staff

Liz Marino, Executive Director
Liz Donnenfeld, Director of Development
Sarah Lentz, Program Director
Nick Giammaria, Program Director
Ines Ariceta, Post-Secondary Program Director
Alison Cunningham, Summer Program Coordinator
Tim Klein, Outreach Coordinator
Genevieve Mack, Development Manager
Christina Ysanne Brown, Program Associate
Emily Drummond, Program Associate
Ashley Garland, Program Associate
Zeeba Khalili, Program Associate
Casey Pettit, Program Associate
Yening Qin, Program Associate
Lindsey Reed, Program Associate
Brisja Sternquist, Program Associate
Danielle Wilfong, Program Associate
Katherine Gale, Development Associate
Anisa Hoxha, Operations Associate

Liz Marino, Executive Director
liz@summersearch.org
Liz graduated from Boston College with a BA in English and Women’s Studies (2005) and went on to receive her MA in Teaching from Pace University (2007). She spent two years teaching English and ESL to eighth graders at a middle school in the South Bronx through the Teach For America program. Liz joined Summer Search as the Outreach Director in 2007 and grew the number of students Summer Search Boston serves annually from 231 in 2007 to 350 in 2010 while focusing the recruitment on the highest need schools in Boston. She rapidly advanced to become the Associate Director 2010, and then the Executive Director in 2012.

Liz Donnenfeld, Director of Development
ldonnenfeld@summersearch.org
Liz graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in US History (1984) and went on to receive her MA in Teaching from Sacred Heart University (1993). She taught second grade at Shore Country Day School in Beverly, MA from 1995-1996. She spent the past 15 years at the Jewish Federation of the North Shore in Salem, MA. Liz started her career at Federation in 1997 managing programs and went on to do leadership development, event planning, trips to Israel, fundraising and for the past five years, served as the Executive Director. Liz joined Summer Search as the Director of Development in 2013.

Sarah Lentz, Program Director
slentz@summersearch.org
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.

Nicholas Giammaria, Program Director
ngiammaria@summersearch.org
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 as a Program Associate in October of 2008.

Ines Ariceta, Post-Secondary Program Director
iariceta@summersearch.org
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.

Alison Cunningham, Summer Program Coordinator
acunningham@summersearch.org
Alison grew up in Maine and received a BA in Political Science from Boston College. After college, Alison pursued her dream to live abroad, and moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where she taught middle school and coached high school soccer for three years. She moved back to the United States to attend graduate school, and in May 2010 Alison earned a Master of Science in Applied Educational Psychology with a focus in Student Development and Counseling from Northeastern University. While studying at Northeastern, Alison also worked closely with the Torch Scholars Program, a full-scholarship program for low-income and first generation college students. Through Torch, Alison met her first Summer Search alumni, and soon after, joined Summer Search as a Program Associate in June 2010.

Tim Klein, Outreach Coordinator
tklein@summersearch.org
Tim grew up in rural Vermont. He graduated from Ithaca College in 2006 with a Bachelors of Science in Sports Marketing and Media. Upon graduation, Timrelocated to theNorth Side of Chicago. While there he worked as a Youth Development Coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club of Chicagoin the Julia C. Lathrop Homes. The lack of affordable housing for low-income Chicagoans inspired Tim to pursue his graduate degree at the University of Chicago. While there he worked with low-income non-custodial fathers and did policy analysis and advocacy around extreme poverty issues that impacted underserved populations. Tim received his Masters in Social Service Administration before moving back to the east coast and joining Summer Search.

Genevieve Mack, Development Manager
gmack@summersearch.org
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.

Christina Ysanne Brown, Program Associate
christina@summersearch.org
Christina grew up in a small town in Northwest Connecticut. She graduated from Clark University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2004, where counseling internships in Worcester middle schools honed her passion for serving students in under-resourced communities. After college, she earned her Ed.M. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the Risk and Prevention program and spent a year working in student support at the English High School. Christina then moved to Tokyo, Japan, where she taught English for a year and a half. She returned to Boston and became Director of the B-READY After-school and B-SAFE summer programs in the South End. Christina joined Summer Search in August of 2011.

Emily Drummond, Program Associate
edrummond@summersearch.org
Emily grew up in Maine and graduated from Colgate University with a BA in Psychology. She first discovered her love for experiential education and working with youth at a summer camp in Maine, and then pushed past her own comfort zones by completing a semester course with NOLS and spending 3 months in Peru volunteering and working on her Spanish. After graduating from college, Emily worked for Outward Bound as an instructor in Minnesota for two seasons where she met her first Summer Search students on courses. She moved to Colorado in 2007 to work at the Outward Bound national office, managing the Scholarship Program and learned more about Summer Search through overseeing the partnership and student placements. Emily was thrilled to join the Summer Search team in October of 2011.

