College Summit :: Regional Team & Board

Regional Team & Board

College Summit Northern California

Paul Collins
Executive Director of College Summit – Northern California

A graduate of Duke University (BA, Psychology, 1986) and the California Institute of Integral Studies (MA, Organizational Development, 2000). After teaching at PS 50Q in Jamaica, New York (1986-1987), Paul joined ChaseMellon Shareholder Services, where he was an Assistant Vice President, managing large corporate equity relationships (1988-2000). Upon completing his Master’s degree, he traveled extensively throughout Mexico with his wife and two young children. Paul joined College Summit as Program Director in 2003, after serving as a Writing Coach at the 2002 Summer Workshop at Stanford University. He is currently a Team Leader at the Full Circle Fund in San Francisco, and has served as on the School Site Council and as Pledge Coordinator at Buena Vista Alternative Elementary School in San Francisco.

Damien Basey
School Partnership Manager

Damien Basey, originally from Oakland, CA, graduated from University of California - Berkeley in 2006 with a BA in Social Welfare. During his undergraduate experience, he had the opportunity to assist and advise a diverse student body including transfer students, student parents, and student-athletes. Drawing from his own personal experience in navigating through barriers of college access and issues within higher education, Damien went on to pursue and graduate with an MA of Education from the University of Washington in 2007. In addition to serving his community, Damien has honorably served his country as a member of the United States Navy. After assisting student- athletes in areas such as college access, leadership development, and athletic training, Damien proudly joins the College Summit Northern California team to continue the ongoing support of college access with the youth of his own community.

Amanda Kruger Hill
Program Manager

Amanda is a Bay Area native and brings her experience as principal, assistant principal, college counselor, teacher, instructional coach, and youth developer to College Summit. She earned her B.A. in International Studies from UC Berkeley and received her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Administrative Credential through the Principal Leadership Institute, also at UC Berkeley. Amanda led a team of ten youth to write and submit the first ever youth-initiated charter petition in the country. She believes that all students should have the opportunity to attend college; she sees college enrollment and completion as a crucial component in helping youth to break the cycle of poverty and live empowered and fulfilling lives. She is passionate about helping young people actualize their potential and has taken leadership in this endeavor at the classroom, school, and university levels. Amanda lives in Oakland with her husband and son, teaches Pilates, loves the arts and outdoors, and enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Afreen Malim
School Partnership Manager

Afreen was born in Mumbai, India and at the age of 11, she migrated to southern California with her family. After attending schools in Orange County, Afreen became the first in her family to attend college at University of California- Irvine. She studied International Relations and Women Studies, and also began pursuing her passion of working toward college access for low-income, minority students through UCI’s EAOP (Early Academic Outreach Program). Upon finishing her undergraduate studies, she joined the Oakland Teaching Fellows’ first cohort and began teaching at Youth Empowerment School in East Oakland, first as a Special Education teacher and then as a Math teacher. Through her five year teaching career at Youth Empowerment School, Afreen’s passion for issues of equitable opportunity for urban youth of color developed further. She served as an advisor with a cohort of students from 9th to 12th grade, and implemented the College Summit tools and resources as a College Summit Advisor. The group of seniors in this cohort gained much from the College Summit partnership which resulted in significantly higher college application, acceptance and enrollment rates. Afreen joined College Summit in September of 2011, and is excited to continue in her commitment toward supporting educators and students in building robust college-going environments in their schools.

Raquel España
Community Engagement & Development Coordinator

Raquel was born and raised in suburbs of Los Angeles. She has worked with several nonprofits in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Massachusetts – including the YMCA, Wu Yee Children’s Services, and City Year - and loves planning and executing events. Her college career path began at CSU Monterey Bay and ended with a BA in Ethnic Studies from UC Riverside. While studying in both cities, she worked for Upward Bound and volunteered at a teen center. She plans to finish her MA in Education from San Francisco State in the coming year. In her spare time, she helps plan an annual event, Dia de los Niños, to promote Early Literacy, in San Francisco and facilitates statewide early literacy workshops. Raquel will lead alumni & volunteer recruitment, and support development for the Northern California team.