Who we are
Risa Dubow, co-founder + consultant
Risa believes in sparking connections and connecting the dots.
Risa is best known for being a founding staff member of Bottom Line’s New York office, ushering the Massachusetts-based organization to a national scale. She was integral to the expansion of the program from 120 students in 2011 to over 2,400 in 2019. Beyond advising college students, her expertise from being a nonprofit program director lies in training new and experienced staff, reporting on data outcomes, and navigating the nuances of financial aid. Through her current leadership as Vice Chair of Communications on the CACNY board, as well as previously organizing the state-wide Coming Together Conference as a co-chair on the NYSACAC board, she has elevated conversations and trainings about student affordability and persistence from her local team to a wider landscape.
Maggie Brown Read, co-founder + consultant
Maggie is a pattern seeker and big-picture thinker with a firm foundation of direct-service college success counseling.
Maggie’s work as a member of NYC’s Equity and Excellence Initiative contributed to improved postsecondary outcomes for thousands of students citywide. As co-director of the College Bridge for All program, her work solidifying the cross-institutional CUNY / DOE partnership, as well as her visionary analysis and reconstruction of the 36-hour College Bridge Coach training has been essential in expanding educational equity to young people at scale. Maggie’s work remains informed by her experience as a college success counselor with Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation in Brooklyn, NY.
Working with Us
Our approach is collaborative, creative, and rooted in our experience designing and directing programs that support underrepresented students to, and through, college. We maintain open and transparent communication, value feedback highly, and nurture novel investment from stakeholders across our client’s organization to ensure the sustainability of our work.
We begin our process with an investigative consultation that allows us to better understand the client's organization, project goals, and timeline allowing us to draft a work scope that meets their unique needs.