Board of Directors

Below is a list of the Street Sense Board of Directors, along with their current employer, job title, and favorite books.

Brad Scriber \| President Brad Scriber is the Deputy Research Director for National Geographic magazine, where he helps maintain the accuracy of the magazine’s worldwide reporting. Prior to joining National Geographic, Brad conducted research on barriers to housing and financial services in academic and nonprofit contexts. He has nearly a decade of service on nonprofit boards of directors. Favorite book: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
Kristal DeKleer \| Vice-President Kristal DeKleer currently works at Booz Allen Hamilton as an associate supporting communications and outreach for a Department of Defense program. Her professional background includes working as the Communications Director for the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, providing policy consultation and event planning for a DC lobby firm and coordinating media efforts for a national non-profit women’s health organization. A California native, Kristal holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Women’s Studies from Claremont McKenna College. Favorite Book: The Namesake, By Jhumpa Lahiri
Yebegashet Alemayehu \| Treasurer Yebegashet Alemayehu works as a senior consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. He provides analytical post-award monitoring support to assist an agency manage its award portfolio and ensure that grant funds are used in compliance with the Office of Management and Budget circulars and agency regulations. With 10 years of grants, financial, and project management experience, Yebegashet has managed grants from several federal agencies (CDC, EPA, and HHS) including monitoring regulatory compliance, designing grant management procedures, and preparing financial reports. He has developed project budgets and performed financial monitoring for Global Health programs in Africa, Asia, South America and Eastern Europe for the CDC-funded Global AIDS Program.
Allison Sherry \| Secretary Allison Sherry has been the Washington bureau chief for The Denver Post since January 2011. Before her Beltway arrival on New Year’s Eve in 2010, she worked in the Denver newsroom for 10 years covering a variety of beats including K-12, higher education, health care, poverty and the 2008 and 2010 political cycles. She also was a part of several special projects including the 9/11 anniversary in New York, the Air Force Academy sex assault scandal, the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and was apart of the political team for the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions. Despite the varied assignments and work, her favorite job was covering K-12 education. She is a winner of several awards for writing, including the most recent 2012 David Lynch Prize for covering Congress. Allison grew up in western Colorado and graduated from Colorado State University in 2000. After college, she wrote for a weekly paper in Dublin, Ireland before moving to Denver. In her spare time, she likes running, hiking, riding her road bike and cooking rich food (which necessitates the aforementioned activities.) Allison lives on Capitol Hill with her boyfriend and their 1-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback.
Margaret Chapman \| Board Member Margaret currently works as a Finance Manager at The George Washington University Cancer Institute. She holds bachelor’s degrees in International Affairs and Economics and is completing her MBA and MA in European and Eurasian Studies from the George Washington University. Favorite book: Pollyanna, by Eleanor Porter.
Max Gaujean \| Board Member Mr. Gaujean obtained his B.A. in history and economics from Boston College in 1985 and received his J.D. from Case Western Reserve School of Law in 1990. Mr. Gaujean graduated as one of Case Western Reserve’s twelve Merit Scholars and was a member of his law school’s nationally ranked mock trial team. He is admitted to practice in the State and Federal Courts of New York and Connecticut. Prior to joining Brown & Tarantino, LLC, Mr. Gaujean worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County and was Deputy Counsel to the Hon. Fritz Alexander Deputy Mayor for Public Safety for the City of New York. Mr. Gaujean has given lectures at various area hospitals including in-service lectures for medical professionals. Mr. Gaujean has over 20 years of trial experience having litigated cased in both State and Federal Courts. Mr. Gaujean has successfully taken verdicts in four of five New York boroughs and jurisdictions both in Long Island and Upstate New York. Mr. Gaujean’s area practice concentrates on medical malpractice, complex litigation and toxic tort. Mr. Gaujean is the Managing Attorney for the White Plains Office of Brown & Tarantino, LLC.
Robyn Kerr \| Board Member Robyn Kerr is a financial representative with the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Washington, DC, and works with people to achieve financial security for themselves and their families. Prior to joining Northwestern Mutual, Robyn spent over ten years in the field of humanitarian relief and international development. She has worked for organizations such as Research Triangle Institute, the US Agency for International Development, and International Rescue Committee, where she focused on social protection issues for those living in displacement camps after the Haiti Earthquake in 2010. Robyn brings expertise in non-profit management, grant-writing, and programmatic and financial oversight of large program portfolios. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development and a Certification in Nonprofit Management.
Heidi Keller \| Board Member Heidi is Contracting and Business Operations Director at Freddie Mac. Favorite book: Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien.
Sommer Mathis \| Board Member Sommer is Editor at The Atlantic Cities. Favorite Book: Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov.
Reed Sandridge \| Board Member Reed has spent nearly two decades helping organizations grow by increasing their revenue streams. He has held executive management positions in both the for profit and nonprofit sectors and recently established his own consultancy firm that leverages the power of story to improve organizational performance. He dedicates most of his time today to working with a longterm client in the area of conservation fundraising and writing his first book which he hopes to finish by the end of 2013. Reed holds a bachelor’s degree in international business and Spanish from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has completed additional coursework at universities in Spain and Mexico. Favorite book: The Soloist, by Steve Lopez.
Michael Stoops \| Founding Board Member Michael is the Director of Community Organizing for the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). Since 1972, he has been working full-time (primarily as a volunteer) with homeless and formerly homeless people and homeless advocacy groups. He was a founding board member of NCH, and joined NCH’s staff in 1988. Since 1988, he has worked to establish and provide ongoing support to local/statewide homeless/housing coalitions, and homeless self-help and social justice/action groups. He is the project director for NCH’s National Homeless Civil Rights Organizing Project and serves as an advisor to NCH’s Faces of Homelessness Speakers’ Bureau. He also coordinates NCH’s national events such as National Homeless Voter Registration Week, National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, and National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. He has a bachelor’s degree in social work.