Regional Team & Board
College Summit NY & CT Regional Team
Freda Richmond, Interim Executive Director, Director of Program Partnerships
Freda Richmond has worked for College Summit since 2003 in Chicago and in New York. In her current role, Freda serves as the senior program staff member in the region, leading New York’s growth, driving local innovations, and managing college relationships. Prior to joining College Summit, Freda was the Business Partnership Manager for Urban Options, a youth entrepreneurship education program. Freda also coordinated the Education, Dedication, Growth & Experience (EDGE) Education to Careers Program at UPS.
Christine was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. Her family emigrated from the Philippines in the early 1970’s. In high school, she was a Summer Search recipient and received scholarships to attend two summer programs, one to Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut. She saw first hand the great disparity in the quality of education between social classes. It was then that she decided to dedicate her career in improving the educational opportunities for low-income youth. Christine was the first in her family to attend college and graduated from UCLA (B.A. History, 2000). As a student activist, Christine focused on Affirmative Action, Ethnic Studies and overall Social Justice. Upon graduating, Christine worked at the San Francisco Unified School District as a teacher recruiter. She went on to work at Summer Search San Francisco for 5 years serving as a mentor, college and financial aid advisor and national alumni director. Christine completed graduate work at Columbia University’s Teachers College (M.A. Developmental Psychology, 2008). She worked as a graduate assistant at Columbia University's Student Development and Activities and at Harlem Children’s Zone TRUCE as a college counselor. Christine has a broad range of experiences within the realm of youth development, educational access, and equity.
Veronica T. DeLandro, Connecticut Program Manager
Prior to her role with College Summit, Veronica served as Senior Program Coordinator with the Governor’s Prevention Partnership in Hartford where she spearheaded the statewide Urban Mentoring Initiative. In 2007 she was appointed by Governor M. Jodi Rell to represent Connecticut at the African American Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. She was recently appointed by the Mayor of New Britain to serve on the Commission on Youth & Family Services. Veronica also serves on the Dropout Prevention Community Task Force for the Consolidated School District of New Britain and is a Board Member for Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Veronica earned her Bachelor’s degree with honors in Mass Media Arts with a concentration in Broadcast Journalism from Hampton University in Hampton, VA., and her Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from the University of Connecticut.
Tyrone L. Glass, School Partnership Manager
Tyrone joined College Summit after working as a Program Director of Cypress Hills LDC’s College S.T.E.P.S program. Tyrone’s expertise in college access began while working at California State University, Los Angeles. Since then, he has taken additional courses the College Access Personal Development Institute with the Goddard Riverside OPTIONS program. Tyrone enjoys serving as a School Partnership Manager because his story is no different from the stories of the youth that College Summit serves. Tyrone received his Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and M.A. in Leadership Studies with a concentration in College Student Development from Capital University.
Laura Larimer, Development Director
Laura Larimer is the Regional Director of Development for College Summit New York and oversees fundraising activities for the organization in New York and Connecticut. She joined College Summit from the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), where she served in several capacities for the New York Metro region, including Director of Development and Acting Co-Regional Director. Over eight years, her accomplishments include tripling the region’s annual fundraising performance and implementing a strategic plan that resulted in 150% growth in students trained annually in New York. Previously, Laura managed communications campaigns for educational and nonprofit clients at Widmeyer Communications, a leading public relations firm in Washington, DC.
Gary Z. Linnen, School Partnership Manager
Gary Z. Linnen is a School Partnership Manager at College Summit with seven years experience in the educational and test preparation arena. A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Government, he spent the majority of his professional career working with The Princeton Review servicing thousands of students who could afford the best services test-prep could offer to servicing thousands of students in low-income communities who truly benefitted from these same services. Gary currently works with 11 High Schools in NYC to increase the college enrollment rate of its students and has served in various roles at College Summit’s summer workshops for more than two years.
Raquel Maysonet-Sigler, School Partnership Manager
Raquel has worked in various settings of local government and education in New York City over the past 17 years. Prior to working at College Summit, she developed her own educational consulting organization after being inspired by the need for college counseling during her four years as a Director for College Now at Medgar Evers College. She has a B.A. in Political Science from NYU and a Master’s in Public Policy from the NYU Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.
Christie Mitchell, New York Program Manager
Christie manages the implementation of College Summit’s model with partner high schools; manages regional workshop execution; supervises a team of four School Partnership Managers; and is a part of the Educators’ Academy curriculum development working team. Previously, Christie developed programs for low-income patients and their families for social service agencies and was an elementary school special education teacher. She holds an M.S.W. from Columbia University, an M.S. in Special Education from Bank Street College of Education, and a B.A. from Loyola University, New Orleans.
Ali Ryan Scott, Office Logistics Coordinator
Ali Ryan Scott serves as the Coordinator of Office Logistics for College Summit New York. In this capacity Ali coordinates invoicing, and works on development and sales projects. Prior to joining the College Summit team, she served as the managing partner of The Scott Firm, P.C., a boutique law firm specializing in entertainment, corporate, and real estate law. Ali also worked as an event planner/producer, organizing events for companies such as Essence and Black Enterprise magazine and prominent non-profit organizations throughout New York City. Ali has also served Ali is a native of Los Angeles, California and a graduate of Howard University and Howard University School of Law.
Juaquín Sims, Operations Associate
Juaquín supports the Director of Program Partnerships and the Program Manager, with a focus on events management, volunteer recruitment and logistical support. Juaquín received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University, where he chaired the multicultural organization Umoja.
Tasha Henry Wilson, School Partnership Manager
Tasha Henry Wilson is a Brooklyn, New York native. She attended the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in Business Administration. After receiving her B.A., Tasha went on to work with youth in various capacities, including directing an afterschool/summer camp program and creating and facilitating an Early Awareness program for middle school students. Tasha has attended Goddard Riverside’s College Access Professional Development Institute training, and has also worked as a College Counselor for College S.T.E.P.S., a college access program in Brooklyn, helping to get over 100 high school students enrolled in college. She also acted as the Coordinator for the Moving Towards Achievement program, which focused on enrolling out of school youth in college and maintaining retention. Tasha recently went back to school and received her M.S.W. from Fordham University. This past year she worked in a NYC Public High School as a School Social Worker.
Freda Richmond and Gary Linnen with CS Volunteer
LACJ Principal, Miriam Nightengale; CSNY Board Member,Nick Florio; CSNY Program Manager, Christie Mitchell
College Summit NY Advisory Board
Zaid Abdul-Aleem
Senior Vice President, Piedmont Investment Advisors, LLC
Paula Cleary
Nicholas M. Florio
Principal, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP
Kathleen Kapnick
Keith Rohland
Managing Director, Citigroup
Don Cheadle College Summit Founding Spokesman
Learn more about College Summit by watching this informational video.