Become a Scholar
About Us
WHO WE ARE
A nonprofit organization simplifying the transfer journey for community college students and institutions.
Mission
Birch Scholars empowers community college students to successfully transfer to four-year institutions and thrive—through personalized advising, academic planning, financial aid support, and a connected peer community. We guide students through every step of the transfer process, ensuring they are not only admitted, but prepared, confident, and fully supported from application to graduation.
Vision
We envision a higher education landscape where community college students are valued, supported, and celebrated. Our goal is to equip students with the knowledge and guidance they need to shape their futures. We aim to eliminate the barriers that cause students to lose credits, change majors, or leave college before reaching their goals. Birch Scholars is building a new model of student success—one rooted in partnership, planning, and purpose.
Our Services
Each Birch Scholar is part of a supportive cohort model and receives comprehensive, individualized services from a dedicated advising team. Our model also provides structural support to institutions seeking to improve student outcomes and strengthen transfer pipelines.
For Students
Transfer Admissions Counseling
- College list development tailored to student goals and academic records
- Application timeline planning and support
- Personal statement and supplemental essay guidance
- Major and career planning aligned with values and interests
Financial Aid & Scholarship Counseling
- FAFSA and CSS Profile support
- Review of financial aid offers with guidance on award terms
- Assistance identifying and applying for merit-based and external scholarships
- Coaching on post-award communication and appeals
Academic Advising
- Guidance on earning and applying credit for prior learning
- Help aligning majors with previously earned credits to minimize time to degree
- First-semester transition coaching at the receiving institution
- Connection to campus-based resources for support and retention
Peer Cohort and Mentorship
- Student support community to foster connection and motivation
- Storytelling sessions to build confidence, purpose, and belonging
- Access to near-peer mentors who’ve navigated the transfer journey
For Institutions
Needs Assessment
- Evaluation of current programs and practices that support transfer students and areas for growth
- Assessment of campus readiness to create new support services for transfer students
Program Development & Enhancement
- Creation of new programs that support transfer students on your campus
- Ongoing mentorship and advising to support retention post-transfer
- Transition coaching that supplements on-campus student services
- Co-hosted transfer workshops and events
Faculty & Staff Development
- Interactive professional development on supporting transfer students
- Training on inclusive advising and communication practices
- Insight into the challenges and aspirations of today’s transfer student
Credit Evaluation & Curriculum Alignment
- Standardized templates for credit review to ease articulation
- Advising support to prevent loss of credits or repeated coursework
- Help aligning community college coursework with major pathways
Articulation & Partnership Development
- Support in building or revising articulation agreements
- Guidance on aligning student goals with institutional offerings
- Tools for improving pathway clarity and transparency
The Challenge
Community college students are among the most determined and capable learners in higher education—but the transfer system too often fails them. Despite their ambition, most never reach the finish line.
Our Solution
Birch Scholars exists to close the gap. We provide the personalized guidance, structural support, and institutional partnerships needed to ensure transfer is not a detour—but a launchpad.
Our Team
Dr. Allyson Bregman
Founder & Executive Director
Dr. Allyson Bregman has dedicated her career to creating equitable, life-changing education pathways for students. With more than 15 years of experience spanning secondary and higher education leadership, she founded Birch Scholars to address a critical need: ensuring that talented
community college students have the support, resources, and relationships they need to successfully transfer to four-year institutions and thrive long after graduation.
She has also held positions at Drew School, Choate Rosemary Hall, and the University of Michigan, where she guided students through the college application process, created advising curriculum, and designed and assessed teaching and learning initiatives.
Throughout her career, she has built programs that strengthen student retention, improve academic outcomes, and remove barriers to degree completion. Prior to launching Birch Scholars, she served as Director of Curriculum and First-Year Experience at Guttman Community College (CUNY), the newest community college in the CUNY system that she helped to found in 2012. In this role, she led major curriculum reforms, expanded academic support services, and secured more than $3 million in philanthropic, university, and federal funding to enhance student learning and institutional capacity.
At Birch Scholars, she is committed to building a national model for transfer success—one that centers community college students, recognizes their strengths, and provides the high-impact advising, financial aid support, and advocacy they deserve.
Allyson holds a B.A. from Connecticut College and a Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan.
Erica
B. Chapman
Chief of Organizational
Learning and Talent
& Board Vice President
Erica founded the DKDK Project, a boutique consulting organization supporting educational innovation. Additionally, she served as the Special Assistant to the President of Sarah Lawrence College, where she facilitated new educational initiatives for President Cristle Collins Judd.
She is the former Dean of Faculty at The Masters School, where she spearheaded the implementation of a mission-aligned teacher development and evaluation system.
Prior to becoming the Dean of Faculty, Erica was the Director of CITYterm at The Masters School, an experience-based semester program for juniors and seniors in high school. As the Director,
Erica oversaw all aspects of the interdisciplinary, project-based semester school, including the development of an innovative, place-based curriculum and the overall administration of the program.
Erica’s work at CITYterm is featured in Ken Bain’s Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning. Additionally, Erica has leadership experience in the public, private, charter and non-profit domains.
