Management Team
Adalene "Nene" Spivy
Executive Director
Adalene “Nene” Spivy has led the Children’s Science Center since 2010, during which the Center has served over 150,000 children, families and educators through community outreach programs and at its first operating site at Fair Oaks Mall that opened in 2015. Nene oversees all aspects of the Center operations and leads the effort to build the future science center on donated land in Dulles, Virginia. As an engineer, MBA, and non-profit leader, Nene brings a diverse range of experience including systems and process engineering, new product development, and general management for technology businesses; fundraising, advocacy, strategic planning, volunteer management, and board development for non-profits; and 14 years working in the children’s museum industry. Nene is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Fairfax, a past President of the Junior League of Northern Virginia, a past Chair of Fairfax County’s Community Action Advisory Board, and served in multiple board leadership roles with Discovery Creek Children’s Museum. Nene holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Tech and MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. Nene lives in Vienna, Virginia with her husband and three children.
Jenn Brunner
Development Director
Jenn Brunner serves as the lead professional responsible for raising both vital funds to bring the vision of a world-class children’s science museum to reality by managing a team staff, volunteers and professionals to deliver outreach, fundraising and stewardship events, secure and maintain grants and sponsorships, and orchestrate annual fund and capital campaigns for each phase of the museum build out. Jenn is a non-profit executive with over two decades of experience raising funds for culture and arts organizations such as the Kennedy Center and National Symphony Orchestra, Long Wharf Theatre and the Washington Performing Arts Society among others. Jenn has worked with hundreds of volunteers, Board members and Development Professionals to raise millions of dollars in individual annual giving, major gifts, corporate sponsorships, government and private foundation grants, and special events fundraisers. Jenn holds a Bachelor of Music degree in arts management from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and has worked extensively with non-profits in all aspects of fundraising, volunteer management, special events, and marketing.
Kim Lowther
Director of Education
Kim Lowther directs the museum’s education program, overseeing staff and volunteer education team members that deliver dynamic, hands-on educational programs for both the Center’s community programs and the Children’s Science Center Lab. She brings to the Children’s Science Center over 20 years of education experience in informal and formal education settings. Kim worked for 11 years as an educator, program manager and camp director at Discovery Creek Children’s Museum. She has another decade of experience in formal education in pre-school science instruction as well as middle and high school science instruction. Most recently Kim taught and developed science education school-year and summer camp programming for Pender Hill Preschool in Fairfax. Kim received her BS in Environmental Science from Allegheny College and her MS in Environmental Studies, with an Environmental Education concentration from Antioch New England Graduate School. Kim lives in Reston with her husband and daughter and is an avid community volunteer: co-leading her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop and teaching religious education to children at her church for nearly a decade as well as leading a number of extra-curricular activities in her daughter’s school community.
Dave Lin
Director of Lab Operations
As Director of Lab Operations, Dave Lin directs all day to day operations and personnel for the Children’s Science Center Lab at Fair Oaks. Dave has significant experience in operations and management and has worked extensively with both children and adults in both formal and informal education settings. He is a committed community leader, serving in roles ranging from coaching and administration of youth athletics to sitting on the boards of several non-profit organizations. Dave’s most recent professional experience was at the National Aquarium, in Washington, DC, as Director of Operations. Prior to that role, he worked as a General Education and Advanced Academic Placement Teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools, and he previously served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County, Illinois. His professional and volunteer career have given him a broad base of experience in organizational administration, management, fund-raising, event planning, and volunteer coordination. Dave holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois, and a Master of Education degree in Elementary Education from Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia.
Michael Tillman
Lab Manager
Michael Tillman supports daily operations and oversight of the STEM education team members at the Children’s Science Center Lab. Michael brings decades of experience in designing, developing new businesses and implementing effective teams. As an entrepreneur with deep roots in technology development, Michael has been a founding partner and Senior Executive of three different startup companies in the fields of Electronic Commerce, Electronic Payments, Data Security, and Software and Sensor integration. Michael is also a social entrepreneur and helped establish Cue Camp Virginia, a non-profit camp for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Kids and their families. Most recently, he has served as President of AcceleGroup LLC, a partnership formed to discover, invest in and commercialize usable research and development being performed in university or government research labs. Previously, Michael held executive positions at America Online, Compaq, Nortel and Verizon. Michael is an avid community volunteer serving as both an Assistant Scoutmaster and First Robotics League Coach in addition to two years of service to the Children’s Science Center. Michael has a BS in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech.
