Staff Bios

Alec L. Lee, Jr., Executive Director

An accomplished educator, Alec Lee co-founded Aim High in 1986 and serves as full-time Executive Director. Alec has a Masters in Education from Harvard University, and received a Klingenstein Fellowship from Columbia Teachers College. He taught history at Lick-Wilmerding High School, a college preparatory high school in San Francisco, for 17 years. As the Executive Director, Alec works closely with the Aim High staff, principals, teachers, and organizational partners.

Matt Reno, Director of Operations

Matt Reno is an experienced educator and administrator. Matt was a teacher and site director at Aim High for 15 years, prior to joining the full-time staff in 2004. Before joining Aim High, he was the Dean at St. Joseph’s of the Sacred Heart, in Atherton, CA, for nine years. Matt has a Masters degree in Education from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from San Francisco State. As Director of Operations, Matt has primary responsibility for the day-to-day management of the program finances and serves as the program director for all summer program sites and facilitates the opening and support of new summer program sites.

Laura Foulke, Director of Development

Laura Foulke joined the full-time staff of Aim High in 2005. Laura has 17 years of experience in education and nonprofit management. Prior to Aim High, she served as Dean of Student Support Services at a K-8 charter school in Boston, was the Director of Early College Awareness and managed a GEAR UP partnership between Harvard University and a middle school in Boston focused on helping middle school students prepare for and pursue post-secondary education. She has also served as a Program Officer at a small foundation in San Francisco. Laura has a Masters in Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Bowdoin College. As Director of Development, Laura has primary responsibility for fundraising and external relations for Aim High. She is involved with a local sketch comedy group, Killing My Lobster, and enjoys many outdoor activities. Laura's dog Chico is the Aim High office mascot.

Sandra Korison Lee, Director of Academics and Program Evaluation

After serving students as a teacher and school administrator in Oakland and San Francisco, Sandra Korison Lee joined the Aim High staff in the fall of 2006 as the Director of Special Projects.  Sandra began her career in education teaching students with learning disabilities in Phoenix, Arizona as a Teach for America corps member after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania.  She earned a M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from Arizona State University and was selected to be a Behring Fellow at UC Berkeley's Principals Leadership Institute program. As the Director of Academics & Program Evaluation for Aim High, Sandra works closely with Alec, Matt, Site Directors and various organizational partners to strategically plan for growth and to align Aim High's model to high quality programming for middle school youth. Sandra loves surfing glassy waves, shopping at farmers' markets, and collaborating with visionaries to make ideas come to fruition.

Richard Lautze, Director for Headlands Environmental Home Program

Richard Lautze, a veteran teacher at The Urban School in San Francisco, has worked part-time at Aim High for more than 15 years and served as the Director for the Headlands Program since 1997. Richard supervises both the Headlands Environmental Home program during the summer and the Winter Phase work performed by Aim High students during the academic year. Richard also works with the Site Stewardship Program of the Golden Gate National Parks Association, and works closely with lead teachers from the collaborating middle schools that are involved in the program during the academic year.

Dana L. Hernandez, Development & Technology Assistant

Dana L. Hernandez has a Masters degree in Educational Technology from Columbia University Teachers College and an Sc.B. in Educational Psychology from Brown University. She was the Director of Technology at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, California for four years before she moved into private consulting designing data management systems. Dana worked as a computer teacher with Aim High in the summers of 1995 and 1996 before becoming a Site Director for 6 years. Dana acted as the Interim Executive Director of Aim High when Alec Lee took a 6 month sabbatical, and then she became the Associate Director for 2 years. Currently Dana works part-time with Aim High as the Development & Technology Assistant and continues to work as an educational technology consultant with schools, nonprofit organizations and small businesses specializing in database design and network planning.

Kat White, Development and Communications Coordinator

Kat White joined the Aim High staff as Development and Communications Coordinator in 2008.  Before coming to Aim High, Kat worked as an assistant in the Claremont Community Foundation and completed a two-year Americorps Teaching Fellowship with Citizen Schools after-school program in Redwood City, where she worked with sixth grade students and managed events, recruited and trained volunteers, and led family and community outreach efforts for her campus.  Kat earned her B.A. in Media Studies from Pomona College.  At Aim High, Kat works on Aim High’s communications, events and public relations projects and assists with fundraising. She also sings with a womens' jazz quartet.

Kimberly Shannon, Student Center Director

Kimberly Shannon began working with Aim High as a Teaching Intern at Aim High \ Wallenberg and joined the central office staff as Student Center Director in 2008. Kim manages Aim High's year-round programs and assists with strategic planning. She holds a B.A. in American Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality studies from Trinity College.