Alyse Spencer
Success Coach
As a first-generation student who transferred two times before getting her undergraduate degree, Alyse understands the obstacles that life and getting a degree can bring. After working in higher education in student support services for six years, she is passionate about helping students to navigate the intricacies of college systems and to support them through every step of their journey.
Alyse has an A.A. from Mesa Community College and a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Fort Lewis College. After graduating and realizing she had no idea what to do with her degree, she started substitute teaching in her local school district and fell in love with the connections she made with students. She completed her teaching licensure in combination with an M.A. in Secondary Education through the University of New Mexico.
After teaching high school English for three years and coaching the girls’ soccer team, she took a job at her alma mater, Fort Lewis, where she became part of a professional advising pilot program. In her time working with Fort Lewis Advising, she held several roles including Team Lead of the STEM & Health Advising Team, Interim Director, and her last role was as Assistant Director. While she learned a great deal in those leadership roles, she missed working directly with students and is excited to have that opportunity again with ReUp.
Cherish Brunet
Network Specialist
Cherish has been a supporter of college students her entire career – beginning in college admissions and enrollment and then as a Learning Coach for undergraduate students. She found her passion in higher education shortly after she completed her degree and has loved every minute of working with students. She has invested in both traditional and non-traditional, on campus and online students. She understands the powerful transformation a college degree can provide and strives to empower students to find their own strengths to achieve their goals – which she is confident each student possesses.
Cherish graduated from Gordon College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She currently resides in New Hampshire with her husband and children. On the rare occasion that she finds quiet time, she enjoys reading, cooking healthy meals, and loving on foster children that come through her family’s home.
Cherish’s expertise is in deeply understanding the students’ educational goals, and expectations for their re-enrollment and degree completion experience. She’ll identify several best aligned universities and/or programs for the student across the ReUp Network and guide them through the process of evaluating their options and refining their goals.
Brooke Wallace
Director of Partner Success
Brooke has spent her career working in education and community outreach. After graduating from Brown University in 2005, Brooke spent two years living in South America where she worked with Amnesty International and TransformeArte, researching and organizing events and campaigns to raise awareness about human rights issues.
She returned to the United States and started working at Read Alliance, a nonprofit that pairs teen tutors with kindergarten and first grade students who are struggling with reading. During her time at Read Alliance, Brooke created strong relationships with schools and managed program quality which resulted in student growth in reading skills in addition to a positive change in the confidence and motivation levels of students and teen tutors. Brooke has also run schools operations departments which has allowed her to create systems that maximize efficiency. Most recently Brooke was the New York Program Director at Generation Citizen, a national nonprofit with the mission of giving all students the civic skills, knowledge and disposition to be active citizens. She was able to grow the programmatic footprint in New York by using her relationship building skills to secure and support clients in new districts. Throughout her career Brooke has understood the importance of education and has been dedicated to supporting communities in gaining the access to education they need and deserve to reach their full potential.
Brooke is excited to use her background in relationship building and program management to support ReUp Education’s mission of partnering with universities to support stopout students in re enrolling and completing their education.
Brooke enjoys being active and trying new activities such as surfing. She is constantly planning her next trip and believes that traveling is the best way to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone.