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About Us
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The QuestBridge Staff draws upon years of experience in working with high-achieving, low-income students to change the face of higher education.
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Originally from Long Island, New York, Taylor was a QuestLeadership Scholar at Stanford University in the summer of 2001. She went on to earn her BA in English, with a minor in Human Biology, from Stanford in 2006, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University in 2007. During her year in Boston, she interned at a Huntington's disease laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital as a continuation of her undergraduate work with HOPES (Huntington's Outreach Project for Education, at Stanford). After graduating from BU, she taught English composition at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas and published her first book of poetry, Swimming Back. While teaching at the community college, Taylor discovered a passion for advising her students on university admissions and financial aid. She is excited to be back in the Bay Area, working to build the Quest Scholars Network.
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Valeria Andraka grew up in Baldwin Park, California, home of In-N-Out Burger, and graduated with a BS in Biology from UCLA in 1998. Since then, she has worked as a data infrastructure manager at Shopzilla.com and Like.com, and now as QuestBridge's Data Manager. Her hobbies include baking, eating what she has baked, and thinking about what she will bake next!
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Kat was born in the Chicago area and grew up moving around the US and Asia. Prior to joining the QuestBridge team she worked as a federal lobbyist for affordable housing, technology, and education issues. She holds a BA in Religious Studies and a Masters of Divinity, both from Yale University. Outside of QuestBridge Kat can usually be found reading, writing, running, or eating. Especially eating.
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Grace worked mainly in science and technology firms before she was inspired to join the vibrant QuestBridge team in the summer of 2008. Having grown up in the Bay Area, Grace returned to reside in Palo Alto with her family. Grace received her B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University. Grace continues to use her technical skills to manage the QuestBridge web applications.
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Betsy grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and received a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She attended graduate school at UCLA, where she studied 18th and early 19th century British literature. Through teaching and mentoring students, she discovered that her real passion was educational access instead of research. Betsy received her MA in English in 2007 and worked briefly at a San Francisco law firm while searching for the right non-profit position—and she’s excited to have found it at QuestBridge. In her spare time, Betsy enjoys cooking, reading, and taking advantage of the many performing arts performances in San Francisco.
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Before joining QuestBridge, John worked for seven years as a consultant for international and nonprofit organizations. His consulting practice focused on results-based management, information technology, and fundraising. His clients have included the United Nations Secretariat, the UN Development Program, the Ford Foundation, and the San Francisco Education Fund. John was Vice President for Operations and Systems Development at US Medical Network, an online application service provider for the healthcare sector, from 1999 to 2000. His nonprofit involvement has included serving as the chair of the board of directors of the Adaptive Design Association, a nonprofit that designs equipment for children with disabilities, from 2001 to 2004. John received an MBA and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, and a BA from Swarthmore College.
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Kuelli graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Government. While at Harvard, she gained experience working directly with students by volunteering as an after-school tutor, a dance teacher and mentor, and as a political education teacher. She also had the opportunity to contextualize these experiences through her work with a public school district, an education foundation and an education policy think-tank. Kuelli is happy that her work with QuestBridge allows her to pursue both her passion for improving educational accessibility, and her interest in social entrepreneurship.
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Nancy traded in sub-zero temperatures in Minnesota (working with international and TRIO students at Carleton College’s Academic Support Center) to join QuestBridge. Her passion for sociocultural anthropology, writing, and design came together while studying medical anthropology in graduate school at Brown University. She was a consultant at Brown’s Northeast and Islands Educational Laboratory, Harriet Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, and Royce Fellowship Program at the Swearer Center for Public Service. After graduating from Amherst College, Nancy was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Egypt and Fulbright Scholar to Pakistan. She lives in Palo Alto with her husband, Shahzad Bashir, and their son, Zakriya.
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David Hunter became QuestBridge CEO after a lengthy career in medicine as a Senior Partner and Regional Director in California Emergency Physicians Medical Group (CEP). David worked with QuestBridge Co-Founder, Dr. Michael McCullough, while overseeing one of the largest partnerships of emergency physicians in the country. He is no stranger to QuestBridge, as his daughter, Allison Marie, worked with Co-Founder Ana Rowena McCullough as a summer intern at QuestBridge in 2003. David graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School, did post-graduate medical training in the Stanford University Hospital system, and holds a JD from Harvard Law School.
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Ana co-founded the Quest Scholars Program with Michael McCullough while an undergraduate at Stanford. For this, she received the Dinkelspiel Award for outstanding contributions to education at Stanford. Ana worked for five years as a consulting scientist to the Environmental Defense Fund, a national non-profit environmental organization, and served as a research associate for Stanford President Emeritus Donald Kennedy. She holds a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School where she focused on environmental law. Ana, together with her husband Michael, serves as Co-Founder and Co-President of the Quest Scholars Program, and QuestBridge.
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Michael co-founded the Quest Scholars Program with Ana Rowena McCullough following his successful co-founding, direction and institutionalization of the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program from 1987-1989.After attending medical school at the University of California San Francisco, Michael trained in emergency medicine at the Stanford University Hospital. In his early years, Michael became the first undergraduate to teach at the Stanford Medical School. Michael attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, served as the student advisor to the Oregon State Board of Education, and has successfully founded several local, regional and overseas health related public service projects. Michael, together with his wife Ana, serves as Co-Founder and Co-President of the Quest Scholars Program, and QuestBridge.
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Originally from Novato, California, Karen graduated from Yale University in 2003 with a B.S. in astronomy and physics. She continued to study astronomy in graduate school at UCLA, focusing on the X-ray properties of active galactic nuclei. In the end, however, a burning desire to “help people here on Earth” drew Karen away from research and toward the world of non-profits. After a brief stint as a high school chemistry teacher, Karen was excited to join the team at QuestBridge. Having grown up in a family full of educators, Karen learned early on to place a high value on education, and now she enjoys helping students to achieve their academic goals through QuestBridge’s programs.
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Raised in Columbus, Ohio and then the Bay Area, Saleha loves California. Saleha graduated from UC Berkeley in May 2008 with a BA degree in Sociology. While at Cal, she interned at the YWCA and volunteered as a caseworker for the homeless. From these experiences she discovered her passion for helping others. Working at QuestBridge has fulfilled her desire to do something that matters. Saleha strongly believes in the QuestBridge mission and is excited to see it grow. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, as well as traveling around the world and visiting art museums.
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Teresa Sesera grew up on the rural island of Isle LaMotte, VT. Much of her free time while in Isle LaMotte is spent with her family, as well as exploring and enjoying nature. Teresa is a student at Stanford University and is interested in a variety of subjects including environmental science. She was participant in the Quest Scholars Program, and returned as a staff member during the summers of 2002 and 2003. Teresa is taking a leave of absence from Stanford from July 2003 through September 2005 to work full-time on QuestBridge. She is the student founder of QuestBridge. Teresa oversaw and was fundamental to the growth of all aspects of the organization for the first two years of QuestBridge's history.
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Jennifer grew up moving between Japan and the United States, going to school in Tokyo and Durham, NC before attending high school in Newton, MA. Her interest in working in education comes from her experiences going to many different schools as a child. She graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Social Studies, and later completed her Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Prior to joining QuestBridge, she worked for several different education-focused organizations, including time at the New York City Department of Education and as an Education Pioneers fellow at Foundation for a College Education in East Palo Alto.
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