Management

Board of Directors

Advisory Board

Actors and Film Production

About Us

At ThroughCollege, we believe the best way for students to get accepted to the best school for them is to think about the bigger picture when they apply to college: What skills do they want to have when they graduate from college? What are their strengths, values, interests, and goals? How might these evolve over time? The ThroughCollege System helps students answer these questions and it helps students find, apply to, and get through college. With ThroughCollege, students find a college where they have a positive growth experience while gaining the skills to acquire productive jobs after graduation. 

In U.S. High Schools, there are on average 478 students for every one school counselor (NACAC, 2004). Despite their herculean efforts, school counselors are not afforded the time to provide the optimal level of service to each student. ThroughCollege helps solve this problem by providing specific step-by-step guidance for students -- guidance that parents, teachers, school counselors and mentors can use to drive great student outcomes.

The ThroughCollege team has the experience and knowledge to design a System to help students get the best results for them.

Mission: To utilize the college admissions process to develop the knowledge and skills students can use to get in and through a peak college experience. 

Vision:

• Students will navigate the competitive process of college admissions in an engaging and personally developmental way that maximizes results for them.
• Parents, teachers, coaches, and other informal advisors will leverage the ThroughCollege system to provide activity-based guidance for students.
• Educators and school counselors will gain new insights on how to effectively and creatively reach a large number of students and help them get in and through college successfully.
• Society benefits because the ThroughCollege program serves as a tool to fill the gap in college guidance that currently exists in U.S. schools. School counselors can reach more students and students are better prepared to succeed in and through college with assistance from ThroughCollege.

Management


Darin Eich, Ph.D.

Darin Eich is an education consultant, author, researcher, program developer, and professional speaker. In addition to ThroughCollege, Darin has also established CollegeMotivation, the leaderhsip program resource ProgramInnovation , and the innovation generation company BrainReactions. Darin finished his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin where he researched leadership development programs and learning. In addition to a perfect fit undergraduate experience at UW-La Crosse, he has been a graduate student as well as coordinator and developer of leadership conferences, programs, and courses at the University of Maryland , William and Mary, and at UW - Madison. Darin's passion involves helping people to learn how to become themselves, find and live their strengths, and become more innovative and successful students, people, and leaders.

Darin is driven to help students make good decisions about getting in and through college. His philosophy and experience deals with bringing identity and personal development and leadership program activities to enhance learning for students in their college planning process. Darin integrates his Ph.D. leadership development and college success research from three different graduate institutions to create a simple and experiential system that high school students can use to get in and get through and have the best experience of their life doing such.

Helen Janc Malone, M.A., Ed.M.

Helen Janc Malone joins ThroughCollege with hopes of bringing in her research expertise to shed light on college access, quality college prep programs for disadvantaged students, and to provide a wider perspective from the education policy lens. Helen is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education with a concentration in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice. Prior to her doctorate studies, Helen worked as a research analyst/associate in the non-profit, for-profit, and higher education sectors focusing on student leadership development, out-of-school time learning, and school reform. She has expertise in qualitative/quantitative research, policy analysis, knowledge management, and network development in her core areas of interest.

Helen holds a Masters in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University and a Masters in Education Policy and Leadership in Higher Education from
University of Maryland, College Park.

Board of Directors

Sam Adams
Sam has spent the last 7 years in advertising, marketing, sales and service management for Fortune 500 companies including General Motors and General Electric.  He also has consulted a portfolio of start-up and small businesses.  Sam earned his BA at Colorado College and MBA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Darin Eich, Ph.D.
Darin Eich is an education consultant, author, researcher, program developer, and professional speaker. In addition to ThroughCollege, Darin has also established CollegeMotivation, the leaderhsip program resource ProgramInnovation , and the innovation generation company BrainReactions . Darin finished his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin where he researched leadership development programs and learning. In addition to a perfect fit undergraduate experience at UW-La Crosse, he has been a graduate student as well as coordinator and developer of leadership conferences, programs, and courses at the University of Maryland , William and Mary, and at UW - Madison. Darin's passion involves helping people to learn how to become themselves, find and live their strengths, and become more innovative and successful students, people, and leaders.

Darin is driven to help students make good decisions about getting in and through college. His philosophy and experience deals with bringing identity and personal development and leadership program activities to enhance learning for students in their college planning process. Darin integrates his Ph.D. leadership development and college success research from three different graduate institutions to create a simple and experiential system that high school students can use to get in and get through and have the best experience of their life doing such.

Helen Janc Malone, M.A., Ed.M.

