College Access & Success

Expanding College Access Program to Buffalo School District

Student Leadership Network
November 17, 2022

Since 2001, our flagship college access program, CollegeBound Initiative (CBI), has supported thousands of young people in NYC in making their dreams of going to college a reality. Now, we are aiming to do the same for the 34,000 students served by Buffalo Public School District through a series of college access services including capacity building and training for school leaders, direct student support, and family engagement. 

Buffalo Public Schools

Understanding College Access in Buffalo

One of the first steps in expanding our college access programming to Buffalo was to form a new team dedicated solely to this work. The College Access Services team is on the ground in Buffalo, working closely with school and community leaders in implementing college access activities and events in the city’s schools.

“Our work in Buffalo has been off to a great start. We have connected with many partners in and out of the district to help strengthen our position within the community,” says Omar Morris, Director of College Access Services.

One of the team’s initial tasks was a thorough evaluation to better understand the current landscape of college access efforts across the school district. Throughout the 2021-22 school year, the team collected data, analyzed current processes, and identified where they could immediately help students and their families in the college application process. “As a team, we have been able to identify low-hanging fruits and create systems and structures to help cultivate a college and career-going culture,” explains Omar.

One key finding in their evaluation was current completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) across the district. The FAFSA completion rate across Buffalo School District in 2021-22 was 43% while the completion rate for SL Network students in the same period was nearly 96%.  

Financial barriers to higher education are all too common within the communities we serve and this is an immediate area the team will be able to address. “What excites our team is noticing the difference in such a short period of time…We are incredibly enthusiastic about the movement we have had in increasing the numbers of FAFSA and TAP completed so far,” says Ivanna Jimenez, Associate Director of College Access Services.

The team facilitated a partnership with Buffalo’s largest financial support program Say Yes Buffalo which provides full-dollar scholarships for all Buffalo students who meet the financial guidelines–which is why completing the necessary financial aid forms is so important. Data shows that currently, less than 15% of students complete the steps to be eligible for the scholarship; one of the main focus areas will be guiding students through these financial aid processes. 

The team also found there is little awareness about programs like Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) and scholarships such as Posse and Questbridge. The team will facilitate programming that raises awareness of such opportunities with students and school leaders so they can more broadly support college access in the district.  

Getting Students Excited About College

Maria and her student give the University of Buffalo bull horns hand gesture.
Maria and her students visit University at Buffalo and show school spirit!

Upon sharing our findings and suggestions, it was time to get to work! Starting this school year, we placed full-time directors of college counseling (DCCs), Maria Jose Lascarro and Cori Monahan, at Riverside High School and East Community High School respectively.

 DCCs manage the entire college access process at their schools and help reshape the college culture. They focus on developing their college access systems in order to improve each school’s completion rates for college applications, FAFSA, scholarships, and opportunity programs. 

Cori and Maria are getting students engaged and excited about the college application process. Already they have organized several college visits, college fairs, application nights, and other opportunities to explore postsecondary options. (Head to the bottom of this post for more pics from some of these events)

Cori says “We are only two months into the school year and it’s so wonderful to see all of the students so eager and engaged around college access. They have all really welcomed me into their school and have been so open about their dreams and aspirations for post-secondary education.”

We are looking forward to building upon this momentum! In January 2023, we’ll expand our presence and impact in Buffalo with additional DCCs at two more high schools.

Cori and her students show off goodies and prizes from a college fair.

Building District Capacity in Buffalo

The team also provides district capacity building for all public schools within Buffalo regardless of having a DCC in their school. Senior Managers of Capacity Building, Caroline Marciszewski and Joell Stubbe, lead this aspect of our college access work that involves facilitating events and activities that model how the district’s leaders can more broadly support college access and promote a college-going culture across all schools. Some events the team will host include FAFSA Completion Nights to help more students complete financial aid paperwork, and Instant Decision Days, where students can apply, interview, and receive a decision from partnering colleges all in one day. 

