The team

Thirty staff. Eighty volunteer mentors. One alliance.

Keystone is run by people who live in or near the three Philadelphia neighborhoods we serve. The board chair has been with us since 2009. The Executive Director was a participant before she was a director.

Leadership

Executive Director

Renee Thompson

Renee was a 2002 Keystone participant in the South Philadelphia building before going to Temple University. She returned in 2014 as Programs Director and was appointed Executive Director in 2019.

South Philadelphia · With Keystone since 2014

Marcus Crawford, Programs Director, in a charcoal blazer against a brick wall.

Programs Director

Marcus Crawford

Marcus runs the four programs across all three buildings. Former school counselor at Central High School, twelve years. He owns the cohort caps, the mentor onboarding, and the day-to-day pace.

North Philadelphia · With Keystone since 2018

Eileen Park, Operations Director, in a navy sweater.

Operations Director

Eileen Park

Eileen runs the buildings, the books, and the partnerships. Former finance lead at a Philadelphia community development corporation. She is the reason eighty cents of every donated dollar reaches programs.

West Philadelphia · With Keystone since 2016

Mentors and participants

Eighty mentor pairs run alongside the staff team. Three voices here: a staff member, a mentor, and a participant.

Volunteer mentor

Marcus Hill

Marcus runs a basketball coaching practice in North Philadelphia. He has been mentoring his current pair for three years. Two-year extension on the original commitment, by mutual agreement.

North Philadelphia · Mentor since 2022

A mentor with three teenagers on a Philadelphia basketball court.

Volunteer mentor

Aisha Patel

Aisha is a Philadelphia architect and a Keystone alumna of the 2010 cohort. She mentors a high school junior and runs the architecture-shadow Friday at the West building twice a year.

West Philadelphia · Mentor since 2021

Participant

Jasmine Reyes

Jasmine joined the South Philadelphia building in seventh grade. She is now a high-school senior. She co-leads the after-school orientation for incoming seventh-graders.

South Philadelphia · Participant since 2020

Board of directors

Six directors. The board chair has been with us since 2009.

Dorothea Gibbons, board chair, photographed against red brick.

Board chair

Dorothea Gibbons

Retired Philadelphia public-school principal, twenty-eight years. Has served on the Keystone board since 2009. Reviews every annual report personally and chairs the audit committee.

Philadelphia · Board since 2009

Tomas Vega, treasurer, photographed in front of a brick wall.

Treasurer

Tomas Vega

Partner at a Philadelphia accounting practice, fifteen years. Treasurer of Keystone since 2017. The reason our finance back-office runs as cleanly as it does.

South Philadelphia · Board since 2017

Nadia Okafor, secretary, photographed at the community garden.

Secretary

Nadia Okafor

Director of community partnerships at a Philadelphia hospital system. Secretary of the board since 2020. She brought us our first three internship-employer partners.

North Philadelphia · Board since 2020

Want to volunteer?

Mentors commit to two years and a four-month onboarding. Read the brief before you apply. Most who read it do not apply, and that is the right outcome.