BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Regina was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and can’t imagine living anywhere else. Growing up in the liberal melting pot that is the Bay, Regina had an inclination toward social and racial justice at an early age, attending rallies and protests as young as 7 years old. She went to CSU Monterey Bay where she got her B.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences. After spending several soul crushing years in the corporate world, Regina found Summer Search and was inspired by the mission of empowering young people to thrive through meaningful mentorships and experiences.  Now as the Talent Manager, she loves enabling people to join in on that mission.

In her free time, she loves reading, karaoke, live music, tending to her dozens of plants and being the fun auntie.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Jillian is a passionate educator and advocate for youth empowerment, having spent most of her adult life connecting with, learning from, and supporting young people in various classroom and community spaces across Boston, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis. Jillian is excited to join the Summer Search Philadelphia team and eager to contribute her skills and passion to serve the Summer Search mission and make a lasting impact on the lives of young people.

Proudly born and raised in Southeastern Minnesota, Jillian earned a BFA in Photography from Viterbo University and an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Minnesota. Outside of work, she enjoys knitting, cooking, and walking around Philadelphia.

Kenyon DeVault is honored to serve as Bay Area Executive Director since January 2023, Summer Search’s founding and largest program site. Kenyon has been part of the Summer Search community since 2014, including serving as Bay Area Director of Development and then Deputy Director for nearly five years. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Kenyon has spent his career in nonprofit management and resource development, leveraging his lifelong propensity for relationship- and community-building into service of his values of social justice and equity. Prior to Summer Search, he held development leadership roles with youth-serving national nonprofits, Jumpstart and Peer Health Exchange. Kenyon is an enthusiastic alumnus of Macalester College and earned his Master of Nonprofit Administration degree through the University of San Francisco School of Management. He lives in San Francisco’s Castro District with his rescue pup, Levi.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Eunice Dunham, our VP of Talent, has spent the bulk of her career working in youth development. She finds inspiration from and is committed to working with others that are trying to create a better, more equitable world for all students and families. Eunice comes to Summer Search from a national non-profit, Playworks, where she was the Chief People Officer. Building strong teams, developing empathic leaders and creating an environment where employees feel empowered to be their authentic selves are just some of what Eunice considers her “super powers.”

When she’s not at work, you can find Eunice in the kitchen cooking for friends and family, hiking with her dog or joining her wife, Kira in a good game of chase with their daughter.

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Malika brings with her a 20+ year functional leadership skillset informed by collaboration with organizations that partner with urban school districts to support positive student outcomes. She joins us from Duke University, where she led operations for the Talent Identification Program, which supported 100,000 students across nine states and 3 countries. Reinforced with a unique systems-level change perspective, Malika’s leadership and lived experience have shaped her focus on the efficacy and sustainability of supplemental education initiatives so critical to thriving post-secondary life outcomes for our under-resourced youth.

Malika obtained dual bachelor’s degrees from the University of North Carolina in Sociology and Black Studies and spent four years as a classroom teacher while pursuing an M.A. in Educational Policy and Leadership from the University of Michigan. After her experiences as a Teach for America corps member in the Bay Area and with classroom teaching in a district faced with challenges in quality assurance, compliance, and sustainability, Malika went from Detroit Public Schools to law and management school, focusing on strategic planning and systems-driven organizational development of social enterprises in the education reform/equity arena. In grad school, Malika was a Public Interest Law Fellow focused on McKinney-Vento Regulations for houseless students, and spent a year at the University of the Western Cape Law Faculty in South Africa researching the right to education and its implementation provisions included in the South African Constitution (1996).

Armed with a unique operational and compliance perspective and barred as an Attorney in the state of Illinois, post-grad school Malika applied her practical knowledge as a management consultant in Chicago for a public sector development firm supporting city-wide Public Schools and Park District initiatives, before shifting into organizational leadership. Regional leadership roles afforded her the opportunity to drive public-private projects and implementation plans with school management organizations, local colleges/universities, and governing state and local agencies.

In administrative and regulatory leadership, she served as a Detroit School Administrator and a compliance specialist with the Council on Foundations. And in Chicago, she helped lead scale efforts as a KIPP Board member and a Director of Programs at Youth Guidance, an organization that — like Summer Search — helps young people to overcome obstacles, focus on education and, ultimately, succeed in school and in life. Malika holds a JD/MBA from Indiana University, and as a member of the Illinois Bar, volunteers as a Guardian Ad Litem for foster youth dually-involved with justice; builds capacity and impact as an executive trainer for the woman-founded, women-led firm Raise for Good; and protects Black and Brown Genius as a member of the Village of Wisdom Board of Directors.

Learn more about Malika >>

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: He/Him/His.

Nick has served as the Chief Operating and Financial Officer at Summer Search since 2018. In 2022, he stepped into the Interim CEO role in between CEOs.

