The CGN Team
Experts for Everyone, All in One Place®
Our backgrounds are diverse. We are entrepreneurs, CEOs, and educators. But most importantly, we are parents. We have experienced the challenges of the college admissions process with our own children, and are concerned that this often highly stressful and confusing experience results in less than optimal outcomes.
Our team is supported by the experts—admissions leaders, financial aid professionals, counselors, authors, professors, and more—who join our live events to give timely and practical advice to our audience.
Adnan Sehic
Senior Marketing Manager
-
13+ years of experience in developing and scaling multi-million dollar B2C and B2B digital marketing campaigns across varied industries
-
Proven expertise in strategizing and implementation of complex, multi-channel campaigns for email, digital advertising, and commercial space
-
Part of a family of long-term educators spanning K-12
Bob Block
Co-Founder
-
Parent of one student entering college and another who is a rising junior.
-
Former VP of Corporate Development for ACT
-
CEO of Professional Examination Service (acquired by ACT)
-
Built and managed partner ecosystem for Family Education Network (acquired by Pearson in 2000)
Chris Vento
CTO
-
Cengage, EVP Technology & Development
-
Blackboard, SVP Technology & Product Development
Diana Carson
Producer
-
High School Mom
-
Worked within Boston Public Schools to initiate and execute on strategic partnerships aimed at meeting students’ basic needs for food, clothing and medical care.
-
Developed content with outside partners as a senior producer for FamilyEducation Network.
-
Former teacher at the high school and college levels, as well as developmental editor in textbook publishing for the college market.
Ian Marlier
Assistant CTO
-
Led customer-facing product development efforts at CollegeVine, closing the guidance gap at high schools across the United States
-
Managed engineering team responsible for the performance of Wikimedia Foundations software and properties (Wikipedia, Wiki data, and others)
-
Led a team of engineers at Hubspot (pre- and post-IPO) to understand and quantify the impact of performance problems and reliability issues, customer comm., and more.
James Donald
Executive Producer
-
Parent of two middle-schoolers
-
Seventeen years of documentary filmmaking
-
One Peabody Award, six Emmy nominations, two wins. 15+ other awards.
-
Spent five years at edX.org, where he learned the core principles of successful e-learning
Jermon Clark
Associate Producer
-
Emory University, Class of 2022
-
BAs in Human Health and Integrated Visual Arts
-
Selected to Emory's Leadership Oxford program
-
Lead Diversity Ambassador at Emory
-
Interned at City of Atlanta
Jon Carson
Founder and CEO
-
High School Dad
-
Scaled first national college admissions advisory brand in U.S. to over 500 advisors while striking large strategic partnerships with Fidelity, US News, NPR, and Care.com (CollegeVine)
-
Built largest event management and fundraising platform for school/charity fundraisers with half a billion dollars raised (Bidding For Good)
-
Built largest K-12 education website with 25% of all U.S. school districts building their first website (Family Education Network)
Jon Castro
Producer
-
9+ years experience working as a senior college advisor for several international companies
-
Lived in China for 6+ years, helping students and high schools plan their college admissions
-
Former middle school teacher in Asia
-
Worked with several US admissions firms assisting American students in finding their right school fit
Mike Leber
VP of Production
-
Father with college up ahead
-
Senior Coordinating Producer ESPN
-
Led production for 10 Super Bowls and 6 Olympics
-
Coordinated content production across TV, radio, print, digital, and social
-
Nominated and winner of multiple Emmy awards
Rob Lippincott
Senior Editorial Advisor
-
Parent of two college graduates
-
SVP of Education for PBS
-
SVP Product Development for Discovery Education
-
SVP & GM of Programming for FamilyEducation Network (acquired by Pearson)
-
Member of College Guidance Network advisory board
Daniel Domenech
Superintendent-In-Residence
-
Executive Director, AASA, The National Superintendents Assoc (retired)
-
Chairman, ACT Board of Directors
-
Superintendant, Fairfax County Public Schools
Steve Stalzer
Head of AI
-
High School Dad
-
VP of Applied AI, McGraw Hill
-
CTO, Authess (AI startup acquired by Reed Elsevier)
-
Director, Analytics Platform Development, Warner Brothers Games
Our Advisory Board
We know we don’t have all the answers, so we have built a world-class advisory board that can give us guidance, tell us the hard truths, and provide input as we develop our programming and technology platform.
Anne L. Bryant
Executive Director, Emeritus
-
Executive Director, National School Boards Association
-
Executive Director, American Association of University Women
-
Trustee and Board Chair, Simmons College
-
Trustee, National Teachers Hall of Fame
-
Board Chairperson, National Student Clearinghouse
Diana Cano
SVP of the Enterprise Technology Program Management Office, Audacy
-
General Manager, IT at Educational Testing Service
-
Adjunct Professor, Mechanical Engineering at The College of New Jersey
-
Parent of two students currently at public research universities
-
BS, Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University; MS, Technology Management at University of Pennsylvania; PhD, Education at Rutgers University
Diane Campbell
Director of Counseling, Liberty Commons High School
-
Colorado Counselor of the year
-
President, Rocky Mountain Assoc. of College Admissions Counseling (RMACAC)
Hardin Coleman
Professor, Boston University School of Ed.
-
Dean, BU/Wheelock School of Education and Human Development
-
Professor of Counseling and Applied Human Development
-
Associate Dean, University of Wisconsin School of Education
-
Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, Stanford University
Jim Larimore
Former Chief Officer, Center of Equity in Learning, ACT
-
Dean of Students, Amherst College
-
Deputy Director, Post-Secondary Success, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
-
Dean of Students, Swarthmore College
-
B.S. Texas A&M University, MA Education, Stanford University
Mike Marriner
Founder/CEO, Road Trip Nation
-
Executive Producer, PBS series Road Trip Nation
Candice Mackey
College Counselor, LA Unified School District
-
Undergrad Admissions Reader, UCLA
-
College Instructor, UCLA College Counseling Certification Program
-
Editorial Advisory group, FIske Guide to College
Dorletta Payton
Director of College and Career Readiness, Valley View School District 365U
-
Former Director of Education, Quad County Urban League
-
Chairperson Emeritus, DuPage County ACT-SO (Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics)
-
BA, Economics at Stanford University; MBA, Finance and Marketing at The University of Chicago
Marten Roorda
Senior Advisor at New Markets Venture Partners
-
CEO of ACT
-
CEO of Cito
-
Publishing Director, Reed Business Information
-
Editor-in-Chief, Scripta Media B.V.
Mike Sexton
Former Admissions Officer
-
Former VP Enrollment, Santa Clara University
-
Former Dean of Admissions, Lewis & Clark
-
Former Director of Admissions, Rhodes College
Stephen Smith
Founder, Naviance
-
Founder and CEO of Intellispark
-
Founder of Naviance
-
VP Digital Product Development, Peterson’s
Nancee Sorenson
Chancellor, Louisiana State University Eunice
-
Former President Brandon Campus, Hillsborough Community College and
-
Hillsborough Community College District
-
Former Acting President, East Campus, Pima Community College and
-
Pima County Community College District
-
Colvert Scholar and Gleazer Scholar at University of Texas at Austin
-
Completed Community College Leadership Program