Staff

Sarah Hemminger, Chief Executive Officer and President

Sarah Hemminger founded the Incentive Mentoring Program in 2004. She has seven years experience of nonprofit management and of advocacy and mentoring for at-risk teens. Her expertise lies in the development, expansion, and replication of innovative, paradigm-shifting models of educational mentoring. Sarah has a deep understanding of the challenges that face today’s inner city youth in successfully completing high school and accessing higher education, and also of the ways that students and mentors can change not only their own lives but create a positive lasting impact on those around them. Her work is fundamentally different from established models of mentoring and sets the stage for a national model of mentoring. Sarah currently holds a fellowship from Echoing Green which supports social entrepreneurs with innovative ideas. She has also received a fellowship from the Open Society Institute which supports community-based professionals in the Baltimore area. In 2010, Sarah received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from JHU for her work on the role of the cerebellum and the primary motor cortex on the time scales of consolidation of motor memory. She received the prestigious Seibel Scholars Award for outstanding work in the field of technology and engineering. Her research was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology, and Cerebral Cortex and she has lectured internationally on her work. She received her undergraduate degree from JHU in 2002 and prior to pursuing her PhD, she worked as an engineer for Medtronic.

Tong Zhang, Chief Innovations Officer and President

Tong Zhang’s role in IMP has evolved over the years from mentor to Director of Technology to member of the Board of Directors to finally CIO. She currently oversees 21 Directors, who provide programs, services, and infrastructure development for the organization. As the leader of this “IMP think tank” her goal is to develop innovative resources not only for use by IMP but to create a ripple effect that positively impacts the larger community. Her expertise lies in expanding the lessons learned through IMP to share it in productive ways throughout the organization to enable further innovation and replication of the program at future sites. She received her PhD in Immunology from JHU School of Medicine for her work in creating novel vaccines against gynecologic cancers. She is also a contributing writer to the Association of Women in Science Magazine. Tong’s teaching experience extends to English immersion classes for adults and biology for high school students. She received her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Washington.

Lea Ferguson, Site Director of ACCE-JHU Homewood IMP Site

Lea Ferguson has a background in education and public policy, with particular interest in educational equity and associated social justice issues. Prior to joining IMP, Lea served as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff for Baltimore City Public Schools. In that role, she assisted in the development and implementation of a wide variety of district reform priorities, including turnaround proposals for the district’s lowest performing schools, expansion of school choice, & increasing district office performance and efficiency. She has previously worked for the Open Society Institute-Baltimore supporting Education & Youth Development programs as well as Criminal & Juvenile Justice programs. Lea began her career in education as a high school social studies teacher and Teach for America corps member in Baltimore City. Lea holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and an MA in Teaching, both from Johns Hopkins University. As an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, she earned a BA in political science with a French minor.

Elizabeth Nance, Site Director of Dunbar-JHU East Baltimore IMP Site

Elizabeth Nance provides support, resources, and training for the GrandParent and Head of Household leadership positions in IMP. She helped found the Prevent High School Dropout (P.H.D) program with the NC State University Chapter of American Institute of Chemical Engineers. This program provided after-school academic services to at risk third through twelfth graders, with a focus on developing study and problem solving skills in math and English. She received her Master Certification from the College Learning Association for her work teaching chemistry and math to college students. She utilized a variety of personality types and student backgrounds to create productive group environments where individuals could develop the skills and resources necessary to become independent learners. Her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and English, with a minor in biotechnology is from NC State University. Elizabeth is currently pursuing her PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from JHU. She is expected to defend her thesis in December 2011 on her work in developing therapeutic nanoparticle systems for malignant brain cancers.