staff

Carlin Johnson Politzer, Executive Director
Monica Hanza, Program Director
Krismin Inocentes, Program Associate
Irene Nyavor, Program Associate
Michael Melamed, Program Associate
Amanda Shuck, Program Associate
Jenny Uribe, Program Associate
Berenice C. Cervantes, College & Financial Aid Advisor
Leslie Armell, Bay Area Events Specialist
Jaime Lockwood, Bay Area Grants Specialist
Lindsey Moriguchi, Bay Area Development Associate
Alicia Reza, Bay Area Development Associate
Cristina Perez, Bay Area Alumni Coordinator

Carlin Johnson Politzer, Executive Director
cpolitzer@summersearch.org
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Carlin has committed her professional life to working with organizations that focus on youth in diverse, under-served communities and was thrilled to become the Executive Director of Summer Search Silicon Valley in July 2010. Carlin began her career with Teach For America (TFA), first as a corps member in Los Angeles, and then as a national staff member based in Chicago as well as New York City. Following her time with TFA, Carlin attended the Masters in Social Work program at The University of Michigan where she was a CIVITAS Fellow concentrating on child maltreatment issues. Upon completing her MSW, Carlin moved to the Bay Area to work for the Foster Care Mental Health Program, an agency within the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of Public Health, and became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) during that time. Immediately prior to coming to Summer Search, Carlin was the Community School Coordinator of Taft Community School, a public elementary school serving a historically low-income, low-performing population on the eastside of Redwood City. During her tenure as an administrator, Taft became a fully integrated community school and dramatically increased its academic performance. In addition to her MSW, Carlin holds a BS in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University. She has served on the boards of Teach For America Bay Area, Congregation Beth Am Sisterhood, and Mini Infant Center. Carlin lives in San Carlos with her husband and their two children.

Monica Hanza, Program Director
mhanza@summersearch.org
Monica graduated from Purdue University with a B.A. in English Literature. Upon graduating, she enrolled in AmeriCorps, where she spent 2 years as an environmental advocate and program manager for inner-city literacy and tutoring program. After moving to the Bay Area, she spent three years working with San Francisco schools and local businesses helping to educate students in financial literacy as the Program Manager for Junior Achievement of the Bay Area. In 2004, she joined Summer Search in the San Francisco office first as a mentor and an outreach coordinator and later as the Director of Teaching and Training. She transitioned to the Silicon Valley office in 2009 to serve as the Program Director.

Krismin Inocentes, Program Associate
kinocentes@summersearch.org
Krismin was born in the Philippines and raised in Alameda, Ca. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Political Science. Her journey as a first generation college student sparked her passion to work for educational equity in under-served communities. Upon graduating, she joined Teach for America and taught 3^rd grade for three years in Brooklyn, NY. While working as a teacher in New York, she earned an MST from Pace University. Krismin is proud to work with the dedicated folks of Summer Search in their efforts to close the opportunity gap.

Irene Nyavor, Program Associate
inyavor@summersearch.org
Irene came to the US from Ghana to attend Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she majored in Economics. She continued on to Harvard Divinity School, from which she graduated with a master's of divinity degree. While there, Irene interned with a Chicago nonprofit that mentors at-risk teenage girls from around the country. That experience and her awareness of the flaws in Ghana's education system convinced her to pursue career opportunities involving at-risk youth and education, which in turn, led her to Summer Search. Irene is thrilled that her work with Summer Search will enable her to connect deserving youth with life-changing opportunities.

Michael Melamed, Program Associate 
mmelamed@summersearch.org
Michael was born and raised just outside of Phoenix, Arizona.  He attended Macalester College where he received his BA in International Studies.  At Macalester, Michael was a 4 year starter on the varsity soccer team reaching the NCAA Division III quarterfinals his freshman year.  After college, he worked a year as a paraeducator at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona before serving two years as a Youth Development Peace Corps Volunteer in rural El Salvador.  Michael is excited to work with such talented youth in their journey to achieve their dreams.

Amanda Shuck, Program Associate
ashuck@summersearch.org
Originally from Kentucky, Amanda graduated from Centre College with a Bachelors in International Studies and Government. Following graduation, she moved to San Francisco where she interned with a nonprofit called Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD). After many months at FSD’s headquarters, she moved to Udaipur, India to serve as International Program Coordinator at one of their field offices. Working in the socially conservative and underdeveloped state of Rajasthan exposed her to the crippling effects of poverty and the role education plays as an economic and social mobilizer. Activities abroad piqued her interest in closing the United States’ achievement and inequality gap, a passion that led her to Summer Search.

