Skip to content
service to school logo white
About Us
Our Story
Sponsors
Annual Report
Our Impacts
Our Team
Our Staff
Board of Directors
Advisory Board
Our Ambassadors
Vetlink
Resources
Events
Blog
Videos
Undergraduate Resources
MBA Resources
JD Law Resources
Scholarships
Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Sponsors
    • Annual Report
    • Our Impacts
  • Our Team
    • Our Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Ambassadors
  • Vetlink
  • Resources
    • Events
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Undergraduate Resources
    • MBA Resources
    • JD Law Resources
    • Scholarships
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Sponsors
    • Annual Report
    • Our Impacts
  • Our Team
    • Our Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Board
    • Our Ambassadors
  • Vetlink
  • Resources
    • Events
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Undergraduate Resources
    • MBA Resources
    • JD Law Resources
    • Scholarships
  • Contact Us
SIGN UP
Donate
Volunteer

Our Team

Our Staff

Christine Schwartz
Chief Executive Officer
Jim Selbe
Chief Operating Officer
Alexandra Nieves
Director Of Operations
Sydney Matthes
Director of Student Success
Amanda Dobias
Director of Communications
Annie Behari
Program Manager
Steven Hojnicki
Director, MBA Program
Nathan Lowry
Co- Director, JD Program
Paul Zebb
Co-Director, JD Program
Anson Cheng
Director, Graduate Program
Peter Campbell
Director Of Healthcare Professionals
Candice Creecy
Physician Assistant Program Manager
John Powell
Chief Financial Officer

Join The Team

Light the way for service members and veterans taking their next step into higher education. Sign up to become an ambassador!

Volunteer With Us

Board of Directors

Bob Spieth
Board Member
Adrian Perkins
Board Member
Augusto Giacoman
Co-founder And Chairman Of The Board
General (Ret.) Joseph L. Votel
Board Member
Anna Ivey
Co-Founder, Board Member
Khalil Tawil
Board Member and S2S Co-Founder
David Calfee
Board Member
Tim Hsia
Board Member
Mike Anderson
Board Membmer

Advisory Board

Ana Rowena McCullough

Ana Rowena McCullough

Advisory Board Member

Jim Mattis

Jim Mattis

Advisory Board Member

Les Denend

Les Denend

Advisory Board Member

Charles A. O’Reilly III

Charles A. O’Reilly III

Advisory Board Member

Seth Moulton

Seth Moulton

Advisory Board Member

Dawn Smith

Dawn Smith

Advisory Board Member

Craig Newmark

Craig Newmark

Advisory Board Member

Be part of our growing team, come and join us!

Join the team

Transforming Education for Veterans

FREE Application Counseling for Veterans and Servicemembers.

SUPPORT OUR MISSION
Let's discuss now

Sign up for our Newsletter

Get in touch with us

  • Contact Us
platinum transparency 2022 candid award
  • 501(c)(3) non-profit
  • CFC #72341
  • EIN 46-3566678
  • Support Our Mission
ncan_logo_member_rgb
Proud Members
About Us

Service to School (S2S) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides free college and grad school application counseling to military veterans and servicemembers.

Our Organization
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Sponsors
  • Resources
Who We Serve
  • Undergraduate Programs
  • Graduate Programs
  • Vetlink
  • Scholarships for Veterans
service to school logo white

© 2022 Service To School. All Rights Reserved.

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin-in Instagram Youtube Podcast

Service to School

Virtual Admissions Fair

Save Your Seat

00
Days
:
00
Hours

Find the college for you! Make connections with undergraduate admissions reps from our VetLink partner schools such as Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Harvard & more! Discuss admissions requirements, deadlines, campus life & beyond.

Register for Jan 19
Register for Jan 21
Christine Schwartz

Christine Schwartz

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Christine Schwartz is a former Army officer and military spouse who is passionate about supporting and enabling veterans as they enter a new phase of their life. 

Before her role as CEO, Christine served as Service to School’s COO and prior to that as our Director of Undergraduate Operations. Christine was chosen for the George W. Bush Institute’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program where she was a scholar in 2018.

Jim Selbe

Jim Selbe

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

  • JimSelbe@service2school.org.