Dorothy Ready
Director of Marketing
Dorothy Ready recently joined the Children’s Science Center as a career marketing professional bringing over two decades of marketing and advertising experience to the Center. Prior to the Children’s Science Center, Dorothy was the Unit Marketing Director at Chick-fil-A, Fair Oaks Mall, working directly with the owner to provide marketing plans, social media direction, and develop programs designed to create raving fans and surpass annual sales goals. Before moving to Northern Virginia where she has lived for 17 years, Dorothy worked at Adams Outdoor Advertising located in the Hampton Roads area, where she worked directly with the President & CEO providing marketing support to all nine Adams’ divisions throughout the country by coordinating efforts of six Business Development Managers. Dorothy is an active community leader serving as a Girl Scout leader, on multiple PTAs, nad on the Marketing Advisory Board for Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) of Fairfax County Public Schools. Dorothy obtained a bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the Manship School of Mass Communication with a concentration in Advertising from Louisiana State University.
Nancy Gustafson
Office and Program Administrator
Melanie Read
Membership Manager
Jamie Johnson
Accounting Manager
Kathleen Ecker
Development Manager
Andrea Palcic
Development Associate
Board of Directors
Amy Burke
Board Chair
Amy Burke has extensive expertise with STEM education and research policy issues, and a decade of experience in the semiconductor industry. She assembled the STEM Advisory Council, a group of experts from the area’s business, government, and education sectors, to advise the Children’s Science Center on curriculum and exhibit content. Previously, she chaired the grants committee, where she oversaw several successful grant applications resulting in funding to support expansion of the Museum Without Walls program. She is President of Spinnovation, LLC, providing communications consulting to corporations and trade associations. Amy was Director of Government Relations for Texas Instruments, where her portfolio included STEM education, research, and workforce policy issues. From 2002-2005, she served as Manager of Government Affairs for the Semiconductor Industry Association. Amy holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
Jill McNabb
Vice Chair & Marketing Chair
Jill McNabb is an accomplished marketing executive with progressive success in the full marketing mix and strategic planning. Currently, Jill is a principal in RxEngage Partners, helping clients bring products and services to and through the pharmacy channel. She also brings her expertise to companies as a marketing and strategy consultant. Previously, Jill served as vice president, marketing and communications for RxAlly, a health care services company dedicated to improving health through personalized pharmacist care. Jill also served as vice president of marketing at VeriSign, Inc., where she oversaw all aspects of global marketing for VeriSign’s largest business unit that offered domain names (.com, .net, .tv), value added services, and Internet threat mitigation services. She brings experience in product and channel marketing, market research, go-to-market strategy, public relations, events and communications for technology and healthcare companies. Previously, Jill worked in product management and product marketing for Bank One within the wingspanbank.com group, the first online-only bank. She also managed fundraising and membership programs for the University of Virginia Alumni Association and was a secondary school teacher in Western Japan. Jill is a Board member for the Children’s Science Center, past president of Junior League of Northern Virginia and a graduate of Leadership Loudoun. She holds an MBA and BA from the University of Virginia.
Chris Powell
Advisory Board Chair
Chris Powell is passionate about the application of technology and science to create solutions that allow people to better understand the spatial, temporal, and structural relationships of data. As Chief Technology Officer for NT Concepts, he focuses on developing strategies to support the horizontal integration of geospatial technology, software engineering, and data analytics into solutions that help customers analyze and visualize their information. He has developed custom solutions for a number of enterprise architectures across the Federal government and commercial industry. He is an active member of the geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) community and serves as co-chair of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) Emerging Technologies Subcommittee organizing events to identify and introduce new innovations to government and industry. He proudly volunteers for the “Homes of Hope” Program with YWAM which stands for “Youth With a Mission in San Pedro, which builds homes for families in need living in Dominican Republic, and also at a local FCPS elementary school where he has demonstrated how children can use maps and cartography. Chris holds a BA in Geography, a Cartographic Certificate, and an MS in Geographic and Cartographic Science from George Mason University.
