Our Team
Board of Directors
Board Member
David T. Adler
David Adler retired from Fannie Mae in 2008. During his quarter century there, he worked as system and financial analyst, building simulation models, pricing mortgage products, and developing financial databases. Before joining Fannie Mae he was a consultant in the areas of regional economics and occupational health and safety. For five years he was the treasurer of his synagogue. In addition to RESET he is on the boards of the Montgomery County Meals on Wheels program and Micah House, a residential program for women in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. Dr. Adler has Ph.D and MSIA degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and has taught physics.
Having spent many years of education studying physics and math, Dr. Adler joined RESET because he believes that these skills are valuable in today’s world, and because an appreciation of science and how scientists see the world provides logical tools applicable to any field of endeavor.
PhD in Physics
Washington, DC
Board Member
Claudia C. Austin
Claudia Austin is a teacher in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math/ English for Speakers of Other Languages at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland. Prior to that position, Ms. Austin taught first grade for four years at Clopper Mill Elementary School in Germantown, Maryland, where she hosted RESET programs in her classrooms. She received her B.A. degree in Early Childhood Education from Towson University in 2010, and a M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership: Special Studies in STEM Education from the University of Maryland in 2016. Ms. Austin was born in Brazil and she utilizes her Brazilian heritage to connect and inspire diverse students to pursue their dreams. Ms. Austin strongly believes that STEM education should be offered to ALL students regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
1st Grade Teacher,
Montgomery County Schools
Gaithersburg, MD
Board Member
Sara Holtz
Sara has nearly 20 years of experience in global public health including Peace Corps/Togo, USAID/Senegal, USAID/West Africa, World Bank, university research centers, and USAID-funded projects. She currently works for the CIRCLE Project focused on using evidence-based approaches to improve maternal, newborn, and child health in low- and middle-income countries. She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French from William and Mary, a master’s degree in public health from University of North Carolina, and a doctor of public health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In her spare time Sara enjoys volunteering and mobilizing groups of volunteers, particularly youth, to participate in community service projects. For the past ten years she has volunteered for the Girl Scouts Council of the Nation’s Capital to bring STEM, Leave No Trace outdoor ethics, and global programs to Girl Scouts in the DC metro area. With the local BSA council she teaches Leave No Trace and advises scouts on significant conservation and environmental projects. At the local elementary school she’s the parent member of the STAMP (Science Technology Art Music Philanthropy) committee aimed at providing family-friendly STEM and volunteer opportunities to the school community. In Fairfax County she serves as a site leader for the Fairfax County Park Authority Invasive Management Area program to educate the public and lead work days to remove invasive plants from public land, helps label storm drains with the Soil & Water Conservation District, and plants native trees with Fairfax ReLeaf. For these conservation and environmental efforts she recently earned an Elly Doyle recognition and IMA volunteer of the year award from the Park Authority and the Environmental Excellence Award from the Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination.
Board Chair
John W. Meagher
John Meagher served as RESET’s Executive Director from 2007 to 2018, led its Communications Program from 2018 to 2021, and is now the Board’s Chairperson. Employed for 32 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Meagher served as Director of its Wetlands Division from its inception in 1990 until 2005. As a member of the federal Senior Executive Service he supervised a staff of 35 and managed a nationwide program with a budget of $35 million a year. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering and an M.A. in environmental engineering, both from Manhattan College, New York. Mr. Meagher started as a volunteer at RESET in early 2007 and later that year accepted the Executive Director position. He has presented hands-on science curricula to a wide variety of elementary school classes throughout the Washington, DC metro area. RESET appealed to him because it provides low-income children exposure to pathways they may want to consider for their futures.
Fairfax, VA
Board Member
Lewis J. Mendelson, Esq.
