Director, Data & Technology

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 San Francisco Bay Area, Grace returned to live in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.  Grace continues to use her technical skills to manage the data and web applications for the organization.  Grace received her B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University. 

Program Associate, Quest Scholars Network

Ziyan was born in China and grew up in the US, where she has lived in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and New York City. She received a B.S. in Biology from MIT and, upon graduation, worked as a Microbiologist/Virologist at a consumer products company. A few years into the job, she found education to be her passion and has since then worked in Americorps as a Mentor/Tutor and in an EdTech start-up as a Sales Consultant. As a Program Associate in the Quest Scholars Network, she develops the social media content and builds relationships with the talented students of this program. In her free time, she enjoys long distance running, international travel, reading, photography, rock climbing, and being a "foodie" (she loves swapping restaurant recommendations - especially hole-in-the-wall taquerias and ramen spots!).

Data Manager, Student Recruitment

TC grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and received a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Columbia University. After graduation he consulted for financial services companies in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, specializing in financial planning, strategic guidance, and marketing analytics. TC is thrilled to have the opportunity to apply his skills to help QuestBridge find and attract the leaders of tomorrow and honored to work with such a talented and committed team.

Student Recruitment and Office Assistant

Alana received her BA in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley where she also advised students struggling with financial aid, enrollment and discrimination issues. This hands-on experience opened her eyes to the barriers standing between bright, low-income students and the education they deserved. At QuestBridge, Alana is excited to combine her passion for college access with her experience in community service. Before joining the Quest team, Alana worked with the U.S. Federal Government and several nonprofits on economic development, trade and human rights projects. 

Program Manager, Quest for Excellence New York City Award

Rachel grew up in Manhattan and received her BA in Psychology from Cornell University.  Through research and volunteering, she became very interested in education, and upon graduation returned to New York City where she taught in the public and charter school system through Teach For America.  During that time she earned an MS from Pace University in Childhood education, and decided to move her focus from academics to student support and college access.  She attended the Stanford Graduate School of Education where she earned an MA in Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies, and was first introduced to QuestBridge as an application reader.  After graduation she spent time working at the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, IL, and then ultimately made her way back to New York City where she lives with her husband and their dog Lily.  Rachel has seen firsthand the wonderful work that Quest does, and is so excited to further those benefits through the Quest for Excellence NYC Award!

Manager of Administration and Human Resources

Susanna is a native of the Bay Area. She holds both a BA and MA in Cultural Anthropology. Susanna started her career in consulting and benefits administration. Years later, she switched to the non-profit sector where she could provide community services and opportunities to low-income families. Susanna has worked for non-profit organizations such as the YMCA and AmeriCorps. She is excited to be a part of the Quest team where her experience and passion coincide to provide opportunities to this nation's brightest youth.

Senior Program Associate, Student Recruitment

Originally from the Boston area, Lisa received her BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked in publishing for four years before moving to San Francisco. While pursuing her MFA in Writing at California College of the Arts, Lisa found a way to combine her passion for community service and the arts by volunteering at literary outreach organizations like 826 Valencia and working as a writing teacher and mentor to students of all ages and backgrounds. This ultimately inspired her to commit to educational non-profit work, and she is thrilled to be a member of the QuestBridge team.

Director, Quest Scholars Network

CEO

David Hunter joined QuestBridge 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, at CEP while overseeing the largest partnership of emergency physicians in the country. When David became CEO in the beginning of 2009, he was no stranger to QuestBridge, as his daughter, Allison Marie, worked with Co-Founder Ana Rowena McCullough as a summer intern at QuestBridge in 2003. Since then his two sons, John and Scott, have also been active volunteers in Quest programs. David's efforts to expand educational opportunity have been inspired, in part, by the many residents with limited financial resources he served as an emergency physician, and by his mother, a teacher who overcame many financial obstacles to attend college during the Depression. David graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School, did post-graduate medical training in the Stanford University Hospital system, and holds a JD degree from Harvard Law School.

