CollegeSummit :: Regional Team & Board

Regional Team & Board

Regional Team

Alexis Shah – Southern California Executive Director
As College Summit’s Executive Director, Alexis is responsible for growth in the Southern California region, overseeing program, and community engagement. Alexis has been a high tech process improvement consultant and new business development manager with Canon and ViaTRON. She has 9 years of experience with school districts and corporations. First time travels to various regions in Pakistan, Dubai, Argentina and attending the Skoll World Forum in March of 2007 at University of Oxford, stirred her deeply to re-evaluate her personal vision and mission; inspiring her to seek a role with an organization where social change is sustainable and measureable. Alexis joined College Summit in October, 2007. She is a graduate of California State University, Northridge (B.A., 1999) Communications. Alexis works with school administrators, area superintendents, and district officials to oversee the successful implementation of the program, deliver innovative processes and streamline gaps to increase college enrollment rates within Southern California. She will also be a thought partner to strategically expand the program within high school districts, and through community partners. As a Program Director, her passion is fueled by two quotes:

Higher education is the silver bullet to end all forms of poverty
- Alexis Shah

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you love and it will never lead you astray.
- Rumi

Michael Magnaye – Development Director for California
As College Summit California’s Development Director, Michael is responsible for philanthropy towards programs in the greater Los Angeles area, San Francisco Bay Area, and for fund development at the National level. He has more than 20 years of fundraising and communication experience in the fields of health care, international development, media and education. He has held staff positions at many organizations, including Southwest Community Health Center, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, The Girl Scouts, and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prior to working in non-profit organizations, he was an independent documentary filmmaker. His work has garnered numerous awards, screened at U.S and international film festivals and broadcast on public and cable television stations worldwide. Born and raised in the Philippines, he attended the University of the Philippines (BA honors, 1985) and Stanford University (MA, 1993). In his spare time, he sings as a first tenor at the Basilica Choir of Mission Dolores, the oldest church in San Francisco, California. As a fundraiser, his work is inspired by two quotes:

You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.
- Winston Churchill

Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.
- Hank Rosso

Ed Rice – School Partnership Manager
As College Summit’s School Partnership Manager, Ed is responsible for cultivating and maintaining school relationships and for managing the delivery and implementation of College Summit’s curriculum and services. A graduate of Howard University (B.A. ’95) and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (MSJ ’02), Ed began his career as a reporter. He has written for various publications including, the Orange County Register, Vibe and The Source magazines. Most recently he served as the program manager for Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. in Los Angeles, where he supervised Y.O.U. Inc.’s, Youth Point of View newspaper. Ed has also taught fifth grade and high school English in the Los Angeles Area. He enjoys working with youth and currently runs a mentoring program in Los Angeles.

Betsy Kocak – Community Engagement Associate
As College Summit’s Community Engagement Associate, Betsy assists efforts in school district growth, development, public relations, and volunteer/alumni engagement. Betsy is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business with a B.S. in Business Administration, a minor in Psychology and a concentration in Advertising and Promotion Strategy. She chose to move into the non profit sector focusing on education because she feels there is a sense of urgency to reform the college enrollment system on a national level. Betsy has experience in communications, PR/advertising, sales, event coordination, and volunteerism. She has interned in the Communications Department at William Morris Talent Agency, at Cushman & Wakefield as a Tenant Representative Intern, and as the Head Sales Representative Intern at Michael Cohen Showroom. Betsy has also served as the Director of Integrated Marketing Communications for USC’s advertising team in the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition.