COLLEGE & CAREER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- President and CEO / Community Foundation of the Ozarks
- President and CEO / Community Foundation of the Ozarks / Secretary
- Treasurer of MOCAN
Brian Fogle is treasurer of MOCAN and President of Community Foundation of the Ozarks, responsible to the Board of Directors to carry out the mission and action plan of the organization. Prior to joining the CFO in 2008, he spent 30 years in banking in Springfield. Brian's hometown is Aurora, Mo., where he is a graduate of Aurora High School. He obtained BBA and MBA in banking and finance from the University of Mississippi. Brian provides leadership and guidance for numerous civic and nonprofit groups. Currently, he chairs the Good Community Committee and is on the board of Every Child Promise, the Mercy Health Foundation, the Downtown Council of Champions, Healthy Living Alliance, and the Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation. He was awarded the O. Franklin Kenworthy Leadership Award in 1990, the National Community Leadership Award in 1993, and the Springfieldian Award in 2010, and received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Drury University in December 2011. Brian's motto in life: Often wrong, seldom in doubt.
Job Titles:
- Director, College Access & Career Readiness
Cherelle Washington serves as Director, College Access and Career Readiness, at MOCAN. Cherelle leads our college access and career readiness strategy and network, as well as the Professional Development Institute. Cherelle joined MOCAN from KC Scholars where she was Program Manager, College Savings Match and Traditional Scholars. Cherelle has past experience as an Academic Adviser at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, program management experience at two college access nonprofit organizations, and is an alumna of the Missouri College Advising Corps. Cherelle received both her Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is currently a part of the Centurions Leadership Program through the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager
- Foundation Program Manager / Commerce Bank
Cynthia Curry Crim is the Grants Manager for the Norman J. Stupp Foundation (Commerce Trust Company). Cynthia has more than fourteen years of management experience in the Nonprofit Sector. She has a passion for developing new programs, serving as a connector of people and organizations and technical advisor. Before joining Commerce Bank, Cynthia was the Director of Sector Relations for the Nonprofit Services Consortium. Her first job in the field of grantmaking was in Chicago, Illinois with the Steans Family Foundation as their Associate Executive Director. Cynthia holds a MPA from Clark-Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia and a BA from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As one for the founding member of the St. Louis Graduates Steering Committee, Cynthia is passionate about the value of postsecondary education and greater equity in who benefits from it. She is also actively involved on several nonprofit boards in the St. Louis area including the St. Louis Community College Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Commissioner
- Commissioner / Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development
Dr. Boggs comes to Missouri with an extensive background in higher education. He hails from the Colorado Department of Higher Education where he served as the Deputy Executive Director as well as the Chief of Staff to the Executive Director. Prior to his role in Colorado, Dr. Boggs worked across many areas of higher education, including the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and the Kentucky General Assembly. Dr. Boggs also has experience working within both public and private institutions of higher education. Dr. Boggs earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Wake Forest University, a master's of education from The College of William and Mary, a Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy Studies from the University of Virginia, and completed the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.
Dr. Beth Tankersley-Bankhead is the former president and CEO of Kansas City Scholars, Inc. Tankersley-Bankhead, who previously served as the director of postsecondary initiatives in Education at the Kauffman Foundation, steered the development of KC Scholars with input from over 70 community stakeholders in the Kansas City region and led its incubation at the Kauffman Foundation. KC Scholars is a 501(c)3 college scholarship and student support program that serves low- and modest-income high school students and adult learners in a six-county, bi-state service area. KC Scholars was launched in fall 2016, has completed three application and award cycles, and has over 3,000 Scholars in the program currently, near 1,200 of them in college in fall 2019. There will be near 10,000 in the program by 2020 and near 20,000 by 2027. Before transitioning to the Kauffman Foundation and now to KC Scholars, Tankersley-Bankhead previously served as the executive director of the Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC), a full-time near-peer college advising model headquartered at the University of Missouri and serving in high schools statewide that had high proportions of low-income, first-generation college-goers. Tankersley-Bankhead also previously worked at the University of Missouri (MU), University of Central Missouri, Kappa Delta Pi, University of Nebraska-Kearney, and Eastern Illinois University.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity
Dr. Sharon (Shari) Sevier is the former Director of Advocacy for the Missouri School Counselor Association (MSCA). Prior to her position with MSCA, Dr. Sevier spent 30 years as a school counselor at every level, including work as adjunct faculty in Counselor Education in both New York State and Missouri. Dr. Sevier served two terms as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American School Counselor Association, and held many leadership positions in both New York and Missouri school counseling organizations. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor for the State of Missouri. A native of Central New York, Dr. Sevier earned her Certificate of Advanced Studies degree in Counseling Services from the University of New York at Oswego, and her doctorate in Counselor Education from Syracuse University. Dr. Sevier was on the initial planning committee for MOCAN, and is honored to serve as a Board member.
