Who We Are: Meet our Staff and Board

Headquarters Staff
The seven full-time employees of College Mentors have over 20 years of direct experience with the organization as mentors, chapter leaders, interns at the Indianapolis headquarters and student representatives to the board of directors.

, chief executive officer

Erin Slater has a rich history with College Mentors. As she began her studies on working with at-risk youth and families, she founded the Purdue University Chapter of College Mentors for Kids.   This unique experience allowed her to understand her university through the child she was mentoring, and she was able to see first hand what providing children with positive opportunities, that they would not otherwise be exposed to, can do to their self-esteem and their desire to learn.

After finishing her studies, Erin was asked to join the College Mentors staff as program director. Her fundraising and program development experience at the Purdue Chapter gave her a firm grasp of the multifaceted nature of the mentor program and how it impacts the children, their families, the college-student mentors and the elementary and university partners that support them. Her experience supporting chapters allowed her to see how the state office could best support the program and led to her promotion to associate director and vice president of development. Now, as chief executive officer, Erin is focused on strategic planning, board development, major gifts, and program expansion.

Outside of College Mentors, Erin enjoys creative writing and spending time with her family. Her three-year-old son is her life's greatest inspiration.

, vice president of programs

Looking for an opportunity to give back to the community, Amanda Koushyar joined College Mentors as a program director in January 2005. Amanda graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in managment with a focus in finance and operation management. As a student, Amanda was the senior managing director of a student endowment fund and served on the Georgia Tech Student Foundation Board of Trustees. Her previous work experience includes working at Bank One in Indianapolis within the Operations Department. There she received the ICON award for Leadership for her work on the Commitment Flowdown employee engagement initiative. Now as VP of Programming, Amanda oversees the expansion, development, and evaluation and assessment of our two Mentor Programs, College Mentors for Kids and College Connection.

When she has time to spare in her busy schedule, Amanda likes to cook Italian and Persian food, travel outside of the states, work out and spend time with her black lab Morgan.

, senior associate program director

A native of Indianapolis, Emily Reid joined the staff of College Mentors in May 2005 after graduating from Indiana University in Bloomington. Emily found the College Mentors headquarters office to be a natural fit after spending three years volunteering for the organizaiton during her collegiate time at IU. Her first three years at headquarters was spent as an associate program director for the College Mentors for Kids Mentor Program; however, as of June 2008, Emily has taken on the role of senior associate program director for College Connection, a new middle school program launching fall 2008. Emily looks forward to bringing her experience to a new level through the creation of College Connection.

Out of the office, Emily enjoys rooting on her favorite teams.  As an avid sports fan, you can usually find her cheering on Notre Dame football, IU basketball and her beloved Indianapolis Colts.

, associate program director

Macara Aloi joined College Mentors in August of 2007 as an associate program director after graduating from Purdue University with a Bachelors' degree in Communications.  As a first generation college student, Macara feels a special connection to the mission of the program and enjoys working with both the children and the college students invovled in the program as well as forming and maintaining relationships in each unique community. She appreciates the culture and environment of College Mentors as well as the closeness of the staff.

In her free time, Macara loves playing sports, espeically tennis and basketball, scrapbooking, and spending time repairing and personalizing her new home with her husband.

, associate program director

Brian Laskey joined College Mentors in June 2008 as an associate program director. He focuses on direct support with our chapters in programming and development, while fostering relationships with the elementary, university and community partners. Brian made his way to Indiana from Michigan when he decided to attend Purdue University to earn his Bachelors' in Political Science. During his time there, Brian was active in the Purdue chapter, holding an array of staff positions and serving as a student representative on our Board of Directors.  As a first-generation college student, Brian feels he can connect directly with the mission of College Mentors and sees what a benefit the program has on youth.

In his spare time, Brian enjoys reading, watching movies and cooking.  Brian is also a skilled dog obedience trainer after being an assistant teacher for five years. 

, vice president of development

Rob Laux joined College Mentors in July 2008 after several years in the fundraising realm. His previous work experience includes the University of South Carolina, the University of Notre Dame, outside sales and most recent, Vice President for Strategic Giving at the United Way of Central Indiana. His experience in fundraising includes individual gifts, sponsorships, planned giving, strategic philanthropy and foundation grants. Rob joined College Mentors because of its mission of mentoring youth and developing college student leaders. He is excited to combine his experience of working with college students with his fundraising skills to make an impact in this dynamic, growing organization.

In his free time, Rob likes to travel and spend time working on projects around his house, especially carpentry projects.

, associate development director

Laura Feldman joined College Mentors in 2005 as an AmeriCorps*VISTA focused on chapter fundraising in communities outside of Central Indiana. Laura is a Tennessee native and transplant to Indiana by way of Massachusetts, where she obtained a degree in sociology from Wellesley College. Laura's prior work experience writing case studies at the Harvard Business School prepared her for grant proposal writing at College Mentors. She initially joined the organization because of its combined approach to mentoring and college access, both areas in which she had experience as a volunteer. She loves being a part of a young and growing nonprofit organization in her position as associate development director.

Outside of the office, Laura loves to knit and is proud to have completed the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon twice.

Photos generously donated by Line 11 Images

College Mentors 2008 Board of Directors
Nelson Alexander

Managing Partner, Locke Reynolds

Jack Burns, chair
President, SGI, Inc.

Andrea Cranfill
Vice President, FlashPoint Human Resource Consulting

Matthew Claymon

Entrepreneur

Jessica Castellanos

President, Footprint Sports, LLC.

Brian Dixon
Health IT Manager, Regenstrief Institute

Kevin Gartenhaus
Managing Director, Surrex Solutions Corporation

Cheryl Hughes
Certified Financial Planner, Lincoln Financial Advisors

Shelley Hunter, secretary

Special Giving Programs Director and Liaison to the IUPUI Chancellor,

IU Foundation

Randy Keeling, treasurer
Chief Financial Officer, Fifth Third Bank

Libby Laux
Assistant Director of Development, IUPUI Center for Service & Learning

Andy Medley
President, CIK Enterprises

Martin Moore

President, The Moore Foundation

David Norris
President, Allied Group Insurance Services, Inc. (AGIS)

Jean Paison

Founder, Director Emeritus, Second Helpings, Inc.

Kurt Rasmussen, past chair
Senior Research Scientist, Eli Lilly and Company

C. Max Schmidt
Assistant Professor, Surgery, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, IUPUI

Dennis Trinkle, vice chair
CEO, IHETS

Honorary Directors
Geoffrey Bannister
Robert Payton
James P. Wind

Board Council
Paul F. Kortepeter
Attorney at Law

Board of Trustees Emeriti
Kristin Huang, College Mentors Co-founder
Heidi Schmidt, College Mentors Co-founder
Mike Rodman
Paul Schmidt
Lilya Wagner