Bridge the Gap College Prep Board of Directors

Our board is made up of passionate, committed and dedicated community members who share the founders' vision of closing the educational achievement gaps and changing the lives of underserved youth, ultimately changing a community. Our members are professionals, community volunteers and educators.

Laura Cox, former Development Director for World of Children

Kevin Johnson, Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Analyst with Dodge & Cox

Rick Brusseau, Principal, Seaview Partners

Michelle Brilhante Muir, Community Volunteer

Lori Shannon, Community Volunteer, Educator

Jani Ross, with the educational placement firm, McClure, Mallory & Baron

Florence Williams, Founding Board Member

Denni Brusseau, Founder and Executive Director

Pastor Fred Small, Founder, Board Member Emeritus and Senior Pastor of Peoples Inter-Cities Fellowship, Marin City

Robert C. Hunter, Founder, Board Member Emeritus and Registered Investment Advisor

Download board roles and best practices here.

Board Chair - Laura Cox has worked with non-profit organizations and foundations for the past 10 years.  Most recently, Laura worked as Development Director for World of Children, an international children’s charity.  She has worked with the Milagro Foundation and the Foundation for Reed Schools to ensure children reach their potential through access to exceptional education.  Her experience began in the corporate world, working in strategic planning for Avon Products, brand management for Del Monte Foods and acquisition analysis for National Medical Enterprises.

She earned her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School and her Bachelor of Arts in both Economics and Psychology from UC, Santa Barbara.



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Board Vice Chair - Kevin Johnson is a Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Analyst for Dodge & Cox, one of the country’s largest independent investment management firms. He joined Dodge & Cox in 1989 and is a shareholder of the firm. In addition to working with many of Dodge & Cox’s non-profit clients, he is a member of the firm’s Charitable Giving Committee, which reviews and approves the company’s numerous charitable gifts, which are focused primarily on education and at-risk youth. He has served on a number of non-profit boards. He is also currently on the board of the San Francisco Zoological Society and a member of the Stanford Business School Trust Endowment Fund.

He received his B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1984 and his M.B.A. degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1989. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and is on the Board of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts (NAPIA).  

 
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Board Treasurer - Rick Brusseau is Principal at Seaview Partners, an outsourced accounting and finance firm. Rick has held leadership positions in finance, accounting, and employee development for a number of California companies. Rick brings more than 15 years of finance, accounting, mergers and acquisitions, and business management experience to Bridge the Gap College Prep.

Rick earned an M.B.A. from Dominican College and a B.S. in Economics from Rutgers University.

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Michelle Brilhante Muir's involvement with numerous non-profit organizations is inspired by her desire to help children realize their potential through education. She served as Co-chair of Beyond Borders, as well as Treasurer on the boards of Marin Montessori School and Lake Tahoe School. Her board work includes The Duffield Family Foundation and Maddie's Spirit, and the advisory board of Accounting Career Awareness Program, which encourages inner city high school students to pursue careers in accounting. Like Michelle, many participants are the first in their families to consider attending college.

Michelle started her career as a tax accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, where she developed expertise working with non-profit organizations as founder and Western Regional Director of their High Net Worth practice. She then spent seven years overseeing Nevada Pacific Consulting, LLC. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Oregon, and Master of Science in Accountancy degree from DePaul University.

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Jani Ross works for the educational placement firm, McClure, Mallory & Baron. She brings to her work, years of teaching experience at middle school and high school levels in both public and independent schools in the Bay Area. Her administrative experience began at Mount Tamalpais School and continued for nine years at the Branson School where she was Associate Head and, most recently, Director of Admission. As Branson’s Associate Head, her responsibilities were twofold- overseeing curriculum and serving as Dean of Faculty. Working with the master class schedule and helping students plan their classes, Jani quickly became the “go-to” person for students and faculty alike. Her ability to listen carefully, diagnose a problem, present several possible solutions and put the onus on the high school student to follow through, won her praise from parents.

She earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and continued her graduate work at Mills College. She looks forward to working with families seeking elementary and high school placement for their child. Her background in schools and her understanding of the developmental stages of students help her demystify the school search process. She also serves on the Board of Trustees and as consultant to the Board for several local schools. She is married to Terry Ross and two grown children, Dana and Daniel.
 
 
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Lori Shannon Lori Shannon moved to the Bay Area 10 years ago, having lived the majority of her life in Westchester County, NY. As an educator, she taught at the Ursuline School in New Rochelle, NY, having two separate tenures; the first, teaching Physical Education and Health, the second, focusing on reading and language development. As a community volunteer in Marin County, she has been active in her children’s school (MCDS, San Domenico and The Urban School of San Francisco), the Marin Literacy Program and Aim High. Lori is also active as an annual fund solicitor for her alma mater, Skidmore College. Lori graduated with a BS degree and teaching certification for grades K-12 in Physical Education and Health. She has completed 24 credit hours in a Special Education Masters Program.

Lori lives in Tiburon with her husband Glenn and youngest daughter, Adrienne. Her older two children, Kim and Brett reside in Manhattan. She enjoys the outdoors, travel, but most of all, making a difference in the lives of children through education.

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Florence Williams is a founding board member of Bridge the Gap. As a secondary education teacher, she taught or many years in San Francisco high schools. Currently, she is teaching Vocational Education to Adults through the Marin County Office of Education’s ROP Program.

She also serves as Chairperson for two other agencies in the community - Marin City Community Development Corp, and the Community Land Corp (part owners of the Shopping Center the Ridgeway Apartment Complex).  Since the late seventies, she has lived in Marin City and for most of those years she has been a member of Peoples Inter-Cities Fellowship Church. She takes great joy in working with Pastor Small and serving in the Singing and Prayer Ministries, where she also serves as chairperson of the Women's Department.
 

Denni Brusseau is the Executive Director of Bridge the Gap. She is a founding member of the organization, and her experience, dedication, energy and bright smile greet students, tutors and family members alike, welcoming them to Bridge the Gap’s family. Her desire to help children reach their fullest potential can be seen in the agency’s recent growth and program expansion. Denni has over 30 years of business experience in retail management with Macy’s that she brings to her new position as Executive Director.

Born and raised in Marin County, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Liberal Arts and Social Welfare.




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Board Members Emeritus

Pastor Fred Small, Founding Board Member/Emeritus is the Senior Pastor of Peoples Inter-Cities Fellowship, formerly known as the Marin City Church of God. Pastor Small is a Founding Board member of Bridge the Gap. He generously donates a place for Bridge the Gap to provide Tutoring sessions each week and our new series The Breakfast Club on designated Saturday mornings.

Born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, he is a Korean Veteran and not long ago was voted "Marin County Senior Citizen of the Year." He holds a Masters in Ministry degree from the Southern California School of Religion. He has also studied at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary and Southern Marin Bible Institute.

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Robert C. Hunter, Founding Board Member/Emeritus is a Registered Investment Advisor based in Marin, with clients throughout the Bay Area. Prior to that, he worked as a stockbroker for some of Wall Street’s largest firms. He brings more than twenty years of investment experience to his wealth management work. He is a Founding Board member of Bridge the Gap.

He has a special interest in at-risk youth and brings personal insight to the challenges they face. He takes his fiduciary responsibilities seriously, providing strong leadership to ensure that Bridge the Gap garners the needed resources to stay on track programmatically, while leaving room for innovation. 

He has a Bachelor of Science Business Administration degree from Dominican University and he completed the Certified Portfolio Management Program at the Investment Institute.

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