ADVISORY COUNCIL
Our Advisory Council is a group dedicated to the mission of Open Connections and serve as resources for the Board of Directors, Facilitators, and Administration.
Anton Andrew
Anton has been involved with OC since 2006, starting as a parent, then as a volunteer, a facilitator, and a Board of Directors member, including time as Chair of the Board of Directors. Anton attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.A. in Political Science and then Hofstra University School of Law, earning a Juris Doctorate. Before becoming an active part of the OC community, Anton practiced criminal law in Miami and worked as a Senior Advisor to two Presidents at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. It was while at Cheyney University–a 5 minute drive from the OC campus–that he first began “dropping in to hang out” with his twin sons, who were in the Open Program at the time. Initially skeptical of OC, it was during these informal visits to campus that he got to see the OC philosophy in action and quickly became an advocate for self-directed learning and OC’s Process Conscious approach. Anton’s interests range from Social Justice (especially the politics of race and class) to Sports (whether as a viewer, or participant). Anton is the father of three youth, all of whom are OC alums.
DYLAN ATKINS
Dylan is a Certified Financial Planner® and Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®. He first started his professional career at Merrill Lynch in 1998. Five years into his career he earned a Finance & Accounting Certificate from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. A strong believer in the value of lifelong learning, Dylan continues to expand his knowledge base, earning certifications to sharpen his skills with his clients’ needs in mind. As a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®, Dylan works with people who are inclined to give back on how to leverage and get the most out of their gifts, both for themselves and for the 501(c)3 nonprofit charities for which they are passionate.
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Dylan is involved in many organizations in his community, serving on Boards (including Delaware County Community College) and various Advisory Councils, helping to strengthen community connections. Dylan’s passions include food, travel, trying to leave the world a better place than he found it, and spending time with his family: wife Patti and daughters, Kailey and Samantha.
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Fabrice Figliolini
Fabrice is currently the Vice President of Finance, Information Technology, Supply Chain and Human Resources at Boiron Inc. in Newtown Square, Pa. His responsibilities include overseeing most of the operations aspects of the company in the U.S., helping the company to be financially responsible, streamlining its IT systems, and moving products throughout the company and the world. He enjoys working with a team driven to change our healthcare system by helping people view their health in a more holistic way. Fabrice has been living in the Philadelphia area for the past 25 years. He earned his BBA in International business and his MBA in Management Information Systems from Temple University.
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When he is not devoting his time to Boiron, Fabrice enjoys traveling with his wife and two daughters, running, watching documentary films and cooking vegetarian meals.
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Jody fitts
Jody is a long-time friend of OC. She started in the late 1970’s as an OC parent resourcer taking young people on nature hikes around the old Bryn Mawr campus. She also taught nature and environment to young people in various other venues; the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Sciences, two local preschools and her son’s elementary school. From 2001 - 2020, she facilitated four different programs at OC. She now lives at a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Gladwyne. A lover of life-long learning and connection-making, she is now fully engaged with her neighbors at the other end of the age spectrum in such areas as books, creative self-expression, fitness, trail hiking and recently MahJong.
Kiziann Bruno
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Kiziann serves as the Chief Operating Officer at UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Pennsylvania. In this role, she oversees day to day operations associated with administering benefits and services to vulnerable populations in the Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Dual Special Needs Plan (DSNP) insurance plans. With over nineteen years in the health care sector, Kiziann leans on the values of integrity, relationships and compassion to manage her team and collaborate across internal and external stakeholders to achieve outcomes that impact individuals’ experience in a meaningful way.
As part of her leadership journey, Kiziann participated in the 2023-2024 Leadership Philadelphia Core program which aims to mobilize and connect the talent of the private sector to serve communities. It was through this program that Kiziann connected with OC, an organization whose values and mission align closely with a yearning to support children and families in their educational journey. Kiziann earned her MPA from Rutgers University and previously, a BBA from Devry University. Outside of her professional scope, Kiziann enjoys spending time with family, mentoring others, volunteering, traveling and riding her bike. She lives in South Jersey with her husband Fritz, sixteen year old daughter Madison and twelve year old Shih Tzu-Poodle dog, Scarlet. |
Madeleine Kunda
Madeleine is an old-time OCer along with her younger sister, Olivia. She attended programming from age 12 through graduation in 2010. Madeleine lives with her sister and fiancé in Telluride, CO, where she runs a marketing & technology company specializing in digital advertising, web & graphic design, app development and software integration. Before entering the marketing sphere Madeleine dabbled in illustration and publishing at which point she launched the children’s book, The Wish of Wishes with childhood friend and long-time co-OCer, Liam Snead. Every weekend in the winter Madeleine still works on ski patrol at the Telluride Ski Resort where she satiates her eternal love of adventure, adrenaline, physicality and the great outdoors.