Prior to joining Summer Search, Nick was Vice President of Public Policy at Citizen Schools and Executive Director of US2020, a national initiative to help close the opportunity gap in STEM education for girls, students of color, and children from low-income households. Launched by President Obama at the National Science Fair, US2020 served 22,000 students in thirteen cities, creating moments of discovery for the next generation of STEM professionals.

Prior to US2020, Nick served as COO at Juma Ventures, an award-winning social enterprise that provides employment and workforce development training to low-income students. During his tenure, Nick led fund development efforts to scale Juma’s model to New Orleans, New York City, San Diego, Santa Clara and Seattle, more than doubling the agency’s annual budget and quadrupling the size of Juma’s youth workforce. Before Juma, Nick served as Managing Director of the Arusha Project, a microfinance institution based in East Africa. His development background includes national political campaigns and public arts projects. He has served on the Education Committee at Opportunity Nation, the Governance Committee at Voices for National Service, and the K–12 Policy Committee at the Center for American Progress. Nick graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Lakesha Knatt, Executive Director of Summer Search Seattle, is a native of the Seattle area and lives with her family in South King County.

Prior to joining the Summer Search community, Lakesha served as the Regional Director at the College Success Foundation Seattle/King County, where she supported college and career readiness programs starting in middle school through college completion for BIPOC students from low-income households. Lakesha managed a team of 40 professional staff, including school-based staff in 6 middle schools, 12 high schools and 5 college/university campuses across King County.  Lakesha is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Field Education at Seattle University and has been teaching in higher education for the past 6 years.  Before that, Lakesha worked as a social worker in various Seattle-based nonprofits including Habitat for Humanity, where she served as their Family Services Director.  Lakesha is a graduate of Arizona State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.  She then received her Master of Social Work degree from University of Washington.

In her spare time, Lakesha enjoys engaging in community work, parenting her 10-year-old daughter, traveling as often as possible, and spending time with family and friends.  Lakesha is excited to learn from her colleagues at Summer Search and build on the successes of the previous leadership while leading the Seattle team into a new era of success for the organization.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Ursulina has nearly 20 years of experience working on behalf of young people, with a personal mission of dismantling generational poverty. Most recently Ursulina served as chief program officer for XQ Institute where she led XQ’s program implementation strategy with school systems and partners with the aim of rethinking the American high school system. Prior to joining XQ, Ursulina served as chief operating officer at the New York City Department of Education. Ursulina was instrumental in creating policy and programs that help all NYC public school students achieve success, including the successful expansion of Pre-k for All, re-envisioning of the DOE’s discipline code, and increasing access to social and emotional supports for young people. Before starting at the DOE, Ursulina served as Deputy Executive Director to Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s transition team. During that time, she played a critical role in the hiring and management of Mayor de Blasio’s senior management team, including First Deputy Mayor, Budget Director, Police Commissioner and School’s Chancellor.

Ursulina began her work in New York City government as the Deputy Public Advocate and Senior Policy Advisor to Mayor Bill de Blasio when he served as Public Advocate; and before starting her distinguished career as a public servant, Ursulina served as the Senior Policy Analyst at the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (CHCF). Ursulina is continuously recognized as a leader in education and public service. She was given the honor of being named an emerging leader by Latino Leader Magazine and in 2012 recognized in City and State’s “Forty under Forty.” She has been a featured speaker at SWSX in Austin, TX, and has spoken about her work in early childhood education at Harvard University. She received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University School of Social Work, and her BA in Sociology, and Women, Culture and Development from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Read more about Ursulina >>

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Megan is inspired by the courage and bravery that Summer Search students show in stepping outside of their comfort zone and pushing themselves to make impact in the world. She has the gift of sharing the hard work, joys and challenges of our students with our community of investors in NYC and working closely with volunteer leadership to grow the program to serve more students.

Megan grew up in Colorado and graduated from Cherry Creek High School and the University of Washington (Go Huskies!). After College she stepped out of HER comfort zone and moved to London and worked in event planning.

Megan lives in NYC with her husband and loves everything the city has to offer. She is an aging-but-still avid soccer player and enjoys drinking coffee with too much cream, traveling, adventuring and laughing with family and friends.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

A native of Belize, Central America and a first-generation college graduate, Hermese has firsthand experience with the game changing power of education. Hermese’s long-standing commitment to Summer Search spans multiple roles, including participant during her high school years, Alumni Board Chair, and member of the Summer Search Boston Board of Directors. It is Hermese’s delight and Summer Search’s great fortune to have her add staff member to that list, stepping into the role of Boston Executive Director in December 2016.

Before joining the Summer Search staff, Hermese was a results-oriented Project Manager in the travel industry. She has provided project management over several top priority initiatives and enterprise wide implementations, cultivating her skills in data analysis, risk assessment, communication, relationship building, and change management, vital talents for a non-profit leader. While her professional experience is heavy in the project management capacity, her volunteer experience has been dominated by Summer Search! Though Hermese’s after work haven is now her full-time gig, she continues to volunteer as a coach for adults reentering college.