They are also providing targeted resources, modeling and coaching to a small subsest of schools. Some of these focused activities will include:

  • Developing school profiles, a tool used by colleges to understand the students applying to their institutions 
  • Organizing Alumni Weeks, an opportunity for alumni to return to their alma mater to share their postsecondary experiences and advice with current high school students 
  • College application events, a time and space for students to ask questions and complete and submit applications 

College Access Services Beyond Buffalo

Running parallel to our work in Buffalo, we are also working closely with four of our YWLN affiliate schools in enhancing college access programs within their communities. These schools include:

  • Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BLSYW)
  • Girls Academic Leadership Academy (GALA)
  • Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW)
  • Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Las Vegas (YWLA)
Logos from four of our affiliate schools: GLOW, YWLA, GALA, and BLSYW.

Carolina Moquete, Senior Manager of New Markets, will focus on college access coaching both virtually and during several in-person visits. She and the team will work closely with the schools in developing systems, processes, and college awareness and readiness events to support each school in advancing their college-going culture. 

We also continue our work where it all began in NYC. Alendi Vidal, Senior Manager of College Access, is working with non-CBI  public high schools to provide coaching and tailored services from our list of offerings. These include student-facing services like organizing college visits and leading college application workshops. We also offer college access coaching tailored to school leaders and counselors. Each of these services allows schools to bring college access services to their students without the commitment of a full-service program with a DCC.

Learn all about our approach to college access and contact us if you are a school leader interested in promoting college access within your community! 

See more pictures from student activities in Buffalo this past fall!

Students get to know what it’s like on a college campus while visiting University at Buffalo.

A group of students take a break in the student common area at University at Buffalo.

Joell and Ivanna support a college fair at one of our partner schools in Buffalo.

Maria with a group of students who attended a college and career info session.

The team leads college and career readiness workshops for students and school leaders.

Joell assists a student with their financial aid paperwork.

A student holds up a blue sticker that reads "I Applied."

A student holds up an “I Applied” sticker after submitting a college application.

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Brad Ruskin

Board Chair

Brad Ruskin joined Student Leadership Network’s Board of Directors in 2014 and was elected Board Chair in 2023. He believes passionately in equity for all students.

Brad is a Partner at Proskauer Rose LLP, and has tried a significant number of high profile, headline-generating cases to verdict, each one with a complete victory for Proskauer’s clients on issues ranging from so-called “bet-the-company” antitrust challenges to questions of Russian constitutional and military law. He currently serves as a Director of the Legal Aid Society, the nation’s oldest and largest legal services provider to the indigent. He also serves on its Executive Committee. He is a frequently published author of articles, has taught a graduate school class at NYU’s Tisch School, and has testified before legislative and other bodies concerning the administration of justice and court operations in New York State.

Beth Cohen

Senior Managing Director, Growth Strategy and Development

Beth H. Cohen is passionate about connecting people, ideas, and resources to create a more equitable world. Throughout her career, she has successfully managed teams for various impactful organizations to generate over $150M.

For the past decade, Beth has worked to generate support for initiatives that allow young people across the U.S. to gain access to transformative educational opportunities. In September 2022, she joined Student Leadership Network as Senior Managing Director of Growth, Strategy, and Development. Previously, Beth served as Vice President of External Relations at New Classrooms. At New Classrooms, she led the fundraising team to raise over $80M to support the growth and expansion of innovative learning models. Before that, Beth served as Vice President of Leadership Gifts at Teach for America, where she cultivated the organization’s largest national supporters and champions.

Early in her career, Beth focused on international poverty issues. From 2001-2011, she was Director of the Synergos Institute’s Global Philanthropists Circle, a dynamic network of leading philanthropists addressing questions of strategy, meaning, and impact.  Previously, she worked with Catholic Relief Services as Senior Program Manager in Lima, Peru, and as an Internal Program Auditor. As an Internal Program Auditor, she assessed the effectiveness of diverse programs in Africa, Latin America, and the Balkans. Beth also worked as a Change Management Consultant for Andersen Consulting, where she designed and developed training programs for public sector clients in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Beth holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a joint Master’s degree in Public Affairs and Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, teenage daughters, and fluffy bernedoodle.

