Board – Bridge the Gap College Prep

Board of Directors

We are grateful for the incredible leadership and service of our dedicated Board members.

Board of Directors

We are grateful for the incredible leadership and service of our dedicated Board members.

Alyene Schneidewind

Alyene Schneidewind is a Transformation Executive and Strategist, with more than 20 years in the technology industry. Currently, Alyene is the Vice President of Strategic Alliances leading Salesforce’s most innovative partnerships. She has also held leadership roles in Strategy, Consulting, Professional Services and Human Resources.

A Michigan native, Alyene earned a degree in Social Relations from Michigan State University. She currently lives in Tiburon, California with her husband and two daughters. Alyene and her family love the outdoors, Bay Area sports and are passionate advocates of the Paley Institute, a nonprofit that provides medical care for rare pediatric orthopedic conditions. In her local community, she has served as a board member of the Belvedere Tiburon Child Care Center, and a coach for Tiburon Girls Softball. She also serves as an advocate for Genesys Works students, a non-profit and social enterprise, changing the trajectory of life for disadvantaged high school students through meaningful work experiences.

Alyene Schneidewind

Board Chair

Dana Linker Steele

Dana Linker Steele was born in San Francisco and raised in Tiburon, attending schools in the Reed Union School District and Redwood High School. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science in 1993 and went on to Hastings College of the Law for her J.D. in 1996. She spent 10 years as a litigator at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco, and a year as counsel at Yahoo! before joining Autodesk in 2008 as Senior Corporate Counsel. At Autodesk, she focuses on intellectual property and privacy. Dana has served as a trustee of the Reed Union School District since 2011 and as President of the district’s board for 3 years, and is an active member of the Redwood High School Foundation. In her work with the public schools, she has successfully organized parcel tax campaigns for both RUSD and the Tamalpais Union High School District. As an active member of Bridge the Gap College Prep’s Advisory Council since 2015, she founded and currently runs (along with her daughters, Lauren and Sarah) the Fab Fridays program with William Woods and Paul Austin. Dana has been an active member of Bridge the Gap College Prep’s Advisory Council since 2015, and now serves as the Vice Chair of our Board of Directors.

Dana Linker Steele

Vice Chair

Mario Valente

Mario is an asset management executive with 20 years of finance experience investing across credit and equity arbitrage strategies. He began his career in investment banking and has since worked at hedge funds, including Citadel and Sandelman Partners. At Stansberry Asset Management, he is currently entrusted with serving as the principal proxy for the firm’s CEO to preserve and grow assets for the firm’s strategies. A Southern California native, Mario received a BA in Economics from Stanford University. As an undergraduate, he volunteered at Stanford’s Haas Center for Public Service, which sparked and fostered his life-long commitment to educational reform and social justice. Mario’s led fundraising efforts to support Stanford’s need-based financial aid program as a class reunion co-chair. Locally, Mario has served as a coach for Tiburon Girls Softball and volunteers for The Foundation for Reed Schools. Mario resides in Belvedere with his wife and three young daughters.

Mario Valente

Treasurer

William Cole-Woods

William is a Talent Acquisition Recruiter for 3Degrees in San Francisco, where he is team lead for the internship program and liaison for college recruiting, including Historically Black Colleges & Universities. William previously served as BTGCP’s K-8th Scholars Program Director from June 2016-February 2020, where he played a vital role in the Scholars Program’s structuring and growth. He was instrumental in cultivating relationships with the Sausalito Marin City School District schools, community partners, and Marin City families.

A native of Memphis, TN, William has over ten years of experience as an education professional. He served as Program Coordinator for BRIDGES, a transformative youth leadership and social justice organization in Memphis. William also served as Academic Advisor & College Counselor for KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools, a non-profit network of college-preparatory, public charter schools featured in the film Waiting for Superman. He is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., where he focuses his efforts on educational initiatives. A first-generation college graduate, William holds an MA in Education – Curriculum Design from Union University and a BS in Business Administration from Mississippi Valley State University. He and his husband, Shawn, live in El Sobrante, CA, with their furry daughter, Reese.

