Ryan Pavel
Ryan serves as the CEO of Warrior-Scholar Project, channeling a deeply held conviction that enlisted veterans have unlimited potential to leverage military service into enormous impact in higher education and beyond.
At the age of 17, Ryan enlisted in the Marine Corps, culminating in two non-combat deployments to Iraq. Ryan then earned his BA from University of Michigan and JD from University of Virginia School of Law, leading Student Veterans of America chapters at both institutions. His teaching experience includes working as a Teach For America corps member at an inner-city Detroit high school and as an adjunct instructor at Virginia Military Institute. Ryan has also worked for a variety of legal institutions, including legal aid organizations and a large national law firm, and has provided pro bono legal services to veterans.
In addition to his ongoing work at WSP, Ryan serves as the Vice President of Partnerships of the Veterans Leadership Council, a Working Group Lead of the Bush Institute’s Veteran Higher Education Task Force, and Council Member of the Teach for America Military Veteran Council.
Ryan loves spending time with his beautiful wife and energetic sons. As a family, they enjoy escaping to the outdoors to conquer swing sets or climb mountains.
Robert Haywood
Robert Haywood is chief of staff for Warrior-Scholar Project. Robert retired from the Marine Corps as a Master Gunnery Sergeant in 2019, serving for 25 years. He began his career as an aircraft mechanic and finished as a Career Recruiter where he served at every level of command and held numerous billets from Canvassing Recruiter to Operations Chief for Marine Corps Recruiting Command. His career allowed him to enable thousands of Americans to begin their service to our country and gave him the opportunity to empower those around him to achieve their goals.
While on active duty, Robert earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Operations from Columbia Southern University and his Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Waldorf University. He is an advocate for veterans and is passionate about showcasing the value veterans add to organizations. In addition to his work supporting veterans with WSP, he is an adjunct faculty for the Marine Corp Enlisted College Distance Education Program where he facilitates 15-week seminars leading to the completion of formal professional military education for enlisted Marines.
Robert is married to Michelle and they have six children and a dog (that thinks he is a person). The family continually seeks out new adventures and loves to travel the world together.
Jeremy Bradford
Jeremy Bradford is the director of operations for Warrior-Scholar Project. He is responsible for the management and direction of day-to-day operations and leading the operations team. Jeremy became involved with WSP in 2014 and he helped create the WSP STEM curriculum. He has worked full time for WSP since 2019.
Jeremy worked in IT until enrolling at Central Connecticut State University where he obtained bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics in 2012. After college, Jeremy obtained a Ph.D. in astronomy from Yale University in 2018.
After receiving his Ph.D., Jeremy joined the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning as the assistant STEM education program director. In his role, he helped manage the Summer Institutes on Scientific Teaching with STEM faculty across the country. During this time, he also helped found the Research Experience for Veteran Undergraduates (REVU) program with Prof. Marla Geha, which he still helps to direct.
In addition to his work supporting student veterans, Jeremy is an adjunct professor at Tunxis Community College where he teaches film appreciation. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, an English department chair, and daughter, a voracious reader. He loves video games, escape rooms, and electronics.
Whittney Gould
Whittney Gould serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s director of communications and marketing.
Whittney is passionate about higher education and this drew her to her current role at WSP. Before joining WSP in 2019, Whittney’s work experience was in higher education communications and marketing. She has held roles at the University of New Hampshire in the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, and Pennsylvania State University, where she worked at the Penn State Press, the College of Agricultural Sciences, and the Eberly College of Science.
Whittney has a B.A. in English from Penn State and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire.
Michelle MacNevin
Michelle serves as WSP’s director of human resources. She joined WSP in 2019 as human resources and operations coordinator. She has nine years of experience in human resources, payroll processing, and administering benefits. She previously worked for a global youth sporting logistics company where she served in a human resources capacity. Prior to that, she worked for Automatic Data Processing (ADP) where she was a payroll service representative with 142 base clients.
Michelle is originally from Massachusetts where she attended Bristol Community College and earned her associate’s degree in Deaf Studies. After graduation, she moved to New Hampshire and attended the University of New Hampshire at Manchester with a Sign Language Interpreter major. She graduated with a B.S. in Communications and started a company teaching American Sign Language to those that wanted to learn.
Michelle currently resides on the seacoast of New Hampshire. She enjoys participating in a variety of sports in an adult league. You can also find her working out at Pure Barre and may recognize her from the organization’s May 2018 national campaign.
Yared Negash
Yared joined Warrior-Scholar Project in October 2021 and serves as director of finance.
Yared comes to WSP with more than a decade of finance and accounting experience working with nonprofit organizations and state government. Originally from Ethiopia, he attended Addis Ababa University, majoring in English Literature before leaving to come to the US. He earned his BS in Business Administration from Washington Adventist University, and MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University.
In his spare time, he enjoys baking cakes, cooking, and gardening, and volunteers at Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program.
Yared lives in Alexandria, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC with his wife, four rescued cats and two dogs.
Cassie Sanchez
Cassie serves as the director of education for Warrior-Scholar Project. In this role, she oversees all of the organization’s curricular efforts, including developing, implementing, and evaluating the curricula, and training academic staff. Cassie helps to ensure that WSP’s academic programming provides participants with the skills and support necessary to successfully transition to college and the workforce.