Dr. Jim Egenrieder
STEM AC Chair
Dr. Jim Egenrieder, Director of Qualcomm-Virginia Tech Thinkabit Labs, is a teacher, professor, researcher, scientist, engineer and farmer. He designs, develops and provides ongoing support (and develops funding) for STEM education and workforce programs in the Washington, D.C. area, primarily in Northern Virginia through a partnership between Arlington Public Schools and Northern Virginia Community College’s SySTEMic Solutions program, and through Virginia Tech’s Office of International Research in Education and Development. He develops collaborations and partnerships engaging other regional school systems, and allied higher education, non-profit, Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development, and industry partners. Jim is also on the Natural Resources faculty of Virginia Tech’s Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability, a Fellow and President Emeritus of the Washington Academy of Sciences, and an Educator in Residence at the NIA Center for Integrative STEM, a consortium of eight Tier 1 research universities supporting graduate research and education at NASA Langley, led by Virginia Tech.
Corbin Neiberline
Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair
Corbin Neiberline is an Audit Managing Director in KPMG’s Washington DC audit practice. He has more than 16 years of experience providing financial statement audit and performance improvement advisory services. Corbin has provided audit services to several large federal departments in accordance with the authoritative guidance promulgated by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board and Governmental Accounting Standards Board. In addition to his audit and advisory work, Corbin serves a team responsible for developing data analytics capabilities within the firm and has spent three years on a global rotational assignment focused on the development of KPMG LLP’s global digital auditing techniques and supporting audit methodology. Using his strong Federal background and technical public sector industry accounting expertise, Mr. Neiberline has been able to provide meaningful insight in meeting accountability and reporting challenges within the public sector. He is a frequent presenter at professional conferences on data analytics and is an instructor for the Association of Government Accountants, professional certification exam. He graduated with a B.S. from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Aaraj Vij
Youth Board Representative
Araj Vij, is a resident of northern VA and a rising Junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Fran Craig
Investing years of experience in Information Technology and software development, Frances (Fran) Craig reengineered her first company, Computer Strategies, a professional services organization into a COTS software product company, Unanet. Acquiring over 1000 customers, Unanet has achieved 20% year over year growth for the last ten years. Developing and supporting Unanet software entirely in the United States, Unanet collaborates with customers who contribute enhancement ideas. Unanet is committed to enhancing the customer experience. In 1997, Fran designed the original concept of the web-based time sheet. Since 1998, Fran has established Unanet as a leading vendor of web-based Professional Services Automation software. She has led the company’s strategy and positioning, recruited the Unanet management team, board members and advisors, won key customers, and developed alliances. In 2015, Unanet released the one software, Unanet 10, for managing projects, people and financials. Unanet’s vision is to be the market maker and market leader for software for professional services organizations.
Gary Crum
Gary Crum is Founder and President of LHT Ventures, LLC, where he provides strategic direction, business development, and operational guidance for the company which develops restaurant concepts and franchises. Before entering the food service industry, Gary was a results-driven leader in the telecom/IT industry, with 15 years experience in sales, marketing, business development, and operations management at a global level in both start-up environments and Fortune 50 multinational corporations including MCI and Nortel. Gary’s volunteer efforts include serving as founding co-chair for the Five Guys Franchisee Committee, and, at a community level, Gary has been involved with a number of local schools working with business students and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) groups. As a guest speaker, Gary enjoys sharing his entrepreneurial knowledge and experience with students. He also volunteers his time to the local Vienna athletic programs and has served in a number of coaching positions over the years.
Melvin Greer
Melvin Greer is Managing Director of the Greer Institute for Leadership and Innovation, focused on research and deployment of his 21st Century Leadership Model. With over 29 years of systems and software engineering experience, he is a recognized expert in Service Oriented Architecture, Cloud Computing and Predictive Analytics. He functions as a principal investigator at the U.S. National Academy of Science in advanced research studies, including Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology and Gamification. In addition to his professional and investment roles, he is a Director of Data Science and Analytics at Intel Corporation . He is also a member of the International Monetary Fund / World Bank, Bretton Woods Committee. Mr. Greer is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities and is an accomplished author; his fourth book “21st Century Leadership” has been recognized as a must read for senior executives. As a popular educator and board member at a number of Historical Black Colleges and Universities, Greer is leading STEM research initiatives, directly trying to shape a more diverse generation of up-and-coming technical talent. Greer received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and Technology and his Master of Science in Information Systems from American University, Wash. D.C. He also completed the Executive Leadership Program at Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School and the Entrepreneurial Finance Program at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Sandra Jones
Sandra Jones is Managing Director and North America Pipelines Market Lead at Accenture, where she leads the practice area advising a portfolio of gas and liquids businesses with large pipeline, storage, gathering and processing plant assets. Sandy specializes in the transmission and distribution functions, processes and IT systems, overall operating model design, and workforce strategies.
