Staff Leadership

As CEO since March 2023, Frank Steslow brings a wealth of non-profit leadership experience. Over the past 30 years, mostly in the cultural sector, Frank has led several science-based, non-profit organizations through transition and growth. He was thrilled to join SSPI as its first Chief Executive Officer, succeeding the organizations long time Executive Director, Richard Bowdon. In this role, Frank works with the Board of Trustees, alumni, and staff to strengthen and expand SSPI’s existing programs, create new programs and expand the impact and reach of the organization, especially to students who may not have been aware or had the means to participate in the program previously.

Frank earned a BS in Microbiology from Penn State, and a MS in Public Health from University of South Florida. Frank currently resides with his wife in Maine. If he’s not working, you can find him hiking, boating, or working on home renovation projects.

An effective leader with extensive financial and administrative expertise in the non-profit arena, Amy Gillette joined SSPI in 2023 as the institution’s Chief Administrative Officer. In this role, she leads SSPI’s finance, human resources, information technology, external affairs, and administrative functions, as well as oversees the institution’s risk management. Before coming to SSPI, Amy spent 14 years in non-profit leadership, most recently as the CFO of a cultural organization.

Amy graduated with a BS in accounting, a BS in economics, and a MS in taxation from the University of Central Florida. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Florida. Amy currently resides in South Florida with her husband and their two children. In her free time, she loves to travel and scuba dive, and has been to more than 30 countries.

Amy Hee Kim joined SSP International in 2025 as the Chief Program Officer, bringing 15 years of experience improving diversity in STEM fields as well as her background as a physical chemist (PhD from University of Chicago). As Chief Program Officer, Amy provides directional leadership to all SSPI programs and implements her deep experience in corporate and foundation partnerships and developing programs with measurable impact to scale SSPI program reach to new and diverse communities.

Before joining SSPI, Amy served as the Executive Director of EnCorps helping STEM professionals become teachers in under-resourced community schools. She also previously was the Executive Director of Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity, the Chief Operating Officer at Technovation, and the lead for Women in Engineering Programs at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering.

Amy lives in sunny Los Angeles with her family. She loves to cook, try new restaurants, read, and do hands-on STEM and art projects with her daughter.

Rachael joined SSPI in early 2024 and currently serves as Senior Director of Business Administration. In this role, she oversees the Human Resources, Information Technology, and Finance functions, and provides cross-departmental administrative and operational support to the organization, including compliance and organizational policies and procedures. Rachael brings broad experience across nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship, and corporate operations. She has worked at several nonprofit organizations and co-founded and led a start-up, with experience spanning both small, growing teams and large, complex organizations.
Rachael earned a BS in Marketing from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of Miami. She lives in South Florida with her husband, children, and pets. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, boating, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Anthony joined SSPI in 2024. Currently serving as Director of Human Resources, Anthony provides strategic leadership and hands-on execution for all of SSPI’s human resources functions. Over his career, Anthony has served in progressive Operations Management and Human Resources roles for mission-driven organizations focused on animal welfare, housing, human services, and the specialty grocery industry. He currently holds a Certification in Human Resources from the Society for Human Resources Management and an MBA from the University of Washington.

Anthony’s expertise spans Human Resources Operations, Strategic Leadership, and Organizational Development, and he is an avid lifelong learner. He currently lives in Pennsylvania with his family and their two rescue dogs. Outside of work, Anthony enjoys tinkering on DIY projects, cooking with his family, biking, and volunteering.

Katherine Hougland joined the team in 2018 as the Alumni Relations and Development Manager. In 2023, she was promoted to Senior Director of External Affairs. In her current role, she oversees alumni engagement and events, donor relationships and fundraising, corporate and foundation giving, communications and marketing.

Katherine has a BS in Non-Profit Arts Management from Northern Arizona University and a MALA in Western Literature from St. John’s College. She lives in Southern Arizona with her husband, their children, two dogs, and a bunny named Omono. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and exploring the southwest landscapes around her home.

