Improving educational equity & social mobility

Prior to starting HighView, Nicole helped build two of Denver’s “unicorn” tech companies, most recently as the Vice President of Retail & Mobile Commerce Partnerships at Ibotta. As one of Ibotta’s early employees, she launched the company’s Retail vertical in 2014, diversifying its offering beyond grocery and establishing the company as a leading player in the affiliate space. Prior to joining Ibotta, Nicole led business development for PaySimple (now EverCommerce), where she signed large white-label distribution partnerships for PaySimple’s SaaS-based software. Before joining the tech startup scene in Denver, Nicole was an Associate in the New York office of TCV, a $15 billion Silicon Valley-based private equity firm, and an Analyst at UBS Investment Bank. Nicole graduated with Honors from Princeton University with a major in Economics and Certificates in Finance and French.

Originally from Pittsburgh (and still bleeding Black and Gold), Nicole currently lives in Denver with her son. She has always been passionate about helping children from underserved communities through education, and her experience mentoring an inspirational student from East High School led her to start HighView. Nicole has received the Denver Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and “Outstanding Woman in Business” awards for her transformational leadership within her industry, career accomplishments and community involvement. She has also received the DEI & Talent Champion of the Year award from the Colorado Technology Association.

Mike has dedicated his entire career to supporting youth and developing partnerships to help them succeed. During his 15-year tenure at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado Mike supported hundreds of mentoring relationships and developed the Sports Buddies mentoring program into a national model as a Program Manager. He later became the Director of Corporate Partnerships where he developed corporate relationships to raise funds and create workforce development programs for youth.

Mike graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a major in English. He has a certification in Corporate Social Responsibility from the University of Colorado Boulder – Leeds School of Business. Mike lives in Littleton with his wife and three daughters. He is a mentor, volunteer, coach, and advocate for youth because he knows the potential they have and what they can achieve if we all provide the opportunities and support they deserve.

Alexis joins HighView with years of experience working in higher education and nonprofit spaces. Most recently, she served as Assistant Director of Development at the University of Pennsylvania, supporting the institution’s educational access and affordability initiatives, with a focus on programs for first-generation and/or lower-income students. Alexis is passionate about promoting pathways to opportunity, and has been a civically engaged member of the Philadelphia community for the past 10 years. She was highlighted as a 2021 Al Día 40 Under Forty nominee for her impactful work in the region.

Alexis holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a concentration in Latin American, Iberian and Latinx studies from Bryn Mawr College, where she was awarded the Dr. Haley S. Thomas Prize in Diversity. She received her master’s degree in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education in 2016.

Dirza is a soon-to-be first-generation college graduate, currently attending Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is obtaining her Bachelors degree from MSU Denver’s School of Education, concentrating in Culturally Linguistic and Diverse studies and is on the President’s Honor Roll. She recently obtained her certification in Trauma Informed Practices. Dirza has years of experience working with students ranging from elementary school to college. At MSU, she has been involved in multiple leadership programs such as the Alternative Break Program, Denver Scholarship Foundation Leadership Advisory Board and MSU Denver’s School of Education Roadrunner’s Diversity Program.

In addition to her academic experience, Dirza has worked and interned with Teach for America as a fellow and campus ambassador. Dirza was also a member of HighView’s inaugural student cohort and will be our first alumni to graduate college (early) in December of 2023! HighView has opened doors for Dirza to explore other career options within her field of study and she is excited to give back to HighView as a Program Coordinator.

Chris is currently a Managing Director for Class VI Partners, which provides investment banking and financial advisory services to middle-market businesses and entrepreneurs in Colorado and across the United States. Previously, Chris served as Chief Operating Officer for DHI Group and ASI Government, and CEO of Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC). Chris also served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Chief Operating Officer of the City and County of Denver. Chris was also a Managing Director at Vestar Capital Partners for nearly 13 years. 

Tiffany Shumate currently oversees University Partnerships for NVIDIA. She was previously Executive Director for Hack the Hood and Assistant Director of Admission, Access & Equity for Bryn Mawr College. Tiffany holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Bryn Mawr College (where she was a Mellon Mays Fellow and Truman Scholar) and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Tiffany was named to the 40 Under 40 Class of 2021 by the San Francisco Business Times.

John has spent most of his career in technology/SaaS and currently serves as a Customer Success Team Lead at Alteryx, an analytics and automation company. John served as a mentor from the very first HighView student cohort, and still enjoys keeping in touch with his outstanding mentee, Fernanda Andrade, as she excels at Barnard College in NYC.  Beyond his professional career, John is an avid tennis player, fan, and aviation enthusiast.

Currently a Senior Partner Operations Analyst at Guild, Modesty Gomez-Droke is a dedicated Associate Board Member driven by her passion for HighView’s mission. Modesty’s journey with HighView began as a Mentor during our initial pilot, and her support has continued ever since.

As a first-generation college graduate, Modesty’s personal experiences deeply connect her to the individuals we serve, igniting her fervor for HighView’s mission. She brings a wealth of experience, having previously devoted herself to youth education as a full-time volunteer with AmeriCorps’ City Year program.

Modesty holds a degree in Pre-Law Philosophy and a minor in Ethics from Washington State University. She also holds certifications in Project Leadership and Project Management from Cornell University. When not advocating for our cause, Modesty resides in Seattle with her husband and dogs, indulging in her love for reading, outdoor sports, and exploring Seattle’s vibrant food and music scene.

Alex originally joined HighView as a mentor for rockstar college student, Urjii Kalil, helping her secure three prestigious scholarships and a full ride to the University of St. Thomas to pursue her Computer Science degree.