Sara Clarke

Chief Operating Officer

Sara C. Clarke is the Chief Operating Officer of Student Leadership Network. As a dedicated TYWLS volunteer and active contributor for 15 years, Sara is delighted to join the organization to apply her collaborative leadership and business acumen to help drive increased scale and impact. She brings over 20 years of experience at the confluence of strategic analysis, project management, and talent development. Sara has a proven commitment to equity and access to opportunity through decades of volunteer leadership focused on literacy, education, and career advancement.

Sara was most recently the Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Analysis, and Collaboration at Showtime Networks Inc. She oversaw an adaptable, solution-oriented team, providing competitive analysis and strategic recommendations that helped Showtime exceed its performance targets. Earlier in her career, Sara was a consultant for Accenture in the Media and Entertainment practice. She serves as Co-President of the HBS African-American Alumni Association and has also served on the Board of Directors of the New York Chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications, chairing the award-winning Prime Access Executive Mentoring program and community service committee.

Sara holds a master’s degree from Harvard Business School in Business Administration, and a bachelor’s degree with honors in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University.

Meg Kayman

Managing Director, Finance and Administration

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Meg is the Managing Director of Finance and Administration and has been with the organization since March 2009.  During that period, the organization has grown from a budget of $3.5 million to $11.0 million. She is part of the Administration Team which is responsible for building infrastructure to support the growing needs of the organization.

Prior to Student Leadership Network, Meg worked in the Financial Services Industry including positions as an equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs and a senior research analyst at General Electric’s Commercial Finance Division.  She also has been an active volunteer with numerous non-profit organizations and a board member of the HIV Law Project from 2005 to 2013.  She holds a B.A. in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University.

Rob Robinson

Senior Managing Director, CollegeBound Initiative

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Robert Robinson is the Senior Managing Director of CollegeBound Initiative (CBI). Prior to joining Student Leadership Network’s central office team in 2008, he served as director of college counseling for CBI at two Brooklyn high schools: Juan Morel Campos and Middle College High School at Medgar Evers College. As a college counselor, Robert worked primarily with first-generation students of color with the goal of preparing them academically and financially for college enrollment. Before joining CBI, Robert served as an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at his Alma Mater, New York University (NYU) for nearly four years where he worked specifically with the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) in an effort to increase minority and financially disadvantaged student enrollment.

Robert received both his Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and his Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from NYU.  He has also spent a summer in South Africa where he had the opportunity to study higher education and social reform. Robert prides himself on being an active member of his community.  He has volunteered with various non-profit organizations such as Grand Street Settlement and Publicolor. As a member of the New York State Association for College Admissions Counseling (NYSACAC), he has served as a Conference Presenter, Workshop Moderator and Planning Committee member. He has also served as a Summer Institute Mentor where his responsibilities included training new high school and college admissions counselors.

Laura Rebell Gross

Senior Managing Director, Girls’ Education National Team

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Laura Rebell Gross is the Senior Managing Director for the Girls’ Education National Team — comprising The Young Women’s Leadership Schools (TYWLS) and Young Women’s Leadership Network (YWLN) — which serves more than 10,000 students every year. A leader in the education field for decades, Laura implements a vision for developing innovative programs that enrich students’ lives, create experiential leadership opportunities, and build a path to college. Her expertise is widely recognized and she has been honored by Jewish Women International and The Center for the Women of New York. Laura is a national speaker and expert on girls’ public education.

To impact the lives of girls beyond New York City, Laura co-founded the Young Women’s Charter Prep School of Rochester, a YWLN affiliate, and takes the lead in identifying and establishing new school affiliates nationwide. Notably, Laura’s path to leadership started as a public school teacher, including serving as an English teacher at SL Network’s flagship school in East Harlem for six years.  She earned a BA from Tufts University, an MAT from Brown University, and has completed coursework toward an Ed. D. in Curriculum and Teaching at Teacher’s College, Columbia University and the Warner School, University of Rochester.

Jon Roure

Executive VP & Chief Innovation Officer

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Jon Roure is the Executive Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) for the Student Leadership Network. As the organization’s first CIO, Jon oversees program planning and implementation across the network. He continues to provide overall leadership to CollegeBound Initiative (CBI) while developing the work streams that support the organization’s strategic planning efforts. This includes increased focus and programming around alumni engagement, research and evaluation, and national expansion via Young Women’s Leadership Network affiliate schools.

