The AXS Foundation

Rob Alexander
Vice Provost and University Dean of Enrollment
University of Rochester

Rob’s responsibilities include direct oversight of River Campus undergraduate admissions, University-wide financial aid policy/compliance, and collaboration with other schools on admissions policies and data reporting.
As a first-generation college graduate, Rob’s twenty-five year career is animated by a passion for higher education’s transformational impact on a diverse array of students. He received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, conducting dissertation research focused on higher education leadership and governance, and previously earned MBA and BS degrees from Tulane. He is active with NACAC, AACRAO, the College Board, the Association of Governing Boards (AGB), and the American Marketing Association (AMA).Rob has written for several publications, including AGB’s Trusteeship Magazine. Prior to Rochester, he held senior administrative and teaching roles at various institutions including Tulane, where they restored enrollment following Hurricane Katrina and improved the institution’s impact on its surrounding community.

Jon Boeckenstedt
Vice Provost for Enrollment Management
Oregon State University

Jon has over 35 years of experience in higher education, including supervisory responsibility for Admissions, Financial Aid, Graduate Recruitment, Registrar, New Student Orientation, Career Services, Higher Education Opportunity Programs, Community Outreach and Academic Support. Jon is a frequent contributor to the national discourse on the state of college admissions and financial aid. Most recently, he served as Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing at DePaul University in Chicago.

Kirk Brennan
Associate Dean
Director of Undergraduate Admissions
University of Southern California

Kirk earned his bachelor’s degree in Cinematic Arts in 1989 with a dream to amplify voices that need to be heard. He discovered purely by accident that college admission officers do this every day by bringing together a community of learners.

Kirk has served USC for over 30 years and was named Director of Undergraduate Admission in 2011. Each year his office reviews admission applications for first-years (81,000 in 2003) and transfers (9,000), visits 2,000 high schools, participates in 500 college fairs and information nights each year, and receives over 100,000 guests at campus tours, info sessions, and receptions. Kirk frequently presents on various subjects, including selective college admission, private colleges, SAT usage, interviews, and home schooling. He is a member of WACAC and NACAC, and has served on advisory committees for The Common Application and the International Baccalaureate program.

Kirk married his USC sweetheart 30 years ago. They survived sending two daughters to college (and are willing to talk about it), and they always fly a USC banner on game day.

Allyson Caso
CFO, The AXS Foundation
CFO, GPIII, Inc./Porter T. Jones

Graduating from Scripps College, Allyson launched her career with Security Pacific Bank and, later, Bank of America. As Vice President in the International & Merchant Banking Finance Divisions, she was responsible for analytics of businesses in the Asia/Australasia and European regions. Since then, as Chief Financial Officer for Porter T. Jones, Allyson has successfully automated all financial aspects of this nearly 80 year old company, introducing and aligning financial metrics with strategy and growth.

Allyson has a lifelong passion for supporting non-profit institutions. She has held positions on the Boards and as Treasurer of many non-profits including The National Association of Bank Cost & Management Accounting (NABCA), St. Alban’s Episcopal Church (Westwood, California), and the Harvard-Westlake School Parents’ Association. She now devotes herself to ensuring the sustainability of AXS Companion with a firm belief in its value for all who seek a college education.

Barbara Martin Ellis
Ron Brown Guided Pathway Support Program
College Advisor

Barbara joined the Ron Brown team as a College Access Advisor. An advocate of student and community-led education, she homeschooled her sons, who are now students at Harvard. She’s taught private school students on Philadelphia’s Main Line, facilitated AP and economics courses with homeschoolers, and directed a workforce development initiative empowering teens in leadership and civic engagement in West Philadelphia’s Promise Zone. She also served as the director of a pre-law fellowship, coaching underserved applicants through the law school admissions process.

Barbara enjoys helping young people find resources that help them thrive. As a personal passion project, she researched and posted free academic, extracurricular, and summer opportunities across social media for years, gaining thousands of followers. She is currently a community journalism fellow at PhillyCAM, where her radio and television work center the voices and stories of Philadelphia teens. Barbara holds an MSEd from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and a master’s in Writing Studies from Saint Joseph’s University. An animal lover, she lives with her husband, three dogs, and cat in a 160-year-old farmhouse near Philadelphia.

Julia Estrada
Assembly Fellow, California State Assembly

Julia Estrada is from Santa Clarita, California, and is a recent graduate of the University of California, Davis. Julia’s academic focus was on Political Science and Human Rights and wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on migration.

Her passion for higher education access stems from her work as Student Director with American Indian Recruitment and Retention at UC Davis. In this position, she helped demystify higher education for Native middle and high schoolers, while also coordinating retention programming for current Native UC Davis students.

Julia currently serves as an Assembly Fellow in the Office of Assemblymember David Alvarez. Prior to this position, she worked for the offices of Assemblywoman Luz Rivas and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla.

Manuel French
School Counselor, Lake View High School, Chicago, IL

Manuel has had a 30-year career in education. The first 20 years were spent in higher education as an admission and financial aid professional.

