Marisol Adriana Burgueño is the National Senior Manager of Digital Strategies and Innovation. Before BUILD, Marisol dedicated her career to public advocacy and the intersection of design and social impact. Marisol received her Master’s in Product Design & Development from ELISAVA Barcelona School of Engineering and holds a Bachelors in Industrial Design from California College of the Arts. Marisol started her career by working in various roles in product design and visual communications for social entrepreneurship companies. After leaving the for-profit sector, she put her knowledge of design and background in communications to use, working with nonprofit anti-violence organizations and educational programs for under-served youth in the Bay Area. Marisol’s goals are fueled by her passion to bring an end to the cycles of violence and poverty in her community. She is focused on strengthening community partnerships, increasing access to resources and public awareness.

Brian Costanzo was most recently President and CEO of SOCAP International. He entered the association profession in 2005, joining the executive staff of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). He served first as EO’s Senior Vice President, Global Membership and later became the group’s Senior Vice President, Business Development in 2014. Brian’s previous 20 years were spent providing unparalleled client service in a variety of roles—as restaurant manager, sales manager, customer service manager and director of operations—for high-end properties, including Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Signature Hospitality Group. He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and became a Certified Association Executive (CAE) in January 2011. As a former entrepreneur himself, Brian founded his own company, Vision Hospitality, in 2004. Brian says, “Entrepreneurship has been a significant part of my life for many years and I can think of no better mission than to deliver a program to our youth that builds self confidence and self-esteem.”

Rashaida is a lifelong educator who enjoys providing life-changing opportunities to students and coaching and supporting teachers. She joined BUILD as its first Satellite Program Director, supporting partner schools and organizations across the country to implement the BUILD experience with their students. Her support ranged from curriculum development to student event support.  She now serves as Program Director, National Partnerships. Rashaida’s goal is to support teachers and students as BUILD expands across the country.

Rashaida is excited to join the BUILD team so that she can combine her love for coaching teachers with entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur herself, Rashaida has learned how to run and manage her own businesses through trial and error. She recognizes the value that BUILD provides as we teach students the skills early on that allow them to thrive as young entrepreneurs, ready to be successful young adults in the 21st Century. Rashaida finds value in knowing that her work with BUILD provides new opportunities for students that look like her, opportunities that students of color deserve to receive, but often are denied simply due to the color of their skin or where they live.

Rashaida comes to BUILD after serving as a school leader, leading a team of instructional coaches, and teaching in the classroom. Every day Rashaida strives to provide positive opportunities for students so that they may dream big, aim high, and shatter glass ceilings.

Before joining BUILD, Alfred dedicated his efforts towards community-led systems change with high schools as fulcrum at XQ Institute. He led the professional learning community within the network of schools across the country to actualize their bold ideas and fostered the partnership with the Carnegie Foundation of the Advancement of Teaching to build a new architecture for learning to replace the current time-based system.

While at the Buck Institute for Education (now PBLWorks), Alfred led the development of their integrated Project Based Learning teacher experience that offered services and tools to guide educators in their journey toward sustained, high-quality PBL practice.

Alfred also taught math and physics at High Tech High where he used his engineering background and industry experience to design classroom projects and educator workshops. Alfred started his career with Andersen Consulting doing business/internet consulting and later joined a Bay Area venture fund, CreateLabs.

Alfred currently resides in Minneapolis with his wife and daughter.

I graduated from high school thinking I wanted to be a professional musician, so I majored in music at the University of Central Florida. I spent my days playing music, sports, and pledging to a fraternity but failed to have an academic focus. After three semesters of struggle, I went to work for Disney World, where for the first time in my life I was given responsibility for other employees. I blossomed in this role and was sent to France to open Euro Disney where I lived and worked for four months. Coming back home with a burning desire to learn more about the African diaspora, I went back to school graduating with a sociology degree from State University of New York Geneseo. I wanted to pursue a career where I could make a difference in the world, particularly for those who have historically been underserved and denied the opportunity. I moved to NYC where I taught high school, then was hired by NAF (National Academy Foundation) in 2000 to help launch the Academy of Information Technology. NAF is a national network of education, business, and community leaders who work together to ensure high school students are college, career, and future ready.

My NAF career has been a wonderful 22-year journey which has prepared me for this incredible opportunity with BUILD. I helped NAF grow from supporting 3,000 students to over 120,000 today, with budgets growing from $8M to $25M, and a staff of 17 to over 90. Growth and scale are not easy hills to climb, however, I am very confident that we will accomplish that at BUILD given the incredible work done to date and the passion and energy that exists to create an even brighter future.

