David Flink
Executive Director and Co-Founder of Project Eye-To-Eye

Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD at a young age, David Flink struggled through much of his pre-college education feeling hopelessness and feeling left out of education as a whole. Although his parents and teachers frequently told him he would be able to go to college, David would have found that message more believable if it had come from a person with a learning disability (LD) who had finished college. With that in mind, David co-founded Project Eye-To-Eye in 1998, while he was a student at Brown University.

In addition to his ongoing work as executive director of Project Eye-To-Eye, from 2002 to 2004 David was an admissions officer at Brown University, serving as disabilities liaison for all Brown applicants with disabilities. He has spoken at colleges and universities across the country, and provided keynote addresses at national and international conferences including at the International Dyslexia Association and the Education Revolution Conference held in San Francisco’s AT&T Park. In 2010, he was awarded a Prime Mover’s Fellowship sponsored by the Hunt Alternative’s Fund, which supports emerging and established social movement leaders who are developing innovative and inclusive approaches to social change at the local, national, and global levels. David holds a master’s degree in disability studies in education from Columbia University and bachelor’s degrees with honors in education and psychology from Brown University.

Marcus Soutra
Managing Director

Marcus Soutra was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD at a young age and spent most of his childhood feeling stupid, misunderstood, and ashamed of his learning disability. Over time Marcus grew to understand that his learning disability was in fact not going to determine his fate and after finding success in school chose to devote his life to paving the path for all students to find success in their education.

Marcus holds a degree in Social Science and Secondary Education from Keene State College and has worked extensively in both middle and high school level classrooms. He is also the founder of the first ever Project Eye-To-Eye chapter at Keene State College and is the creator of Keene State Disabilities Advocates (KSDA), a group that works to motivate and educate people on disability issues in the state of New Hampshire.

As National Program Director of Project Eye-To-Eye, Marcus is responsible for managing and cultivating Project Eye-To-Eye chapters nationwide. In addition, he is the co-founder of Project Eye-To-Eye's Camp Vision, the newest addition to the Project Eye-To-Eye programs, Marcus has given lectures at Reed College, Dartmouth College, Hobart and William Smith College, Radford University, Brown University and was the keynote speaker at the New Jersey City University Conference on Transition. All of Marcus' work is done with the goal of ensuring that other students who are labeled with learning disabilities are able to celebrate their differences, and through that celebration, are given the abilities to find their own success.

Belinda Guthrie
Director of Development and Strategic Business Planning

Belinda Guthrie joined the Project Eye-To-Eye family in 2009, and has dedicated her professional life to creating opportunities for children and young adults with learning differences to realize success in academic and other settings. Belinda is responsible for the organization's fundraising programs and development strategy, and supporting the development of key partnerships that advance Project Eye-To-Eye's mission and reinforces its vision to promote the full inclusion of people with Learning Differences (LD) in all aspects of society. Belinda also serves as Associate Dean of the College and Director of Equal Opportunity at Vassar College, which is also the home of one of the oldest Project Eye-To-Eye Chapters. Prior to her arrival at Vassar in 1997, she served as the disability services coordinator for Smith College. Belinda holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in psychology and administration of justice from the University of Wyoming and a Masters in education specializing in learning disabilities from New York University. She has extensive program and policy development experience in the field of disability services and diversity programs, and a proven record of leadership with strategic business planning, donor relations, mentoring, and organizational change management.

Shena Vagliano
Communications and Marketing Manager

Shena Vagliano grew up in the heart of New York City and spent much of her life aware that she learned differently than her peers. However, it was not until her first year at Hobart and William Smith Colleges when she was tested and diagnosed with ADHD. Shena joined Project Eye-To-Eye in 2007 as one of the founding members of her college’s chapter. She has also been a head counselor for Project Eye-To-Eye’s summer program, Camp Vision, and was instrumental in expanding the camp to her college campus in the summer of 2009.

Shena graduated Cum Laude after only three years from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in May 2009 with a degree in International Relations and a minor in Political Science. During her time at HWS, she received The First Year Civic Engagement Award and the President's Civic Leadership Award for her involvement in the school paper as Editor in Chief and for her mentoring work with Project Eye-To-Eye.

Shena joined Project Eye-To-Eye National in July of 2009 as the Assistant to the Executive Staff and in August of 2011 moved into the position of Communications and Marketing Manager.

Alexandra Connell
National Program Coordinator

Alexandra Connell was diagnosed with a learning disorder in reading in the second grade. With the help of her mother's dedication and persistence in fighting for her daughter's rights, Alexandra was able to excel in school and demonstrate the power of accommodations. Now, through her work in Project Eye-To-Eye, she hopes to embody her mother's drive and empower and educate individuals throughout the country who are diagnosed with learning differences.

