Helping Boston’s young people grow into responsible and altruistic leaders.

History

Jay Jacobs and Fredericka Stevenson, founding board chair, established Summer Search Boston in 1996 as the first replication of the dynamic program founded in 1990 by Linda Mornell in the San Francisco Bay area. Since 2005, Summer Search Boston has doubled in size and is on track toward making the program accessible to every qualified candidate in the Boston Public High Schools. Now, under the leadership of Executive Director Debbie Krause, Boston is continuing its growth to serve 400 students by 2010 with a focus on the Boston District High Schools, which our neediest and most at-risk students attend.

As Summer Search Boston enters our thirteenth year under the current leadership of Chair Mark Smith, we are proud to see our alumni coming back as staff members, board members, donors and referral partners in the schools and youth development programs with which we work.

We are especially grateful to Strategic Grant Partners and The Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation for stepping up to fuel this growth with major capacity-building challenge grants. Two years into this plan, we are excited to be well on track toward meeting this goal!

Staff

Debbie Krause, Executive Director
Kait Schroeder, Associate Director
Elizabeth Marino, Outreach Director
Rachel Scott, Development Manager
Ines Ariceta, Alumni Coordinator
Amee Tejani, Program Director
Mollie Soloway, Program Associate
Melissa Witcher, Program Associate
Vanessa Farias, Development and Operations Associate
Jessica Tansey, Program Associate
Genevieve Mack, Program Associate
Sarah Lentz, Program Associate
Nick Giammaria, Program Associate
Curtis Blyden, Program Associate

Debbie Krause, Executive Director
Debbie graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Psychology (1998) and went on to receive her MA in Counseling Psychology from Boston College (2000). While in college and graduate school Debbie’s studies focused on the effects of violence on the social and emotional functioning of children. After graduation, she worked for Dare Family Services, a non-profit organization that performed homebased counseling for children and families. Her strong belief in the life-altering power of traveling comes from extended time she spent in England, Spain, and Italy. Debbie joined Summer Search in 2005 as the first ever Outreach Coordinator. She rapidly advanced to become Program Director of Outreach and Alumni in 2006, and then Executive Director in 2007. Debbie is a member of the Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation Capacity Building Group.

Kait Schroeder, Associate Director
Kait graduated from Haverford College with a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a minor in education (2002). After college, Kait spent three years at Millbrook School, a small coeducational independent boarding school in New York State. During her time at Millbrook, Kait taught chemistry, worked as a dorm parent, acted as a faculty advisor, coached field hockey, and guided a community service group. In the summer of 2004, professional development funds allowed Kait to travel to the Samburu region of Kenya with the Earthwatch Institute to work as part of the Communities, Water, and Wildlife conservation research team. This expedition reinforced her understanding of the power of experiential education. After moving back home to Boston in 2005, Kait joined Summer Search as a Program Associate. She became Associate Director in 2008 and now oversees student and alumni programming, as well as leading mentor training in the Boston office

Elizabeth Marino, Outreach Director
Liz graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Women’s Studies (2005). She was then accepted into the Teach For America Program and spent the two years teaching middle school English in the South Bronx. She served as a teacher, counselor and mentor to over sixty English as a Second Language and recent immigrant students. She received her Masters of Teaching with a concentration in Adolescent Education from Pace University (2007). She joined Summer Search as the Outreach Director in September of 2007. Under her leadership Summer Search had its most successful year of recruitment ever. The most rewarding aspect of her job has been getting to know and work with the highly dedicated referral partners in Boston.

Rachel Scott, Development Manager
Rachel graduated from Swarthmore College with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science (2005). She came to Summer Search with a passion for the wilderness shaped by her experience as an instructor for The Road Less Traveled, now one of Summer Search’s summer program partners. Rachel joined Summer Search in 2005 as a Program Associate. She spent her first three years mentoring students, while coordinating the Leadership Dinner and managing Summer Search Boston’s grant writing. In 2009 she officially stepped into the role of Development Manager and is excited to be bringing her programmatic experience to Summer Search Boston’s fundraising efforts.

Ines Ariceta , Alumni Coordinator
Ines comes from Donostia (San Sebastian) in the Basque Region of Spain. She graduated from Deusto University with a degree in Psychology and continued her studies in Family Therapy. Ines spent a summer in Vallenar, Chile. Following this experience, she held positions and volunteered in local NGOs and community based organizations fighting for social justice. She taught at her former High School before she moved to the US to obtain a Master’s degree in Social & Organizational Psychology. For the last 3 years, Ines has worked for the International Center for Cooperation & Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, providing locally informed and tailored conflict resolution and justice related services to institutions that specialize in developing new leaders and serving marginalized populations. Ines joined Summer Search as the Alumni Coordinator in September 2008.