Jim Selbe is a 20-year Marine Corps veteran. Jim’s previous positions include Senior Vice President for Military Programs at the University of Maryland University College; Vice President for Lifelong Learning at the American Council on Education; and Regional Director for Troops to Teachers in Virginia.

Alexandra Nieves

Alexandra Nieves

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Alex served on Active Duty in the United States Army for over nine years as an Adjutant General Officer, where she served in support of OIF and OEF.  

As a first-generation college graduate herself, Alex is passionate about encouraging Veterans to continue their education and use all the skills they learned while in service.

Sydney Matthes

Sydney Matthes

Director of student success

Sydney Matthes has worked in the field of higher education since 2011 on college campuses and as an independent college counselor. 

As an Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admission, she worked as the veteran liaison as well as a member of the admissions committee. During her time at George Washington University, she earned a Masters in Higher Education Administration focusing on veteran support programs and campus resources. Sydney is the spouse to an active duty Army JAG and a proud alum of West Virginia University. 

Amanda Dobias

Amanda Dobias

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Amanda is an experienced Communication professional that is passionate about improving the experience of our military and veterans as well supporting individuals pursuing higher education. 

With a Masters of Arts in Communication from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, she brings more than 5 years of experience working in the higher education and non-profit industries supporting the US Military initiatives and managing social media & communication strategies. Amanda is an active duty Air Force spouse and a proud undergraduate alum of Bowling Green State University. 

Annie Behari

Annie Behari

PROGRAM MANAGER

Annie has worked in college admissions for the last decade. After earning her Masters in Higher Education at Harvard University, she began her career as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and then at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. For the last five years, she has been a college counselor, helping students apply to undergraduate programs across the world.

Steven Hojnicki

Steven Hojnicki

DIRECTOR, MBA PROGRAM

Steve hails from Burke, Va. He received his bachelor’s degree in Systems Management and commission as a Field Artillery officer from the United States Military Academy in 2009. 

His operational assignments include 4th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry, 5th Battlefield Coordination Detachment, and Observer Coach Trainer duty at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. Steve was selected as a Major General Wright fellow and graduated from the College of William & Mary with his MBA in the summer of 2019 and Masters of Science in Business Analytics in early 2021. He is currently serving as an Operations Research and Systems Analyst in the US Army.

Nathan Lowry

Nathan Lowry

CO- DIRECTOR, JD PROGRAM

Nathan graduated from Cornell University in 2013, majoring in Government and Economics. 

He served as a ground intelligence officer in the Marine Corps from 2013 to 2019 and has operational experience in Afghanistan, Africa, and Spain. He completed his service as a Captain and currently works at a law firm in Vermont. He is a member of Harvard Law School’s Class of 2024.

Paul Zebb

Paul Zebb

CO- DIRECTOR, JD PROGRAM

Paul is a twelve year Marine Corps veteran who left the service in 2018.  He hails from Northern California and obtained a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University. Paul currently attends Yale Law School.

Anson Cheng

Anson Cheng

DIRECTOR, GRADUATE PROGRAM

Anson serves as an active duty Air Force Officer with assignments as an Operations Research Analyst performing air-to-ground weapon system evaluations and as a Cyber Officer overseeing IT and communication support at the Defense Information Systems Agency. 

He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2018 with a B.S. in Operations Research with a follow-on assignment at the Air Force Institute of Technology to complete his M.S. in Operations Research. Currently, he is expected to complete his M.S. in Applied Data Science from the University of Southern California in Spring 2022.

Peter Campbell

Peter Campbell

DIRECTOR OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Peter graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science, double majoring in Economics and Chinese. 

He served as an Infantry Platoon Leader in Germany, deploying to Afghanistan during that time. He then served as a Special Forces Detachment Commander based in Okinawa and deploying throughout Asia. After transitioning in 2020, he completed his post-baccalaureate requirements for medical school and will be attending the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2021. In his free time, he enjoys back country skiing, mountain biking, and photography.

Candice Creecy

Candice Creecy

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT PROGRAM MANAGER

Candice Creecy is currently an Emergency Medicine PA at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Sloan Fellow at MIT pursuing a Master in Business Administration. 

