Our team has a huge range of expertise and experience, but all have one thing in common, the desire to help raise and support our most at-risk children.
To contact us, either email at support@ifoster.org, or give us a call at 530.214.0558 or 530.414.3035.
Founders
Serita Cox
Serita is a co-founder of iFoster responsible for strategy and programs. As the visionary and driving force behind iFoster, Serita brings to bear her personal experience with foster care, devoted commitment to a number of youth development initiatives, and over a decade of experience in executive-level management, corporate strategy consulting and non-profit strategy consulting.
Before launching iFoster, Serita was a consultant with The Bridgespan Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps nonprofit and philanthropic leaders to develop strategies and build organizations that inspire and accelerate social change. Her clients have included some of the largest philanthropic foundations and non-profits serving at-risk youth.
Prior to consulting in the non-profit sector, Serita was a consultant and senior executive for high tech, telecom, and pharmaceutical companies.
She has a BSc (Highest Honors) in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from Carleton University, and an MBA in Strategy and Marketing from the Bronfman School of Business at McGill University. Serita is currently on the Board of Directors for Groundwire and A Home Within, was formerly on the Board of Directors of CASA of Placer County, and volunteers for Girls on The Run and The American Red Cross.
Reid Cox
Reid is a co-founder of iFoster responsible for numbers and partners. As the less visionary but more logical “implementer” behind iFoster, Reid provides over a decade of experience in executive-level management, investment banking, business development, financial reporting and corporate communications.
Reid has a BA from The University of Western Ontario, and an MBA in Finance from the Bronfman School of Business at McGill University. Reid is currently on the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of Truckee Tahoe.
Board of Directors
Cathi Huerta
Cathi retired in May, 2011 as the Director of the Department of Social Services for Fresno County, the 10th largest county in California. Responsible for county-wide social services provided by a staff of over 2,100, Cathi oversaw all aspects of child welfare and family support. As a former trainer for foster parents, Cathi has a deep appreciation for the courageous people who volunteer to foster our most vulnerable youth.
In retirement, Cathi continues to work towards improving the system, not only by helping to guide the development of iFoster, but also on national efforts to rebrand foster care, improve the use of data and performance measurement in child welfare management with Casey Family Programs, and working with the 4th largest school district in California on prevention services for at-risk youth to address the drop-out crisis.
Richard Knecht
Richard is the Director of Children's System of Care of Placer County, CA, an integrated children's care model including child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, and special education. Yearly, Richard's department supports over 4,200 children in a suburban and rural county stretching from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe. In addition to the five years of leading one of the country's most sophisticated systems of care for children, Richard has deep front-line experience from being a former foster parent, to case management and executive management as the Senior VP of Operations for River Oak Center for Children in Sacramento and COO of CPC Olympus View Hospital, a psychiatric hospital.
Richard is also an experienced marriage and family therapist. He has worked with severely traumatized children and teens.
Jose Mallabo
Jose is the Director of Corporate Marketing at GSI Commerce, a leading provider of services that enable e-commerce, multichannel retailing and interactive marketing for large, business-to-consumer enterprises in the U.S. and internationally. He has over 20 years of public relations and investor relations experience, working globally and domestically with high-tech companies like Kodak, Xerox, H-P, eBay, LinkedIn, Sony and FedEx. Jose’s areas of expertise include social media strategy, international public relations, corporate communications, corporate branding and media relations.
Jose has a BA in Communications from La Salle University, and a Master’s of Sciences degree in Mass Communications from San Diego State University.
Alex Neuhoff
Alex is a Partner in the New York office of the Bridgespan Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps nonprofit and philanthropic leaders in the hard work of developing strategies and building organizations that inspire and accelerate social change. He has worked with nonprofits, private foundations, and community foundations on a wide range of issues including growth, organization, advocacy, and grant-making strategy. Alex’s work has spanned multiple domains, including child welfare, employment, the environment, healthcare, poverty, education, and youth development. Through his work with organizations like Boys Town, Youth Villages, and Four Oaks, Alex has developed a deep admiration for the love and support that foster parents provide, the hard work of the agencies that support parents, and the resilience of the foster youth themselves.
Alex graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College with a BA in Economics and Geography. He also studied geography at the Charles University in Prague and led a service project in a Roma village in Slovakia. Alex was also active in Inspire, a nonprofit volunteer organization that provides strategic consulting services to educational and youth development organizations.
The Team
Mahesh Chand
Mahesh is the architect and developer of iFoster's unique online platform. He directs ongoing development and continual management and maintenance of our .net platform. As the founder of the Mindcracker Network, one of the most popular online communities for Microsoft developers and programmers with over 3 million monthly users, Mahesh brings invaluable experience in virtual community building to iFoster.
Mahesh has been a Microsoft MVP Developer for the past 6 consecutive years. He is a published author, publishing his first book on programming at age 25. With over 14 years of IT experience building systems for Adidas, Microsoft, Unisys, University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Johnson & Johnson, and Exelon to name a few, Mahesh brings incredible expertise to the building and running of www.ifoster.org online community.
Harrison Lee
Harrison is the project manager for the development and deployment of the iFoster platform. He is also responsible for the incredible user interface (look & feel) of www.ifoster.org.
Harrison brings over a decade of experience in strategy, marketing, custom design Internet applications to ensure iFoster delivers the best user experience possible. Harrison also keeps all of us in line during major development cycles while ensuring that the impossible is made possible.
Most recently, Harrison is the co-founder and CMO of Tweetalicious, a Twitter-based social community serving up tweeted deals based upon a member's shopping preferences.
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Fast Facts
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Over 10,000 members including youth, families, non-profit and gov't agencies in child welfare
Over 1,000,000 children & youth supported by iFoster members.
Over 1,000 computers delivered enabling 2,500+ children and youth.
Over $20 Million in savings realized.
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