Cassie first became involved with WSP as a writing instructor in 2017 while working as a senior associate at Amherst College’s writing center, a position she held for 10 years. In 2020, Cassie was invited to join WSP’s Academic Advisory and welcomed the opportunity to rethink and revise the humanities and writing curricula. She is deeply committed to WSP’s mission to support the transition to college and beyond for enlisted veterans and transitioning service members.
Cassie holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy, Research, and Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research focuses on higher education access and academic support for students from underrepresented groups and nontraditional backgrounds. In addition to teaching for WSP, Cassie’s work in this area includes teaching for Upward Bound and the Noonan Scholars program, as well as for Amherst College’s summer bridge program. Cassie also has decades of experience developing courses and academic support structures for students in transition, including community college transfer students and first-generation and low-income students. Throughout her graduate studies and professional career, Cassie has remained committed to learning about and supporting students from groups who have historically had barriers to accessing and succeeding in higher education. Cassie considers it a privilege to put her experience, interests, and skills in higher education, teaching and learning, and academic support to work for WSP.
Lisa Stein
Lisa Stein is the Director of Outreach and Admissions for Warrior-Scholar Project. She started her career at Ft Myer, VA Military District of Washington as an MP. For the last 16 years, she has been part of the admissions process at Chadron State College, in the NW corner of Nebraska. While at Chadron State College, she was a non-traditional student who earned both her BA in Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master of Organizational Management. During her tenure as Director of Admissions, she was responsible for the Veterans Service Office and acted as the School Certifying Officer at different times. Military personnel and higher education are two of her biggest passions. Lisa looks forward to serving our veterans as they attain their college education dreams.
Although originally from Nebraska, Lisa spent 20 years in California. One of the best decisions was when she decided to return home. Reconnecting with her family, making new family, and marrying her best friend, Adam, made her decision to return home more impactful. Lisa has two adult daughters and three grandchildren. In her spare time, you can find her with her nose in a book, watching her brothers coach football, cheering on her nieces and nephews, and overall, enjoying life.
Gina L. Taglieri
Gina Taglieri serves as WSP’s director of development. She is deeply interested in promoting the goals of Warrior-Scholar Project, especially as they relate to creating opportunities in higher ed for talented and ambitious enlisted veterans and transitioning service members who are eager to shape a successful future!
A development professional with 20+ years’ experience, Gina Taglieri is responsible for raising over $75M – either as director of a team or frontline fundraiser – for nonprofits in human rights/ LGBTQ rights, higher education, medical research, youth services, and the performing arts. Working at institutions as varied as Columbia and Cornell Universities, Human Rights First, MADRE, the Astraea Justice Foundation, Manhattan School of Music, and the New School, Gina has successfully raised 6- and 7-figure gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations, as well as from state and federal funding sources.
Prior to her work in development, Gina was an Associate Professor of English at the State University of NY (Fashion Institute of Technology). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English & German Literature from Stanford University and a Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy in English & Comparative Literature from Columbia University. She also studied German literature and Slavistics at the Freie Universität Berlin. She is a former Fellow for the New York State Council for the Humanities, a volunteer mentor for Women in Development, and recently presented on fundraising for the Association of Fundraising Professionals-NYC.
A New England native and unrepentant Red Sox fan, Gina lives in Westchester County, NY, with her husband and dog.
Cassie Elder
Cassie Elder serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s admissions and student veteran recruitment manager. Cassie served four years in the Marine Corps as a Combat Engineer from 2006-2010. She deployed twice to Iraq and spent some time on Team Lioness, a female engagement team. It was during this time that she was able to interact with many Iraqi locals and when she first decided she wanted to focus on social justice.
Cassie graduated with a BA in English from the University of Michigan in 2013. She spent the next five years raising her two children and working for different social justice initiatives. She helped organize and execute the Warrior-Scholar Project pilot program at the University of Michigan in 2014 and continued in this endeavor for the next five years. Cassie also functioned as a fellow for The Mission Continues and extended her services at an organization called Focus: HOPE in Detroit, MI. There, she empowered young children to read and helped instill in them a love of literacy. In 2021, Cassie graduated with a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan. Cassie hopes to continue her service to others in any capacity and she especially loves working with and alongside veterans, helping them in their transitions as they reintegrate back into society. She hopes to empower veterans to realize their potential and understand that they are capable beyond what they ever could have imagined.
Cassie lives in Chelsea, MI, with her two children, four cats, and dog. She loves reading, playing board games, and crafting of all kinds. She also enjoys spending time outside and playing with her kids and teaching them about the world around them.
Arjang Eliasi
Arjang Eliasi serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s development associate.
After completing his B.S. in Economics at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Arjang took his love of data analytics and forecasting to the world of E-commerce in his hometown of Charlotte. After relocating to beautiful Southern California in 2015, a chance meeting brought Arjang to the development world, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Arjang Joined WSP in 2022 after learning about the worthy mission of supporting our veterans and the exciting growth ahead for the organization. He is honored to contribute to WSP and grow its wonderful base of supporters. Arjang enjoys time with his family, hikes by the beach, anything and everything to do with technology, and expanding his culinary palette.