Candice grew up in Alaska and Colorado where she subsequently earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Colorado State University – Pueblo. Upon graduation, Candice was commissioned a United States Marine Corps officer in 2006, earned her Naval Flight Officer aviation wings in 2008, and served as a F/A-18 Weapons Systems Officer for VMFA(AW)-225. Upon completing a tour as Marine Detachment Officer-in-Charge at Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School – East, Candice accepted a commission in the United States Marine Corps Reserve to attend Wake Forest School of Medicine and earned a Master of Medical Science – PA Studies in 2019. Upon graduation, Candice was selected for and completed the 18-month Mayo Clinic Emergency Medicine PA Fellowship. Candice currently serves in the United States Marine Corps Reserve as a Brigade Platoon Commander/Air Officer for 6th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington.

Alaska and Colorado instilled in Candice a love of the mountains and outdoor recreation. Candice enjoys mountaineering, rock climbing, mountain biking, triathlon, and most other outdoor activities. She is pursuing her Diploma in Mountain Medicine and Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine with the Wilderness Medicine Society. She volunteers with Veterans Expeditions as an expedition lead with successful expeditions to Denali, Alaska and Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

John Powell

John Powell

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

John Powell, Marine Corps officer and a Stanford GSB MBA student pursuing a joint degree at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Bob Spieth

Bob Spieth

Board Member

Bob has served in leadership roles in the logistics and retail industries. He was previously COO at Qurate Retail Group and at Zulily, with responsibility for all operations including supply chain, logistics, and customer experience. 

Prior to that Bob was President at OHL (now Geodis) leading the Contract Logistics business unit. Over his 14 years there, he helped build it from a small regional company to a $1.2 billion company with a global presence. Earlier in his career, Bob served with Mckinsey & Company and as an Officer in the U.S. Army.  Bob earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Princeton University and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Adrian Perkins

Adrian Perkins

Board Member

Adrian Perkins is the Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, and a current candidate for the U.S. Senate.

In the wake of 9/11, Adrian Perkins accepted a nomination to the United States Military Academy. There, he was the captain of the track team and the first African-American graduate elected Class President in West Point’s history. Perkins deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan after graduating from West Point. He achieved the rank of Captain and Company Commander in the United States Army and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service. After three tours of duty, the Tillman Foundation accepted Perkins into their Tillman Scholar Program, enabling him to attend Harvard Law School, where he was again elected Student Body President.

On April 26, 2018, he announced his candidacy for Mayor of Shreveport, and on December 29th, 2018, Adrian Perkins was installed as the 56th Mayor of Shreveport. On July 23, 2020, he announced his candidacy for the United States Senate.

Augusto Giacoman

Augusto Giacoman

CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Augusto Giacoman is dedicated to helping veterans achieve their education goals. He completed his undergraduate degree and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 

As an Officer in the U.S. Army he served as a Platoon Leader, an Executive Officer, and an Operations Officer. He deployed twice to Iraq, to Mosul in 2005, and to Sadr City 2007-2008. He currently works at the management consultancy Strategy&, where he works with the world’s top businesses, governments, and institutions to create essential advantage and outpace competitors.

General (Ret.) Joseph L. Votel

General (Ret.) Joseph L. Votel

Board Member

General Joe Votel is a retired U.S. Army Four-Star officer and most recently the Commander of the U.S. Central Command – responsible for U.S. and coalition military operations in the Middle East, Levant and Central and South Asia. 

During his 39 years in the military he commanded special operations and conventional military forces at every level. His career included combat in Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq. Notably he led a 79-member coalition that successfully liberated Iraq and Syria from the Islamic State Caliphate. He preceded his assignment at CENTCOM with service as the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command and the Joint Special Operations Command. General Votel is a 1980 graduate of the United States Military Academy and earned Master’s Degrees from the U.S. Army Command and Staff College and the Army War College.

Anna Ivey

Anna Ivey

CO-FOUNDER, BOARD MEMBER

Anna grew up in Germany and worked as a film finance lawyer in Los Angeles before serving as Dean of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School. 

Currently based out of Los Angeles, she has been working pro bono with veterans applying to college and graduate school for over a decade. Anna has a B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago. She is the author of the books ‘How to Prepare a Standout College Application’ (Wiley) and ‘The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions’ (Harcourt).

Khalil Tawil

Khalil Tawil

BOARD MEMBER AND S2S CO-FOUNDER

Khalil grew up in Gilbert, Arizona and is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He commissioned in the infantry and deployed several times to Afghanistan during his military service.