Jenny Uribe, Program Associate
juribe@summersearch.org
Jenny was born and raised in Mountain View, California. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in psychology with honors. After completing college, she continued to live in Santa Cruz, and began working for YES! supporting young activists from around the world to continue with their work in a sustainable way. She also began educating youth in Watsonville, CA about the realities of teen pregnancies in their community and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. With the skills she developed working with youth in Santa Cruz County, she began volunteering for Girls For A Change in San Jose, CA empowering middle school girls to organize a week-long campaign promoting the importance of loving your body and appreciating your inner beauty. While volunteering in East San Jose, she witnessed first-hand the intense and unsafe situations our youth have to face every day in their community. As a result, she moved back to the Silicon Valley, and began working for the YWCA of Silicon Valley’s Project Inspire After School Program mentoring at-risk teens to get back on track with completing high school, and attend college. Jenny is honored to join an effective team of mentors at Summer Search, and looks forward to continuing to support youth in becoming the leaders they aspire to be.

Berenice C. Cervantes, College & Financial Aid Advisor
bcervantes@summersearch.org
Berenice was born in Mexico and raised in San Jose. She graduated from Downtown College Prep and attended Mount Holyoke College and Universidad de Sevilla where she received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. She was the first in her family to attend college and because of the opportunities her high school offered her she was able to navigate the college process. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, Berenice worked at Downtown College Preparatory for two years as the College Guidance Counselor helping students and families with the college process. Berenice is thrilled that her work with Summer Search will allow her to assist and motivate students to pursue a college degree, because it will ultimately provide them with a wide array of opportunities in life.

Jaime Lockwood, Bay Area Grants Specialist
jlockwood@summersearch.org
Jaime grew up in a small town in West Virginia but has spent her adult life city-hopping between Washington, DC, New York City, and Philadelphia before moving to the Bay Area. Originally working in politics when she first graduated, she made the transition into education a few years later, teaching history and social studies in the middle and upper schools at Friends Select School in Philadelphia. Being in the classroom was very gratifying but Jaime also felt the urge to combine her passion for helping others through politics with her desire to work in the education realm. In 2010 she completed her Master’s in Politics and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University and simultaneously began to run a farm education program at Martin Luther King High School in Philadelphia.  The farm program opened her eyes to the world of education for social justice and she became passionate about working with at-risk students, reaching them through innovative programming that could expand their world perspective and keep them engaged in positive activities and off the street. Farming, advocating for urban agriculture programs, and running farmers’ markets helped Jaime become well-rooted in the communities in which she worked, and she continues to be involved in food justice work now that she is in the Bay Area. Jaime became Bay Area Grants Specialist for Summer Search in June 2011 and is excited to be contributing to the ongoing success and efforts of such a transformative program for young adults.

Alicia Reza, Bay Area Development Associate
alicia@summersearch.org
Alicia was born and raised in Orange, California. She remains a proud Southern Californian albeit happily relocated to the Bay Area. She attended the University of California at Santa Cruz and holds a BA in Sociology. During her 4 years there, her main focus was the evolution of the Juvenile Justice System in the United States and its reform. The child of two educators, Alicia is a natural advocate for educational equality and, therefore, a great fit for Summer Search. Outside of work she enjoys photography, spectator sports, beach vacations, and kickboxing.

Cristina Perez, Bay Area Alumni Coordinator
cristina@summersearch.org
Cristina has a BA in Psychology and an Ethnic studies certificate from University of San Francisco, and a Masters in Social Work from San Jose State, with an emphasis in schools and special education. Before joining Summer Search, she worked as a clinical social worker in the community-based agency, La Clinica de la Raza, with children, youth, adults, and their families. She first learned about the strength and uniqueness of Summer Search through her brother’s experiences as a Summer Search student. Cristina joined the San Francisco office in 2002 as a Program Associate and within two years became the Program Director. She continued to mentor students, and managed and trained staff to ensure program quality. In 2007, Cristina became the Associate Director of Summer Search North Bay, partnering with the Executive Director to hire and train mentors to increase student capacity. Under Cristina’s leadership they doubled mentors, implemented training structures that have allowed staff to learn the mentoring in a third of the time as in the past. Cristina also helped increase second year student retention rates from 80% to over 90% each year. Fall 2009 Cristina transitioned to a new role as the Bay Area Alumni Coordinator and is excited to oversee the success of the Alumni Program.