Donna Lasinski, Founder
Donna Lasinski is the award winning author of the Parent Guide to Summer and the ThinkStretch Summer Learning Program. Donna’s passion is to reduce the achievement gap while building bridges between home and school. Donna’s research based summer skill retention curriculum was honored as a finalist for the National Summer Learning Excellence Award, 2012. A longtime education advocate, Lasinski has served as an appointee of the governor in the state of Michigan for the Early Learning Advisory Board, and holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a BBA from the University of Michigan. She currently is an elected Board of Education Trustees for Ann Arbor Public Schools and continues to advocate for quality education funding.
Bruce Henson, President
As president of ThinkStretch, Bruce came from corporate America over 15-years ago, transitioning into the academic industry. From 2005 through 2011, he implemented Title programs across the country in over 100 schools and districts, with a focus on turning around low-performing schools using grass roots efforts and proven academic data model. He founded Genesee STEM Academy in Flint, Michigan, the first and only certified STEM academy in the county in 2012.
Dr. Erik Thorson, Chief Academic Officer and Director of Curriculum
Dr. Thorson comes to ThinkStretch with a plethora of educational experiences. Dr. Thorson was born in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and has worked in urban education for most of his twenty three years in education. Dr. Thorson has a Masters in Elementary Education from John Carroll University and an Educational Degree in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He has served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, and licensed superintendent in his 17 years of administrative experience. Dr. Thorson has had many highlights during his career. He has served as principal of South High School in Cleveland and worked as a major developer in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Jordyn Veard, Director of Operations
Jordyn comes to us with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Organizational Leadership. She has extensive knowledge with project management, accounting, and recruiting on a national level. Over the last 5 years, Jordyn supervised and managed a nationwide IT consulting and service firm. Although Jordyn is new to the education industry, she is eager to add this exciting and growing industry to her portfolio.