William Cole-Woods

Secretary

Bonnie Brown

Bonnie has served on Bridge the Gap College Prep’s Advisory Council since its inception in 2010 and is currently the Advisory Council President. She chaired Bridge the Gap College Prep’s 2016 Vines & Vision gala. In addition, she served on the Discovery Museum Council, helped found the Book Fair at Marin Horizon School, served on the Parent Council at Little Red School House, and helped initiate the Chadwick School Diversity Council. She was a member of the Mel Wong Dance Company, taught dance at the 92nd Street Y, Walden School, Hunter College, and gave master classes at various U.S. universities. Bonnie owned a greeting card company, Cards With Character, illustrating and writing copy. She was a dance major at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Bonnie Brown

Denni Brusseau

Denni Brusseau is Co-Founder of Bridge the Gap College Prep. Her desire to help children reach their full potential was tapped when she and Bob Hunter joined forces with Pastor Fred Small to start Bridge the Gap in Pastor Small’s church in 1995. In the middle of a 30+ year career at Macy’s, Denni served as Program Director through 2009 and then led the organization’s growth and expansion from 2010 to 2015 as Executive Director. Born and raised in Marin County, California, she graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a BA in Liberal Arts and Social Welfare.

Denni Brusseau

Co-Founder

Ashley Ellington

Ashley Ellington was a student in Bridge the Gap’s inaugural class in 1995. She went on to graduate from San Francisco School of the Arts where she had the opportunity to serve on the Student Advisory Council for San Francisco Unified School District as well as perfect her craft in her concentration of vocal performance arts. She attended College of Alameda and California Baptist University where she studied Psychology. Ashley has been teaching in the field of early childhood education for the past 8 years in San Francisco and New York and has returned to the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge to teach at Horizons Community School right here in Marin City. For the past 3 years, she has used her skills and knowledge in vocal performance to fundraise for Bridge the Gap College Prep through Sing for America Foundation where she has performed as a featured soloist. She truly believes in the work Bridge the Gap College Prep is doing and has had first-hand experience in the life-changing work of this program.

Ashley Ellington

Robert Hunter

Bob is a Co-Founder of Bridge the Gap. He has a special interest in at-risk youth and brings personal insight to the challenges they face. He 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 has a Bachelor of Science Business Administration degree from Dominican University and he completed the Certified Portfolio Management Program at the Investment Institute.

Robert Hunter

Co-Founder, Emeritus

Catherine Reese Kennedy

Cathy is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with over thirty years of experience working in community psychiatry. A Nebraska native, she earned her BA at Stanford University, completed medical school at the University of Nebraska, residency at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and fellowship at Tufts/New England Medical Center. She has worked as a consultant and staff psychiatrist at juvenile detention facilities, inpatient Pediatric and psychiatric units, group homes and residential facilities, child sexual trauma and adolescent pregnancy clinics. She was Medical Director of Marin County Community Mental Health Services from 1992-2000. She currently works part-time for a Side by Side Agency young adult drop-in center, and served on the Board for Side by Side for ten years. She currently serves as Bridge the Gap College Prep’s Advisory Council Vice President.

Cathy and her husband live in Tiburon, where they raised six children in a blended family.

Catherine Reese Kennedy, M.D.

John Larson

John has been an active member of the mentor/tutor program at BTGCP for many years. He is focused on giving Bridge the Gap students every advantage they deserve. He knows that they are our future. John was raised in Sausalito, and spent his youth playing sports in the various Sausalito/Marin City leagues. After graduating from St. Mary’s College in Moraga in 1986 with a BA in Business Administration and Economics and attending San Francisco Law School, John began his career on Wall St. at Montgomery Securities in 1992. He is still doing what he loves to do, helping people realize their full potential. John has lived in Marin his whole life and currently resides in Larkspur with his wife Sasha and 3 children. He has been involved at various levels with several foundations including The ASPCA, St. Jude’s and Ronald McDonald House. He is currently EVP of The Larson Family Charitable Trust, which focuses on children’s issues, specifically providing sports and education opportunities to underserved youth communities.

