"It's like a job. You have goals. You see results" -Yuriy, Experience Corps Member

Eric Boven, Special Projects Manager
David Cohen, Senior Advisor
Elizabeth Fox, Senior Advisor
John Gomperts, CEO
Michelle Hynes, Director
Christina New, Program Manager
Sarah Priestman, Director of Communications
Rana Suliman, Program Manager
Stefanie Weiss, Vice President for Communications for Civic Ventures
Amy Zandarski-Pica, Associate Director

Alex Harris, Photographer and Duke University Professor of the Practice of Public Policy and Documentary Studies

is Special Projects Manager for Experience Corps. In this cross-functional position, Eric is responsible for creating and maintaining systems that facilitate effective use of relevant knowledge and information by all members of the Experience Corps national staff, and among the Experience Corps network. Prior to joining the national office, Eric directed the fundraising efforts for Generations Incorporated, Boston's host to Experience Corps, from 2001-2006. In that position he played a key role in developing systems to support the program's growth from 40 members to 300 members. Most recently, Eric was Development Manager for The Child and Family Network Centers, an award winning early childhood education program in Alexandria, VA. Eric is a former AmeriCorps*VISTA member, and he holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Calvin College.
E-mail: eboven [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is a senior advisor to Experience Corps and a senior fellow at Civic Ventures. He is Co-Chair of the Advocacy Institute Board and one of its two founders. Cohen pioneered the Institute's work in its international capacity building programs where he facilitates workshop and strategy sessions. He was also an active participant in the Institute's Leadership for a Changing World Program, directing the Learning Initiatives aspect of the program, which provides funds for the learning of awardees and their colleagues to strengthen the overall purpose of an organization's program. Advocacy practitioners around the world have translated his writings on advocacy, civil society, and lobbying into many different languages. His writings have appeared as essays in college text books and in major U.S. newspaper. His most recent publication is a chapter in the Non-Profit Lobbying Guide (by Bob Smucker) entitled "Being A Public Interest Lobbyist Is Something To Write Home About." Cohen also co-authored Advocacy for Social Justice: A Global Action and Reflection Guide. He has been an advocate and strategist on many of the major social justice and political reform issues in the United States since the early 1960s. He played a leading role in the fight for Congress to end its support for the Vietnam War. From 1984 to 1992, he led the Professionals' Coalition for Nuclear Arms Control to stop the U.S. nuclear arms build-up by supporting arms control agreements and reducing the military budget. He served as president of Common Cause, the largest voluntary membership organization in the United States working on government accountability issues.
E-mail: dcohen [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

