Cottage School Scholarship Fund
Give the gift of education! The Cottage School Scholarship Fund (CSSF) is a non-profit foundation that oversees the distribution of grants to deserving families. Contributions to CSSF are allocated according to family need and are applied to student tuition. Interested families will submit their application to the CSSF Scholarship Selection Committee. The family's information is held confidentially and processed independently from the MCCS staff. CSSF is governed by all IRS laws applicable to the 501(c)3 designation. We appreciate your donation today!
Our Board of Directors
Amaya Lambert
Interim Chairperson
Amaya Lambert is the founder and director of Marva Collins Cottage School (MCCS). After a successful decade and a half long career in Corporate America-- serving in engineering and strategy consulting roles, she pursued her dream job as an educator. She believes she is now truly at the intersection of passion, talent and opportunity.
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Amaya is deeply interested in brain science. She incorporates what we're beginning to understand about how the brain actually learns into her teaching pedagogy. She is a firm believer in experiential learning and teaching to each child uniquely. She holds her students to high standards and values a sense of belonging in the classroom community. The MCCS student experience is a wonderful sight to behold as the children learn in a joy-centered environment!
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Amaya holds a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University (2000), MBA in Finance from Howard University (2006), and M.Ed. from Regent University (2016). Outside of work, she enjoys live music, reading and the beach.
Regina Kiper
Secretary
Regina Kiper Davis is Senior Vice President, Compliance and Operational Risk Manager at Bank of America.
A financial services and banking industry veteran, Regina has over 21 years of banking operations, internal business controls and risk leadership.
Her current role includes development and implementation of risk coverage strategies, compliance and operational risk management and oversight for various consumer and small business operations.
Prior to Bank of America, Regina served as Assistant Vice President of Small Business Banking at Capital One, N.A. and as an Officer and Manager within Commercial Lending Loan Documentation at Hancock, Whitney National Bank.
Regina is a graduate of Newcomb College, Tulane University and Loyola University School of Law, New Orleans.
Wendy Scott
Treasurer
Wendy serves as chief financial officer at EdTrust. She oversees fiscal operations, including accounting, budgeting, financial planning and analysis, reporting, banking, investments, and compliance, ensuring the organization’s financial health and sustainability. She also serves as a thought partner to the senior leadership team on the organization’s strategic financial matters.
Prior to joining EdTrust, Wendy worked as a social impact strategy senior manager for Deloitte. Before that, she was the chief operating officer and chief financial officer at DC Prep, the highest-performing charter management organization in Washington, DC. Her career also includes time spent at Accenture, Citigroup, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Wendy holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Howard University. Additionally, she is an alumna of The Broad Residency in Urban Education, an executive development program of The Broad Foundation and Yale School of Management.
The Marva Collins Cottage School director also serves as a member of the board.
John Abney
John Abney currently serves as the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Hub Leader at Google. John was recruited into this role to build and lead Google’s first Finance Center of Excellence, whose mission is to centralize, scale and streamline common, core finance processes across the company. Prior to joining Google, he was a Senior Finance Director at Nielsen, where he led Commercial Finance and FP&A for the Retail team.
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John began his career with Coopers & Lybrand LLP, a legacy of “Big 4” Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) LLP; he began working at the firm his senior year in high school. John continued his internship during summers while matriculating at Dillard University in New Orleans, LA, where he majored in Accounting and graduated Summa Cum Laude in May 2000. Upon graduation, he joined PwC’s External Audit practice full-time. He subsequently earned his MBA at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management.
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Outside of work, John is very active with his church, serves as the treasurer of the TKK Friendship Foundation, and is a Life Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. A native Chicagoan, John enjoys spending time with his family and friends, cooking, exercising, and international travel. John is passionate about education, particularly in underserved communities. He remains connected to his middle- and high school alma mater, Providence-St. Mel, where he volunteers for career days, has served as commencement speaker and gives annually, among other activities. John and his wife currently reside in the Chicagoland area with their two sons.
Dominique Goss
Dominique Goss is a compassionate, astute and progressive philanthropic leader in the Philadelphia metro area. She is responsible for aligning TD's corporate giving to its broader strategic priorities in partnership with Portfolio Managers, and Senior Regional Giving Managers. Her passion and commitment to equity and underserved communities of human diversity is demonstrated in her portfolio of work. She has pioneered efforts and championed financial giving to organizations that promote sound fiscal responsibility and innovation in the non-profit sector.
Dominique, a native Philadelphian spent her freshman year at Howard University in Washington DC. She later transferred to Temple University where she received her Bachelor's degree and became more acutely aware of urban centers' socioeconomic issues. In college, she noticed poorer communities had fewer resources, like grocery stores, health centers, and quality schools. She now strives towards bridging the gap nationally for communities challenged with deep inequities.
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In 2017, Dominique was featured in Generocity's "12 people of color leading the social impact charge in Philadelphia". Additionally, she was honored by The Philadelphia Inquirer where she received the 2019 millennial philanthropist of the year. Most recently, the Social Innovation's Journal honored her with the "2021 Social Impact investor" award; acknowledging her sustained commitment to our most vulnerable communities.
When Dominique isn't trying to change the world by building political power in black and brown communities; she enjoys spending time with family, traveling with friends, and catching the newest shows on Netflix & Hulu. She's an avid dancer, shopper, and food connoisseur!
Robert Holder
Dr. Robert Holder has twenty years of experience in artificial intelligence research and application, and has provided machine learning solutions for a variety of clients. He is a Principal Research Software Engineer at Reflexive Concepts, where he is currently working to make cyber security more effective through machine learning.
Given both the opportunities and challenges brought by the use of technology in society, Robert is an advocate of technical and scientific literacy. He believes that such education is crucial to responsible use of technology’s increasing capacities and scope.
Robert has a strong interest in speaking to and mentoring youth. He has worked with high school students in both New Orleans and Baltimore, organizing activities related to science, engineering, and robotics. Robert has served in leadership roles in various organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) through which he exposes elementary, middle, and high school students to career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Robert is a member of the planning committee for the annual Minority Innovation Weekend, where he has organized conference tracks on topics including machine learning and health technology.
Robert holds a B.S. and M.S. in computer science from Tulane University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.