The Fishing School

Leo joined TFS in September of 2007, following over 25 years of senior executive experience with local, national, and international nonprofit organizations. During his time with TFS, the organization has more than doubled the number of students served and nearly tripled its operating budget. Immediately prior to joining TFS, he served as Deputy Executive Director of Membership Mobilization for Amnesty International USA. He was a member of the organization’s senior management team that was responsible for guiding its work and managing a $45 million budget. He provided direct leadership to several national business units focused on youth membership development, advocacy, public education, volunteer recruitment, training, and membership mobilization. His responsibilities also included leading national field operations and national program development in support of the organization’s 700,000 members and over 1,700 student and local chapters. Earlier in his career he served as a founding Deputy Director of the Doug Williams Foundation where he created and managed five city-wide youth programs that reached several thousand students in DC public schools. Leo received a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Howard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Radio and Television from Grambling State University where he was a member of the famed Tiger football team coached by the legendary educator Eddie Robinson.

Quinci joined The Fishing School in August of 2011. Her work experience includes building capacity in organizations working to strengthen vulnerable or underserved communities, and developing nonprofit leaders of color. Quinci holds a Master’s of Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Florida A&M University. Her past employment includes the Center for Minority Studies, where she launched her career in capacity building by creating and implementing successful fundraising, human resources, and board development infrastructures for the upstart organization and Fair Chance where she successfully led outreach and capacity building efforts in Washington, DC’s Wards 5 and 6. Quinci is also the founder of the Women Achieving Visionary Excellence Scholarship Fund, a scholarship fund for African American girls from Washington, DC.

Christopher, who commonly goes by Topher, joined TFS in October of 2019. His professional experience includes seven years of nonprofit work supporting both fundraising/development and program implementation. As Senior Program Manager at Playworks of Greater Washington, DC, Topher was responsible for executing their year-round events calendar, stewarding high-level corporate partnerships, and securing multi-year funding to expand into new partner schools through OSSE grants. In addition to strategic planning and fundraising to promote the program mission, Topher expanded Playworks’ program offerings into new markets while leading the management of current partnerships with a focus on delivering high-quality services. Topher also serves as Vice President with the American Latvian Youth Association, leading their volunteer board in strategic planning to better serve their members’ needs. This blend of cross-functional knowledge and expertise provides The Fishing School a great lens to support and elevate the work we do. Topher is passionate about youth development, community engagement, and nonprofit management; he received his Bachelor of Arts in International Service from American University, and is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management. Topher loves living in Washington, DC, and can often be found enjoying the museums, cycling, or cheering on the Wizards!

Abby joined TFS in June of 2019 with 17 years of experience serving youth and families in the
public and nonprofit sectors. Her experience includes training and professional development,
youth development, program design and evaluation, and collective impact. She has previously served as a 21st CCLC Director and Director of Training and Professional Development for Kids’
Involvement Network, driving quality programming and scaling access to 7000 elementary and
middle school students across 60 sites. She also served as the Executive Director of Out of
School Time for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio where she managed out of school time
programs to include summer day camps and afterschool programs serving roughly 5000 youth
annually. For 4 years, she served as co-chair for Excel Beyond the Bell San Antonio where she
led efforts to assess Out of School Time supports for 380,000 school age youth as well as a Cost
Benefit Analysis quantifying the Return on Investment for Out of School Time. Most recently,
she served as Deputy Director of UP Partnership (P16 Plus Council of Greater Bexar County)
where she oversaw 4 collective impact networks and strategies for improving youth outcomes
across San Antonio. She is most proud of her work with the Our Tomorrow Network, a network created to position young people to influence the policies impacting them most. Abby holds a Master’s of Science in Organizational Leadership from Our Lady of the Lake University and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Porsha joined The Fishing School in May of 2015 and brings to TFS a broad set of experiences from her time teaching abroad, in high risk areas, and with adjudicated youth and adult learners. With over a decade of classroom experience, she has had the opportunity to work with a diverse group of students and student needs, and she is passionate about continuing to strive to improve outcomes for students from underserved and underrepresented communities. In her program management work, Porsha has designed, coordinated, and implemented more than a dozen co-curricular and experiential learning programs, using institutional data and engaging student advocates. Porsha holds a PhD from the University of Maryland and Masters degrees from Columbia University Teacher’s College (Applied Linguistics) and Mercy College (Urban Education).

Amber joined TFS in May of 2019. Her professional experience includes maintaining and processing payroll records and reports and preparing and
typing a variety of reports and requisitions. Previously she has served as an office associate at The Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, where she prepared status reports regarding initial eligibility/ineligibility outcomes. Amber has also served as a Barista at Starbucks, operations assistant at Executive Signature Services, and as a receptionist at Genetics & IVF. Amber is passionate about experimenting and creating different meals that come to mind. Amber received her Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from Morgan State University.

Ashley joined TFS in March 2019. Her professional experience includes substituting as well as before and after school teaching. Previously, she has served as a substitute at DC Prep, where she implemented fun ways to keep the students engaged while learning. Ashley has served as a before and after school instructor for Springboard of America for Two Rivers Academy and Imagine – Lincoln Public Charter, and started as a volunteer for F.A.N., another nonprofit program based out of Ft. Stanton Recreation Center in Southeast DC. Ashley is actively involved with The Fishing School as the Site Manager and is passionate about working with the youth of today. Ashley went to North Carolina Central University where she majored in psychology. While there, she was actively involved in a DC-based student group called the Metro Eagles. She also played basketball briefly and was known around campus as “the girl with the skateboard.”

Ashley joined TFS in December of 2015. Her professional experience includes child care, culinary services, and administrative work. Previously she served as Lead Afterschool Instructor at The Fishing School at Turner Elementary. Ashley has also served as School-Age Teacher at Antioch Childcare Center, where she conducted daily activities for children in a safe environment, including learning activities and art projects. In this role, Ashley prepared the educational materials required to implement the daily lesson plans. Ashley is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at Prince George’s Community College. Ashley is passionate about youth empowerment.