has worked as a human services entrepreneur and administrator the past 25 years to improve services and opportunities for older adults. Since 2001, Fox has been Experience Corps's Director of Policy Development and Senior Advisor. In that capacity, she develops federal policy initiatives, manages Congressional relations, and promotes the Experience Corps mission nationally through networking and speaking. In 1999, she founded Experience Corps Washington DC, raised local funds to support it, then directed its operations for two years. From 1982 to 1998, Fox was executive director of IONA Senior Services, working to make IONA a model of community-based service and advocacy for seniors. Fox was responsible for program development and management, a $2.4 million budget, a staff of 50 professionals and 700 volunteers, and many public and private partnerships. She led a five-year community planning effort and secured $9.5 million in property and gifts to create a new state-of-the-art center. From 1979-82, Fox was founder and executive director of Christian Communities Group Homes, a model housing program for poverty-level seniors. She currently serves as chair of the group's council. Fox has a B.A. in philosophy from Wellesley College and an M.A. in social work from Catholic University of America.
E-mail: efox [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is President of Civic Ventures and CEO of Experience Corps, and has been deeply involved in promoting civic engagement across the lifespan in senior leadership positions in both government and the nonprofit sector. As CEO of Experience Corps since 2003, Gomperts has led a major expansion of the program. He has focused efforts on national expansion, high standards for program quality, and rigorous evaluation of impact. Prior to joining Civic Ventures and Experience Corps, Gomperts served in a variety of positions including Chief Operating Officer at Public Education Network, the nation´s largest network of community–based school reform organizations, and Chief of Staff of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the National Senior Service Corps. Gomperts has also worked in senior positions in the U.S. Senate, first as legislative director for Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania, and then as deputy director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committee, working for Senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and John Kerry of Massachusetts. Before heading to Capitol Hill, Gomperts practiced law and clerked for a federal judge. He serves on the boards of Hands On Network and Volunteer Match, and the advisory board of Politics & Prose, an independent bookstore in Washington. Gomperts, a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and has a J.D. from Georgetown University.
E-mail: jgomperts [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is a Vice President of Civic Ventures and Director for Experience Corps. Over the past 16 years, she has been a leader in efforts to increase children's academic achievement, engage the public in improving public schools, and create stronger communities. For the past three years, Michelle has led Experience Corps to double in size, adding sites in six new cities and nearly 1,000 more members to a national service program that now serves 20,000 children and 160 public schools across the country. Before joining Experience Corps, Hynes was a consultant to several nonprofit organizations in the Washington, DC area. Earlier in her career, she directed a multi-million dollar, federally-funded children's literacy program at Reading Is Fundamental, designed an information clearinghouse and other member services for the Public Education Network, and managed several programs focused on connecting community organizations with their local public schools. As a volunteer, Michelle has been involved with the Washington Area Women's Foundation, the In2Books Pen Pal program, and an informal network of Washington, DC voters interested in local school governance. She also serves on the advisory board for Tranquil Space Yoga and is helping to design a new program for high school girls that combines yoga, creativity, and leadership activities. Michelle holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a master's degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania.
E-mail: mhynes [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is an Experience Corps Program Manager. Before joining the Experience Corps team, Christina was Project Coordinator for the Center for Survivor Agency and Justice, a national domestic violence advocacy organization in Washington D.C. Christina has also held the position of Senior Case Manager at Safe Horizon, a crime victim advocacy organization in New York. While there, she worked with survivors of domestic violence in the Queens Criminal and Supreme Court Program. Previously, she held internships providing direct services to the mentally ill, at The Bridge, Inc., a mental health organization, and to families at The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Christina holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Delaware and an M.S.W. from Hunter College School of Social Work in New York.
E-mail: cnew [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is Communications Director for Experience Corps. Most recently, Priestman worked as communications manager for Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, an award-winning, cross-generational performance company and learning institution headed by MacArthur "genius grant" winner Liz Lerman. Priestman has also served as both the marketing and administrative director for Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York and as a project manager for the New American High Schools program at the Office of Vocational and Adult Education at the US Department of Education. Priestman has an MFA in creative writing from American University. Her work has appeared in The Hudson Review, Common Boundary Magazine and The Washingtonian, and she is the recipient of a DC Commission on the Arts/National Endowment on the Arts Award for Literary Excellence. An experienced freelance writer, she has also authored two ghostwritten books and a variety of reports, newsletters and articles.
E-mail: spriestman [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is an Experience Corps Program Manager with a background in volunteer development and aging issues. Most recently she served as an Education & Training Associate with Health Assistance Partnership, a project of Families USA, where she worked intensively on building and enhancing volunteer programs within the SHIP (State Health Insurance and Assistance Program) network. As a volunteer, Rana has spent the last 8 years engaged in at-risk youth programs based in Central Pennsylvania and the Washington, DC area working with groups such as Paso a Paso and the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless. She has also spent time working with a Breast Cancer Awareness group in rural Sudan. Rana is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College where she majored in Sociology and Spanish.
E-mail: rsuliman [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is Vice President for Communications at Civic Ventures. For several years, she wrote a column called "MidLife" for the Washington Post Health section. Prior to joining Civic Ventures, Weiss worked as communications director for the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. Before joining the University, Weiss worked for 16 years at the National Education Association in the human and civil rights department, the publications department, and the communications department. In her last post at NEA, she served as an editor of NEA Today, the organization's flagship publication with a circulation of 2.5 million. In addition, Weiss co-authored a book, Protecting the Freedom to Learn, published by People for the American Way. She also handled communications and public relations duties for the United Auto Workers Union, both in Detroit and during a groundbreaking organizing drive in Ithaca, N.Y. Weiss has a bachelor's degree in English and American Studies from Cornell University.
E-mail: sweiss [at] experiencecorps [dot] org

is an Experience Corps Associate Director with expertise in building the capacities of individuals and communities through direct service and advocacy. Prior to coming to Experience Corps, Zandarski-Pica served for six years as the Program Coordinator for the Georgetown Ministry Center in Washington, DC, which engages homeless individuals and helps transition them from the street to housing. Most recently, Zandarski-Pica completed graduate fieldwork in program management and policy development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Special Needs Assistance. Zandarski-Pica holds a Master's in Social Work from the University of Maryland-Baltimore, with a concentration in Management and Community Organization.
E-mail: azandpica [at] experiencecorps [dot] org