Alexandra was the founding coordinator of the Project Eye-To-Eye chapter at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and for three years served in this capacity. Through this work, she expanded the programming by founding an LD/Non-LD alliance group, and working with the Colleges to host an annual Disability Awareness Month, and Camp Vision. She also created a self-advocacy tool for students with learning disabilities and ADHD, called EmpowerPoints, which uses the power of multimedia to allows the student to be involved and participate in their own individual education program (IEP) meetings. Empowerpoints are currently in the Project Eye-To-Eye art curriculum. She also sat on the Project Eye-To-Eye Associate Board as a Mentor Community Organizer.

Alexandra graduated Cum Laude from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in May of 2010 with a Bachelor in Science in Psychology and minors in Education, Child Advocacy, and Peer Education in Human Relations. She was awarded the Stephanie Christie '82 and Elizabeth Eaton White '33 Awards based on her involvement with Project Eye-To-Eye. She joined Project Eye-To-Eye National in July of 2010 where she serves as National Program Coordinator. Alex is also currently working towards her masters in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education at Columbia University, Teachers College, designing her own program called dis/Ability Studies.

Katie Long
National Program Coordinator

At the age of six, the principal of Katie’s elementary school told her that she was a perfectionist because she was falling behind and not getting her work done. Not satisfied with this answer and seeing that something was not right, Katie’s mom pushed for testing. At the age of eight Katie was diagnosed with a visual processing disorder and underwent extensive and successful vision therapy. Katie’s mom was instrumental in making Katie the amazing self-advocate she is today: she ensured that Katie attended all her 504 meetings and expressed her needs to any authority figures present. She graduated from the International Baccalaureate program in 2007.

After high school Katie attended the University of Denver in Colorado, graduating in June 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and a Minor in History. Through her work with Project Eye-To-Eye Katie discovered her real passion: helping people with struggles just like hers - people with learning disabilities. She served as a mentor for the DU chapter of Project Eye-To-Eye for a year and a half before being selected to coordinate the program her senior year. Katie used her strong leadership skills to coordinate two separate Denver chapters: a traditional art room helping middle school kids in the Denver School District, as well as a collaborative program with another university in Denver for at-risk high school students. This program is the only one of its kind and has had tremendous success inspiring at-risk high school students to continue to pursue their long-term educational goals.

Katie joined the Project Eye-To-Eye National Office in July 2011 as National Program Coordinator where she manages 15 chapters across the country. She is currently in the Fellows class of 2012 for New Leaders Council of New York City.

Lauren Biggs
Office Manager and Assistant to the Executive Staff

Lauren Biggs first got involved with Project Eye-To-Eye when a friend and fellow student at Columbia University asked her to become a member of Project Eye-To-Eye. Though Lauren did not have a learning disability, she fell in love with the Eye-to-Eye mentoring model and spent two years as an ally and later coordinator for the Columbia chapter of Eye-To-Eye at P.S. 76 in Harlem.

After graduating from Columbia with a degree in Philosophy, Lauren moved to a rural village in Mali, West Africa and spent two years working as an Education and Community Development Specialist with the Peace Corps. During her time in Mali, Lauren taught English to middle school students, mentored fifth-grade girls, helped local women start a successful soap-making business, and trained adult literacy teachers. Lauren used the skills she developed as an Eye-To-Eye mentor to adapt her teaching and mentoring style to the unique needs of the children and adults in her community.

She joined Project Eye-To-Eye in July 2011 as the Office Manager & Assistant to the Executive Staff, where she continues her role within the Learning Disability Rights Movement as a lifelong ally to those with learning differences.

Josh Landay
Manager, Think Different Diplomats

Josh is thrilled to be a member of the Project Eye-To-Eye team. He has supported Project Eye-To-Eye for years, most recently as a voice-over consultant for website development. As Manager of Think Different Diplomats, he is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the program, including speaker training, public relations and outreach, bookings and inquiries, curriculum development, contract negotiation, and continued talent development and coaching.

Josh brings experience in sales, the entertainment industry, and arts education to his job. He has worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative, a theatrical casting assistant, and a teaching artist for Theatre Aspen School, Denver Center Theatre Academy, the JCC of Manhattan, and the New Victory Theater. Additionally, he has performed extensively as a professional actor, including three years internationally with Disney’s The Lion King.

Josh holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the National Theatre Conservatory and a Bachelor’s Degree in Public and Private Sector Organizations from Brown University.

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