Susan J. Colby - Chief Executive Officer
Susan Colby was named Chief Executive Officer of the Stupski Foundation effective January 1, 2011. “I have an abiding passion to see that all kids get the education they need and deserve, and I share our founders’ deep commitment to improve the life options for children of color and poverty,” she noted at the time of her appointment. “By working together with the foundation’s great team and its partners, we have the opportunity to transform our public education system so that all students are engaged in their learning and have the options we want for all our children.”

Susan joined the foundation from the Bridgespan Group where she was a founding partner of the organization’s San Francisco office and led the group’s work in K-12 education and foundation strategy for more than a decade. She focused on client and knowledge-related activities with a particular emphasis on disadvantaged populations. In her work, she has engaged with foundations on major strategy and organization issues and has also consulted to a variety of nonprofit organizations, from smaller, local community-based organizations to large national agencies.

Prior to co-founding Bridgespan, Susan worked with Monsanto (now Pharmacia), where she served as co-president of the Sustainable Development Sector, an initiative that developed economically, environmentally and socially viable businesses. In particular, she worked to develop businesses and distribution channels to help small farmers in the developing world enhance their productivity, advance their personal and community well-being, and protect the environment. Prior to Monsanto, Susan spent 10 years at McKinsey & Company, where she co-founded and co-led the North American Environment Practice, serving clients in the areas of environmental management and strategy. At McKinsey, she also served foundations and environmental nonprofits on a pro bono basis and worked with clients in the financial, consumer goods, and energy industries.

She is a co-author of several major articles — “Galvanizing Philanthropy,” which appeared in Harvard Business Review; “Zeroing in on Impact,” published in Stanford Social Innovation Review; “The Strategic Value of a Shared Understanding of Costs,” based on “Costs are Cool” (Strategy and Leadership special report on nonprofit leadership); “Going for the Gold” published in Education Next; ”Expanding the Supply of High Quality Public Schools;” and “Reclaiming the American Dream” — as well as several Bridgespan case studies. She also has addressed the NewSchools Venture Fund Summit, Grantmakers for Education, the Stanford Nonprofit Institute, and other audiences on topics related to strategy, planning and K-12 education.

Susan is a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute—NewSchools Entrepreneurial Leaders for Public Education, and has served as an advisor and board member for several nonprofits. She began her consulting career at Bain & Company after receiving her BA from American University cum laude. She then went on to earn her MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

James Cleveland - Mission Support
James Cleveland joined Stupski as Chief Talent and Administration Officer in August of 2011. James provides leadership and oversight for Talent Management and Finance, and also collaborates with the Leadership Team to seamlessly integrate business and administrative systems to support successful program implementation.

As a graduate of Stanford University (1993), James has made a palpable impact in the education field for nearly two decades. From 1994-2000, he worked at SCORE! Educational Centers. SCORE! provided communities throughout the nation with centers that offered parents and schools a positive, effective supplemental education resource for children K-8th grades. As one of SCORE!’s first Region Managers, he managed up to fifty-five direct-reports and over $4 million in revenue. He also opened four additional centers, implemented new tutoring service offering, established new community partnerships with schools and youth oriented organizations, and ultimately improved year-over-year revenue generation by 300%. The success in his efforts allowed him to hold other significant roles at SCORE!, including the Director of Customer Service at eSCORE.com and the National Director of Professional Development and Recruiting.

Late in 2000, James connected with the original founders of SCORE! to build a new education company – InsideTrack – this time targeting college students. InsideTrack was created to help college students make excellent decisions about their academic and career goals, and then provide the support and resources needed to achieve their goals and succeed in school. As a co-founder and COO, James’ primary focus was to establish the company infrastructure and operational / financial processes, and contribute to an enduring organizational culture. Today, InsideTrack is the nation's leading provider of student coaching services, having coached more than 250,000 students nationally.

James joined Jumpstart for Young Children in the middle of 2002, where he became an exemplary leader in the field of early education for the next nine years. Jumpstart is a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all preschool-aged children living in poverty enter school prepared to succeed. James’ extensive expertise in operations and performance management combined with his education experience made him an ideal leader for the organization. He served in several key executive roles, including Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, and four years as the Chief Executive Officer. James created and implemented a new growth strategy that immediately tripled Jumpstart’s annual impact from 3,000 to 9,000 children that will enable the organization to reach more than 50,000 children by 2015. James also built a talented leadership team, strengthened operations, and established a high performing culture to achieve this ambitious strategy and ensure the expansion of Jumpstart’s impact for years to come.

James has a BS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He completed courses at Harvard Business School Executive Education Program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management.

Tia Elena Martinez - Learning Lab Network
Tia comes to the foundation from the Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at UC Berkeley Law School where she was acting director of education, leading a policy unit that produced research, policy prescriptions and curricular innovation on issues related to education reform and racial justice in California and the nation. 

Prior to joining the Warren Institute, she served as strategic consultant to the Office for Civil Rights, US Department of Education, the federal agency charged with ensuring equal access to education through enforcement of civil rights laws.  In this capacity, she led a strategic planning process and supported nationwide roll out and implementation of the new strategy across 12 regional offices.

Tia was also a manager at the Bridgespan Group where she worked with a range of clients including the nation’s largest constituency-based Hispanic civil rights organization, an urban school district reform intermediary and the Mayor’s Office of Community Development. As a senior fellow at the Hewlett Foundation, Tia worked on issues related to disadvantaged adolescents and immigrant families. She has also worked as a policy analyst for the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the San Francisco Mayor’s HIV Health Services Planning Council.

Tia has an AB in History from Harvard University, a Master in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, and a JD from Stanford Law School.

Caitrin Moran Wright - Learning Lab Network
Caitrin joins the foundation from The Bridgespan Group where she most recently focused on clients and projects in education and foundation strategy. Her assignments included supporting major U.S. foundations in developing “Next Generation” education strategies and managing the implementation of a multi-hundred-million-dollar foundation strategy focused on transforming human capital practices in school districts. 

During her time at Bridgespan, Caitrin was also responsible for leading a team focused on a strategic planning project with a network of 22 high schools serving disadvantaged youth; early data from this project indicates improved student outcomes.   

Prior to The Bridgespan Group, Caitrin was engaged in strategic consulting for multinational corporations as a member of McKinsey & Company, focusing on strategic and implementation planning.

Caitrin graduated from Harvard University with a magna cum laude BA in Environmental Science and Public Policy and an MBA. She received the Hoopes Prize for her senior thesis, which focused on the intersection of science and politics in the planning of the Los Angeles water supply. Caitrin is the co-author of Who Decides? Mapping Power and Decision Making in Nonprofits (Nonprofit Quarterly, September 21, 2008) as well as co-author of Next Generation Learning: Can We Crack Four Problems to Unleash Quality for All? (June 2010).

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