Juanita Lott and Joel Jones Join CollegeSpring’s National Board of Directors

Oakland, Calif.—January 23, 2018—CollegeSpring, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the college opportunity gap for students from low-income backgrounds, today announced that Juanita Lott and Joel Jones have joined its national board of directors. Lott and Jones bring deep experience driving organizational growth and technology implementation for some of the world’s largest and most innovative companies, and join CollegeSpring as the organization embarks on a significant strategic planning process and expands to serve more than 5000 students per year.

Juanita Lott is a noted technology entrepreneur, executive, and advisor. She is the founder and former CEO of Bridgesteam Inc., an enterprise software company that was acquired by Oracle in 2007. She was also Chief Human Resources Officer for the business software firm Epicor. Currently, she is an advisory board member at Talent Sonar, a recruiting software provider, and a partner at Portfolia, an investment fund. She has served as a member of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives and received the Forum’s Trailblazer Award.

“CollegeSpring has earned a reputation as a test prep and college access expert for student populations that are sorely underrepresented in higher education,” Lott said. “I admire the organization’s commitment to learning and innovation, and am pleased and privileged to lend my support to an organization focused on closing the educational opportunity gap: a cause I care about deeply.”

Joel Jones is a longtime technology executive who currently serves as Facebook’s Vice President of Sales Planning and Operations. He has held multiple leadership roles at Facebook, at Yahoo! where he served as Chief of Staff to the CEO, and at McKinsey & Company where he helped leading companies launch and scale digital media products and services. He also serves as Chair of CollegeSpring’s San Francisco Bay Area board and on the council for the University of Michigan’s LEAD Scholars program.

“It’s been inspiring to witness CollegeSpring’s impressive growth in the Bay Area and to get to know its incredible community of students and mentors,” Jones said. “CollegeSpring has developed a successful and scalable model to drive diversity by closing the college opportunity gap, and there are so many more students we could be helping. I’m excited to deepen my commitment to their community on a national scale and to lend my support during this exciting period of expansion and innovation.”

“Juanita and Joel bring an incredible blend of strategic expertise, entrepreneurial energy, and personal commitment to our board,” said Yoon Choi, Collegespring’s CEO. “Their guidance will be incredibly valuable as we continue to grow, to deepen investments in our curriculum, and to launch a strategic planning process with the aim of further supporting our students. We’re thrilled to welcome them on board.”

About CollegeSpring

CollegeSpring is a national non-profit organization that equips students from low-income backgrounds with the academic skills and mentoring they need to close the SAT, ACT, and college opportunity gaps. Since 2008, CollegeSpring has served over 20,000 students in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, and New York, helping them achieve increased test scores, acceptances into better-matched, more-selective colleges, and greater opportunities for future success.

For more information, visit www.collegespring.org.