Archives of Staff

LaKisha “LC” Chenault is an operations coordinator on the operations team at the College Excellence Program. In her role, she provides operational and administrative support including expense processing, meeting planning and logistics, and onboarding of new employees. Before joining CEP, LaKisha worked as a contractor supporting the Marine Corps in supply chain management, logistics, procurement […]

Rasika Pande is the Finance Manager for the College Excellence Program. She supports all of CEP’s various programs through grants management and reporting. Rasika comes from a financial risk management background in the private sector, including banks and consulting firms. She graduated most recently from American University with her Master’s in International Relations. Prior to […]

Konrad Mugglestone is a Senior Manager with the College Excellence Program, focused on research and knowledge management. Previously, he was the Assistant Director of Research and Policy at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, and he has held policy research positions at Education Reform Now and Young Invincibles. Throughout his career, Konrad’s published work has […]

Laura Stokes is an Evaluation Manager at the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, where she employs her expertise as a mixed methods researcher and evaluator. Prior to joining Aspen, Laura served as an evaluation lead at the New South Wales Department of Education in Sydney, Australia, where she honed her skills in assessing educational programs […]

Pascale Charlot is the Managing Director of the College Excellence Program (CEP).  She is a visionary and outcomes-driven leader deeply committed to student success. An alumna of Aspen’s year-long Rising President Fellowship, Pascale plays a lead role in crafting and overseeing CEP’s strategy to develop a network of transformational college presidents who share a relentless […]

Michelle Jeong is a program manager with the College Excellence Program. She serves on the Research and Innovation team, supporting the American Talent Initiative. Before joining Aspen, Michelle worked in the enrollment offices at Colgate University and American University. At Colgate she cultivated a partnership with Questbridge and spearheaded the redesign of the holistic review […]

Leigh Cooksey is a Senior Program Manager at the College Excellence Program where she focuses on developing curriculum for leadership initiatives, including the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship and Aspen New Presidents Fellowship.  Prior to joining Aspen, Leigh worked in education at the school, district, and state levels. At Tennessee SCORE, a non-profit focused on delivering […]

Brian Creswick is a director at the College Excellence Program (CEP), where he leads the Operations team. His portfolio includes human capital, finance, fundraising, and management with a focus on continuously strengthening CEP’s capacity in these functions. Before joining Aspen, Brian spent two decades as an entrepreneur, business leader, and consultant. He led a nationwide […]

Ben Barrett is a senior program manager with the College Excellence Program. Prior to joining CEP, Ben supported higher education research and data sharing at the National Student Clearinghouse. Ben also previously worked in higher education policy research at New America with a primary focus on improving financial aid systems. Ben holds a Bachelor’s degree […]

Nora Ngo is a Program Associate on the Research & Innovation Team, where she supports the efforts of the American Talent Initiative and Transfer Scholars Network. Prior to joining Aspen, Nora worked at UCLA Center for Community College Partnerships as a peer advisor. She also volunteered to be a transfer mentor at UCLA Transfer Center. […]