A Pat Tillman Scholar and Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow, Khalil holds a JD from Yale Law School and an M.A. from the American University in Cairo (Fulbright Scholarship). Khalil is formerly the founder and CEO of Umi Kitchen, a venture-backed consumer technology startup, and is currently the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development at iHeartMedia, America’s #1 Audio Media company.

David Calfee

David Calfee

BOARD MEMBER

Mr. Calfee is a retired Managing Director with Houlihan Lokey Strategic Consulting and was one of its co-founders. He has had extensive experience consulting to executives in a wide variety of consumer, commercial and industrial goods, and services companies. 

Mr. Calfee’s functional experience is equally broad and includes strategy development and implementation, operations improvement (through core process redesign or otherwise) and organizational effectiveness, human resources management, and change leadership. 

Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Calfee was a founder of Bridge Strategy Group LLC, a management consulting firm. He was also a leader of Renaissance Worldwide, CSC Index, and McKinsey & Co. 

Mr. Calfee’s primary focus has been on helping executives and senior managers drive operating performance improvements through their organizations by strengthening institutional skills and overall organizational effectiveness. Mr. Calfee has also worked with several clients in preparing for and launching change initiatives associated with major process redesign and the implementation of new or modified strategies. 

Mr. Calfee holds an MBA with distinction from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and an A.B. cum laude from Harvard College. 

Tim Hsia

Tim Hsia

BOARD MEMBER

Tim is a cofounder of Service to School and served on active duty as an infantry officer in the US Army.

Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson

BOARD MEMBER

Mike grew up in the DC area, holds a BS from Stanford University, and is on leave from his MD studies. He is a former USAF F-16 crew-chief, founder of the Stanford Undergraduate Veterans Association (SUVA), and Stanford Student Veterans of America chapter. 

He formerly led undergraduate operations for Service to School and is most proud of having helped 20+ veterans gain admission to many of the top universities in the country. He currently resides in Silicon Valley and works at Stache, a venture funded startup he co-founded.

Ana Rowena McCullough

Ana Rowena McCullough

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Co-Founder and CEO of QuestBridge, a revenue-generating non-profit organization which connects America’s brightest low-income students to the nation’s best universities and opportunities. 

While an undergraduate at Stanford, Ana co-founded QuestBridge with Michael McCullough in 1994. QuestBridge now partners with 36 of the nation’s best colleges and universities. QuestBridge is working to revolutionize the way leading colleges and universities recruit talented low-income students, and the way that these students approach their educations and futures. For her work with QuestBridge, Ana received the prestigious Dinkelspiel Award for outstanding contributions to education at Stanford.

Ana speaks nationally to academic, corporate, and student audiences on topics such as access to higher education, the abundance of untapped talent in America, and making the most of your teens and 20’s, including and especially the college years. Ana is Co-Founder and former VP of Content at Shmoop.com, and is a former management consultant at McKinsey & Company. In addition, she worked for five years as a consulting scientist to the Environmental Defense Fund and served as a research associate for Stanford President emeritus Donald Kennedy. Ana holds a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School where she focused on youth and environmental law. Together with her husband Michael McCullough, Ana serves as Co-Founder of the Quest Scholars Program and QuestBridge.

Jim Mattis

Jim Mattis

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Jim is an expert on national security issues, especially strategy, innovation, the effective use of military force, and the Middle East. 

He was the commander of the US Central Command from 2010 to 2013, responsible for military operations involving more than 200,000 US soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines in Afghanistan, Iraq, and eighteen other countries in the Middle East and south-central Asia. He commanded at multiple levels, from second lieutenant through four-star general, including Task Force 58 for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the First Marine Division in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also served as a recruiter, commanded the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and was the executive secretary to Secretary of Defense William Perry. Secretary Mattis served the Secretary of Defense under the Trump Administration January 2017-December 2018.

Les Denend

Les Denend

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Les has served on over twenty public and private company boards, including Vice Chairman and lead director of USAA. He is the former president and CEO of Network General Corporation.

