Meet Our Staff

Christopher Yanov
Founder and President, Reality Changers

Recently named by San Diego Magazine as one of San Diego’s new civic power brokers, Christopher Yanov raised and awarded over $1,000,000 in scholarships to inner-city students before turning 30 years old.

Mr. Yanov earned four college degrees in just five years. He graduated in two-and-a-half years from the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish Literature. Mr. Yanov also completed two Master’s programs at the University of San Diego with degrees in Peace & Justice and International Relations.

Previously, Mr. Yanov worked with gang members for five years before starting Reality Changers in May 2001 with just $300 yet now the program’s 400+ students have earned over $25,000,000 in scholarships from all sources. He credits his appearance on Wheel of Fortune in late 2001 for providing the initial financial support for Reality Changers to truly become a bona fide program.

Most recently, Mr. Yanov was selected as an inaugural commissioner of the San Diego Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention, served as the chairman of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Education and Workforce Development Committee, and is putting the finishing touches on his book, “Ending Gang Violence One Kid at a Time.”

ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP	PROGRAM LEADERSHIP	COLLEGE APPS ACADEMY
Full-Time Employees
Marshela Salgado Vice President, Communications marshela@realitychangers.org 619.516.2219	Eduardo Corona '10 Site Director eduardo@realitychangers.org  619.516.2222	Mary Taylor Director, College Apps Academy mary@collegeappsacademy.org 619.516.2229
Ashley Morgan Program Manager ashley@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Miguel Gonzalez Program Specialist miguel@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Rachael Lemkau Associate Director, Partners & Parents rachael@collegeappsacademy.org 619.516.2229
Carlos Gomez '06 Chief Grant Writing Officer carlosg@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Jesse Sanchez '09 Site Director JesseSanchez@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Scott Cinatl Coordinator, Marketing & Communications scott@collegeappsacademy.org 619.516.2229
Maureen Eberle Director of Donor Opportunities maureen@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Jonathan Villafuerte '05 Dean of Students jonathan@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Andrew Simmerman Academy Instructor andrew@collegeappsacademy.org
Daniel Ny Director of Donor Opportunities daniel@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Cecelia Villegas '07 Site Director cecelia@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Evelyn Soqui Director of Student Affairs evelyn@collegeappsacademy.org
Salina Villegas `08 Alumni Director salina@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222		Gerardo Jaimes '08 Academy Instructor gerardo@realitychangers.org 619.516.2229
Will Chuong `07 Assistant Alumni Director will@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222
Angela Yen Director, Student Opportunities angela@realitychangers.org 619.516.2218
Part-Time Employees
JoAnn Fields Community Outreach Coordinator joann@realitychangers.org 619.516.2219	Genemo Ali '11 Site Director genemo@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Alison Cawood Academy Instructor alison@collegeappsacademy.org
Kyle Kennedy Finance Manager kyle@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Chris Sanders Program Specialist chris.sanders@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222	Jesse Enriquez Academy Instructor jesse@collegeappsacademy.org 619.516.2229
Norma Ruiz-Murphy Finance Assistant norma@realitychangers.org 619.516.2216
Carlos Solorio Digital Media Director carlos@realitychangers.org 619.516.2222

NOTE: Full-time employees work between 25 to 40 hours per week and  part-time employees work up to 20 hours per week.