Kimberly Cook
Executive Director
(view bio)
Dr. Tia Brown McNair
Assistant Director
(view bio)
E. MorraLee Holzapfel
Director of Technical Assistance
(view bio)
Carrie Warick
Director of Member Services
(view bio)
Shannon Stamey
Executive Assistant
(view bio)
Biographies
Kimberly (Kiely) Cook has worked in the higher education and college access field for her entire professional career, including experience in undergraduate admissions and financial aid, direct-service provision and administration of a last-dollar scholarship program, and a succession of responsibilities within a national association of college access programs.
Ms. Cook has been with the National College Access Network (NCAN) since 1999 and was appointed Executive Director in April 2008. NCAN's mission is to build, strengthen, and empower communities committed to college access and success so that all students, especially those under-represented in postsecondary education, can achieve their educational dreams. She serves on the College Goal Sunday Advisory Committee and the External Advisory Committee for the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP). She is often consulted to speak on federal policy issues and building statewide college access networks and community-based college access programs. Ms. Cook also served as the Interim Executive Director of the Ohio College Access Network.
Prior to joining NCAN, she was a Senior Program Associate at Plan for Social Excellence, Inc., a foundation supporting innovative projects in education, and served as its Grants Manager and Scholars Program Manager. Previously, she was as a college admission counselor at Pace University in New York. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from Pace University and a Bachelors degree in Communications, Law, Economics and Government from The American University (Washington, DC). She recently completed coursework, pending capstone, for a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Georgetown University (Washington, DC).
Dr. Tia Brown McNair
joined the NCAN staff as the
Assistant Director
in October, 2008. Her responsibilities include the day to day management of the organization including project work with college access programs and NCAN’s Preparing to Dream Project in Houston, marketing of NCAN’s Web-Enabled Student Tracking software and working with major stakeholders, funders, government officials, membership and the public.
Dr. McNair previously worked with the National Science Foundation with responsibilities including working with EHR senior leadership on projects and assignments related to policy, evaluation, communications, and outreach to advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all students at all levels. Prior to the NSF, she served as the Director of University Relations at the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia; the Statewide Coordinator for the Educational Talent Search Project at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission; and the Interim Associate Director of Admissions and Recruitment Services at West Virginia State University.
Dr. McNair received her Doctor of Education degree (Higher Education Administration, concentration in Education Policy) from the Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD) at The George Washington University. She holds a B.S. degree in Political Science and English with a minor in Human Communication from James Madison University, and a M.A. degree in English from Radford University.
Ms. MorraLee Holzapfel
serves as
Director of Technical Assistance
and provides professional development to both direct service providers and managers to help ensure the success and sustainability of new and existing college access programs. She offers consultation services with advice on governance issues, programming, data collection, research and best practices and will also develop comprehensive training materials.
Ms. Holzapfel has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in higher education administration, both from The Ohio State University. A former financial aid coordinator at OSU, Ms. Holzapfel has extensive experience in student financial aid. In her time at the Columbus, Ohio-based NCAN member program, I KNOW I CAN, Ms. Holzapfel developed a program with K-12 early college awareness programming and developed a comprehensive college advising program and last dollar grant program. Ms. Holzapfel is the past president of NCAN and served as the treasurer of the Board of Directors of NCAN.
Ms. Carrie Warick
began as
Director of Member Services
for the National College Access Network in September 2008. She works with member services and recruitment, communications and marketing projects, professional development, advocacy, and the National College Access Program Directory. She previously served as Program Associate from May 2008 until September 2008 and as an NCAN intern from January of 2005 until May of 2006.
Ms. Warick holds a Masters of Public Policy, with a concentration in education policy, and a Bachelors degree in International Affairs and History, both from The George Washington University. While pursuing her Masters, Warick was a Presidential Administrative Fellow and worked in various areas of communication within GW.
Ms. Shannon Stamey
joined the National College Access Network as the Executive Assistant in March of 2009. She has a variety of nonprofit administrative experience, including positions with the Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Foundation for Cancer Research, and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.
Prior to beginning her career in nonprofit administration, Ms. Stamey was the Community Liaison Officer for the American Embassy in Sarajevo, where she organized events and served as the employee relations manager. She began her career as an Analyst with Cooper & Secrest Associates, a political consulting firm.
Ms. Stamey holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.