Alex is a Product Manager with extensive experience scaling startups in various industries. She is currently a Product Manager at Ibotta, and previously a Product Management Coach and Consultant and Sr. Product Manager at Homebound and Guild. Alex also spends her time within the community volunteering – supporting causes that combat food insecurity and hunger, as well as causes that empower people with disabilities.

Alex’s dedication to community and experience in scaling companies has enabled her to make a significant impact within the organizations she has been a part of. Her skills in strategic planning, process improvement, partnerships, public speaking, networking, and event planning are all assets she plans to employ as an Associate Board Member for HighView.

Natasha Ray is currently the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Engagement Manager at Guild. Her work has included growing six (and counting!) ERGs from a meeting room vision to a best-in-class program over the span of just three years. Fast paced and ever-changing is the environment that best describes Guild, and Natasha’s time in this innovative space has led to impactful insights, lessons learned, and knowledge worth sharing with ERG leaders and DEI practitioners alike.

Natasha’s educational background includes a B.A. from Franklin Pierce University in N.H. and a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.

Aimara Rodriguez is a first-generation Honduran-American business strategist based in Denver, Colorado. She has a diverse background working at the intersection of startups, tech, and products. Her expertise lies in operations management, partnership development, and product strategy. She has been featured in the Denver Business Journal, Rocky Mountain PBS, Good Morning America, Forbes, Nasdaq, and Entrepreneur Magazine and has mentored for organizations such as Access Mode, Social Venture Partners Denver, Techstars, Google for Startups, Latinas In Tech, and Built by Girls Ventures. 

Aimara is actively involved with Latinas In Tech and is a chapter lead for their Denver area. She also runs an online content series called The Spotlight, which brings together creatives and entrepreneurs to discuss topics such as identity, equality, opportunity, and creativity. Through her work, she aims to cultivate opportunities and create spaces for other professionals and athletes of color to lead, thrive, and be heard. 

Aimara is also the co-founder of Function f(x) Wellness, a wellness brand that was started by Aimara alongside her brother Carlos, a fitness advocate and personal trainer with over a decade of experience. As brown people who enjoy climbing mountains and training for functionality, they were motivated by a shared mission of creating more access to the outdoors for communities of color and decreasing the knowledge gap about health and wellness in these communities. Their digital store is now open and a portion of all proceeds from gear purchased will go to the non-profit arm of Function f(x) to support their efforts in helping local youth from under-served communities in Denver get access to recreational activities such as weightlifting, mountaineering, and biking.

Dr. LoPresti is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Suffolk University. Dr. LoPresti graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Psychology and American Studies and received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She has published extensively on the multi-level impact of racism on the mental health of people and communities of color as well as barriers to mental healthcare for underserved and underrepresented communities. In addition, Dr. LoPresti owns a clinical private practice where she helps clients cope with a range of psychological struggles including anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship challenges, as well as racism-related stress.

Dr. LoPresti is also a co-founder of BARE (Black, Advocacy, Resistance, and Empowerment) Mental Health and Wellness, LLC. BAREMHW’s mission is to address disparities in mental health and wellness through consultation with businesses and community-based organizations to meet their goals of culturally-responsive and anti-racist care, recruitment, hiring, and retention of a diverse workforce, and increasing access and persistence in healthcare engagement for people of color.

Jess currently lives in Boston with her husband and two children. She deeply values the time she spends mentoring undergraduate and graduate students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds and is passionate about addressing educational, employment, and health disparities.

Bijal is currently the Chief Experience Officer for Guild Education, where she is responsible for bringing together product, service operations, and technology to help Guild unlock opportunity for America’s working adults. Prior to joining Guild, Bijal was the SVP of Analytics & Data Products at Ibotta, where she built and maintained an advanced analytics organization consisting of expertise across statistics, machine learning, data science, a/b & multivariate testing, business strategy, and business intelligence. Before Ibotta, Bijal spent time at Visa Inc. as a key member of their newly formed Corporate Strategy team, responsible for utilizing analytics and data science principles to help set Visa’s post-IPO strategies. Bijal also founded Lallitara, a social enterprise that aims to use fashion as a vehicle for creating social and environmental good. Bijal holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. In 2020, Bijal was named a Denver Business Journal “40 Under 40” award winner for her business success and community contributions.

Bijal currently lives in Denver with her husband and daughter.

Tina is a Partner at Obvious Ventures, where she focuses on the emerging growth practice. Prior to joining Obvious Ventures, Tina was an Executive Vice President at TCV, focusing on investments in internet, digital media & entertainment, mobile technology and software. Prior to joining TCV, Tina founded Wedding Spot, the first online marketplace to offer real-time, itemized price quotes for wedding venues across 43 states in the U.S. As CEO, Tina provided strategic direction for the company in the areas of revenue growth, market expansion, customer acquisition, and product development and helped the company reach profitability in its third year. Tina built the sales organization from scratch and in 2015 grew Wedding Spot’s coverage from 3 states to 38 states within one year. Tina began her career as an investment banker in the Tech Group at Bear Stearns where she worked on IPOs, mergers & acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs and divestitures. Tina majored in Finance and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Commerce from Santa Clara University. In 2020, Tina was named to Venture Capital Journal’s list of “40 Rising Stars Under 40.” Although she is a thirteen-year resident of San Francisco, Tina loves to travel. After Wedding Spot’s exit, she spent one and a half years traveling abroad full-time with her husband and was in a new city on average every three to four days. She has explored 55 countries and over 275 cities.