Job Titles:
- Director of Human Resources / Independence School
Job Titles:
- Executive Director / Missouri College
Job Titles:
- Director of Affordability
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of Missouri College
Laura Winter is Executive Director of Missouri College and Career Attainment Network. Prior to this role, Laura was Executive Director of St. Louis Graduates, a network of K-12 and higher education, youth-serving non-profit organizations, business and philanthropy working to eliminate equity gaps in degree completion.
Laura is a graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a master's degree in public policy administration, and of Boston College with a bachelor's degree in English. She is a graduate of the program for state and local government officials at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director / BDT & MSD Partners
- Managing Director / BDT & MSD Partners / Member
- Principal at BDT & MSD Partners
Lisa MacDougall is a Principal at BDT & MSD Partners focused on the firm's Philanthropy and Social Impact initiatives. In this role, Lisa supports the rootEd Alliance to meaningfully improve postsecondary and career outcomes for rural students, including those in Missouri. Prior to joining BDT, Lisa was a vice president of Goldman Sachs where she helped launch and direct programs for 10,000 Women, a strategic philanthropic initiative focused on women's economic empowerment. Before Goldman Sachs, Lisa worked at the World Bank Group managing projects to improve business and management education in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked as a legislative assistant in Wisconsin, focused on rural economic development, and has served as a member of the United States Peace Corps in Senegal. Lisa holds an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. BDT & Company is a merchant bank that provides advice and long-term capital through its affiliated funds to help family- and founder-led businesses pursue their strategic and financial objectives. The firm works with owners of closely held businesses to find creative solutions to their most complex issues, while providing access to a world-class network of business owners and leaders. The firm's affiliate, BDT Capital Partners, has raised more than $16 billion across its investment funds and has created and manages an additional $6 billion of co-investments from its global limited partner investor base.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director / Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation
- Executive Director / Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation / Member
- Executive Director of the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation
Melissa Findley is the Executive Director of the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation. The Foundation helps students pay for college with scholarships, interest-free loans, degree completion grants and emergency grants. In addition to the Foundation's programs, the Foundation supports Missouri families by funding other initiatives that reduce barriers to higher education. MOCAN is an example of this, and she is thrilled to have been a part of the creation of MOCAN. Melissa is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, and prior to joining the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation served in the student loan department at Commerce Bank. Melissa's family is comprised of her husband Lee and their children Drew and Ali.
Job Titles:
- Senior Family College Prep Program Student Advisor, Greater Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund
- Senior Family College Prep Program Student Advisor, Greater Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund / Member
Robert Sagastume is Senior Family College Prep Program Student Advisor at the Greater Kansas City Hispanic Development Fund (HDF). At HDF, Robert works to improve the quality of life of Latino families through scholarship support and financial aid advising. Robert's expertise in college access and retention advising was developed and solidified through his/their personal and professional experiences. As a former undocumented immigrant, member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and first-generation college graduate, Robert has a wealth of knowledge on systematic barriers that are faced by some students and families at the intersection of their identities and the attainment of higher education processes.  Robert earned Master's Degrees in Social Work and in Social Policy from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from the University of Kansas. Robert was recently elected to the Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director / Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority
- Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for MOHELA
Scott D. Giles serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for MOHELA, and Chairman of the Board for Knowledge Finance. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for the Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation. Mr. Giles previously served as the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, while transitioning into the CEO role. Mr. Giles recently served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Trellis Company, Trellis Ventures and Waypoint from 2018 to 2021. In Texas, he was a member of the Texas Business Leadership Council and the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Giles also previously served as the Director of Finance and the Chief Financial Officer for MOHELA from 2006 to 2018 and as Treasurer from 2005 to 2006. Prior to joining MOHELA in 2005, he served as the Director of the Missouri Student Loan Group of the Missouri Department of Higher Education. Mr. Giles is currently the Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Higher Education Resources and he previously served as a member and Chairman of the Board for Mapping Your Future. He has also served as a commissioned bank examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and as an assistant bank examiner with the Missouri Division of Finance. Mr. Giles holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from Southeast Missouri State University and Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Missouri Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Postsecondary Equity and Attainment
Trent leads MOCAN's postsecondary attainment strategy, including our research agenda and advocacy work. Trent joins MOCAN from Southeast Missouri State University where he was Associate Provost in Academic Affairs. At Southeast, Trent held positions in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, TRIO programs, and student support services. Trent is nationally recognized for his work in TRIO programs, including service as Chair of the Council for Opportunity in Education. He is also formerly Co-chair of St. Louis Graduates. Trent has a Bachelors degree from Culver-Stockton College and a Master's degree from Southeast Missouri State University. Trent is the recipient of the 2022 Walter O. Mason Award from the Council for Opportunity in Education.