Minds Matter Houston is 100% volunteer-led and run. Our leadership is comprised of individuals from various backgrounds, all of whom dedicate extensive effort into ensuring Minds Matter fulfills its mission in Houston to create transformative experiences for our students.
Our Team
Executive Leadership Team
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Cynthia Suttle is the Executive Director for Minds Matter Houston. Growing up in Detroit, MI, as the daughter of a medical school professor, higher education wasn't just encouraged, it was a non-negotiable cornerstone of her upbringing. This early foundation instilled in her a deep appreciation for its transformative power, a value that clearly aligns with Minds Matter's core mission.
Cynthia's commitment to supporting young people extends back many years. Most recently, while in Los Angeles, she launched a nanny and babysitting business primarily serving working mothers. The distinctive model of her business was to hire college students or recent college graduates, who served not just as caregivers, but as role models for the children they supported. This experience underscored her belief in the importance of mentorship, as these role models provided invaluable guidance and inspiration. Through this venture, she frequently hired first-generation college students, gaining firsthand insight into the unique challenges they navigate—a perspective that is invaluable to our work.
She holds a Bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and an MBA from Columbia Graduate School of Business. Her professional background also includes over a decade at Warner Bros., where she contributed to the success of high-profile brands. Cynthia is currently raising two young boys, a personal endeavor that further grounds her understanding of the importance of educational pathways for the next generation.
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Growing up in Mumbai, India, Apoorva discovered an early love of STEM. Backed by a strong support system that valued education, he obtained a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, followed by a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While living in Madison, he discovered a love of education-related volunteering while teaching science experiments at local schools.
Apoorva is currently a Data Science Manager at Dow, where his role is to drive the development and adoption of digital tools to improve productivity and enable business impact. He has a passion for the practical utilization of data science, which guides his work and resulted in the receipt of a team project award for impactful work that is given to <1% of Dow employees. In his free time, Apoorva loves to hang out with his wife and their 3 cats in Sugarland, and to travel internationally to experience new cultures.
In 2022, he began volunteering with MMH as a mentor to two amazing students (who are now heading to the University of Texas, Austin and Texas A&M University) before joining the Summer Programs team. Apoorva strongly believes that exposure to a variety of educational and career opportunities, coupled with a secure, education-focused support system, can make a huge impact in our students’ lives (as it did in his).
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Steve has worked in the energy sector for more than 35 years, as an engineer, manager, technical expert and consultant, designing and building large floating platforms and subsea developments. Along the way, he developed a passion for mentoring and career coaching. In the latter years of his career at Shell, he built and nurtured a mentoring circle for young engineers, led a diversity book club, and continues to mentor and coach young engineers since retiring from Shell in 2019.
Steve joined the Minds Matter Programming Team in early 2020 and has thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the students and mentors, and building content. He is a certified Myers-Briggs practitioner and a lifelong student of human behavior with a passion for career coaching and mentoring.
Away from work, Steve enjoys woodworking, garden railroading, reading voraciously, and following his two grown children’s journey through college and beyond. Steve has a BS in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University, and a MS and PhD in Naval Architecture & Offshore Engineering from UC Berkeley.
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Haley truly has a passion for helping others that she developed as a high school student in Claremont, California. She moved to Houston to attend Rice University, from which she graduated with a BA in Sociology, and has been serving the Houston community with her volunteer work ever since.
Minds Matter Houston is the seventh nonprofit organization she has worked with, and Haley has been with the group since 2019: first as a mentor, then as a Summer Programs team member, Director of Summer Programs, and now as the Chief of Programs. She believes higher education should be accessible to all, and is dedicated to ensuring Houston students believe in their ability to pursue college. When not volunteering, she is happiest at home in the Third Ward with her husband and their 3 pitbulls.
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As a first-generation college student from a small town in Zhejiang Province, China, Jiaqi really understands and appreciates the opportunities that stem from higher education. She has achieved dual bachelor's degrees in Biochemical Engineering and English from Tianjin University, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business.
With her diverse educational background, Jiaqi has built a multifaceted career across various sectors of the energy industry. She started her career as an engineer with Shell, focusing on developing projects (Chemical, Biofuel, Hydrogen) across the US, and later moved into management consulting at McKinsey. She currently works within enterprise strategy for Worley. In her spare time, she has recently discovered a love of golf and can be found at the driving range nearly every weekend in Katy with her husband.
Jiaqi started with Minds Matter Houston in 2022, volunteering first as a mentor, then with the recruitment team, and now as the Director of Students. She is dedicated to helping students pursue their educational goals and loves encouraging them to dream big!
Leadership Team
Development
April Dunlevie
Academic Instructors
Maryssa Smith
Meaghan Tannehill
Summer Programs
Tanner Blackard
Al Foglesong
Jonathan Lu
Neil Wingkun
Student Recruitment and Engagement
Shayla Patterson
Max Raev
Saturday Programs
Damaris Bravo
Hebba Hussein
Amorette Kwan
Nick Rice
Operations
Ishita Chakraborty