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Staff

BUILD Headquarters

Suzanne McKechnie Klahr: CEO and Founder

Suzanne McKechnie Klahr founded BUILD in 1999 with a public service fellowship from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Under Suzanne's leadership, BUILD has grown to serve more than six hundred students from twelve partner public high schools. BUILD currently operates two San Francisco Bay Area sites, one site in Washington, DC, and has plans for developing a national expansion. BUILD maintains an incredible track record with 100 percent of its seniors having applied to and gone onto college.  For her accomplishments with BUILD, Suzanne has received numerous awards and been asked to speak nationally on such topics as social entrepreneurship, venture philanthropy, new models of providing legal services to the poor, and poverty alleviation strategies. In 2006 she was inducted as a lifetime member of Ashoka, a global fellowship of leading social entrepreneurs. In 2007, she was honored by CBS's Jefferson Award on television, on radio, and in print. And in 2008, Suzanne was elected to the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame. Suzanne serves as a trustee of the Skadden Fellowship Foundation and as a board member of the Bay Area Community Equity Fund and the Glow Scholarship Foundation. She is currently a faculty adjunct at Stanford Law School teaching "Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship." She earned a dual degree from Brown University and a JD from Stanford Law School.

Jennifer Sigler:  Chief Operating Officer

After distinguishing herself as an Educational Pioneer, Jennifer joined BUILD in 2006 to assume leadership of the organization’s financial soundness, operational efficiency, and staff development. She has also partnered with the CEO to lead BUILD’s expansion strategy. Jennifer brings to her current role significant experience in both the public and private sectors. She began her professional career as a Management Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, leading teams through evaluation and customer service improvement processes for the United States Postal Service. Subsequently, she joined AOL’s Marketing Analysis department, where she concentrated on new strategies to boost member retention on the company’s premium services product line. Jennifer holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MA from Stanford’s School of Education. While earning her degrees, she served as CFO of Partnerships for Education, a student-run Stanford club, and as Co-President of the I Have a Dream mentoring program, which oversees a class of under-privileged students in their educational and developmental advancement.

Barbara Bellissimo: Director of Development

Barbara Bellissimo brings over twenty years of marketing, fundraising and entrepreneurship experience to BUILD. She’s held executive director positions at the Palo Alto Community Fund and the Martha’s Vineyard Donors Collaborative, and led development teams at People Acting in Community Together and Opportunities Industrialization Center-West. Barbara has also consulted with many nonprofit organizations in the areas of fundraising and strategic planning, and with individuals in the areas of women’s leadership and life/career transition. Prior to entering the nonprofit sector, Barbara led marketing teams at Apple and several Internet service providers. She also co-founded Privada, an Internet privacy services company that created patented technology to allow individuals to control the dissemination of their personal information over the Internet. Barbara holds a BS degree in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author of the bestselling book, Become Your Own Great and Powerful: A Woman’s Guide to Leading Your Real, Big Life.

Belle Burnett:  Development Associate

Belle handles special projects relating to development, including the logistical aspects of the organization's expansion into Washington, DC, and Boston, and directly supports the Director of Development.  Prior to joining BUILD, Belle worked at JPMorgan in San Francisco, as well as for Federal and local government agencies in D.C.  

Jason Martin:  Executive Assistant to the CEO

Jason comes to us from Wells Fargo's Head Quarters as Executive Assistant to Suzanne McKechnie Klahr, our CEO and Founder. Jason has over 13 years experience as an Executive Assistant within Wells Fargo's Securities Investment Group and The Conservation & Liquidation Office which managed over 250 insurance companies.  Jason is also a Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor, a serious dog lover and thinks that life is about kindness. We are very glad Jason has joinning our team at BUILD and hope to make full use of his vast business experience.

BUILD Peninsula

Rey Faustino: Peninsula Site Director

Rey  oversees all of BUILD's activities serving the communities of East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park, and Redwood City.  In addition to providing business advice and direction to the students, he is also a direct liaison to our business mentors and venture capital advisors. While in college, Rey was the Co-executive Director for the non-profit USC Troy Camp which takes 3rd through 5th graders from inner city Los Angeles to camp each summer. Under Rey's tenure, the program exposed over 800 children to nature, team and self-esteem building activities, and positive role models throughout the entire school year. Prior to BUILD, Rey worked as a site director for the for-profit educational company Mad Science, helped start up the family business, ReyCo Designs, which is a home-building and design firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and taught English in Tokyo, Japan. In his spare time in the summer, Rey volunteers as a Writing Coach Coordinator for the non-profit College Summit, helping increase the enrollment rate of mid-tier high school students across the country. Rey graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship.

