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Home > About Us
Staff
Executive Director
SHAWN JOOST
joost@educatetomorrow.org
Shawn Joost began her tenure as Executive Director in March 2010 after four years as a volunteer and Board Member for Educate Tomorrow. A California native, she has called Miami home since 2004. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Ms. Joost practiced law in the area of complex commercial litigation for ten years. She later managed a travel club for senior citizens at Santa Barbara Bank & Trust. As Executive Director, Ms. Joost looks forward to transforming the lives of foster youth by guiding them on the path of higher education.
Chief Operating Officer/Program Director/Honorary Founder
ERICA FRENCH
french@educatetomorrow.org
Program Coordinator
Jimi Shopade
Before joining the Educate Tomorrow family in 2010, Jimi spent time teaching English to elementary school students in rural Costa Rica. A graduate of Georgetown University, Jimi’s childhood was split between growing up in Miami and schooling in Nigeria, West Africa. Upon graduating college, he began working for the Attorney General of Florida; while there he led a team of analysts conducting investigative research and analysis in Miami. Jimi brings to ET a passion for giving back to his community as well as a love of travelling and experiencing different cultures. As a program coordinator, he will be working to build the mentoring program while managing mentor-mentee relationships.
Program Coordinator
Yael Glick
Yael Glick has been an educator since 2004 when she graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in English Education. She has taught English, social studies and photography to 16 - 25 year olds in a variety of educational settings including internationally. As a recent Miami transplant Yael hopes to bring her educational philosophy to her work at Educate Tomorrow. She believes strongly in education and collaboration to broaden perspectives and create opportunities. At Educate Tomorrow Yael will manage mentoring relationships as well as the Girls' Leadership Project.
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT TEAM
JOSE TOIRAC & DANIELLE FORSYTHE
Jose Toirac and Danielle Forsythe of FaceLift Designs, work with Educate Tomorrow to create and maintain an informative and interactive web site. Founder Ms. Emmons met FaceLift founders at an event in 2004. FaceLift Designs is a boutique web and print design firm located in Miami Beach, Florida. FaceLift Designs works with government officials such as Senator John Kerry, non-profit organizations, political organizations such as the Democratic National Committee and several small and medium size businesses. Clicke here to visit the FaceLift Designs web site. Educate Tomorrow is sincerely grateful for the hours of donated services from both Jose and Danielle.
VISTA TECHNICAL AND EVENTS SPECIALIST
DAVE SCOTT
Growing up in the Garden State, Dave attended high school in New Hampshire, before going on to Bowdoin College in Maine. There he majored in environmental studies and German, studying abroad in Tübingen, Bonn, and Göttingen. Prior to joining Educate Tomorrow, he worked as an educator at an outdoor educational non-profit for middle schoolers in Massachusetts. A humanist and avid environmentalist, Dave enjoys working with children and young people. At Educate Tomorrow, Dave applies his technical knowledge to streamlining daily operations, project management, data exchange, and website control. As a programs division adjunct, he furthers the logistics on new and ongoing programs, such as the children of prisoners initiative.
VISTA EXPANSION SPECIALIST
Having grown up in the area, Jennifer Harris recently returned to Miami, and now hopes that she can contribute positively to the community through her work at ET. Jennifer most recently worked as a management consultant, gaining experience in the areas of business process review and strategic procurement. She holds a law degree from the University of Chicago, a Masters degree in English from UCLA, and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Florida. While with ET, Jennifer will work to implement tools and methods to track and analyze program outcomes. She will also help to drive efforts to finalize ET’s program documentation materials, a project which will enable ET to share its approach with other organizations across the United States.
VISTA FUND DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST
KATE VATTER
Born and raised in Washington State, Kate came to Educate Tomorrow following her graduation from Washington State University, where she majored in English (with a concentration in technical writing and rhetoric) and minored in digital marketing, graphic design, and French. While in college, she worked at the university’s non-profit writing center as an English tutor and editor, and later worked for a national literacy organization, where she developed an interest in education public policy. This interest, in conjunction with her love of travel, led her across the country to South Florida. At Educate Tomorrow, Kate wears many hats, including: technical writer, event planner, fundraiser, grants manager, analyst, editor, and photographer. Following her term of service, Kate looks forward to pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and continuing to affect positive change to her community.
VISTA ALUMNI
SPECIAL PROJECTS
CAMILLE SHANDLE
shandle@educatetomorrow.org
Camille
Shandle relocated to Miami to serve as an Americorps VISTA at Educate
Tomorrow. Originally from Maryland, she attended Rutgers University in
New Jersey, graduating with a Biological Sciences major and a minor in
Spanish. Camille worked as a Laboratory Technician for the previous two
years, manufacturing stem cell therapy products in Baltimore, MD and is
transitioning into the nonprofit field to pursue a service-oriented
career.