During the warmer months, Hermese enjoys daily 5Ks while listening to Beyoncé and Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits! She also loves to travel and has visited at least 1 new country a year for the past 5 years; with 5 continents, down and 2 more to go! Hermese and her family live in Boston.

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Alexandra believes every person has an equal right to an affordable education. Her passion for educational equity stems from a desire to do justice to her parents’ example and sacrifice. Alexandra sees the best in others: their humanity, beauty, talents and courage. It’s her aim to help others notice, develop and unleash their gifts to impact Summer Search’s mission. Alexandra started serving others when she was a brace-faced, bi-focal wearing 14-year-old. She has been an AmeriCorps volunteer, secretary of a Board of Directors for an organization serving survivors of domestic violence, and a staff aid to a Member of Congress. For the past six years, she’s been a Big Sister to young man named David.

Alexandra graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University. She’s currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration. She considers herself lucky to live in Santa Rosa, California with her husband Billy and their two-year-old Catahoula, Hooly.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Sherri comes with over 10 years of experience in college access programming and learning and evaluation. Sherri grew up in rural parts of North Carolina where she had opportunities to participate in summer enrichment activities where she explored STEM interests and built social capital. As an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she was actively involved in recruitment initiatives that increased opportunity and access for students of color. After earning her BA in Psychology, Sherri joined Teach for America where she was able to teach high school science for two years in Charlotte, NC. Upon completion of TFA, Sherri went to Washington University in St. Louis where she competed her MSW concentrating on Social and Economic Development.

As a professional, Sherri has dedicated her work and study to the intersection of education, policy, and social welfare. She is passionate about education equity for under-resourced populations and using data to inform services. Sherri joins us from Pivotal Connections (aka Pivotal), a non-profit supporting education and employment for current and former foster youth in Silicon Valley, where she most recently served as their Director of Learning and Evaluation. During her 13 years at Pivotal, Sherri helped the organization develop comprehensive higher education support services that included academic coaching, scholarships, and tutoring and established their Learning and Evaluation department.

On a personal note, Sherri enjoys binge-watching all the things that encompass genres of comedy, science fiction, action, adventure, and crime fiction, and if something combines all five, it’s a winner in her book! She has found that living within 1-2 hours drive time from a beach is imperative to her inner peace, as are YouTube videos of puppies.

Sharonda has a background in Youth Development and Program management and evaluation. She is originally from Texas and spent 7 years in Chicago finishing up her bachelors and earning her Masters in Educational Psychology.

Sharonda is passionate about creating and managing spaces that allows marginalized youth to thrive and explore the world through safe risk taking. She is most at ease when working within a passionate team of collaborators and creatives. She enjoys being in nature and exploring who she is with books, music, and food.

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Emily brings decades of work in experiential education and a passion for social justice to her work at Summer Search. She began her relationship with Summer Search while working for Outward Bound, where she had the opportunity to instruct several Summer Searchers on Minnesota Boundary Waters canoeing courses. She went on to become a mentor in Boston for several years and coordinated the local Summer Experiences programming for the site. After leaving to work in study abroad and attain her master’s degree in Social Change, Emily returned to join Summer Search’s National Program Team in identifying/improving/implementing systems to support local sites to best serve students.

Based in Portland, Maine, Emily loves to quilt, read, and get out in nature as much as possible with her partner and young son.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Erica believes that all youth are entitled to quality education and personal development opportunities. Her belief in creating equity for the leaders of tomorrow led her to Summer Search.

Erica brings four years of experience at Bay Area non-profits serving local youth. She first worked at Seneca Center as a mental health counselor for foster kids of all ages. She then moved from direct care to support staff, and joined HR/Talent team at Reading Partners, a national literacy program. Joining the Talent Team at Summer Search, Erica works to attract and retain the excellent talent through talent acquisition, onboarding, training, and more. She is proud to act as a resource and partner for staff throughout the organization.

When she is not working, you can find Erica spending time in the great outdoors hiking, camping, and discovering the best hidden swimming holes in California. She also travels frequently to Chile to visit her in-laws.

Erica obtained her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Hispanic Studies from Oberlin College. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband and their scruffy terrier.

Pronouns: He/Him/His.

Brendan believes that every young person, regardless of where they come from, should be able to pursue their dreams. He is grateful to bring his creativity and passion to help promote Summer Search’s mission and to lift up the many incredible stories of Summer Search’s participants and their families.

Brendan’s passion for education comes in part from his own college experience at the University of Miami. Go Canes! He developed an enthusiasm for summer educational programs in high school after spending four weeks away from home studying ancient Greek culture and literature. To this day, Brendan says that this summer program was one of the most enriching and inspiring experiences of his life.

Brendan also loves to explore the world. He has lived and studied in New England, South Florida, “Old” England, and Northern California. He has backpacked through Australia and most of Western Europe, including Greece, of course. In his free time, Brendan enjoys playing basketball, watching English soccer, and writing/performing comedic hip hop songs.

Most of all, he loves (in partnership with his wonderful wife) playing with his baby daughter, Marlow.