Mike Lanpolsaen
Mike Lanpolsaen is the Military and Veteran Organization Recruitment Manager. Mike joined Warrior-Scholar Project after retiring from the United States Marine Corps. During his 30 years of service, he held several positions from squad leader to recruiter, instructor at Marine Corps Engineer School, Company First Sergeant, and most recently as the Sergeant Major for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command. He had the honor of deploying twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.
Mike earned his Bachelor of Arts in General Studies (Summa Cum Laude) from American Military University. He is an advocate for veterans and is passionate about higher education and training. Mike is married to Kham, and they have three children. The family loves to travel, enjoys the outdoors, and continually seeks new adventures.
Samantha Locke
Samantha Locke serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s operations coordinator. She is responsible for managing the logistics and coordination of WSP programming. She also assists the operations teams in coordinating day-to-day organizational performances. Samantha joined the WSP team in 2022.
Samantha attended Asbury University, graduating in 2012 with a B.A. in Applied Communications. Since her graduation, Samantha has experience working within the healthcare, higher education, non-profit, and corporate sectors. She has overseen the event and operation logistics for events ranging from youth conferences, fundraising events, health and community impact seminars, post-conference after-parties, and nationwide conferences.
Samantha finds great joy with her partner and his children, her pit-bull puppy (Gator), family, friends, a good book, the great outdoors, and working out!
Rebecca Mills
Rebecca Mills joined the WSP team in August of 2022 and serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s education programs coordinator. She is responsible for assisting in developing, coordinating, and executing education programs and events.
Rebecca attended Rockhurst University, graduating in 2015 with a B.A. in Secondary Education and History. Following graduation, she taught history and civics at the secondary level and served as a varsity basketball coach. During that time, she earned her Master’s in Education from the University of Missouri -Columbia in Positive Coaching and Psychology and her Specialist in Education from Arkansas State University in Educational Leadership and Administration. During her time in the classroom, Rebecca focused on building trusting relationships with her students and making lasting connections.
Rebecca lives in Kansas City, MO, with her husband and golden retriever named Oakley. She is an avid KC sports fan…Go Chiefs. She enjoys spending time with her family, hosting cookouts, and playing cornhole.
Robert Saitta
Robert (Bob) Saitta is Warrior-Scholar Project’s accounting specialist. He was raised in New York and attended the State University of New York at Oneonta. While attending, he was accepted into an exchange program in Japan for a one-year overseas study program at Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan. Upon returning, he completed at Oneonta, graduating with a B.S. in Comparative Literature and a minor in Japanese.
In 1983 he was accepted into a two-year YMCA teaching program in Kitakysuhu, Japan where he taught English and literature while continuing to work on becoming fluent in Japanese. He again returned to Japan from 1987-1992, teaching English and literature at a variety of schools, ranging from kindergarten through university. He also worked as a business manager at Win Corporation in Fukuoka, Japan, running the company’s language and translation department.
From 1985-1987 and from 1992-2013, Bob owned and managed a family business, El Sol Cigars, in Tampa, Fla. He sold the business in 2013 and then went to work for a friend from his days as an exchange student in Japan, Robert Haupt of Haupt Law. From 2014-2017, Bob helped Mr. Haupt build up National Litigation Law Group (NLLG) as the director of finance; the company generated $25 million in revenue in 2017. Mr. Haupt sold NLLG in 2017, and Bob returned to Florida in 2018 — where he presently resides outside of Tampa with his two children, Marty and Carol.
Patrick Trujillo
Patrick Trujillo serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s marketing coordinator.
Before joining WSP full-time, Patrick served in the United States Marine Corps, where he deployed five times, two in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. After departing the military, Patrick attended WSP as a participant in 2017. He also interned at the organization where he worked on the marketing and communications team. Patrick believes strongly in the mission and appreciates the opportunity to give back to other veterans. Patrick earned his BS in business management from San Diego State University in 2021 and credits much of his academic success to Warrior-Scholar Project.
Patrick enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, and woodworking in his free time. He is especially passionate about health and wellness, as he enjoys working out, meditating, and eating healthy.
Lillian Wilkins
Lillian Wilkins serves as Warrior-Scholar Project’s system administrator. She is responsible for configuring and managing Warrior-Scholar Project’s system infrastructure, including all of the hardware, software, and operating systems that are necessary to support the organization’s productivity. She began her professional career as an elementary teacher through Teach For America. She was committed to having a direct impact as an educator, inspiring future generations in the classroom, and empowering students with the tools, resources, and knowledge to become successful. After four years of teaching, Lillian transitioned into a recruiting capacity at Teach For America, followed by Success Academy Charter Schools, helping to find and cultivate other passionate educators. She credits her commitment to educational equity and social justice to her roots growing up in the Chicago area where she observed the staggering disparities between resources, facilities, and opportunity within education.
Lillian is a first-generation college student and holds a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame. She is a loving wife to her husband, Mark, and a doting mother to their children, Zai, Zayn, and Zeik.