John Larson

Carolina Martín

Carolina has more than twenty years of experience in the corporate, non-profit, and education sectors. As Senior Director of Partnerships at Opportunity Fund, Carolina is leading the development and execution of the strategic institutional fundraising plan, which includes strengthening 100+ existing funding relationships and cultivating new partnerships.

Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of Students Rising Above, a nonprofit organization that sends low-income, first-generation college students to four-year colleges and universities. Carolina also previously served as Senior Vice President, Partnerships and Business Development at DonorsChoose.org and Vice President, Business Development for Sallie Mae. She was Executive Director of Summerbridge and the Director of Community & Scholar Relations at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She started her career as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles and San Diego and holds a B.A. degree in Education and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from the University of San Diego. She hails from Mexico City and was raised in San Diego. She lives in Marin with her husband and 5-year-old fraternal twin daughters.

Carolina Martín

Luis A. Ottley

Luis is Head of School at St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Atlanta, GA. Previously, he was Head of School at Marin Horizon School in Mill Valley for six years. He was the Principal of Middle School at Fieldston School in New York City for four years, responsible for the leadership and operation of close to 400 middle school students and approximately 60 faculty and staff members. He was the Middle School Director at University Preparatory Academy in Seattle for two years and spent four years as Assistant Head of the Lower School (315 students) at The Shipley School near Philadelphia. Luis began his career with ten years in Maryland schools, the first three at West Nottingham Academy, and the next seven years at The Bullis School in Potomac, MD as a teacher, Director of the Summer Institute, Foreign Studies Program, and Assistant Admissions Director. He received his B.A. degree from Allegheny College, his MBA from Johns Hopkins Univeristy and his Ed.D from the University of Pennsylvania.

Luis A. Ottley, Ed.D.

Elaine Wilkinson

Elaine is originally from the UK where she graduated from Coventry University with a BA in French & Spanish. After starting her career in sales and marketing in the magazine publishing world, she switched paths and gained qualifications to teach English as a Second Language. She worked as an English teacher for the French Lycée in Lausanne, Switzerland, and then as an English Professor at the world-famous Swiss Hospitality Management School – Ecole Hôtelièr de Lausanne whilst also working as an examiner for the International Baccalaureate. A move to Canada then saw Elaine continuing her teaching work with new immigrants in Ontario at Sheridan College as well as volunteering to tutor elementary school children. Arriving in the US in 2013, Elaine started volunteering with local foundations and school PTSAs as she got acclimated to her new surroundings. In 2016, Elaine was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Tam High Foundation, a job that combines her love of education and fundraising all in one go! Elaine lives in Mill Valley with her husband and three children.

Elaine Wilkinson

Florence Williams

Florence Williams spent many years as a high school teacher in San Francisco Unified School District and taught Vocational Education for adults in the Marin County School District’s ROP Program.

Ms. Williams currently works part time at the Marin City Senior Center as manager of the “Seniors on the Move” Project. She is a founding board member of both the Bridge the Gap College Prep Program and The Hannah Project, plus a longtime board member of the Marin City Community Development Corporation.

Ms. Williams has been an active part of the life of People’s Inter-Cities Fellowship Church for over 30 years. She is a church board member who serves in the Singing and Prayer Ministries and as the chairperson of the Women’s Department. She also mentors young adult women in the church and the community.

Florence has been named “Teacher of the Year” by both the San Francisco School District and the African American Alliance of Teachers. The student’s popularity poll named her “Most Inspiring Teacher.” She received the Community Legacy award at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration in 2012 in Marin City, the Community Leadership award in 2009, and was inducted into the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ms. Williams’ dream is to see Marin City and all of Marin County continue to be a healthy community that works together in unity for the good of all its residents; where needs are met, people are able to build assets and wealth and collaborate to make sure that all of our children and students are healthy, happy and well educated! “Reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place–Yes we can.”