International Capital Market Consultant, Retired
Bethesda, MD
Lew Mendelson is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School. Upon completion of his military duty, he served as Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and briefly practiced law in New York City. Lew joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during the Kennedy Administration. He became an Assistant Director of its Division of Investment Management and Special Counsel in its Enforcement Division. Over the 20 years following retirement from the SEC, as an international capital market consultant with World Bank, USAID and Asian Development Bank projects, Mr. Mendelson was instrumental in formulating and implementing strategies for capital market development in emerging markets in 18 country’s across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. He accepted the invitation to join RESET from its founder, Dr. Harold Sharlin, because he believed that scientific, engineering and technological proficiency were the engines of strong economies, that the enrichment and inspiration RESET provides for careers in STEM could help create life changing opportunities for some students, and that familiarity with STEM is essential to adapting to life in the 21stCentury.
Board Member
Adeoye I. Owolewa
Oye Owolewa has been a board member and RESET volunteer since 2014. A community pharmacist by day, he volunteers in elementary classrooms to expose young people to STEM. Oye strongly believes early exposure and hands on experiences are critical to increase science enthusiasm and inspire students to pursue STEM professions. In the past, Oye has volunteered at Ross Elementary School and DC Prep charter school (Benning Road campus). Currently, he volunteers at Excel Academy.
Oye was recently elected as the Shadow Representative of the US House of Representatives from the District of Columbia. Previously, he was commissioner of his neighborhood and plans to spread RESET through more elementary schools in Ward 8. Dr. Owolewa received his Doctorate of Pharmacy from Northeastern University in 2014.
Doctor of Pharmacy,
Shadow Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC
Board Member
Jeremy Taigman
Jeremy Taigman is a Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the National Institutes of Health. At the Section on Clinical and Computational Psychiatry, he supports research on the pathophysiology, treatment, and prevention of adolescent major depression. He is particularly interested in lowered motivation and pleasure in children with mental illness. Jeremy began volunteering for RESET in Fall 2020 to build on his passion for scientific teaching and service, and to help adapt physical experimentation to the virtual learning space. By planning and leading chemistry, engineering, and computer science activities with fellow volunteers, he hopes to create engaging STEM experiences for young students that will facilitate long-term passion for the sciences. Jeremy graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020 with a B.S. in Neuroscience, where he researched speech neurophysiology and adult stuttering. He hopes to begin medical school in 2022 on his path to become a physician.
Board Member
Juan Valentin
Juan Valentin is an Education Program Advisor in the Office of Education (OE) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He is responsible for the development and implementation of educational projects of national and international scope, with a particular emphasis on directing and coordinating the development of STEM, design-thinking, or invention-focused projects infused with intellectual property (IP) concepts. Cultivating relationships and finding areas for collaboration with external organizations, academic institutions and federal agencies is also a significant part of Mr. Valentin’s job. Prior to joining the OE team, Mr. Valentin was a USPTO patent examiner for 12 years, specializing in the art of optical measuring and testing devices. Community outreach has also been an important part of Mr. Valentin’s life, as evidenced by his volunteerism with over 15 years of support for Washington, DC’s based non-profit, Raising Excitement for Science, Engineering and Technology (RESET). His volunteer work is also witnessed with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), which includes youth education and outreach on behalf of engineers and leadership training for members of all levels within the organization. Mr. Valentin holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Clarkson University.
Education Program Advisor, Office of Education and Outreach, USPTO
Laurel, MD
Board Member
Christa Weber
Christa Weber is a 5th grade teacher at Crestwood Elementary School in Springfield, Virginia and has been working with RESET volunteers for the past six years. Prior to becoming a teacher, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu, inspiring her to switch careers to teaching. Ms. Weber acquired her teaching credentials from California State University, Monterey Bay and volunteered with AmeriCorps through Girls Incorporated.
Ms. Weber holds endorsements in Advanced Academics and STEAM through Fairfax County Public Schools. These endorsements have empowered her to provide rigorous opportunities to students who might not otherwise have access to them. Ms. Weber’s passion for science was ignited when she was selected to attend a pre-service teacher training institution hosted by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and NASA Langley. Being immersed in science for two weeks was all it took to hook her. This experience empowered her to become a strong science educator that has led to many leadership opportunities in and outside of her school.
Ms. Weber believes that in order to help children reach their fullest potential, they must be provided opportunities to apply STEAM knowledge to real life scenarios and see themselves in roles they aspire to become.