Our Team

Spanning across education, finance, marketing and technology, the Top Honors Board of Directors possess a variety of skills and experiences in corporate and education environments. Top Honors also utilizes advisors for assistance in other areas such as legal and fundraising. However, the math tutoring program would not be successful without the dedication of our site administrator and over 50 volunteer tutors!

Board of Directors

Glenn Turtel - Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA: BS in Economics with Concentrations in Finance and Accounting.

Glenn currently works as the Controller for Village Academies, a network of high performing charter schools in Harlem, New York, where he is responsible for all financial, budgeting and accounting functions at the schools. In 2008, 100% of the 7th and 8th graders passed the New York State Math Test at the Harlem Village Academy Charter School and 97.8% of the 7th graders (its highest grade) passed the test at the Leadership Village Academy Charter School.

Glenn is also the President and Founder of Charter School Finance, a consulting company providing financial and accounting support to schools across the country. In his role with Charter School Finance, Glenn has helped to design, implement and manage financial and accounting systems for three startup schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Previously, Glenn worked as the Charter School Division Controller for Edison Schools and before that in corporation finance and mergers & acquisitions.

Glenn was an active member of Junior Achievement for over three years, including teaching in a high school classroom, participating in the Groundhog Shadow Day Program, and advising in the JA Company Program, a program in which students organize and operate an actual business enterprise.

Evan Turtel - Vice-Chairman of the Board, President
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY: BS in Computer Science

Evan has diverse experience in the technology field. Currently, he consults on educational software projects for Triumph Learning and Scholastic Inc. Previously, Evan was Director of Content Management at TheStreet.com, where he led a software development team that built custom publishing systems. Previous to TheStreet.com, Evan was a software developer at Time Warner and Merrill Lynch.

Evan has volunteered with New York Cares since 1995 and was a trained crisis hotline counselor at the HELP LINE crisis hotline from 1995-2000. A master chess player and winner of many prestigious chess awards, Evan tutored chess to children in middle school while attending Cornell.

Sam Liu - Board Treasurer, Vice President of Marketing
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA: BA in Economics and Communications
New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York, NY: MBA in Finance and Strategy

Mr. Liu has a strong background in marketing, operations, finance and project management working as a Senior Associate within the PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting practice after obtaining his MBA. Prior to receiving his MBA, he was Sales Effectiveness Manager within the American Express Foreign Currency International Payments Division. He was responsible for growing the company's corporate client base and for project management in redesigning internal communication processes, sales force incentive structures, and CRM systems. He also has a retail industry background, leading the budget forecasting process for a cosmetics conglomerate and assessing real estate and capital investment projects for a specialty apparel company. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Sam developed program activities as Team Leader in the West Philadelphia Tutoring Program and worked as a marketing coordinator for health services. Sam has a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and has passed the Series 7 and 63 exams.

Lisa Friscia - Director of Education
Amherst College, Amherst, MA: BA in American Studies and Economics
Teachers College, Columbia University: Master's in Educational Leadership

A former New York City Teaching Fellow, Lisa is currently the High School Director at Democracy Prep Charter School. Previously, she was a 7th grade teacher and grade leader at this school. Lisa has also served as Peer Coach for the Summer Principals Academy at Teachers College, Columbia University. She completed her master's degree in Social Studies Education while teaching in Ozone Park, New York.

In 2006, Lisa learned about Top Honors, and became excited about its mission of providing free math tutoring centered on real world application. She joined the Top Honors Board, and has enjoyed working withh the students, tutors and families.

Shara E. Freeman, Director of Fundraising
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY: BA in Psychology
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY: MS in Sport Psychology

Shara is Director of Major Gifts at The Chapin School on the upper east side of Manhattan. Over the past four years, she has led its historic $75-million endowment campaign to support the school's innovative and strategic initiatives. She will be leaving Chapin in June 2010 to join Cornell University's New York regional office; she will be a Major Gifts Officer. Shara was the Associate Director of Alumni Affairs and Development in Cornell University's Northeast Regional Office in Boston, MA before moving to Manhattan.

Shara volunteers on the Phoenix House steering committee and as a pet-therapy team with her dog for the Good Dog Foundation. Shara joined the Top Honors Board in 2008.

Alison Polton-Simon, Director of High School Recruiting

Alison is currently a senior at Hunter College High School. She is also a member of the Hunter Debate team and the Hunter United Nations Society as well as a Big Sibling to incoming students. Alison served as a volunteer math tutor for the 2007-08 school year and joined the Top Honors Board over the summer in 2008.