Tracy Spann: College Counselor

Tracy Spann comes to BUILD from Nashville, TN where she spent the past 21 years as a career educator in the fields of education and college counseling. As a reading and English teacher, Tracy saw the first 11 years through the eyes of a seventh or eighth grader. She served as the Director/Chairperson of College Counseling offices for both competitive public and private schools in the Nashville area. Similar to the entrepreneurs of BUILD, Tracy began an independent college counseling business in 2005, which continues to operate in Tennessee. She holds a BS in English and an M.Ed. in School Counseling from Middle Tennessee State University.

Amber Bundy: Incubator Manager

Amber Bundy is from East Palo Alto, CA. and a member of BUILD’s 2003 class. She was the founder of Khinde and Ndosi Fashion Consulting, winning first in the 2001 BUILD Business Plan Competition. She recently graduated from The University of California Berkeley with a degree in Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. While at Cal she was an IDEAL scholar and received many other scholarships for stellar grades and community service. During her time at Berkeley, she served as the Executive Internal Director of the Black Recruitment and Retention Center, as well as the Activities Coordinator of African American Student Development Office and the vice-president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Rho Chapter. She was also active in NCNW. Amber’s long term career goal is to direct musicals on Broadway. She would also like to give youth the opportunity to gain exposure to theatre through her own theatre arts program. She likes performing, working with children, and decorating.

Sarah Bloem: Academic Program Manager

As the Peninsula Academic Program Manager, Sarah brings enthusiasm about entrepreneurship, education, and great experiences working with high school youth. She works to get the students to not only see themselves as interested in their business skills, but also to see how valuable and uniquely gifted they are for contributing great things to society with their futures. Sarah especially wants to see the students connecting their business success and what they learn about entrepreneurship to their academics. Making this connection is a unique and powerful way that BUILD, in particular, helps them have more confidence in themselves, do better in their classes, and be excited about lifelong learning. Sarah went to Baylor University for her Bachelor degree and recently finished up her Master in Social Work Degree at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, focusing on macro-level advocacy, policy, program development, and administration. It was in her MSW program that she fell in love with social entrepreneurship and high school students who struggled academically, behaviorally, and emotionally. In her internship at the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, she laid the groundwork for a not-for-profit organization that now enables university students and faculty across campus to implement their own social entrepreneurship ventures and projects both locally and around the world.

Nicole Oppenheim, Entrepreneurs 1 Program Manager

As Peninsula E1 Program Manger, Nicole is responsible for ensuring that first year Peninsula BUILD students, E1 teachers and E1 mentors have a positive and successful first year experience with BUILD. Nicole holds a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction and a BA in Psychology, both earned at the University of Michigan. Nicole most recently worked as a Program Director/Projects Manager at a non-profit agency, Migrant Health Promotion. In that role, Nicole directed programs with migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Michigan and with women living in the border region of South Texas-Mexico. Additionally, Nicole developed a curriculum which was certified by the State of Texas to train Community Health Workers to serve as leaders and advocates within their communities. Prior to working at Migrant Health Promotion, Nicole taught high school students at The Clonlara School in Ann Arbor for two years. During both of these prior experiences, Nicole developed expertise in Popular Education, a method of teaching that empowers learners to become community leaders. Originally from metro-Detroit, Michigan, Nicole enjoys gardening and cooking.

BUILD Oakland

Chantal Laurie: West Coast Regional Program Director

Chantal, an Oakland resident,  oversees all of BUILD’s West Coast programmatic activities. Prior to joining BUILD, Chantal served as the Manager of Fellow Programs with the KIPP Foundation where she helped train and support educators to become school founders and principals. In addition, Chantal taught fourth grade for two years in Washington, DC as a Teach For America corps member. She graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in American Studies.

Brianne Fitzgerald: Oakland Site Director

Brianne oversees all of BUILD's activities serving the Oakland community.  Prior to joining BUILD, Brianne taught 7th and 8th grade Language Arts at Davis Middle School in Compton. She also worked as a private home school teacher for a 4th and 7th grade student and designed interactive curricula that correlated with the 25 countries they visited while aboard a 4 month world cruise. Brianne has also served as an instructional coach for new teachers working at under-resourced schools and as the Career and Education Department lead at Youth Uprising, a youth development center in East Oakland. Brianne holds a BA in Communication with a minor in Spanish from the University of Southern California and a Masters in Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Shanif Sims: Academic Program Manager

Shanif oversees the Academic Incubator and is responsible for the academic success of the 10th and 11th grade students in the Oakland office. Prior to coming to BUILD Shanif served two years in Peace Corps Ukraine. In Ukraine she was a Project Manager and a Trainer in the Youth Development sector. As Project Manager, Shanif designed and implemented projects to meet the needs of the community’s youth. As a trainer, she instructed youth on Healthy Lifestyles, Business and Civics. Shanif graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in Sociology.