Director, College Relations

Originally from a small town in Northern New Jersey, Miriam attended Boston College and graduated with a BA in Human Development and Sociology. She worked for over three years as an Assistant Buyer for a department store before deciding to turn her growing interest in education and student development into a full-time career. It was at Teachers College at Columbia University that Miriam discovered her passion for educational access. She graduated with an MA in Higher Education and went on to be an Assistant Director of Admissions at Boston University. She is excited to be in the Bay Area and working at QuestBridge, where she is able to combine her passion and experiences into helping students reach their academic potential.

Controller

Irene Litherland has worked with nonprofit organizations for three decades and has more than twenty-five years of experience in nonprofit accounting and financial management. Her work experience includes organizations focused on services to immigrants, the Central American sanctuary movement, legal and educational services to people who are incarcerated, direct services to the homeless and urban poor, responses to domestic violence, and disability rights education and policy. She also ran a small nonprofit organization for five years. In addition to her part-time work as Controller at QuestBridge, she provides financial management services to other nonprofit organizations. Irene has a Masters in Public Administration from California State University at Hayward (now East Bay) and a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She is a member of the Developmental Disabilities Council of Alameda County. She lives in the East Bay with her husband and son.

Program Manager, College Relations

Originally from the Bay Area, Kim attended UCLA where she earned bachelor’s degrees in History/Art History and French.  After working in the museum industry for several years, she went back to school to earn her Ed.M at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  While in Boston, Kim worked with college-bound low-income students and became focused on access to higher education.  She came back to California where she worked on higher education access for low-income students for 10,000 Degrees and then in the scholarships division and as an admissions reader for the University of California, Irvine.  Kim is thrilled to be a part of the QuestBridge team.

Founder and Chair, Board of Directors

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 is Co-Founder and former VP, Content at Shmoop.com, and is a former management consultant at McKinsey & Company. In addition, she 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. Ana holds a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School where she focused on environmental and youth law. Together with her husband Michael, Ana serves as Co-Founder of the Quest Scholars Program and QuestBridge.

Founder and President

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.

Senior Associate, Data & Technology

Chris grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After graduation, he left the Midwest for the San Francisco Bay Area and worked for several years as an engineer. A growing desire to transition to a career in education led Chris to return to school at San Francisco State where he received a high school teaching credential and master's degree in mathematics. Before coming to QuestBridge, he taught students with disabilities at City College of San Francisco for several years. As a member of the QuestBridge data and technology team, Chris has been able to unite his technical background with his strong desire to improve access to educational opportunities.

College Relations Program Associate and Special Projects Coordinator

Megan was born in California but grew up across the country in Michigan, Connecticut and Arizona, before she moved to Pennsylvania to receive her BA in English with a Creative Writing focus from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduation, she worked in undergraduate admissions and recruitment for her alma mater as an Admissions Counselor and is passionate about providing equal opportunity and access to talented students. She is proudly Oglala Lakota Sioux of the Pine Ridge reservation and is excited to be back in the Bay area making QuestBridge a part of her next chapter.

Director, Student Recruitment

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.

Program Manager, Student Recruitment

Leslie grew up in rural Northern Wisconsin, with lots of trees, lakes, and wild animals. She then moved out to the East Coast, where she not only earned her BA in Economics at Harvard University, but also began working to help low-income students gain access to higher education by working in financial aid at the university. Besides working in financial aid for over eight years, Leslie also spent time doing education research in Washington DC and working as a project manager for an education technology company before joining QuestBridge in 2011.

Program Associate, Student Recruitment

Grace has engaged in various experiences that have defined her interests in access to higher education and education non-profits. Shortly after graduating from Stanford University in engineering, she served as a college counselor at an education start-up in the Bay Area. She received an Ed.M. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and then served as the school's Assistant Director of Admissions for 4 years, followed by a couple years as the communications manager at a large education non-profit in the Boston area. Relocating once again to northern California, she returned to her interest in undergraduate admissions by reading applications for Stanford University for several seasons. Grace is originally from Southern California, and in addition to her work at QuestBridge, raises 3 young kids, including a set of twins.