Ashley Garland, Program Associate
agarland@summersearch.org
Ashley grew up in Portland, ME and graduated from Stonehill College in 2009 with a B.A. in Psychology. Two undergraduate internships shadowing School Adjustment Counselors in Brockton and Stoughton, MA spawned her interest in working with at-risk youth. After college, Ashley moved to Massachusetts and held a position for over two years as a Cognitive Development Therapist. In this position, she worked one-on-one with children and adolescents’ whose learning challenges were addressed by engaging them in thinking and problem-solving to improve their cognitive abilities. Ashley joined the Summer Search Boston Staff in January 2012.

Zeeba Khalili, Program Associate
zkhalili@summersearch.org
Zeeba grew up in Olathe, Kansas and in 2009 received a B.A. in Psychology from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. After graduation, she moved to Boston where she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at Friends of the Children-Boston, a long-term mentoring program. Passionate about continuing her work with youth, she then took a position working as the School Partnership Associate at Mass Mentoring Partnership where she worked with mentoring programs and high-need school districts from across the state to support school-based mentoring. In November of 2012, Zeeba was very excited to join Summer Search as a Program Associate and have the opportunity to work directly with youth in Boston.

Casey Pettit, Program Associate
cpettit@summersearch.org
Casey is a Kansas native, who graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Psychology, and later, a Masters in Clinical Social Work. As an undergraduate student, Casey served on multiple research projects in the field of Positive Psychology, specifically focusing on hope in the lives of children. As a graduate student, she focused on deepening her understanding of adolescents and their ability to cope with grief/loss and trauma. As part of her graduate program, she worked as a Clinical Intern (therapist) at a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility for Adolescents in Kansas City, MO. She is especially excited to be working as a mentor at Summer Search because of her passion for working with youth and her dedication to experiential education. Personally, she completed a NOLS semester course in New Zealand, spent a total of 6 years as a camper and staff at Cheley Camps in Colorado, and most recently, worked as an Assistant Course Director with Outward Bound. Casey joined the Summer Search team as a Program Associate in August 2011.

Yening Qin, Program Associate
yqin@summersearch.org
Originally from China, Yen grew up in Boston and graduated from Boston Latin School. He received his BA in economics from Harvard University. Curious about the world around him, he studied German and played violin for the Harvard mariachi during college. After graduating, Yen moved to rural China for two years to teach English to 7^th graders through Teach For China. There he discovered his love for teaching and mentoring. Excited to continue working with students in Boston, Yen joined Summer Search as a Program Associate in October 2012.

Lindsey Reed, Program Associate
lreed@summersearch.org
Lindsey was raised outside of Chicago, Illinois and later in southwestern Connecticut. She spent many of her summers growing up at the Farm and Wilderness Summer Camps in rural Vermont and later served on staff there as well. Her love of the outdoors led her to pursue a BA in Biology from Earlham College in 2006, including a semester abroad studying environmental sustainability in Australia with the School for International Training. After college, she spent two years teaching place-based environmental education with Farm and Wilderness in Vermont and the Ferry Beach Ecology School in Maine. Before joining Summer Search, she worked in donor relations for a Boston-based non-profit. Lindsey was thrilled to join Summer Search as a Program Associate in October 2011.

Brisja Sternquist, Program Associate
bsternquist@summersearch.org
Brisja grew up near Seattle, Washington. After earning her B.A. in English Literature and Communication from Western Washington University, she moved to a Seattle suburb where she coached high school speech and debate for two years before accepting a full-time position serving in AmeriCorps. As an AmeriCorps volunteer, Brisja worked in a low-income high school facilitating classroom tutorials and after-school programming. In Fall 2007, Brisja moved to Boston to earn her M.A. in English Composition from the University of Massachusetts—Boston. She taught Freshman Composition and worked in the Transitions program at UMass for two years before joining Summer Search in 2011.

Danielle Wilfong, Program Associate
dwilfong@summersearch.org
Danielle obtained her B.A. in Linguistics from Duke University. Seeking a better understanding of the world outside her home of North Carolina and to pursue her love of education, cultures, and languages, Danielle decided to live and teach in Japan. Having spent three years becoming acquainted with the Japanese education system, Danielle returned to the States to get her Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Danielle joined the Summer Search Boston team in October of 2012 with the hopes of partnering with students as they take steps to build a vision and plan for their futures.

Katherine Gale, Development Associate
kgale@summersearch.org
Katie graduated from American University with a Bachelor’s degree in Literature. In college she worked on social justice and education issues involving diverse groups of students, including military veterans attending her university and low-caste girls in rural Nepal. After college she worked in the public policy sphere at America’s Promise Alliance in Washington, DC, with a concentration on military children. She joined Summer Search in 2012 as a Development Associate.

Anisa Hoxha, Operations Associate
ahoxha@summersearch.org
Anisa is originally from Albania and moved to the states in 2001. She received her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Public Administration from Suffolk University in 2012. Anisa joined Summer Search in 2006 when she was a sophomore in High School and has been connected since. She is currently in the Summer Search Boston Alumni Board and passionate working with her fellow alumni’s to give back and help her colleagues. Anisa joined Summer Search as Operations Associate in April 2013.