Trustees

Eric Adler is co-founder and managing director of The SEED Foundation.   Mr. Adler taught high school physics for eight years and was dean of students at St. Paul's School in Baltimore, before earning an MBA in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.   Mr. Adler has been a management consultant to Fortune 500 clients, the principal of an investment advisory firm and an adjunct faculty member of the Johns Hopkins University Graduate Division of Business and Management.   He is a graduate of the Sidwell Friends School and of Swarthmore College, where he earned degrees in engineering and economics.   Mr. Adler is an Echoing Green fellow and was named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine.  He serves on the boards of Swarthmore College and the Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust.  He is a 2001 recipient of the Manhattan Institute’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneurship Award and received an Oprah Winfrey “Use Your Life” Award.  He is also a recipient of the Innovations in American Government Award from the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and is a multi-year recipient of Fast Company/Monitor Group’s Social Capitalist Award.

Angela M. Allen, a parent of a SEED student, is a native Washingtonian and a graduate of the District of Columbia Public School System.  She is an Electronic Publishing and Printing Program Specialist for the Department of the Army’s Standardization and Technology- After-Next Programs.  Mrs. Allen served as a member of the Capitol Hill Cluster School (CHCS) Local Restructuring Team and the Parent/Teacher Associations of the CHCS and KIPP DC:  KEY Academy.  She is an active member of charitable functions and served as a member of Sisters In Touch, Inc.  Mrs. Allen volunteers as a Youth Leader of the Next Generation Choir and New Beginning Way of the Cross.  She is currently a student of Business Management at the University of the District of Columbia.

Lisa Bernstein is co-founder of the Teachers Institute in Washington, D.C. An experienced educator, Ms. Bernstein has taught at elementary schools throughout the D.C. area and was a Graduate School Adjunct Instructor at American University. Ms. Bernstein volunteers with numerous youth organizations including Sidwell Friends School and Jewish Youth & Philanthropy Institute and previously served on the board of the National Child Research Center. She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Simmons College and a master’s degree in teaching from American University.

Katherine Bradley is the President of CityBridge Foundation (formerly the Advisory Board Foundation), an operating foundation located in Washington, D.C. The Foundation is the lead partner and principal funder for ongoing medical projects in the Philippines, Moscow and in South Africa. Locally, the Foundation is developing educational interventions to serve families and young children in Washington, D.C. and runs ServiceCorps, a turnkey corporate volunteer enterprise placing 15,000 annual hours of community service in local nonprofits. Mrs. Bradley serves as a board member of The SEED School and Samaritan Inns. She graduated with honors from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Wallace Christner, treasurer of The SEED School board of trustees.

Vasco Fernandes is chairman of The SEED School board of trustees. He is a consultant with over twenty five years of experience as a business innovator, management consultant and advisor to organizations in the public non-profit and private sectors. Mr. Fernandes was formerly vice-president of Mercer Management Consulting in the area of transportation and logistic and a member of the management committee of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Before joining the consulting profession, he taught math at an inner-city school and at The George Washington University. Mr. Fernandes graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Princeton University and received a master’s degree from The George Washington University.

Marc Miller is a partner at McLeod, Watkinson & Miller, a District of Columbia law firm. He has been active in various Washington arts organizations, serving on the board of the Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive and lecturing for the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts and as Of Counsel to the National Theatre.  Mr. Miller served as Administrative Assistant to two members of the House of Representatives before practicing law.  He is the author of Politicians and Their Spouses Careers, a manual for families in political life and public service, and his law practice features an expertise in government ethics and intellectual property.  A graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Harvard Law School, he is the chair of the Princeton Alumni Association’s Committee on Community Service.

Marina Ottaway is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an adjunct professor of African studies at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Ottaway has spent many years in Africa and the Middle East as well as the United States. She currently lives in Washington, D.C., where she remains involved in initiatives to provide better education for children.

Penelope Peskowitz has extensive experience tutoring and working with learning-disabled students. She is a graduate of the Lab School of Washington’s tutorial program, which taught her how to help volunteer tutors identify students with learning issues and develop coping skills for the students. Ms. Peskowitz is also a co-sponsor of the “I Have A Dream” program in Washington, D.C. and tutored middle school students at Johnson Junior High School for three years. She is a graduate of the State University of New York Brockport and received bachelor’s degrees in sociology and communication.

Kenneth Slaughter practices state and local government law in the District of Columbia. His primary clients include the Marriott Corporation, the D.C. Housing Authority, the city of Detroit, Goodwill International, Inc. and D.C. Public Schools. Mr. Slaughter participated in a historic labor management agreement between the D.C. Housing Authority and AFGE, Local 2725, which resulted in the union leaving the D.C. civil service. He is an active participant in civic and charitable functions and has served as an officer of Heads Up. He is the former president of the board of the Boys and Girls Club of Washington (NE/SE Division). Mr. Slaughter received a bachelor's degree from Brown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

David Steinberg is the chief executive and chairman of SwapDrive Inc., a Washington-based online file storage firm. He previously worked as an entrepreneur and as a consultant to growing technology companies through his own firm, Bridge2brige.net. He has more than 20 years of experience in the data communications industry and founded the field business development of several successful start-up companies such as SynOptics (now Northern Telecom), CheckPoint Software and BioNetrix Systems Corporation. Mr. Steinberg received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati. He is on the boards of several companies and nonprofit agencies including 77DegreesWest, BottleRocket, EMMAUS Service for the Aging and The Pyramid Atlantic Arts Agency.

Lisa Tillman is the parent of two current SEED students and one SEED School alumna.  She has been an active parent and supporter of SEED, involved in numerous activities including chaperoning student trips and volunteering as a tutor at the School.  Ms. Tillman is a trademark assistant at the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP.  She previously worked for Titan Corporation and the Central Intelligence Agency.  Ms. Tillman received two associate’s degrees from Prince George’s Community College, one in paralegal studies and one in general studies

Rajiv Vinnakota is co-founder and managing director of The SEED Foundation.   Prior to co-founding SEED, Mr. Vinnakota was an associate at Mercer Management Consulting, where he worked on strategic and financial projects in a variety of industries.   He graduated from Princeton University with a degree in molecular biology and a certificate of studies from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy.  Mr. Vinnakota has been an Echoing Green fellow and an Ashoka fellow.   For his work at The SEED Foundation he was named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine and has received the Manhattan Institute’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneurship Award, the Princeton Club of Washington’s Community Service Award, an Innovations in American Government Award from Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, an Oprah Winfrey “Use Your Life” Award and two Fast Company/Monitor Group’s Social Capitalist Awards. He served on the board of The Empower Program, which works with youth to end the culture of violence, and is currently a trustee of Princeton University.

Clarice Dibble Walker is an associate professor at Howard University's School of Social Work. She previously was the Commissioner of Social Services for the District of Columbia. Professor Walker is the former chair of the board of The National Black Child Development Institute. She serves on a number of other boards, including The Freddie Mac Foundation, D.C. Action for Children, Covenant House (D.C.) and the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.

Trustee Emeritus

Donald Brown is a founder, officer and director of The JBG Companies and a founding senior partner in the law firm of Brown, Gildenhorn & Jacobs. He has taught at The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management and the Harvard University School of Business Administration. Mr. Brown received a presidential appointment to serve as Commissioner to the International Cultural and Trade Center in 1988. He was named Washingtonian of the Year in 1989 and Man of the Year by the University of the District of Columbia in 1997. He is on the executive committee of the Federal City Council and serves on the boards of the Phillips Collection, Blair House and the National Trust for the Humanities