Welcome to College Summit

National Capital Region Team

Donna Fleming, Executive Director

A graduate of Trinity College (B.A., 1990). Donna is the newest member of the College Summit-National Capital Region team. She brings extensive experience in operations management and growth strategy, including 15 years as Senior Vice President and Executive Committee Member of Zimmerman Associates, Inc. in Fairfax, Virginia. She is an active leader in her community and serves on the Boards of Leadership Fairfax, Inc.; the Human Services Council; and Shelter House, Inc.  Donna is a proud first-generation college graduate of Trinity College in Washington, DC, one of College Summit's long-time college partners.

Shana Payne, Program Director

A graduate of Yale University (B.A., 1999) and University of Delaware (M.A., 2002). Two experiences shaped Shana's passion to inspire and energize American youth. As a student in a small rural high school in North Carolina, she watched her teachers, visibly weary, fail to reach most of her peers. Later, as a college student, Shana spent a semester in South Africa, where she was inspired by the students' hope and idealism, despite numerous socioeconomic and political barriers. In 1999, she trained to serve as a College Summit Workshop Director, Director Trainer, and Writing Coach, and in 2002 joined the organization full-time.

Byra Cole, Sr. High School Coordinator

Byra is a graduate of Howard University (B.S. 1995) and Trinity University, DC (M.S.A. 2006). As a psychology major, she first became interested in college access issues when she worked in two Upward Bound programs in Memphis, her hometown, in the early ‘90’s. Byra has a broad range of experiences with high schools students including working with the special needs population, counseling students in foster care and academic advising at the community college level. Additionally, she spent five years working with the DC College Access Program as a School Advisor and currently still works with a local Upward Bound program. Byra joined College Summit in September 2007.

A graduate of Temple University (B.A., 2004), Bryan brought his community organizing experience to College Summit in December of 2006. A dedication to public service drew him to College Summit and its mission. While pursuing Political Science and African-American Studies, he learned about educational equality and access issues affecting low-income Americans. As President of Temple University Student Government, Bryan played a central role in the formation of the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs, a resource for under-represented communities interested in pursuing an education at Temple University and a resource for matriculating students to succeed in their intellectual pursuits.

Tekora Scruggs, Sr. High School Coordinator

A graduate of Shaw University (B.A. Psychology, 2001) and Nova Southeastern University (M.Ed, 2003) In 2003, Tekora decided to leave the private sector pursue her desire to impact the lives of young adults through higher education.  Tekora went on to teach at Durham Technical Community College and to work for Central Piedmont Community College as a Transfer Counselor.  There she acted as liaison between the University of North Carolina College System and the 30,000 transfer students attending the college.  Her future goals include doing research on the college retention rate of inner city students and its direct correlation between available community resources and family income levels.  Tekora has been a college counselor at six workshops.

Leo Esparza Twiggs, Development Coordinator

A graduate of Dartmouth College (A.B., 2004).  After assisting Ph.D.’s at the University of Miami and the University of Minnesota in securing government funding for their research projects, Leo decided to pursue a career in nonprofit development and fundraising. College Summit was a natural fit, as he saw many students at his small, inner-city Catholic high school fail to successfully transition to college, despite their evident ability to succeed. Leo is currently active in minority recruitment and retention efforts for his alma mater and participates in grade school tutoring projects in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of DC.

Click here to contact the National Capital Region team.