and adults.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Jen Weikert is a mission-driven social impact leader, fundraiser, and strategic problem solver with more than twenty years of experience leading and advising local, regional, and national nonprofits.

Prior to her role at Summer Search Philadelphia, Jen was the Executive Director of Covenant House Pennsylvania, a $6M non-profit committed to providing shelter and supportive services to young adults who are experiencing homelessness. In this role, Jen steered the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, scaled and diversified revenue, enhanced the organization’s continuum of housing and services, and kicked off construction of a new 12-unit housing and administrative facility in Philadelphia.

Jen has also served as Executive Director for College Possible Philadelphia and Chief Development Officer for Children’s Literacy Initiative, two organizations that helped students from low-income backgrounds use education as a lever to reduce inequality and open up opportunities. She was an adjunct professor at Temple University.

A first-generation college student, Jen received her MA from the University College Cork Ireland and BA from La Salle University. She resides in Philadelphia with her husband and son.

Pronouns: She|Her|Hers.

As the Associate Development Director at Summer Search, Lusana Masrur is committed to advancing the organization’s mission and amplifying the voices of the youth it serves. She has over 13 years of non-profit fundraising, storytelling, and community engagement experience in the US and in Bangladesh, where she grew up.

She moved to Philadelphia recently from Vermont, where she was the Director of Development and Outreach at North Country Animal League (NCAL), an animal welfare organization. At NCAL, she oversaw annual fundraising, communications, and outreach, including its humane education program. During her five years there, she delivered significant growth in the organization’s revenue, community visibility, and programming – but what she found most rewarding was producing year-round summer camp, after-school, and volunteer programs that were designed to empower young-people with the tools of empathy and curiosity to advocate for all living beings.

Before her time at NCAL, Lusana was an educator in Buffalo, New York and worked with at-risk elementary and middle school students who had high behavioral needs, the majority of whom came from underserved households. She also served as the Senior Sector Specialist for BRAC, a global NGO designing scalable solutions to lift people out of poverty. At BRAC she secured grant funding from multiple international aid agencies and worked collaboratively with staff, community members, government officials, donors, and other stakeholders for field missions all over Bangladesh, as well as in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Thailand.

Lusana’s passion for social justice and youth empowerment is deeply rooted in her personal experiences and diverse background. She brings a unique perspective to her role at Summer Search, drawing on her cultural heritage, travels, and personal and professional journey to drive impact and create opportunities for Philadelphia’s next generation.