For the past 10 years, he’s worked as a school counselor and district administrator, leading school counselor initiatives for the Chicago Public Schools.

Manuel earned an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and an M.Ed. in Counseling from DePaul University and his BA in communication from Central College (IA.)

Zachary Galin
President/Owner, Galin Education
Past, IECA Board of Directors

After receiving his Master of Science in Education from Bank Street College of Education, Zach founded Galin Education, assisting students and their families with the college admissions process. He has held positions with the Educational Approval Board - State of Wisconsin, Teach for America/ South Bronx Preparatory, and SCORE! Educational Centers.
In addition to his IECA responsibilities, Zach also serves on the Board of Directors for the Jewish Federation of Madison and on the Board of Trustees, Bank Street College (Associate Trustee).

John Haller
Vice President for Enrollment Management, Denison University

John Haller, Vice President for Enrollment Management, joined Denison University in September 2024. Haller, who has more than 30 years of experience in higher education, most recently at the University of Miami (Florida), where he has served as vice president for enrollment management and new student strategies since 2014. Haller previously worked at Denison in the admissions office from 1996-2000.
Among his many accomplishments at the University of Miami, Haller worked to advance access through scholarships and programs designed to reduce student debt upon graduation.
Haller brings valuable leadership experience across various areas, including admissions, marketing, and retention. Prior to working at the University of Miami, he was the Associate Provost of Enrollment Management at Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania, served as Assistant Dean of Enrollment at Drexel University, and as Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

Kristi Harlig, M.A., P.P.S.
Co-founder, Future Insight College Consulting

Kristi Harlig brings her expertise from 20 years in public education to her college consulting profession. As a school-based college counselor at a magnet school in Los Angeles, and most recently as a school counselor with caseloads between 400 - 500 students in San Marcos, California, Kristi helped hundreds of students choose their post-secondary paths. Kristi is passionate about working with first-generation students and students from underrepresented groups. As an IEC, she brings her expertise and compassion to families across the educational and socioeconomic spectrum, including those who thought college might be out of reach for them.

Kristi's academic credentials include a Master's degree in Psychology and a School Counseling credential. Kristi is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and the Western Association for College Admission Counseling (WACAC), and she holds an associate membership with the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA). As a school counselor, Kristi was pivotal in establishing a partnership with the county office of education to form the school's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee. Additionally, she contributes her expertise to the Education and Workforce Committee of the Vista Chamber of Commerce.

Thomas C. Hudnut
Consultant, RG 175
Past Head, Harvard-Westlake School

A magna cum laude graduate of Princeton with a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, Tom Hudnut began his teaching career at St. Albans School (DC) in 1970.
A school head for 36 years, he has led Norwood School (K-6) in Maryland, Branson School (9-12) in California, and, for 26 years, first Harvard and then Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles (7-12, two campuses, 1,600 students).
During his career, Tom has served on the boards of six independent schools (including service on four search committees) and one private college in addition to his Presidencies of The Headmasters Association, The Country Day School Headmasters' Association, The Cum Laude Society, and the California Association of Independent Schools.

He has chaired more than 15 regional accrediting teams and been a member of several more. He currently sits on four foundation boards (one medical, two educational, one public interest), a college board, and has served as an Area Planning Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles.

Tom’s experience as a fundraiser and mentor is noteworthy: during his years at Harvard-Westlake, the school raised close to $400 Million in annual, capital and endowment gifts; and 23 of his former administrators and faculty have gone on to become independent school heads.

Marilyn O’Toole
The AXS Foundation, Director
AXS Companion Chair, IECA Board of Directors

Marilyn is a Certified Educational Planner, on the IECA Board of Directors 2022-2024, and IECA Liaison to Common App.
Marilyn launched The College Consortium in 2007 to create an ethical, professional consortium of experts to advance practices in the college admissions community. During the pandemic, we co-created College Conversations to provide colleagues and colleges with a professional venue to share vital admissions information.

With leadership positions in IECA, as well as membership in NACAC, WACAC, and International ACAC, Marilyn has worked to expand college access for students from limited socioeconomic backgrounds, leading to the development of the AXS Companion. Winner of the Ira Katz Award for service in 2022.

Kasey Urquidez
Vice President, Enrollment Management & Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
University of Arizona

Dr. Kasey Urquídez is the University of Arizona’s Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Undergraduate Admissions. She serves as the University’s Chief Enrollment Officer and oversees the offices of admissions, recruitment, enrollment marketing, early academic outreach, orientation and new student services, scholarships and financial aid, parent family programs, student engagement and career development.

Kasey is dedicated to all facets of education, with a special focus on access to and equity in college for all students. She is active in or has served on many regional, statewide and national boards, including as a current Board Director for the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), Vice Chair for the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, Advisory Council Member for the Greater Tucson Workforce Leadership Academy, as well as a former Trustee for the College Board, to name a few.

Kasey earned her bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences from the University of Arizona (UA) as well as two master’s degrees, from Chapman University and UA respectively, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Our Valued Partners

NACAC: National Association for College Admission Counseling
Trusted Sources: AXS Companion for Navigating Common App