Prior to this year, Jon served as the Senior Managing Director of CBI for many years and totals decades of college counseling and management experience in both the higher education and nonprofit sectors. Jon began his career at Columbia University as an Early Intervention Initiative Coordinator for the Double Discovery Program and a College Advisor for Columbia’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). In 2001, Jon was hired by SL Network (formerly Young Women’s Leadership Network) as one of four inaugural counselors to pilot CBI in some of New York City’s Title 1 public high schools.  He served as a CBI director of college counseling at Health Opportunities High School for almost five years where he worked to build a college-going culture with its families, faculty, and staff that helped guide nearly 400 students to college.

Jon holds a B.A. in Sociology (1998) with a minor in Professional Youth Work from Rutgers University and an M.A. in Student Personnel Administration (1999) from Teachers College, Columbia University.  He is a proud alumnus of the Educational Opportunity Fund Program (EOF) at Rutgers University and is an example of what opportunity and access to higher education can do for first generation students.

Lesley Guggenheim

Chief Operating Officer

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Prior to joining Student Leadership Network Lesley spent 15 years supporting school systems, schools, and educators across the country to ensure students in under-resourced schools have access to the excellent education they deserve. She began her career working at – and later leading – the NYC Teaching Fellows (NYCTF) program and later became a Partner and then a Vice President at TNTP (formerly The New Teaching Project). Lesley has a BA in political science from Union College and an MPA in non-profit management from New York University’s Wagner School.

Yolonda Marshall

Chief Executive Officer

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Yolonda Marshall has committed nearly two decades of her life working to ensure that children growing up in underserved communities across the country receive the education they deserve.  She is Student Leadership Network’s first-ever Chief Executive Officer charged with overseeing the management of the organization’s $13M budget, leading the implementation of the organization’s strategic direction, operations and ensuring that the organization is a great place to work and grow.

Prior to joining Student Leadership Network, Mrs. Marshall served as the Deputy Chief Officer, Regional Programs for New Leaders; an organization whose mission is to ensure high academic achievement for all children, especially students in poverty and students of color, by developing transformational school leaders and advancing the policies and practices that allow great leaders to succeed.  In this role, Mrs. Marshall was responsible for managing a team of Executive Directors who led all local program implementation, client engagement and management of 70+ staff across the country.

Mrs. Marshall began her education non-profit career with Teach For America where she held a number of leadership roles on their national development and human assets team, and also served as Interim Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia region. Prior to joining Teach For America, Mrs. Marshall had a 14 year career with Showtime Networks Inc where she honed her sales and marketing skills, provided strategic direction to the nation’s top cable companies and managed a team of marketing specialists that created and executed comprehensive marketing plans to help launch critically acclaimed and Emmy award winning programming.

Mrs. Marshall received her BS degree in Marketing from Tuskegee University and her MBA with a concentration in Marketing and Media Management from Columbia Business School.

Ann Rubenstein Tisch

Founder and President

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Ann began a 19-year career in broadcast journalism at WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas. She then moved to WCOO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later joined NBC Network News as a national correspondent, where she developed a strong interest in educational issues.

After covering dozens of education stories for the network and reading and studying data on single-sex education, she was inspired to create an all-girls inner-city public school to serve disadvantaged families. In 1996, with the unanimous approval of the New York City Board of Education, Ann turned her idea into a reality and opened The Young Women’s Leadership School (TYWLS) of East Harlem – the first public all-girls school to open in the United States in 30 years. Her vision was to provide students growing up in underserved communities a high-quality college preparatory education modeled on the finest private schools.

Ann was educated at Washington University in St. Louis, where she graduated summa cum laude with degrees in psychology and sociology. She currently serves as a trustee on the Board of Washington University in St. Louis. She also serves on the Dean’s Council of The New York University Tisch School of the Arts and is a trustee of the Center for Educational Innovation. She consults with many school districts and parent groups across the country about creating schools similar to TYWLS.

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