Starting Blocks

We have a remarkable community of individuals who work with Starting Blocks. These professionals come from diverse backgrounds and careers, including education, high tech, consumer products, government, small business, and finance. All of us are passionate about education, mentoring, and enabling students to achieve inside and outside of the classroom. Please visit our newsletter for examples of some of our programs, volunteers, and student success stories.

The following individuals serve on the Starting Blocks Governing Board:

Elana Ford, Founder and Executive Director
Elana has held positions in both the nonprofit and corporate sector. She began her career as the Operations Director for the California Symphony, which included administering their Music in the Schools program. She also spent five years at investment management firm Barclays Global Investors. Elana earned her bachelor’s degree in theater and professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago, where she received the George Hay Brown Marketing Prize. Elana is pursuing her dream of starting a new organization focused on teaching teens the life skills they need to live independently. Elana lives in El Cerrito, California with her husband Chris, her daughter Lilah, and her terrier Prego.

Caitlin Green, Marketing/Communications
Caitlin graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in sociology and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in higher education administration at the Boston College Lynch School of Education. An East Bay native, Caitlin welcomes the opportunity to give back to the community through programs such as Starting Blocks that employ engaging curriculum to increase access to social and cultural capital and help students envision—and make real—a better future for themselves and society. Now living in Boston, she supports Starting Blocks from afar while working toward these aims in her new East Coast community as well.

Jon Sutinen, Corporate Outreach
Jon received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington and is currently Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, University of Rhode Island. During his 35-year academic career he conducted extensive research on humans’ use of marine resources, served as president and chair of several professional associations and committees, and applied his research findings to advise U.S. and international government agencies on marine resource policy. Since retiring from the university and moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, Jon has built on his experience guiding students, research, and grant writing by volunteering for non-profit organizations such as Starting Blocks.

Connie Williams, IT/Data Management
Connie earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.S. from the Syracuse University School of Information Studies. She has spent her information management career in the public- and non-profit sectors, where she has specialized in information organization and retrieval, and the selection and building of digital collections. Beginning with the general election of 2008, Connie has also volunteered as a non-partisan election inspector for Contra Costa County.