The THINK Together Executive Team 

THINK Together is building a unique team of business and education professionals to tackle the challenges outlined above. The team includes the following leaders:

Executive

Randy Barth is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer. A successful businessman for more than twenty years, he served as an investment advisor with various major Wall Street firms (E.F. Hutton, Drexel Burnham, Smith Barney) for fifteen years. Randy subsequently served as CEO of National Management, a $40 million privately-held regional transportation company. He began his work in the after-school arena as a volunteer when he founded the award-winning Shalimar Learning Center in Westside Costa Mesa in 1994. The success of that model resulted in the establishment of THINK Together in 1997 as a non-profit organization. Randy served as volunteer Board Chair for most of the life of the organization until becoming CEO in August, 2003. Randy holds a B.A in Economics from UCLA and did graduate work at the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University.

Operations

Kendra Angier serves as the Chief People Officer. In this position, Kendra will lead the consolidation and integration of staffing; human resources; and volunteers. This new role is designed to strategically link departments that have natural synergies and are all focused on THINK Together's people. Previously Kendra held senior human resources, staffing & training roles for organizations including Pepsi Bottling Group, Corning, Inc., and Pacific Gas & Electric. Her responsibilities have included recruitment, retention, performance management & evaluation, salary & benefits, employee relations, assessment, diversity outreach & affirmative action, policy/EEO compliance, training, mentoring, leadership development and succession planning. Kendra holds a B.S. in Business Administration and a minor in Spanish from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and an MBA from the University of San Francisco.

Program

Dr. CynDee Zandes serves as Chief Program Officer. In this role, she oversees the development of the program and curriculum in both the ASES/21st Century program sites and at the community sites as well as the training and staff development of more than 1200 program staff. CynDee worked for 39 years in the Greenfield School District in Bakersfield where she served as a teacher, principal and district administrator. As an administrator, CynDee led the efforts to build after-school programs in Greenfield that became a model for the state. Upon retirement from Greenfield, CynDee provided consulting to the Los Angeles Region of the California Department of Education during the implementation of the After-School Education & Safety Programs (ASES) mandated by California’s Proposition 49 and has consulted with programs throughout California. CynDee holds both a B.A. and a Master’s Degree in Education and a Doctorate Degree in Organizational Leadership all from the University of LaVerne.

General Managers

Karen Cantrell serves as General Manager of THINK Together’s Los Angeles Region serving students and partners in Los Angeles County. Karen began her work in after-school programs in 1985 for her son’s school, when the principal invited her to create an after-school program for the kids who needed a safe place to be in the after-school hours. In 1999, Karen joined the staff of Pasadena LEARNS (Leading Educational Achievement – Revitalizing Neighborhoods), serving as one of its first Site Coordinators, becoming a program coach, and ultimately Program Director. Pasadena LEARNS is one of California’s Regional Learning Centers, serving the Los Angeles area. Karen had been serving as a Senior Consultant focused on THINK Together’s Los Angeles Region prior to becoming General Manager. Karen holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science and a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis on after-school programs.

Dr. Sue Cornell serves as General Manager of the Foothill Region which serves the Azusa, Duarte, Pomona, Cucamonga and Ontario-Montclair School Districts. In this role, Sue oversees the Foothill Region office and the operations of 61 after school programs in its area. Sue has 23 years of experience in education, from classroom teacher to district office administration. For the past 20 years Sue has worked in the Ontario-Montclair School District, most recently serving in the role of Director of Curriculum and Extended Learning. In this capacity, Sue was responsible for all after school programs, community collaborations, categorical programs and curriculum alignment. At the site level, she served as Reading Specialist, Administrative Assistant and Assistant Principal. Sue is a graduate of the National Staff Development Council Academy, and served the district as the Coordinator and later Director of Staff Development. Sue earned her B.A degree in 1974 from CSULB, her M.A. in Educational Administration from Chapman University and her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne.

