PSV: College Preparedness--What You Need to Know!

Parents, caregivers, and secondary students are invited to join us for a virtual conversation about college preparedness. We will discuss things every family needs to know with:

• Chris Hunter, Dir. of Stem101, Ron Brown Scholar Program
• Timothy Fields, Senior Associate Dean in Undergraduate Admission, Emory University
• Shereem Herndon-Brown, Founder and Chief Education Officer of Strategic Admissions Advice
• Sonali Bridges, Founder & President, Bridges Educational Consulting

PANELIST BIOS: 

Christopher Hunter is the founding Director of the Ron Brown Scholars’ Stem101 Program. A high-tech, high-touch college access program for African American high school students, STEM101 supports the next generation of Black science and engineering professionals. A member of the Southern California College Access Network, the University of Virginia’s Motivate Lab, Dr. Hunter is dedicated to using the latest social scientific research to address the educational disparities facing our communities. A Ron Brown Scholar himself, he relishes the opportunity to give back to a program and community that has given him so much.

Before joining the Ron Brown Scholar team, Dr. Hunter spent most of his career educating scientists. From 2002-2010 he was an Assistant Professor of English at Caltech, where he taught courses in Early American Literature, the History of the Book, and Law and Literature. His research focused on the technology and economics of the American Colonial and Early Republican book trades, and he was recognized as an expert in life and writings of Benjamin Franklin. Before Caltech he taught at Lehigh, Penn, and—for many years—at MIT’s MITES program, an academically rigorous summer enrichment experience for BIPOC high school students. In fact, it was returning to MITES as an instructor after having been a student there that first convinced him to pursue a career in education.

Dr. Hunter received his B.A. from Harvard and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Pasadena, CA.

Timothy Fields has spent the past 25 years working in various areas of higher education, primarily in enrollment management at Emory University where he currently serves as the Senior Associate Dean in Undergraduate Admission. In addition to his work in enrollment management, he has also worked in student affairs, residential life, athletics, academic advising and with several Federal TRiO programs at two-year, state flagship, and private institutions. He is native of Arlington, TX, a graduate of Morehouse College and he received his Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and two children. 

Shereem Herndon-Brown is the Founder and Chief Education Officer of Strategic Admissions Advice, an educational consulting company specializing in college counseling curriculum creation for charter schools and school districts and personalized college advice coaching. He has experience as an Admission Officer (Georgetown University) and been a college counselor and Director of Admission at an elite independent school in NYC. A native of Brooklyn, NY, Shereem is a graduate of Wesleyan University (BA, English and African-American Studies) and Middlebury College/Breadloaf School of English (MA, English). Above all, Shereem is a husband, father and distinguished gentleman of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated.

Sonali Bridges , Founder & President, Bridges Educational Consulting, is a firm believer in equity and access for all students in higher education, regardless of their academic or socioeconomic background. Sonali has a true sense of what makes a student stand out in the competitive application process based on over 25 years of experience as a former Director of Admission, Dean of Students, College Guidance Counselor and Application Reader at highly selective Universities. She is honest in her approach of helping students, and their families and sets realistic and attainable goals for every student.