He was also a partner at McKinsey and Company. Les served as Special Assistant to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in the Carter Administration. He served as the deputy director of the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs in the Reagan administration. He was also an advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He graduated from the U. S. Air Force Academy and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. Les earned a PhD in Economics, Public Policy and Business and an M. B. A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was selected as a White House Fellow in the Ford Administration. Mr. Denend is a retired U. S. Air Force colonel who flew 194 combat missions in Southeast Asia. He is also the past Chair of the American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley Chapter.

Charles A. O’Reilly III

Charles A. O’Reilly III

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Charles A. O’Reilly III is the Frank E. Buck Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford. He began his education in 1965 at the University of El Paso Texas where he received his BS in Chemistry. 

In 1971 he received his MBA in Information Systems, from the University of California, Berkeley where he also received his PhD in Organizational Behavior in 1975. He began his teaching career as an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1976-80. He later became a professor at the University of California, Berkeley from 1980-92. In 1993 he joined Stanford University where he has been since, and has received many awards, including the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002. He was also the Henry Ford Carroll Professor at the Harvard Business School in 1999-2000. Professor O’Reilly’s research interests are studies of leadership, organizational culture and demography, the management of human resources, and the impact of change and innovation on firms.

His previous books include:

Winning through Innovation: a Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and Renewal with Mike Tushman (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) and Hidden Value: Getting Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People with Jeff Pfeffer (Harvard Business School Press, 2000). This book shows how successful firms are able to win the war for talent – and why their competitors find it so difficult to replicate their success. He has authored more than 100 papers and is writing his next book, with Mike Tushman, Ambidextrous Organizations: Resolving the Innovator’s Dilemma which explores how managers can design organizations that can generate streams of innovation and deal with disruptive technological change. Professor O’Reilly has consulted for a variety of public and private firms in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia. He also has developed, directed, and taught in executive programs for senior managers in innovation, technology, leadership, change, and human resources.

Seth Moulton

Seth Moulton

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Congressman Seth Moulton was born and raised in the Sixth District of Massachusetts. He attended public schools followed by Phillips Academy Andover and Harvard University with help from scholarships and student loans, which he continues to pay back today. 

After graduating from Harvard in 2001, Seth was inspired to join the United States Marine Corps by the 18 and 19-year olds who put their lives on the line for our country. He served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer, including two as an infantry platoon commander and two as a Special Assistant to General David Petraeus. He left the Marines in 2008 with the rank of Captain, attended Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government, and worked in the private sector. Eager to continue serving our country, Seth ran for Congress in 2014 with a promise to bring new, bipartisan leadership to Washington. In his first term, Seth made it a priority to find areas for common ground; nearly 60 percent of all bills he has co-sponsored have bipartisan support. Seth has focused on spurring economic growth for Massachusetts families, ensuring that we make informed decisions about our national security, and improving veterans’ health care through the VA, where he continues to receive his own care. Seth serves on the House Armed Services Committee and Budget Committee.

Dawn Smith

Dawn Smith

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Dawn Smith joined VMware in September 2009 and leads VMware’s worldwide legal and compliance organization, bringing more than 20 years of legal experience. 

Prior to joining VMware, Smith became a partner at Morrison Foerster LP in 2006, where her practice focused primarily on mergers and acquisitions, private financings, public offerings, securities compliance, public company reporting and corporate governance. Smith began her legal career at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati where she practiced corporate and securities law. Smith received a JD from Stanford Law School in 1996, an MBA from Providence College in 1993 and a bachelor of science degree from the United States Naval Academy, after which she served on active duty as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program from 1986 to 1993. Smith sits on the board of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.

Craig Newmark

Craig Newmark

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER

Craig Newmark is a Web pioneer, speaker, philanthropist, and one of America’s most recognized nerds. In 2012 he was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame. 

In 2013 he was named “Nerd-in-Residence” by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Innovation in recognition of his volunteer work with the department to enhance services to veterans and military families. In 1995 Craig founded craigslist, the online classified advertising site that has seen more than 5 billion ads posted. While Craig has not been part of craigslist management since 2000, he stays connected to the site’s users through his involvement with Customer Service. In 2016 he created the Craig Newmark Foundation, a private foundation to promote philanthropy and civic engagement through a number of initiatives. The foundation supports charitable and education causes with a focus on consumer protection and education, veterans and military families, government transparency, public diplomacy, voter protection and education, micro-lending to alleviate poverty, and women in technology.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.I agree