Emy Flores serves as General Manager for Supplemental Educational Services (SES) serving students and partners across the THINK Together enterprise. Emy came to THINK Together after serving for five years as a principal in the Norwalk – La Mirada Unified School District. Prior to that Emy was a teacher for nearly 10 years. Emy emigrated from Guatemala as a nine year old. She grew up in the housing projects of East LA. Emy had been considering plans to leave her job as Principal and start a Supplemental Services business when THINK Together first started an after-school program at her school. She came to the conclusion that it would be better build the SES business from the THINK Together platform rather than from scratch and ultimately joined the THINK Together management team. Emy, who is bilingual, earned both her B.A. and a Master’s Degree in Education from UC Santa Barbara.

Adriana Kingston serves as Interim General Manager of THINK Together’s Inland Empire Region serving students and partners across Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Adriana joined THINK Together during the enterprise’s 2006-07 wide scale expansion and has been serving as Assistant General Manager in the Inland Empire Region. Among other responsibilities, Adriana has overseen the rollout of THINK Together’s Middle School programs in the San Bernardino City School District. Adriana has experience as a bilingual class-room teacher in the Corona-Norco Unified School District and Val Verde Unified School District; and managed the Family Literacy training program while at the Val Verde District. She was one of Sylvan Learning Center’s 1999 Kid’s Choice Teachers of the Year. Adriana graduated from U.C. Riverside with a B.A. in Social Relations and received her Teaching Credential from Chapman University.

Sue Schatz serves as General Manager of THINK Together’s Orange County Region. In addition to serving students and partners at school sites in Orange County, Sue has responsibilities for THINK Together’s five Community Sites including the original Shalimar Learning Center in Costa Mesa. Sue started Lawndale Elementary School District’s RAP (Realizing Amazing Potential) program in 1999. Although after-school was initially “just one more program” assigned to her as a District administrator, Sue’s passion to provide opportunities to enrich the lives of students was ignited and her commitment to after-school was launched. Today, the RAP program is viewed as an essential resource in the Lawndale community. RAP is also a Regional Learning Center for the Los Angeles area. Sue also served as the Regional Lead for the California Department of Education’s Region 11 (LA County). Sue retired from that position and had been serving as a senior consultant to THINK Together and other providers prior to becoming General Manager. Sue holds a B.A. Degree, Administrative and Teaching Credentials and has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership.

Evaluation

Dr. Jenel Prenovost serves as Director of Evaluation. She came to THINK Together in July, 2004 after serving five years as the Program Specialist for the Santa Ana Unified School District after-school programs which grew from four sites in 1999 to 38 sites by 2003 - 2004. Prior to her service in Santa Ana Unified, Jenel was a middle school and high school teacher in the Fullerton Joint High School District. Jenel was a mentor teacher and taught honors, college track and ELL World History from 1993-1998. She also developed a pilot course for honors freshman. Jenel graduated with honors from UC Davis with a B.A. in Political Science, earned her teaching credential and M.Ed. from UCLA and earned her Ed.D. from UC Irvine with a doctoral dissertation on the evaluation of Santa Ana's after-school programs.

Marketing and Communications

Larry Tenney serves as a Senior Communications and Marketing Counsel. Before forming TenneyHarrison PR, Larry was a Managing Partner of Nelson Communications, one of California's leading regional marketing, public affairs and public relations firms. The firm was sold to Porter Novelli in 2000. Clients have included: Anhueser-Busch, Angels Major League Baseball, Disney, The Irvine Company, Sea World and Unocal 76. Larry has worked in Sacramento and on Capitol Hill. He's a former aide to U.S. Senators John Seymour and Pete Wilson. As volunteer community leader, Larry has served on the board of directors of various non-profits including United Way of Orange County; as vice chair of the UC Irvine Foundation; president of the Orange County Forum (Town Hall); and chairman of the Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County. Larry holds B.A. in Political Science from U.C. Irvine; and is the recipient of the” Silver Anvil,” the Public Relations Society of America's top honor.

Finance and Reporting

Mike Frobenius serves as Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he oversees the finance and accounting functions of the organization, information technology, and is responsible for reporting to our school district partners, the California Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. In his fifteen-plus year career Mike has held a variety of positions in both the public and private sectors of accounting. For ten years he served as Director of Finance for LA Chemical, a $175 million leading regional distribution company. Mike has served as a board member for a local credit union and is an active volunteer for a number of local community youth sports programs. Mike holds a B.A. in Accounting from CSU Fullerton, is a California CPA, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.