Sarah came to SSPI in 2025 from Indiana University’s flagship campus in Bloomington, Indiana, after over a decade in higher education marketing and communication. As the Director of Communications, Sarah oversees marketing, branding, public relations, and messaging across the organization.

She holds an MBA from Indiana University and a MA in English from John Carroll University, and she also currently serves as the Managing Editor at The Kismet Magazine. She lives in the woods around Bloomington with her family collecting books, board games, and tea.

Tad joined SSPI in 2025. In his new role as Director of Corporate and Foundation Giving, Tad brings twelve years of experience in building relationships with national, regional foundations, family, and corporations at The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communications lab. His interest in science was first piqued when his 5th grade teacher loaned him a copy of A Brief History of Time.

Tad has a BA in English and East Asian Studies from Ursinus College and a MS in Nonprofit Management from The New School. He lives in New York City with his wife, son, and cat. They enjoy reading, biking, camping, and playing board games together.

Erik Ruzek brings 13 years of research and evaluation experience with expertise in quantitative research methods and educational psychology. He completed his PhD in Education at the University of California, Irvine. Erik’s career has spanned academia, where he was an assistant professor at the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia, industry, where he was a research scientist at the educational testing company NWEA, and most recently government, where he was a program director at NSF. His research on student motivation, student engagement, and teacher-student interactions has been published widely in education and psychology journals. He serves on the Editorial Board of Learning & Instruction and Contemporary Educational Psychology. Erik can also be found responding to questions about statistics and research methodology on Cross Validated and Statalist.

When not conducting research and writing code, Erik enjoys spending time with his family, bicycling, hiking, reading, drinking tea, and playing games of all varieties. A native of Southern California, Erik currently lives near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Virginia.

Julie Bokor joined SSPI in 2025 as the Director of New Program Development, and took on the role of Director of the STEM Learning Institute in 2026 with the launch of the new program. She brings experience in science education, program development, research, and program evaluation, with a special focus on designing immersive STEM experiences for both students and educators.

Julie spent more than 20 years at the University of Florida’s Center for Precollegiate Education and Training (CPET), where she directed nationally recognized STEM outreach programs, translated cutting-edge research into classroom-ready curriculum, and led professional development for thousands of teachers and students. Her work at CPET, and beyond, has focused on ensuring that programs are not only innovative but also grounded in research and evaluation to maximize impact.

Prior to joining SSPI, Julie also held leadership roles with Alachua County Public Schools and statewide education foundations, managing multimillion-dollar grants and building strong partnerships to expand access to STEM opportunities for diverse learners. She holds a BS in Zoology and Microbiology, as well as an MAE in Science Education and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, all from the University of Florida. A life-long Floridian, Julie currently resides in Gainesville where she enjoys being outside, reading, and taking the backroads to the beach.

As Managing Director, Deb oversees the academic and operational teams of the Summer Science Program, SSPI’s flagship program. Prior to joining SSPI, Deb served as COO for an international non-profit focused on girls’ education and as a product manager for a geospatial software firm where she focused on open data, urban forestry, and digital humanities projects. She also taught several graduate courses on digital history and continues to be interested in how technology can help communities explore their past, connect in the present, and build stronger futures.

Deb holds a BA in English from Central Michigan University and a Master of Arts in Public History from Loyola University Chicago. She lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her family. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, line dancing, and reading as many books as possible.

Dr. Mike Manzella has been involved with SSPI since 2021, first developing the Bacterial Genomics program and later spending two years as an Academic Director. Mike joined the team full-time in September 2023. As Senior Director of Academic Affairs, he is responsible for diversifying faculty for both existing and new programs and ensuring that quality is maintained as SSPI grows its programs. Additionally, Mike will help to identify new university partners, faculty, and program areas. Mike also serves on the Admissions Committee. Prior to joining the team, Mike ran an immersive course-based undergraduate research lab at Indiana University.

Mike holds a BS in Biotechnology from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Michigan State University. He resides in Bloomington, Indiana. On evenings and weekends, you can find him gardening, playing video games, or playing table top role-playing games.

