THINK Together Adds Five New Board Members to Represent the Newly Acquired Bay Area Operations
Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) November 12, 2013 -- THINK Together has added five new members to the nonprofit, education support organization’s Board of Directors, providing deep local ties and representation to extended learning time programs recently acquired in the Bay Area.
The new board members, Bill Tamblyn, Julie Vennewitz-Pierce, John Poch, Steve Robertson and Paula Moreno are former members of the Bay Area After-School All-Stars board. This summer, the Bay Area After-School All-Stars board announced it was ending its affiliation with the national organization and joining THINK Together, combining forces to provide enhanced benefits to the students and families served in three school districts.
“We are pleased to welcome these five new members to our board,” said THINK Together Founder and CEO Randy Barth. “Their deep connections in the Bay Area and commitment to kids will be crucial to our success in closing the achievement gap and providing a brighter future for the students we serve.”
In the Bay Area, THINK Together provides extended learning time programs to 20 elementary and middle schools in San Jose Unified, Newark Unified and Alum Rock school districts and ACE Charter, serving more than 2,000 kids every day. Program components include academics, enrichment, health/fitness and a thriving afterschool sports program where students have the opportunity to participate in organized sports.
The new members have extensive business, legal, academic and athletic backgrounds and all have had long ties to Bay Area afterschool programs.
Bill Tamblyn previously was employed by Ditech Networks as Executive Vice President Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to his corporate experience, Bill spent 10 years in public accounting, working the last five years for Coopers and Lybrand. He specialized in emerging‐growth companies and public clients. A Certified Public Accountant (inactive), Bill received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from San Jose State University.
As Senior Manager, Philanthropy at the ebay Foundation, Julie Vennewitz-Pierce manages strategic grant program partnerships, oversees the global GIVE Team program, and leads the pro bono program. She also works with employees from across the company to weave social impact into their everyday work and programs. In addition, she is driving data collection and analysis for the Social Innovation employee engagement and philanthropic work.
Prior to joining ebay Foundation, she spent six years at the San Jose Sharks and The Sharks Foundation. She received her bachelor of science degree in Business Marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and holds a master of science degree in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts.
John Poch is the Deputy Director of Athletics/External Operations for San Jose State University. In this role, he manages the department's external relations components of fundraising and community relations. He is also Executive Director of the Spartan Foundation and serves as the sports supervisor for baseball and women's tennis. He also has a lead role in the fundraising for the Spartan Stadium North End Zone Project.
Steve Robertson is currently the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at Silicon Image and was previously the Director of Finance and Operations at SC Investments Consulting, LLC.
Robertson served twice as the interim Executive Director of the All Stars Board and conducted an executive search for a permanent leader.
In addition to All Stars, Robertson was an Executive Board Member and Treasurer for the 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley from 2001 – 2006, and has served on a local youth soccer league board for the past five years.
Paula Moreno’s father was a principal and administrator for the San Jose Unified School District for 25 years, and she followed his example with extensive community service as a scholarship committee member and director-at-large for the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers’ Association and Girl Scout troop leader.
She is currently Ford Motor Company’s national asbestos, benzene and silica litigation counsel and national expert coordinating asbestos counsel for Navistar, Inc. And she is also national asbestos counsel for General Motors Company and directs all aspects of that litigation. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a political science degree, and she has a juris doctorate degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law.
About THINK Together
THINK Together is a nonprofit education organization that partners with schools and school districts to support systems, mostly for low-income students, in order to close the achievement gap and has grown into the state’s largest provider of Extended Learning Time programs, (early literacy, after-school, summer learning, etc.). THINK Together currently serving more than 100,000 students at more than 442 locations across 41 school districts from San Diego to Sacramento. Partnering with school administrators and teachers, its academic programs and dedicated team of 3,000 employees are helping students close the achievement gap. THINK is an acronym: Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit
Kathleen Sanchez, THINK Together, http://www.thinktogether.org/, +1 (714) 543-8807 Ext: 8163, [email protected]
Share this article