Helen Janc Malone joins ThroughCollege with hopes of bringing in her research expertise to shed light on college access, quality college prep programs for disadvantaged students, and to provide a wider perspective from the education policy lens. Helen is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education with a concentration in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice. Prior to her doctorate studies, Helen worked as a research analyst/associate in the non-profit, for-profit, and higher education sectors focusing on student leadership development, out-of-school time learning, and school reform. She has expertise in qualitative/quantitative research, policy analysis, knowledge management, and network development
in her core areas of interest.

Helen holds a Masters in Education Policy and Management from Harvard University and a Masters in Education Policy and Leadership in Higher Education from University of Maryland , College Park.

Matt Messinger

Matt has extensive experience guiding students through the college admissions process, and is committed to creating a college admissions process that is a positive growth experience for students while achieving optimal results.

Matt gained his knowledge of the college admissions process when he was the Director of College Counseling at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto , CA . At Eastside, Matt created and implemented a college guidance curriculum for 6th-12th graders and their parents. This curriculum was focused on ensuring students found a college where they could have a positive and rewarding experience; these schools included Harvard University , Stanford University, Columbia University, large public universities, and small liberal arts schools.

Matt earned his BA from Stanford University and both his MBA and MS in Education from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Advisory Board

Puneet Agarwal
Executive in Residence
True Ventures

Puneet Agarwal is Executive in Residence at True Ventures. Prior to True Ventures he was Vice President of Product Management for Geodesic Information Systems, a mobile and Internet based communications company. Prior to Geodesic, Puneet spent 4 years at BEA Systems where he drove a number of initiatives including helping to initiate and run their RFID division. Prior to BEA, Puneet worked in venture capital at the Mayfield Fund, where helped to invest in early stage technology companies. Prior to Mayfield, Puneet spent time in investment banking at JP Morgan and also at an early stage startup, Crossworlds Software, that was eventually acquired by IBM. Puneet completed his undergraduate and masters degrees in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, where he was also a Mayfield Fellow.

Roland Allen
Director of College Counseling
St. Margaret's Episcopal School

Roland Allen is Director of College Counseling at St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, California. Roland has over twenty years of previous college counseling and admissions experience at various institutions including: Westmont College, Colby College, MIT, Stanford University, The Branson School and Sidwell Friends School. Roland holds a BA from Loyola University New Orleans and an MS from The University of Scranton. Roland enjoys the out of doors and is an avid blogger and photoblogger.

Premal Shah
President
Kiva.org

Premal Shah is President of Kiva.org – a website that connects internet users with developing world entrepreneurs in need of a small loan. Called one of the 50 Best Websites by Time Magazine, Kiva.org raises $1 million in $25 increments every 10 days – and has connected over 300,000 internet lenders to 50,000 entrepreneurs in 45 developing countries in its first 3 years. Prior to Kiva, Premal was a Principal Product Manager at PayPal (an eBay company) where he spent 6 years building out the global payments service. Premal began his career as a management consultant in New York. His work as a social entrepreneur has been featured in media ranging from Fortune magazine to Al Jazeera, with speaking invitations ranging from college campuses to the Clinton Global Initiative. Premal graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.

Actors and Film Production

Elisa Donovan
Elisa is a well known and established actor in Los Angeles. She has played major roles in feature films such as Night At The Roxbury and Clueless. In TV she was a series regular on the hit shows Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Clueless(TV).

For more info go to http://www.elisadonovan.net/ or http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232975/



Ryan Churchill
Ryan is an actor/writer/producer in Los Angeles. He has appeared in a number of national commercials such as ESPN Shorts, Bud Light, and Dominos. In Television he has appeared in Bones, The Unit, and Life. For more info go to www.ryanchurchill.com
He co-wrote and produced the ThroughCollege videos through his production shingle, Maybe You Should Go Productions, LLC.



Joelle Carter
Joelle is originally from New York and now works in TV and Film in Los Angeles. She can be seen in feature films such as High Fidelity and American Pie 2. She has appeared in numerous television shows including CSI, Cold Case, and Third Watch.

For more info go to www.joellecarter.com or http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0141710/



Alfie Olson
Alfie Olson hails from Chicago. On stage he played the role of Dr. Spratt in BS at Chicago's Royal George Theatre, a parody of NBC's ER and the character Dr. Pratt. Alfie has been involved in sketch comedy, improv, indie films and shorts. Alfie has also written for BET's Hotwyrd and is currently working on comedy scripts. Alfie can be contacted at www.myspace.com/denied the show.



Linc Hand
Linc is an actor in Los Angeles. For more info go to www.linchand.com