Zinch Board of Advisors

These folks make sure we stay on the right track.

Doodie Meyer

Former President of NACAC

Bio
Doodie Meyer is vice president of business development for the Howard Design Group, Inc., of Princeton and President of Meyer Educational Consultants, an educational firm offering college admission counseling. Doodie was; Director of Admission at Trinity University, TX. Vice President of Peterson's Guides, Inc. and President of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. She now serves on the board of the YWCA Princeton and is on many other community committees in Princeton and Trenton, NJ.

Landis Fryer

Former Admissions Officer, Dartmouth College

Bio
Landis Fryer worked in the Dartmouth College Office of Admissions from 1999-2002 where he was an Assistant Director and a member of ABAFAOILSS. He worked extensively on student of color recruitment. The year following, he worked at A Better Chance, a non-profit organization that helps place students of color in private boarding schools. From 2004 - 2006, Landis worked in the Northwestern University Undergraduate Office of Admissions where he was the co-chair of the African American Recruitment team. Since 2006, Landis has been a Manager of Education Consulting at College Coach helping families understand and work through the college admissions process.

Michaela Daniel

College Placement Coordinator, Breakthrough New York

Bio
Michaela Daniel has worked in education since graduating from Harvard University in 2003. Michaela taught 6th and 8th grade English and assisted with high school admissions at Pace Academy/Middle School 118 in the Bronx for her first three years out of college. Currently, she is Placement and High School Program Director at Breakthrough New York, a non-profit academic enrichment program serving middle and high school students in all five boroughs of New York City. At Breakthrough, Michaela advises 8th grade students and families on private, boarding, and selective public school admissions, guides high school juniors and seniors through the college admissions process, and runs a mentoring program for freshmen to help them transition into high school. Before coming to Breakthrough, Michaela did publicity and editorial work at The New Press, a non-profit publishing company run in the public interest. Michaela has lived in New York off and on for 7 years, but she is originally from Bethesda, Maryland. She will start the MBA Program at Yale's School of Management this August.

Dean Jacoby

Associate Director of College Counseling, Albuquerque Academy

Bio
Before his death in 1893, Chief Manuelito, an important leader of the Navajo people said, "My grandchild, education is the ladder. Tell our people to take it." Dean Jacoby has spent his professional life at various rungs on the educational ladder either as an admissions officer at Bates College—the first college in the country to be completely test optional—to stints as a college counselor at five different high schools. During the summer, Dean has spent the past several years volunteering with College Horizons, a residential college preparatory program for Native American and Alaska/Pacific Island Natives. Educated at Bates College through the beneficence of his grandparents, Dean is fascinated by the issues and trends in selective college admissions and dedicated to the ideals of access and equity. Dean sees Zinch as an important player in broadening the discussion of how college admission offices can evaluate talent and future success in college.

Mary Booker

Director of Financial Aid, Gustavus Adolphus

Bio
Currently the Director of Financial Aid for Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, I have enjoyed a 13 year career in Admissions and Financial Aid. Prior work experience includes Admission Counselor/Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment at Gustavus; Associate Director of Financial Aid at Oberlin College and Dartmouth College. I have a MS Degree in Ethnic Studies/Higher Education Administration from Minnesota State University-Mankato and a Bachelor's Degree from Gustavus Adolphus. I am actively involved in the state financial aid organization as well as serve as a member of the Financial Aid Planning Committee for the Midwest Regional College Board.

Brad Ward

Electronic Communication Coordinator, Butler University

Bio
Brad Ward has been working in the Higher Education setting for 5 years, starting as a student assistant in the Marketing Department at the University of Illinois at Springfield. As a student in 2003, he created a personal website with photos, forums, and videos for both current and prospective students, which was later used as a primary recruitment tool by the University. The site averaged nearly 29,000 page views per month over its 2 year span. After graduation, he served as the Marketing and Recruitment Specialist at UIS for 1 1/2 years. He has now been at Butler University for the past year, serving as the Electronic Communication Coordinator in the Office of Admission. His work is heavily focused in social media / social networking, email, and usability testing. He oversees the Butler Bloggers and BUForums and is the co-creator of http://www.bloghighed.org/, a site that aggregates many popular higher education blogs. He also blogs at http://www.squaredpeg.com.

Paul Holzer

Former Director of Latino Youth Center

Bio
Paul Holzer is the former Director of Higher Education at the Latin American Youth Center – a leading youth development agency in Washington, DC – where he directed a TRiO Upward Bound program and 3 other college prepatory programs targeting "first-generation" students. Now studying at the Yale School of Management, Paul is focusing on social enterprise and leadership development, and is currently planning Yale's 4th annual Education Leadership Conference. He has presented both regionally and nationally on innovation within youth development programs and on effective methods for preparing Hispanic youth for college. Before working at the Latin American Youth Center, Paul was a founding board member of the YouthBuild Public Charter School, Washington DC's only bilingual vocational school, and a board member of the New Futures DC Scholarship Program. With both American and Ecuadorian heritage, Paul has a special interest in how underrepresented minority youth become more powerful stakeholders in the American system of education. Paul earned a Bachelors of Arts and Secondary Teaching Certification from Dartmouth College in 2000.