Donna Fleming, Executive Director
A graduate of Trinity University (B.A., 1990 and M.S.A., 2008), Donna 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 University in Washington, DC, one of College Summit’s long-time community partners.
 
Shana Payne, Director of Strategic Partnerships
A graduate of Yale University (B.A., 1999) and the 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 as the NCR Program Director. In her current role as Director of Strategic Partnerships, she focuses on district partnerships, regional expansion and community engagement within the National Capital Region. Shana was part of the initial cohort of Future Executive Directors Fellows with the Nonprofit Roundtable.

Vinette Brown, Development Director
Vinette was formerly the Associate Director of Development for Family Health International and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, and worked for two years with the Academy for Educational Development (AED). Vinette is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) and spent two years in Haiti as an Agricultural Extension Volunteer. She also serves on the boards of the Educated Consumer Project (ECP) – which provides low income youth with financial literacy education, and Hyde Leadership Charter School in DC. She has a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University (1997), and a M.A. in International Development Studies from the George Washington University (2005).  

Byra Cole, Program Manager
Byra is a graduate of Howard University (B.S., 1995) and Trinity University (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.

Susannah Ware, Community Engagement Coordinator
Susannah has a degree in Art History and Studio Art from the University of Virginia (B.A. 2005). After studying abroad in Sydney, Australia and Florence, Italy, she went on to send others abroad as a Program Coordinator for the international internship placement company, Global Experiences. From there she learned about Web 2.0 and its potential influence on philanthropy while supporting the Web Team at the Case Foundation. In addition, she currently chairs the DC Regional Board for Indego Africa, an innovative international development nonprofit that provides an international market and valuable business skills to women in Rwandan handicraft cooperatives. She has many years of volunteer experience as a tutor and mentor to inner city students, and an enthusiasm for education.  

Clifton Crosby, School Partnership Manager
A former NFL Player and Super Bowl Champion, Cliff was an All-State Basketball, Track and Football Star in high school who was recruited by the University of Maryland on a full football scholarship and graduated with a degree in Family Studies (1999). With football life now behind him, Cliff has become a champion of at risk youth and families in his work with many different organizations, including Caron Treatment Centers and the National Center for Children and Families. 

Tracy Brower, School Partnership Manager
Tracy has worked in non profit education in D.C. for over 10 years. His positions include program manger of a youth development and summer internship program and director of a mentoring program for African American male high school students. He is active in his community serving on the board of directors of The Scholarship Academy in Washington, DC. Tracy has served as a writing coach, writing coach coordinator and College Summit advisor through one of our former agency partners. He graduated with a B.A. in English and minor in Afro-American studies from Virginia Commonwealth University (1993).

Quincy Jones, School Partnership Manager
Quincy is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio and graduated from Kentucky State University with a B.A. in Business Administration in 1995. He began his career as a financial advisor, but was soon called to the social services field. He moved to the DC area in 2001, where he worked for many years in the foster care arena as a Case Manager and Crisis Intervention Specialist. He most recently worked as a college access advisor/provider in DC Public Schools. He also tutors students in Prince George's County Public Schools and has served as a College Counselor during College Summit's summer workshops. Quincy holds a M.S.A (2009) from Trinity University. 

Regional Advisory Board

Angela Antonelli, Board Chair
President & CEO, AMD LLC

Sheldon Caplis, Development Committee Chair
Regional Director, Citi

Dr. Charlene M. Dukes
President, Prince George's County
Community College

James W. Dyke, Jr.
Partner, McGuire Woods LLP

Brian Gaines
VP of Site Management, College Summit

Verdia Haywood
Deputy County Executive, Fairfax County

Kevin Huffman
Executive Vice President of Public Affairs,
Teach for America

John Kenny
COO & Co-Founder, e-Luminate Group, Inc.

Jennifer Knickerbocker
Partner, Deloitte, LLP

Nancy Kuhn, Vice Chair
Director of External Relations, Business-Higher Ed Forum

Chip Kunde, Selection Committe Chair
Vice President, Government Relations
Darden Restaurants

Connie Myers
Government Relations Consultant, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Joell Royal
College Summit Alumna

Dr. Robert Templin
President, Northern Virginia Community College

Alvin Thornton, Ph.D.
Associate Provost, Howard University

Mary MacPherson - Honorary Board Member
President, M2Works, LLC