Annie Pellegrini, Entrepreneurs 1 Program Manager

As Oakland E1 Program Manger, Annie is responsible for ensuring that first year Oakland BUILD students, E1 teachers and E1 mentors have a positive and successful first year experience with BUILD. Prior to joining BUILD, Annie taught Spanish for three years at Skyline High School in Oakland. Annie has led students on cultural exchange programs to Colombia, has taught English in Spain, and has studied in several countries in Latin America.  Prior to her career in education, Annie was a recruiter in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Annie holds a BA in International Studies and Spanish from San Francisco State University.

Adam Barr: Incubator Manager

Adam manages the Business Incubator for students from North- and West- Oakland. Born in Santa Cruz, CA, Adam graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in English and African American Studies from Oberlin College, Adam served as artist in residence to Lorain County Public Schools’ Project GRAD—an initiative to boost high school students’ investment in school through music and activism. He moved on to direct the educational programs at the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of Lorain, Ohio. From 2005 to 2007, Adam taught Writing for College, American Literature, and AP English at Dr. Samuel L. Banks High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was a Teach for America corps member. After teaching at Banks, Adam took part in a study of various teaching styles led by the Adolescent Reading Project in Baltimore; he also taught SAT Prep in Connecticut and Michigan with Brown Reading Systems and wrote curriculum and led instruction of an engineering class with Galileo SummerQUEST.

Lyndsey Ballinger: Academic & Business Program Manager

Lyndsey Ballinger comes to us through VISTA after she was commissioned into the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant upon graduation. She did training in Texas in Aircraft Maintenance Management and came to California to be stationed at Travis Air Force Base. In addition to doing 4 years of ROTC at the Univesrity of Maryland, College Park where she majored in Criminology and Criminal Justice with a minor in GIS and Remote Sensing (dotting maps), she spent her summers as a general counselor with the Fresh Air Fund camp. At Fresh Air Fund she worked with under-resourced boys from NYC, ages 9-12, where her focus was on conflict management and the environment. Additionally, she worked with FAF to do staff recruiting throughout the school year to fill counselor positions. Lyndsey is from a military family, so she mostly hails from Richmond, VA although she graduated from high school in Rhode Island. She also loves puppies.

Colin Jones, Americorps*VISTA Volunteer Coordinator, E1 Program Assistant

Colin comes to BUILD through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. He is a 2008 graduate of Oberlin College where he received his degree in Political Science. He served as a finance associate for the U.S Senate campaign of former Congressman and NAACP Director Kweisi Mfume and as an intern in the office of Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee. While at Oberlin College, Colin was elected to the Oberlin College Student Senate for 3 full terms, and served on the Student Finance Committee for 2 years. For three years he helped to lead student volunteer efforts in Katrina relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region. Colin is originally from Amherst, Massachusetts.

BUILD Washington, D.C.

Ajuah Helton: East Coast Regional Program Director

Ajuah Helton began her career with BUILD in 2001 as entrepreneurship instructor. Though she relocated to Philadelphia in 2002 to pursue graduate studies in education, Ajuah stayed connected with BUILD as an advisor, mentor educator and facilitator and served as interim Director of Education in 2004. Ajuah has since rejoined the organization to spearhead BUILD’s expansion to the East Coast, beginning in Washington, DC. Prior to joining BUILD, Ajuah managed youth entrepreneurship programs at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and at The Enterprise Center in Philadelphia, where she was later promoted to Chief of Staff. Ajuah is a Certified Entrepreneurship Instructor through the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). She is also an alumna of Teach For America and taught two years in the Greater New Orleans area. Ajuah holds a BA in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University and did her graduate work in Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dennis Campbell: Entrepreneurs 1 Program Manager

Dennis Campbell is responsible for ensuring a successful introduction and experience for BUILD Metro DC’s Entrepreneurs 1 students, teachers and mentors. Prior to joining BUILD, Dennis was the Director of State and Federal Affairs for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. His primary responsibilities involved coordinating and managing both state and federal charter school policy initiatives. He also served as Committee Clerk for the District of Columbia Council's education committee. In that capacity, he worked with on key local education issues related to traditional public schools, charters and the first federally funded voucher program. Prior to his career in policy, Dennis co-founded and directed a business-literacy program for low-income youth in northern California. He also taught sixth grade at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. Dennis is a graduate of Tufts University with a Master’s degree in child development, with an emphasis on public policy, and is currently a doctoral candidate in educational leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.