At Mission Scholars, Beth ensures the smooth functioning of our nonprofit’s daily operations, designing and enhancing systems to maximize efficiency within the organization.

Beth has extensive experience in corporate operations, nonprofit management, and leadership. Career highlights include serving as Chief of Staff and leading foundation efforts at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and Homepoint Financial, where she launched scholarship initiatives for first-generation college students and oversaw programs that advanced community engagement. In addition to her role with Mission Scholars, Beth serves as Executive Director of the Coast Village Association.

Florida State University, Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Communications
UC Berkeley, Human Resources (Honors)

As the Executive Director of our organization, Cassie leads governance, strategic planning, and organization development and management to further our mission.

A proud SBHS alumna, Cassie has dedicated the past 15 years to preparing Santa Barbara’s students for higher education. Prior to co-founding Mission Scholars, Cassie founded and operated College Specific, a local private college admissions counseling company, and volunteered her time and expertise for organizations that worked with low-income students. Outside of Mission Scholars, Cassie works with local parents to improve literacy rates in Santa Barbara County.

Princeton University, Bachelor of Arts in English
UCSB, Master of Arts in Education

As Associate Director of Development, Christina works with the executive team to set development and communications strategy.

Christina has spent over fifteen years advancing philanthropic initiatives, with a focus on leading high-impact campaigns. Through leadership roles at UCSF’s Preterm Birth Initiative, the Schmidt Family Foundation, and the United Nations, Christina has led donor engagement, fundraising communications, partnership development, and high-impact storytelling to strengthen organizational visibility and secure philanthropic support. A first-gen American herself, she is a fervent believer in the power of education to transform lives and power communities.

Georgetown University, BA, Foreign Service
Johns Hopkins University, MA, International Relations

As Head Essay Coach, Daphne leads writing workshops for scholars, works one-on-one with students, and trains and coordinates our growing team of volunteer essay coaches.

She brings extensive editorial experience from years in book publishing and freelance editing, having worked in New York, London, and Tokyo with multilingual writers. Her work spans books, promotional materials, test-prep manuals, and college application essays. Daphne also has tutoring experience from the Santa Barbara City College Writing Center, where she supported students with academic writing and college transfer applications.

Daphne began her journey with Mission Scholars as our first volunteer and sees the role as a perfect intersection of her love of writing and her deep belief in the power of education. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, and celebrating the joyful news she receives from the many young people whose writing she has supported over the years.

BA, Psychology, Harvard College
MSc, Social Behaviour, London School of Economics

As Director of Strategy, Programs, and Impact, Katie leads the Programs and Marketing Teams, fostering dynamic collaboration with community partners, students, and staff.

A Fulbright Scholar, Katie is a relentless advocate for underrepresented communities, promoting social justice for low-income youth. Her work spans from teaching immigrant communities in Southern California to creating transformative college promotion programs in Chile and Colombia. Katie’s deep love of community leads her to volunteer with Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons, leading street tennis workshops for marginalized youth.

UCLA, Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and Spanish
UCSD, M.Ed in Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education

As Program Coordinator, Kristine helps ensure that students receive the resources, guidance, and mentorship needed to thrive in their post-secondary academic and professional journeys. Kristine also helps oversee the onboarding and training for Mission Scholars volunteers.

Kristine is a San Marcos High School alumna and a Mission Scholars participant, passionate about educational equity and dedicated to empowering first-generation and low-income students to achieve their goals. She recently served as an intern at the New England Board of Higher Education and worked for Brown University as an administrative assistant, course developer, and research assistant for the Education Department.

Brown University, Bachelor of Arts in Education and International Affairs

As Program Coordinator, Mayra works with the Programs Team to support Scholars throughout high school and college, co-facilitating workshops and building community partnerships. She is also responsible for helping with the onboarding and training of Mission Scholars volunteers.

During her time as an undergraduate at UCLA, Mayra spent her summers working with underrepresented low-income students from the Bay Area to help them navigate a pre-college experience on Stanford’s campus. Her role involved facilitating college success workshops, SAT prep, and program planning. Mayra strongly believes in leveling the playing field and advocating for resilient first-generation students.

UCLA, Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

Ramey joined Mission Scholars in 2021. She considers herself a "home grown" college advisor after experiencing firsthand the lack of college resources for public high school students. After volunteering for Matchlighters College Access remotely for eight years, Ramey is thrilled to concentrate her work with Mission Scholars and local Santa Barbara students in person. She is a proud alum of SBHS ‘1983. At Mission Scholars, Ramey especially enjoys working with amazing students, collaborating with fellow counselors, helping demystify the college process, and celebrating every hard-earned acceptance.

BA, Women's Studies and Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz

As the College Affordability Program Manager, Yazmín leads financial aid and scholarship workshops, delivers financial literacy education to Mission Scholars families, and skillfully negotiates aid packages to minimize college debt.

During her time as an undergraduate at UCSB, Yazmín conducted research for the Education and Chicano/a/x Studies Department, shedding light on the challenges faced by first-generation and undocumented students in academia. As a first-generation student herself, Yazmín is passionate about promoting equal access to higher education.

UCSB, Bachelor of Arts in Chicano/a/x Studies