Amee Tejani, Program Director
Amee graduated from Emory with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Environmental Studies. After college she worked for two years as a teacher/counselor with Eckerd Youth Alternatives, a wilderness therapy program for adjudicated youth. She then served as an AmeriCorps Team Leader with the Atlanta Outward Bound Center, working on community greening projects and teaching environmental science in inner-city elementary schools. Most recently, she received a Master's degree in Community Development and Planning from Clark University where she also worked with high school age youth on a community-based environmental justice project. Amee joined Summer Search as a Program Associate in 2006.

Mollie Soloway, Program Associate
Mollie grew up in Washington, DC and spent her summers attending and later working at summer camp in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. During college she spent a semester studying at the University of Westminster in London and graduated in 2004 with a BA in psychology from Colgate University. After college, Mollie worked for two years as a Youth Enrollment Specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters of MA Bay, during which time she conducted home assessments with over 500 families in the Boston area and was also matched with her own Little Sister in February of 2006. Mollie joined the Summer Search team as a Program Associate in February of 2007.

Melissa Witcher, Program Associate
Melissa was born in Brazil and grew up in various states throughout the U.S. After graduating from Michigan State University with a B.A. in History and Secondary Education she spent four years teaching Social Studies in Southern California. As a result of that experience Melissa became passionate about pursuing a career providing equal access to resources and opportunities. She spent the last four months of 2007 working at a non-profit bookmobile in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Melissa joined Summer Search as a Program Associate in January 2008.

Vanessa Farias, Development and Operations Associate
Vanessa Farías was born and raised in Boston and attended Boston Latin School.  Vanessa is of Colombian descent and is one of the first in her family to go to college. She graduated from Marist College in 2006 with a major in International Communications and a double minor in Spanish/Global Studies.  Vanessa traveled to Eastern Europe her senior year of high school to learn more about the Holocaust and studied in Guayaquil, Ecuador, for a semester in college.  During her time abroad she taught ESL classes to children and adolescents in impoverished communities. This served as an eye-opening experience that reinforced her belief in the importance of access to education.  Vanessa joined Summer Search in February, as the Development and Operations Associate.

Jessica Tansey, Program Associate
Jessica grew up near Albany, NY, before majoring in Human Development and English at Boston College.  While at BC, Jessica developed her passion for working with students in urban public schools and her belief in the value of travel as she became increasingly committed to working for social justice. In addition to volunteering with multiple out-of-school organizations for Boston youth, Jessica also participated in a service/immersion trip to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, spent semesters abroad in Grahamstown, South Africa, and Galway, Ireland, and spent three weeks traveling in India. Jessica earned her M.Ed. as a member of the 2008 Donovan Urban Scholars Program at Boston College and joined Summer Search as a Program Associate in May 2008.

Genevieve Mack, Program Associate
Genevieve was born and raised in a small town in central Massachusetts.  She graduated from Skidmore College in 2001 with a degree in Education Studies and American Studies.  After graduation, Genevieve taught 5th grade in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.  After three years in the elementary classroom, she enrolled in Brown University’s Master of Arts in Teaching program.  During her year at Brown, Genevieve became passionate about urban educational issues. Since her graduation from Brown in 2005, Genevieve taught at urban high schools in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  Genevieve joined Summer Search Boston as a Program Associate in July of 2008.

Sarah Lentz, Program Associate
Sarah grew up in Indiana and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Theater from Denison University in 2004. During college, Sarah began exploring her passion for working with youth by leading an after school theater program for low-income students, allowing them not only to perform, but express themselves creatively. Each summer she traveled to Maine to work with long-time Summer Program Partner, Maine Teen Camp. Immediately after college, Sarah spent a year living and working in The Netherlands, but returned home to continue her work at camp as a year-round Program Director. Sarah joined Summer Search as a Program Associate in September 2008.

Nick Giammaria, Program Associate
Nick grew up in upstate New York. He attended Dartmouth College where he discovered a love for travel and new cultures during a semester in Italy. After graduating in 2003 with a BA in Philosophy and Environmental Studies, he served as an agriculture volunteer in Peace Corps Haiti. Unfortunately his time was cut short when the Peace Corps evacuated in 2004. Nick reapplied and served the full two years as an Environmental Education volunteer in Armenia. After returning, Nick received his Masters in Education from Smith College in 2007 and spent a year teaching in Greenfield, MA. Nick joined Summer Search Boston in October of 2008.

Curtis Blyden, Program Associate
Curtis was born and raised in Boston and attended Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, MA. During college he spent a semester studying international relations at the Richmond American University in London and graduated in 2004 from Curry College with a double major in Criminal Justice and Political Science. In 2005, Curtis accepted a position with the Peace Corps to serve as a youth development volunteer in rural Mongolia. After his time in the Peace Corps, Curtis worked as a Project Manager with City Year Boston, during which he planned and implemented community service projects on behalf of corporate sponsors for non-profit community centers around the country. Curtis joined Summer Search Boston as a Program Associate in July of 2009.