Our Team
Alexandra Bernadotte, Founder & CEO
Cat Boroff, Program Director
Lelia Johnson, College Coach
Meron Mesfine, College Coach
Adam Park, President & COO
Fernando Serrato, College Coach
Megan Slater, Product Director
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Alex Bernadotte has more than 15 years of executive management and strategic development experience in both the nonprofit and private sectors. Before creating Beyond 12, she served as an associate partner at NewSchools Venture Fund, where she oversaw the firm's work to build community and share knowledge among its entrepreneurs, and also guided the organization's efforts to ensure that its portfolio organizations prepare students to not only attend college, but to persist and graduate. In 2009, Alex became an Entrepreneur in Residence at NewSchools, where she developed the business plan for Beyond 12. Alex's previous professional experience includes serving as executive director of The Princeton Review's Silicon Valley office, co-founder and vice president of marketing and online strategy at educational travel startup Explorica, director of operations at EF Education, and operations manager at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where she coordinated the efforts of an international youth substance abuse prevention foundation. Alex was also the executive director of Foundation for a College Education (FCE), a nonprofit in East Palo Alto, California, whose mission is to increase the number of students of color who enroll in and graduate from college. She recently completed a 3-year term as president of the FCE board of directors, currently serves on the FCE advisory board and is a volunteer mentor for a group of FCE college students. Alex received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and earned a master's degree with a concentration in policy and organizational leadership from the Stanford University School of Education. |
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Cat brings to Beyond 12 extensive experience in strategy development and implementation. She served as a management consultant for both for-profit and non-profit organizations for over six years developing strategic plans, leading workshops and analyzing customer and financial data. Within the education space, she has worked with urban school districts, state department of education, universities and foundations on strategic issues including educator effectiveness, school performance metrics development and drop-out student engagement. As a Principal with The Parthenon Group, she helped write Ohio's Race to the Top application that won $400 million from the U.S. Department of Education. She also worked at the Broad Foundation as a summer associate focusing on effective teacher contracts. Cat graduated from MIT with a B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and received her M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. |
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Lelia Johnson graduated from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in June of 2010 with a degree in Community and Regional Development. Lelia was attracted to Beyond 12’s mission and vision because she herself is a first-generation college graduate (she is the only one of 8 siblings to have graduated from college) who could have benefitted tremendously from a program like Beyond 12. Lelia began her college career at American River College, a 2-year school in Sacramento, California. After discovering her passion for working with youth as an at-risk youth mentor at Douglass Middle School in her hometown of Woodland, California, she transferred to UC Davis to pursue a degree in community development. During her time at UC Davis, Lelia was a founding member of two organizations: Nourish International, a student-run nonprofit whose mission is to eradicate poverty by engaging students and empowering communities, and NorCal Rotex, an extension of the Rotary International Youth Exchange program that recruits alumni to mentor current and future youth exchange students by helping them prepare for their exchanges abroad. As director of fundraising at Nourish International, Lelia and her team successfully funded two summer projects to build organic greenhouses in rural schools in Ecuador. This past June, she had the opportunity to volunteer at one of the project sites in Quito, Ecuador where she was able to witness firsthand the impact of her work. Lelia is excited to share her experiences with her students and wants to help them take advantage of the numerous resources available on their college campuses. |
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Meron Mesfine, a first-generation Ethiopian-American who is the first in her family to attend college, was born and raised in East Palo Alto, California. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 2009 with a degree in urban studies and planning. While at UCSD, she was a member of the McNair Scholars Program and served as a resident advisor, orientation leader, and executive board member for the Black Student Union (BSU). As a resident advisor, she was responsible for nearly 60 students, providing them with both social and academic advice. Similarly, as an orientation leader, she served as a campus ambassador, welcoming incoming freshmen and connecting them with campus resources. As an executive board member for the BSU, she worked on campus to address issues of diversity and worked tirelessly in the San Diego community to educate high school students about the importance of a college education. Meron also worked as a teacher’s assistant at Garfield Continuation School. With both work and volunteer experience in education, student affairs and counseling, Meron is passionate about ensuring that all Beyond 12 students succeed in college. |
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Adam has extensive management experience at both early stage and mature technology companies in the education space. Prior to joining Beyond 12, he was the President of ChangeAnalytix, a software company that provides corporate strategic planning solutions, and the President and board member of Embark, a leading provider of SaaS business solutions for university admissions offices. Adam was also Vice President of Operations at The Princeton Review, where he oversaw businesses within the Admissions Services division, including university enrollment software, college guidance software, and college counseling services. Adam sits on the boards of TradeVec, an early stage brokerage trading platform company, and Strive for College, an innovative nonprofit organization that helps low-income students get into college. Adam received his bachelor’s degree in mass communications with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley and his master’s in management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. |
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Fernando Serrato grew up in Morgan Hill, California. The first in his family to graduate from high school, Fernando also went on to graduate from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with a degree in Psychology. He held various leadership positions while at UCSD including, serving as an academic transition counselor for incoming first-generation students through the Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services, and becoming a founding member and president of the Nu chapter of Gamma Zeta Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a Latino fraternity committed to academic excellence and community service. Prior to joining the Beyond 12 team, Fernando worked as a senior youth counselor for Horizons Unlimited, a San Francisco-based youth development and empowerment organization rooted in community service and advocacy. At Horizons, his interest in the arts drove him to create and implement an urban arts curriculum that was added to the comprehensive after-school counseling program. Fernando’s extensive youth development experience and his passion to help underserved students succeed in higher education make him an excellent role model for the Beyond 12 students. |
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Megan Slater is Product Director at Beyond 12, where she is responsible for the development of all aspects of the organization's intelligent technology platform, which is designed to ensure that all students succeed in college. Megan brings to Beyond 12 more than 12 years of experience in product and project management and global account management roles. Prior to joining Beyond 12, Megan was the director of the Web Tools Solutions Group at Aperian Global, where she oversaw all projects and development pertaining to the company’s suite of software solutions, including the development of a cultural e-learning solution for the U.S. Army and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces. Megan has also served as director of product management and of account management at The Princeton Review and at Embark in the admissions services division, where her responsibilities included university enrollment software, college guidance software, and college counseling services. She has also worked in sales for Oracle Corporation. Megan received her undergraduate degree with a major in English and a minor in German from Emory University. |