Nico Adams joined SSPI in July 2024 as the Director of Astrophysics. He recently completed a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Minnesota, where he specialized in studying star-forming galaxies using citizen science and machine learning techniques. Nico also has a background in running and coordinating outreach programs, including the University of Minnesota’s Universe in the Park program, which provides free sky tours and telescope observations in parks across Minnesota.

In his current role, Nico oversees and curates the astrophysics curriculum, identifies and recruits new faculty and guest speakers, and generally ensures that the Summer Science Program’s astrophysics programs maintain their quality as the organization expands.

Nico currently lives in Minneapolis with his partner and their cat Connie. He enjoys cooking elaborate meals with friends, traveling to state/national parks, and finding new coffee shops around the Twin Cities.

Emily Hawes has been involved with SSPI since 2018, when she served as a Teaching Assistant and Residential Mentor for the Biochemistry program at Purdue. She returned in 2019 to serve as a Teaching Assistant and Residential Mentor at UCSD and in 2024 to serve as a Site Director at New Mexico State University. In 2024, Emily joined the team full-time in her current role as Director of Biochemistry. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing and curating the Biochemistry program, recruiting academic faculty and guest speakers, and generally maintaining the quality of the Biochemistry program as SSPI expands.

Emily holds a BS in Biochemistry from Purdue University and a PhD in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics from Vanderbilt University. Emily currently lives in Wyoming with her husband and two dogs. In her free time, you can find Emily exploring new cities or hiking trails, reading a good book, or playing a board game.

Emaly joined SSPI in early 2025. Emaly brings her knowledge of genomic research, interest to find creative solutions to complex problems, and experience in scientific education program development to the team. Emaly earned her BS in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology from Purdue University in 2012 and her PhD in Genetics and Genomics from The University of Connecticut in 2019.

She currently resides in coastal Maine and enjoys spending free time outdoors with her dog Elvira. Her favorite hobbies include knitting, hunting for mushrooms, kayaking, and learning to cook authentic cuisines.

Amy Belote has been with SSPI since May 2011, and she is currently the Senior Director of Student Success for the Summer Science Program. In this role, she oversees student recruiting, admissions, enrollment, and student life on campus, as well as new alumni programming including College Link. Previously, Amy worked as a research project manager at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Amy holds a Master of Health Science degree in Health Policy and Administration from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Amy currently resides in Cary, North Carolina and has three adult children. She enjoys daily walks in the woods with her foster dog, yoga, meditation and wild swimming when she’s not working.

Laura Corley has been involved with SSPI since 2017 as a Site Director, Campus Manager, and operations consultant, and joined full time in June 2024 as the Senior Director of Program Operations. Laura holds a BSE in Secondary Education—Physical Science from East Texas Baptist University and an MEd in Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University. Her professional background includes 13 years as a high school chemistry educator and teacher leader; medical education staff roles at Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, UTHealth McGovern Medical School, and Carle Illinois College of Medicine; and nonprofit workforce development.

In her current role, she will be responsible for logistics and business operations for SSPI’s summer programs. When she’s not troubleshooting, she will review and recommend process changes to improve and streamline program operations for continued growth, assist with faculty recruiting and hiring, and provide support as needed to execute the mission of SSP.

Laura lives in the Greater Houston area in Texas with a Cocker Spaniel named Annie, and enjoys cooking, gardening, reading, relaxing in the pool, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.

Courtney Hill joined SSPI in September 2023 as the Director of Admissions, where she leads and manages all aspects of the admissions process with a focus on access and equity—from developing admissions policies and application materials to counseling prospective participants through the process. Prior to joining the team, Courtney worked as the Assistant Director of Admission at Harvey Mudd College.

Having been a first-generation, low-income college student from a rural background, Courtney’s experiences of discovering STEM education and research were transformative for her, and she remains deeply interested in research in scientific and social fields. She graduated with a BS in Biology from Duke University and an MA in Education from Louisiana State University. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska and primarily spends her free time attending rock concerts, running, and reading classics.