I believe that we are at a critical moment in the United States, confronted with deep partisan divisions roiled by populism, racism, and other dividing forces. Now more than ever, our country needs an organization committed to helping its youth develop the entrepreneurial skills and growth mindsets that will empower them as leaders of innovation, agents of change, and position them for success as the CEOs of their lives. I am very honored and super excited to lead the BUILD team at this unique moment.

Thais comes to us from BizWorld, having formerly spent the last eight years as BizWorld’s CEO, where she grew the organization to become the largest teacher-led entrepreneurship education non-profit in the world, serving over 850,000 students worldwide. She launched BizWorld’s innovative YES! Program to support young entrepreneurs to gain access to tools, mentorship, and capital needed to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

Thais holds an unwavering commitment to making economic opportunities and entrepreneurship education accessible to all students, particularly those from traditionally underserved and underrepresented backgrounds. She started her career in the non-profit world, focusing on micro-enterprise development. For eight years, she led the growth of innovative programming and the organizational expansion at Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. As the lead developer of the successful business propulsion program “SuccessLink,” she set a new national standard for entrepreneurship support services that became a national model. Thais worked for the Mexican Consulate as part of The Mexican Communities Abroad Team, where she helped implement and develop health, education, and business trade programs. Her background also includes journalism work in both TV and print, covering the tech industry. She resides with her husband and three daughters in Seattle.

Ed Wilson has over a decade of experience in fundraising and development. Prior to leading BUILD’s National Development efforts, Ed served as the Development Director for BUILD Boston. Ed earned his MBA, with a concentration in Leadership & Organizational Change, from Northeastern University, and his BA in Economics and Management from Albion College, Michigan. Ed resides in Dedham, MA with his wife Jennie and his two daughters Adeline and Violet.

Sue has 30 years of experience as a regional and national nonprofit executive, successfully building and leading cross-functional, inclusive, high-performing teams. She has held executive roles at nonprofits including The Posse Foundation, an acclaimed national college access and diversity program; Health Leads, an award-winning national social enterprise; and Peace First, a global youth empowerment and youth-led platform for social change. What all of these organizations have in common are two things: they are enterprises navigating growth and scale, with missions focused on removing barriers to creating a more just and equitable society.

Sue has successfully led in nearly every functional area, including fundraising, program, talent, culture, and administration. In her executive capacities, Sue has worked with many nonprofit boards. She has also served as a board member, including as Chair of the inaugural board for Y2Y Network, an innovative social enterprise that uses student-run, overnight shelters to provide safe and affirming environments for young adults experiencing homelessness.

Betsy Neptune comes to BUILD with over 15 years of experience in community economic development in Latin America and the U.S. She is passionate about creating a world in which everyone can have a job that they love and one through which they can grow and develop in order to have a positive impact. In her most recent role as the Chief of Economic Development for the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, she led economic recovery and resilience efforts for 101 cities and towns in Greater Boston. During her tenure, she expanded the work of the team beyond traditional economic development efforts, to include workforce development, digital access, and other strategies to advance wealth creation with a focus on reducing the racial wealth gap. Over the past year, her team played a key role in COVID response and recovery efforts throughout the Greater Boston region.

Prior to that role, she led the Small Business Technical Assistance program for the City of Boston, after serving as the Executive Director of Egleston Square Main Street, an organization in Jamaica Plain/Roxbury whose mission is to support small businesses. This work was shaped by her experiences working in community economic development for several years in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

Betsy has a heart for teaching, coaching, and entrepreneurship, so BUILD is a perfect fit. She has taught high school and graduate-level classes and also coaches existing and emerging entrepreneurs through her coaching business. She is a graduate of Trinity College with a degree in Anthropology and has certificates in Nonprofit Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. She received her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and lives in Boston.

Ryan Oliver serves as Regional Executive Director for BUILD Bay Area and Los Angeles, holding primary responsibility for leading growth initiatives and directing strategy. Ryan brings twenty years of experience as an innovative educator, leader, and program designer in urban schools, from Boston and Pittsburgh to Los Angeles and East Oakland. Previously, Ryan served as Founding Program Director for BUILD Boston. A Bay Area native, Ryan has lived, learned, and worked on both coasts. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard University, a Master of Arts in Education from California State University Monterey Bay, and Principal Certification from University of Pittsburgh.