Camille's desire to serve the community progressed from a
focus to a career goal after serving as a Hurricane Katrina relief
volunteer in New Orleans, LA, six months after the hurricane devastated
the city. She has worked various jobs to serve the community, such as
swim coach/instructor and served as the mascot at Rutgers, the Scarlet
Knight. Camille also speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and is happy for the
opportunity to work as an Americorps VISTA for Educate Tomorrow.
VISTA EXPANSION SPECIALIST
OLGA LORAINE KOFMAN
kofman@educatetomorrow.org
Olga Loraine Kofman began her VISTA term of service in August 2009 after studying Government and Economics at Claremont McKenna College. She has a varied background including outdoor leadership, nonprofit management, event planning, and academic research. At Educate Tomorrow, Olga develops standard critical specifications, performance measurements, audits, and organizational branding to create an affiliate network to bring the holistic model to foster youth throughout the nation. At the end of her term of service, she anticipates resuming her studies at Florida International University.
VISTA EXPANSION SPECIALIST
JOHN CLINTON
FEBRUARY 2008 - 2009
Mr. Clinton has proudly served as the VISTA Expansion Specialist. After working as a technical consultant at a university and fixed asset accountant for an international oil and gas drilling corporation, Mr. Clinton decided to give a few years to a world that has given him so much. He has recently completed his third year as an Americorps volunteer. Mr. Clinton has provided disaster relief, education and outreach to disadvantaged youth, and served as a construction volunteer supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Clinton earned a bachelors degree in Business Administration with emphasis in pre-law from THE Oklahoma State University.
VISTA PROGRAM AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
MARQUETTA HOWARD
APRIL 2008 - 2009
Marquetta Howard, a native of Chicago, IL,, moved to Norfolk, Virginia to attend college at Norfolk State University, where she studied Computer Information Technology. Marquetta lived in Virginia for six years and decided she needed a change. While attending Norfolk State University , Marquetta heard about a group of students embarking on a journey to participate in a project called London Bridges. London Bridges is an outreach program that recruits students from all over the world to participate in an outreach effort to help those who are less fortunate. The work that she has done in London was so rewarding and life-changing, that she knew she had to spend the rest of her life helping people. Upon her return to the United States, she had a greater sense of commitment and duty toward her country. She wanted to do more for those disadvantaged or less fortunate, but did not know where to start. One day she stumbled across an organization that worked with at-risk and dis advantaged youth and thought, " What a perfect opportunity to reach out and help the country." On April 14, 2008 she joined Americorps *VISTA and began her term of service working with Educate Tomorrow as a *VISTA doing Program and Curriculum Development.
VISTA INDEPENDENT LIVING/EDUCATIONAL/DATA INTERN
MILTON WHITE
FEBRUARY 2009 - JULY 2009
As a newcomer, Milton R. White brings to the forefront a unique understanding and passion for education. In 2006, he earned his Bachelors of Art degree in Corporate Communications from Dominican University, out of River Forest, IL. Since then, he has served in the educational world in various functions. Having spent nearly six years in group and foster homes, he now works to develop standards of accountability and success for disadvantage youth who seek a brighter future.
VISTA GRANT WRITER
ANDERSON HAYWOOD
AUGUST 2008 - 2009
Anderson Haywood was born in Trinidad in the city of Port of Spain. Anderson was a foster child for 10 years until aging out and now he is a volunteer as an Americorps VISTA working with Educate Tomorrow. Anderson's duties include importing new grants into the Data Tracker and apply for possible funding for the organization. Anderson is proud to be working with an organization like Educate Tomorrow and to be assisting in capacity building throughout the year. Anderson's goal is to learn as much as he can with his time working with Educate Tomorrow and only excel in the things that he does. Anderson also seeks to improve his life and himself while helping the community and to move forward in life in the most positive way. He will be attending the University of Wisconsin Plattevill in the fall of 2009.
VISTA EXPANSION SPECIALIST
TATIANA VLAHOVIC
AUGUST 2008 - 2009
A Miami native and recent graduate of Vassar College, Tatiana Vlahovic began her AmeriCorps VISTA service at Educate Tomorrow in August, 2008. Tatiana completed a BA in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Evolved Minds: she conducted research in robotics, human category learning, and evolutionary psychology. As a Hispanic Studies minor, she volunteered in Costa Rica and studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. Tatiana is proficient in Spanish and has working knowledge of Serbo-Croatian. Her internship at the Dutchess County Family Courthouse in Poughkeepsie, New York, sparked her interest in human rights, especially with respect to improving the lives of disadvantaged children and youth. Tatiana has assisted with fundraising projects and the creation of marketing/outreach materials for ET. She also spent her service working on the "Mentor America" initiative, replicating ET's holistic mentoring program in different communities. After completing her AmeriCorps VISTA service, Tatiana will move to the United Kingdom in the fall of 2009 and begin the Master of Science program in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford.
