OUR TEAM

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Dreaming of a world robust with social and educational equity, SiMone has spent the majority of her professional experiences working in youth development.

Her journey started as a first-generation college student at UC Berkeley where she graduated with a BA in Sociology and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. Motivated to serve, she spent several years working within public schools in the Bay Area. Then, she first joined Summer Search as a high school mentor, and has since supported within the post-secondary program as an advisor, a program manager, and now as the Post-Secondary Program director.

Outside of Summer Search, she spends most of her time traveling around the larger Bay Area and Sacramento where she cherishes spending time with her partner, friends, family, and dogs. You might even catch her out on the dance floor performing, teaching, or enjoying song after song until her feet hurt.

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Brian believes in the importance of introspection, critical thinking and learning by doing. As Regional Program Director, he supports Summer Search staff in their work with participants and helps ensure that the entire program from outreach to post-secondary and beyond runs smoothly. His previous professional experience includes coordinating advocacy projects with youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and assisting high school students build their job skills through workshops and internships. Brian holds a B.A. in Health and Societies from the University of Pennsylvania. He likes to travel, read and spend time with friends.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.

Kristie believes passionately in providing equal access to educational opportunities.

Prior to joining Summer Search, Kristie led development efforts for Breakthrough Greater Boston, an educational non-profit providing out-of-school time programming, and City on a Hill Charter Public Schools, a charter school network in Boston and New Bedford. It was through City on a Hill students who were involved with Summer Search that she first began her admiration for the organization ten years before joining the team.

Kristie holds a B.A. in Sociology from Villanova University. Outside of the office, she can be found running, snowboarding, and having a blast with her husband and two boys. She and her family live in Milton.

Pronouns: She/Her

Borah is passionate about empowering young people to live authentically, and a believer in the power of transformative experiences and nature. As a High School Program Manager, Borah supports mentors to hold space for their mentees’ kaleidoscopic experiences, grow in their own amazing ways, and model healthy work/life balance by celebrating, taking care, and being fully present in our own lives.

Before joining Summer Search, Borah taught literacy and global citizenship in the Bronx. Borah received the 2017 Excellence in Education award from the Committee for Teaching on the United Nations for her work as a NYC Junior Ambassador Educator.

Borah holds a BA from Boston University and an MA from the Hunter College School of Education.

A wilderness enthusiast herself, Borah has participated in an archeological expedition in Mongolia, camped in the Adirondacks, canoed the Delaware, and hiked all over upstate NY with her baby girl (safely strapped into her carrier). When she’s not in the woods, she’s probably singing, knitting, soaking up time with family and friends, or making dumplings.

Pronouns: She/Her

Dedicated to social change and a commitment to understanding history, culture and the impact that racism and other intersections have on individuals and communities, Jené is continually inspired by authentic conversations and relationship building.

Jené provides mentoring and training support to Program Associates and loves the opportunity to create spaces where people feel supported and heard.

Jené graduated from Brandeis University and holds a MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work.

In her spare time, Jené enjoys laughing, learning from, and supporting her friends and family. She enjoys music, reading fantasy books, cats, swimming in the ocean, and sleeping in. She has spent the last couple of summers travelling to Cuba, and getting involved with community organizing efforts.

She currently lives in Brooklyn, and dreams of spending the winters in the Caribbe