Margaret Welsh
Margaret and her family joined the OC community in 2009 when they re-embarked on their homeschooling adventure. Margaret's youth participated in programs at OC until each of them transitioned to their college journeys. All three are now pursuing their lives of purpose, spread across the country. In addition to supporting her youth's homeschooling, Margaret has held a variety of positions from vegetable farm market manager to bookkeeper, and most recently Office Guru at OC from 2013-2024. Margaret enjoys quilting, flower gardening, jigsaw puzzling, camp fires, hiking, taking snapshots, and connecting with friends and family. Margaret is currently spending her time making quilts for people and raising a flock of sheep with her husband, Scott.
MEG GERRITY
Meg is an experienced journalist and lawyer as well as a parent of two OC graduates. Meg’s undergraduate degree is in journalism with an emphasis in advertising and public relations. Among other applications, she has put her journalism degree to use with marketing and publicity for a variety of non-profit organizations over the years including Facetime Theatre and Open Connections.
Meg practiced law in the San Francisco Bay area for 17 years working in just about every area of the law, making her a rare “generalist” lawyer. That pattern has continued in her legal editing jobs, where she must work across a wide variety of topics. Most recently Meg has worked with Thomson Reuters and with the AccessLex Institute, editing legal publications and curriculum.
After moving to PA in 2000, Meg’s main focus was devoted to homeschooling her youth, nurturing their creativity and supporting them on their non-traditional learning paths after which they both went to college and beyond.
Meg practiced law in the San Francisco Bay area for 17 years working in just about every area of the law, making her a rare “generalist” lawyer. That pattern has continued in her legal editing jobs, where she must work across a wide variety of topics. Most recently Meg has worked with Thomson Reuters and with the AccessLex Institute, editing legal publications and curriculum.
After moving to PA in 2000, Meg’s main focus was devoted to homeschooling her youth, nurturing their creativity and supporting them on their non-traditional learning paths after which they both went to college and beyond.
Natalie Pedersen
Natalie is a tenured member of the faculty at Drexel’s LeBow College of Business, where she is the Head of the Legal Studies Department and teaches business law, entrepreneurial law and employment law. She focuses her scholarship on employment law, employment discrimination and implicit bias. Prior to teaching at Drexel, she was an associate at Ballard Spahr. Natalie and her family have been a part of the OC Community since 2014; her three young people have attended or are currently attending OC.
NICK (PIE) FALTEICH
Pie is a life-long OCer, (he started at OC at age 4 and graduated from OC in 2017). Having never stepped foot in a traditional school setting, he is a perfect example of how the liberty afforded by open education helps people discover their true passion and use that to to create opportunities. He got his first job as a caddy at a private country club at the age of 13 and progressed to management by age 20. He has held jobs (many simultaneously) in multiple different industries without ever having completed an application or submitting a resume. He embodies OC’s belief in Natural Learning, and exhibits his commitment to collaboration, real work, and pro-social interactions on a daily basis.
NORA GILLERN
Nora first joined the OC Community as a young person in 2004 and spent eight happy years at OC before graduating in 2012. Nora currently lives in Manhattan where she is an Account Manager for 24 Seven Talent, a job which allows her to pursue her passion for the beauty industry and knowledge of the creative and retail fields by partnering with companies around the world and matching them to their ideal employees. This venture was preceded by years of working in retail stores within the beauty industry, most recently as the General Training Manager of Bluemercury in New York.
Tamara O'Brien
Tamara is a co-founder of Philadelphia Agile Learning Community (Philly ALC) and enthusiastic about supporting young people on their educational journeys. Her son, Carter, has been enrolled in either homeschooling or schools with a self-directed education model for over 10 years. Through these experiences, Tamara has become a passionate supporter of organizations that center on the student and help to foster their natural curiosity for learning. Professionally, she is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and Enrolled Actuary. Through her career in retirement consulting, she has been vocal about advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion both within her organization and the clients she supports. In addition to continuing her professional education, Tamara enjoys trivia, puzzles and word games. She’s also loves traveling and learning first-hand about different cultures.
Tommy Neilson
Tommy spent seven years attending Open Connections before graduating in 2013. After graduating, Tommy attended Eastern University in St. David's Pennsylvania where he received degrees in Youth Ministry and Psychology, graduating in 2017. Tommy spent two years in Wilmington, DE completing service years with AmeriCorps. During this time he was a tutor, teacher's aide, and supervisor at an inner city middle school. Tommy was the co-director for a summer camp for several years before taking his current job as a Training Programs Assistant at Beck Institute. Tommy lives in Philadelphia and among other activities enjoys spending time with his many nieces and nephews, some of whom currently attend OC.