Sandy joined Accenture in 1991 in the Utilities practice, after serving as a test engineering assistant for General Electric’s Power Generation, Combustion Design Engineering Unit from 1989-91. At GE, Sandy participated in Jack Welch’s Workout Program and facilitated a competitive prototyping effort between engineering design teams for the development of a new combustor design that would run at the lowest level of emissions to date. Sandy earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Distribution from Clarkson University and her MBA from Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Brian Snodgrass
Brian Snodgrass is Director of Programs with Northrop Grumman Information Systems. In his current role, Brian is responsible for IT system and service deployment supporting federal customer programs in the areas of financial analytics, data management and compliance solutions. Prior to this role he was responsible for overseeing IT service delivery and program operations for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2009 to 2015. Brian joined Northrop Grumman after four years as an Executive Director in New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) Wireless Technologies Division. Prior to joining NYC DoITT, Brian gained over ten years of experience in the commercial cellular industry working for Nextel Communications. Brian has earned his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and his Master of Science in computer engineering from Manhattan College in New York City and his MBA from Columbia University. Brian lives in Ashburn, VA with his wife Jennifer and their children, Claire and Will. He is a Foundation Board Member and active volunteer with Virginia FIRST, the regional organization responsible for the FIRST Robotics Competition in Maryland, DC and Virginia.
Advisory Board
Chris Powell
Advisory Board Chair
Cynthia Ambrose
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Loudoun County Public Schools
Susan Carroll
REO, Inova's Eastern Region
Jim Cortina
Principal, Cortina Productions
Mark Ginsberg
Ph.D., Dean and Professor, College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University
Todd House
Manager, Economic Development, Washington Gas
Bobbie Kilberg
CEO, Northern Virginia Technology Council
Josh Konowe
CPO, Canvas
Paul Leslie
CEO, Dovel Technologies
Peggy A. Musgrave
Executive Administrator & Community Affairs, Integrus Holdings, Inc.
Patricia Nicoson
President, Dulles Corridor Rail Association
Larry O'Reilly
President, O'Reilly & Associates; Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Ret.)
Dalia Palchik
Member, Fairfax County School Board, Providence District
Kenneth R. Plum
Member, Virginia House of Delegates, 36th District
Kevin Reynolds
President, United Bank
Mike Shaklik
Partner, Ernst & Young
Ranjit Sidhu
President and CEO, National Council for Community and Education Partnerships
Linda Sullivan
President and CEO, Arts Council of Fairfax County
Robin Thurman
Director, Workforce and Industrial Base Development at Aerospace Industries Association
STEM Advisory Council
Jim Egenrieder
Ph D., Chair, Director, Thinkabit Lab, Virginia Tech
Michelle R. Bond
Ph.D., Staff Scientist, Bethesda, MD
Denise Booth
Microbiologist and STEM Educator
Stacey A. Dixon
Ph.D., Deputy Director, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), Senior Executive, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Carla Easter
Ph.D., Deputy Chief, Education & Community Involvement, National Human Genome Research Institute
Maryrose Franko
Ph.D., Executive Director, Health Research Alliance
Lisa Friedersdorf
Ph.D., Deputy Director, National Nanotechnology Coordination Office
Ron Gird
Meteorologist and Outreach Program Manager, National Weather Service
Allan Hoffman
Ph.D., Physicist, Department of Energy (Retired)
Brian Jacoby
Co-founder and President, Nova Labs
Mary Muldowney Jarratt
Robotics Instructor, The Potomac School
Paula MacDonald
Program Manager and Senior Policy Analyst, SAIC
Odette Scovel
Science Instructional Supervisor, Loudoun County Public Schools
Padmanabhan Seshaiyer
Ph.D., Professor, Mathematical Sciences; Director, STEM Accelerator Program and COMPLETE, George Mason University
Zuzana Steen
University and Academy Relations Manager, Micron Technology
Catherine Croft Swanwick
Ph.D., CEO, Catlilli Games
Heather Tedesco
Ph.D., Psychologist and Parent Education Specialist
Myra Thayer
Science Coordinator, Fairfax County Public Schools (Retired)