Directors & Board
Board of Directors
Marjorie Schlenoff, Founder
In private practice in San Francisco, Marjorie is psychoanalyst with over 30 years of experience treating individuals, couples and groups. Marjorie has served as chairperson of the Program Committee of the NCSPP; Board Member of the Psychoanalytic Association WCSPP; and on the Advisory council of Planned Parenthood of America. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland and has a Masters of Social Work from Columbia University, with a Certificate in Psychoanalysis from Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, White Plains, New York.
Larry Schlenoff
Currently the CEO of the North Peninsula Jewish Campus, Larry has extensive experience at all levels of financial and general management with senior executive experience with Semio Corporation, Zitel Corp., and IBM. With his strong focus on fundraising, quality of service, organizational effectiveness, governance and financial management, Larry has served on the Board of Directors of ETEC, semiconductor equipment manufacturer, and on the Advisory Board of EOPLex, a technology start-up, as well as current or past positions on the Board of Directors for the following non-profit organizations: the Mental Health Association of Westchester, the Lincolndale Guidance Clinic, the Foundation for Religion and Mental Health, the Children’s Psychological Trauma Center, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He has an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton and a B.A. in Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University.
Julian Asher
Julian Asher is the founder of boutique travel consultancy Timeless Africa and heads up the office in London, England. Julian’s first trip to Africa as a schoolboy was rudely terminated when his mum refused to sign the permission form on the grounds that he was going to catch a heinous disease and die. Despite this less than promising beginning the call of Africa could not be denied, and he now travels to Africa at least once a year (usually more). Recent visits have included Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania. Julian cut his travel planning teeth in the offices of Let’s Go Travel, publishers of the Let’s Go travel guides, and is certified as a South African Fundi (expert). He is an award-winning photographer who will go to great lengths in the name of the perfect shot, including being duct-taped into a doorless helicopter over the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The risks have paid off (or so he hopes), with his work currently on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Julian graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco before emigrating to England to pursue a PhD at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He remains resolutely free of heinous diseases.
Danielle Boutros
Danielle was born and raised in San Francisco. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from UC Berkeley in 1988. Currently, she is a PA Board Member at The Branson School. Four the past four years, Danielle has been a been a volunteer for Sumba Foundation, a nont-profit organization deeply committed to lessening the consequences of poverty on the island of Sumba by providing humanitarian aid through village-based projects that impact health, education and income generation. She has extensive fundraising experience, including the Hamlin School Annual Fund and Save the Children.
Candis Cousins
Candis is currently working in private practice with children, adolescents and adults. She began working with children in 1967 as a classroom teacher in Harlem and the Lower East Side of NYC. In 1970, she was introduced to psychoanalytic work by Edith Schmidt (who was trained by Anna Freud after WW II). For the past 12 years, Candis has served on the Ann Martin Center Board in Piedmont, California, which was founded in 1967 and provides both psychological and educational services to children of all incomes. Currently, she is the Associate Editor of The Educational Therapist, a national journal for professionals in the field of learning disabilities and is also on the editorial board of fort da, a journal focusing on psychoanalysis and the arts. Candis has a B.A. from Oberlin College, an M.A. in education from Bank Street College in NYC, and a Ph.D in psychology from the Wright Institute.
Sam Cuddeback
Sam brings a wealth of educational and academic program experience and has a heart for global education. Sam has been the Head of School at the Drew School, and independent high school in San Francisco, CA since 1991, and his school has participated in the TWA/LEAP School Student Teacher Internship Program in SF for the past two years. One of his teachers, Julian Islas, is currently in South Africa as a 2011 Teach With Africa Fellow. His family hosted two TWA interns (winter ’10) as well as many other international guests. He has also co-led a school trip to Kenya / Tanzania (affiliated with the Green Belt Movement).
John Gilmour
John is the founder and director of the LEAP Science & Maths School (founded 2004), with two campuses in Cape Town and a third in Johannesburg, South Africa. He established the LEAP School with the aim to bring about major transformation in the lives of disadvantaged young people, as well as the communities from which they come. John focused on several key innovations in education to dramatically successful results, including virtually doubling the amount of classroom time for students, building a mentorship program, and developing key community partnerships. John has held numerous teaching and administrative positions; prior to his post as the principal of Abbott’s College, a leading university prep high school in South Africa, he was a teacher at Pinelands High School where he started a support-tuition program in 1990 for students in the township of Langa. He also previously served as a teacher at Bergvliet High School. John holds a B.A. in English, Geography and Religious Studies from the University of Cape Town and a Certificate in PGCSE in Senior Education.
Connie Jorgensen
Previously the Vice President of Information Technology at Electronic Arts, Connie now spends much of her time bicycling in various areas of the world, most recently visiting one of the LEAP schools in South Africa by bicycle, as well as traveling around Burma. She also leads adventure bike tours in the high Sierra. Connie served on the boards of Career Closet, a non-profit assisting disadvantaged women entering the work force, and Almaden Cycling Touring organization, and is a mentor in the Child Advocates (CASA) program. Connie has a B.S. in Mathematics from Purdue University and an Executive MBA from Northwestern University.
Orlando Taylor
A veteran of higher education, Dr. Taylor is the inaugural president of The Chicago School’s newest campus in Washington. As Howard University’s Vice Provost of Research and Graduate School Dean, Dr. Taylor played a significant role in ensuring the university’s continued national leadership as a diverse institution that produces, among many groups, more African-American on-campus Ph.D. recipients than any other research university in the United States. Dr. Taylor has served as president of the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools, the National Communication Association, and the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), and as the board chair for the Council of Graduate Schools. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books. He has received honorary doctorates from Purdue University, Indiana University, The Ohio State University, Hope College, DePauw University, Denison University, and Southern Connecticut State University.
Jane Weil
Jane serves on the Executive Boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and South of Market ChildCare (SOMACC). She also works for the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, Community Policing Advisory Committee, and served on the boards of the Cow Hollow Neighborhood Association, Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, the Historic Review Commission for the town of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and the American Legion Post 450, Sewickley, Pennsylvania. Jane has a BA from the College of Charleston (SC) and has done graduate work in business and management at Yale University and the University of New Haven.
Amy Schoew, Executive Director
Ms. Schoew oversees all programmatic, administrative, and fund development efforts related to Teach With Africa. Since TWA’s inception in October 2007, Amy has worked with the founders, Marjorie and Larry Schlenoff, to create and administer the non-profit organization. She also joined Teach With Africa’s team as chair of the 2008 Inaugural Benefit and subsequently took the Executive Director role in February 2008. Under her leadership, TWA now raises an operating budget of nearly $250,000 annually and has sent nearly 60 educators to projects in South Africa. Ms. Schoew’s background includes PR and communications, management, donor relations, and education Administration. She holds a B.A. of English Literature with a minor in Business Administration and has studied towards her Masters in English Literature at San Francisco State University.
Advisory Board
Barbara Blasdel, PhD, psychologist
Janey Ball, South African Rotary partner
Denise V. Bradley, non-profit administration
Mary Carse, marketing consultant
Nancy Clair, Ed.D., international educational consultant
Jeff Chow, Financial Advisor/CFP®
Ruth Garland Dewson, business leader and social activist
John Gough, banker
Heidi Hugo, attorney
Jeremy Aksdal-Jansen, sports educator
Andrew Kowal, private equity
Bart Magee, PhD
Thomas H. Ogden, MD, psychoanalyst
Suzanne Pallak, PhD
Laura Putnam, educator
Margaret Ryan, business development
Stephen Sabin, PhD, psychologist
Lois Salisbury, JD
Madye Seymour, e-business consultant