She has held positions at Achievement First Charter Schools, New Leaders for New Schools and at the New York City Department of Education.
Erica holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael
Silber
Creative Director
& Board Treasurer
Michael is a Brooklyn-based graphic designer and artist. For over 20 years, he has partnered with ad agencies and design firms to build wide-ranging campaigns, adaptive brand systems, and innovative digital products. He has worked with Droga5, R/GA, Publicis, SKDK, and Cloudberry Creative, among others.
His personal projects explore humor through digital media. They have been featured on The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Gizmodo, Laughing Squid, Pix11, Curbed, and Brokelyn.
Michael earned a Master’s Degree in Communications Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from Connecticut College.
Cleo
Harrison-Felner
Assistant Director of
Social Media & Marketing
Cleo comes from a background in event promotion and social media marketing. After graduating from the University of California, Davis with a BA in sociology and communication, she moved to the Twin Cities to pursue a career in nonprofit event marketing, combining her passion for social justice and community events with her interest in social media marketing.
She has experience in marketing for the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. As a marketing assistant, Cleo developed targeted social media campaigns and created a monthly newsletter distributed to more than 5,000 students, and assisted with student-focused event promotion and execution.
Cleo currently works on the marketing team at Twin Cities in Motion. She collaborates with the marketing manager to create Instagram and Facebook video campaigns by interviewing participants, filming events, and editing videos. Her work ranges from trend-driven video content to technical website updates using Wix. She works closely with the charity teams that TCM collaborates with to promote their fundraising efforts on social media. On event days, she is on the ground assisting with set-up and capturing live photo and video content.
She also has experience building social media platforms from the ground up. From her work with Nayamode-Bluewave, a creative agency, to creating a campus-wide fashion Instagram account, she is no stranger to the work that goes into building a social account. She is thrilled to bring this experience to advancing and promoting the crucial work Birch Scholars does.
Dr. Sasha
Ortiz
Board Secretary
Sasha is a higher-education leader and educational assessment and evaluation consultant with over a decade of experience advancing equity-focused student success, academic planning, and program effectiveness. She currently serves as Associate Director of Assessment and Academic Affairs at Guttman Community College (CUNY), where she leads institution-wide assessment initiatives, faculty development efforts, and accreditation-aligned planning in support of student persistence and completion.
Dr. Ortiz brings substantial experience in grant-funded and nonprofit-aligned initiatives, including the management and evaluation of large-scale state and federal projects. In her consulting role, she has served as an external evaluator on National Science Foundation (NSF) and S-STEM grants, supporting outcomes assessment, compliance, and continuous improvement for multi-year programs serving historically underserved students.
Her work also includes leadership in Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) policy and practice, where she has guided institutional working groups and advised on processes that expand access to college credit while maintaining academic quality and accountability.
Sasha holds a B.S. from Swarthmore College and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Management from Drexel University.
Lauren
Hult
Inaugural Board Member
Lauren is a partner in Bridgespan’s New York office. Since joining the firm in 2009, Lauren has advised clients in a number of sectors, with a particular focus on child and family services and youth development. Her casework has included advising clients on growth strategy, performance management, organizational design, and foundation strategy.
Prior to joining Bridgespan, Lauren was a manager at Mercer Oliver Wyman. She specialized in retail and business banking and advised clients on strategic and operational issues. She also has worked at a charter school network, as well as a nonprofit supporting entrepreneurs.
Lauren received an MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, with a certificate in Public Management. Lauren earned her undergraduate degree in Physics from Harvard University.
Dr. Alexander
Ott
Inaugural Board Member
Alex has professional and research expertise in transfer student transitions and success. He has worked extensively in transfer credit evaluation at the four-year school level and overseen the student transfer function at the community college level. Alex wrote his dissertation on the transfer-credit evaluation process and co-authored articles on the same topic published in The Chronicle of Higher Education and College and University Journal. He has presented at professional conferences on a wide range of topics including student transfer, articulation agreements, college costs, financial aid, data mining, and accreditation guidelines.
Alex is currently the Associate Dean for Curriculum Matters and Academic Programs at Bronx Community College (BCC) of the City University of New York. Prior to joining BCC in 2014, Alex worked for 14 years at New York Institute of Technology, beginning in the transfer credit evaluation unit, with his last role as Associate Dean for Academic and Enrollment Support Services. In addition to his work in higher education administration, Alex has extensive teaching experience at the college level as well as experience teaching high school, high school equivalency, and ESL.
Alex holds an undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy from SUNY Geneseo, a master’s degree in political science and a doctorate in education from Fordham University.
Testimonials
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Become a Birch Scholar
Are you a Community College Student looking to transfer to a senior college? We're here to help.
Become a University Partner
Birch Scholars is seeking connections with institutions interested in improving transfer student outcomes.
Donate Today
We are seeking founding partners and mission-aligned funders to help us scale this transformative model.
Your Contribution Will:
- Fund the first 30 students through our full-service program.
- Build cross-campus partnerships across public and non-profit institutions.
- Create training tools and data-informed pathways for national replication.
- Ensure students not only transfer—but complete their degrees with confidence.