Meet The Reading Center’s Staff
Under the leadership of Executive Director, Cindy Russell, The Reading Center is managed by talented directors and other instrumental support staff. We also have nearly 70 tutors working full or part time with students and training adults in our Orton-Gillingham training institutes.
If you are interested in working for The Reading Center, please visit our recruitment page.
Reading Center Directors
Cindy Russell
Executive Director
Cindy joined The Reading Center in 2007. She has a M.A. in Religion from Yale University and has spent her career serving non-profits. Her focus has been non-profit management, fundraising, marketing and program supervision. She is the parent of three children who are dyslexic, all of whom received tutoring from The Reading Center.
Fay Van Vliet, Fellow/OGA, CDT/IDA
Clinical Director
With The Reading Center since 1996, Fay is a Fellow of the Orton-Gillingham Academy, and is a Certified Dyslexia Therapist through IDA. She holds Minnesota State Teaching Licenses in elementary education, middle school language arts, and K-12 reading. She is a Lead Instructor for the Orton-Gillingham Training Institutes, a Diagnostician, Practicum Instructor, and Academic Language Therapist. Passionate about reading, Fay has more than 35 years of experience at all levels of education. As an adjunct instructor at Rochester Community and Technical College, she researched and developed Orton-Gillingham in the collegiate classroom, and assisted adult learners in gaining literacy skills. Fay helped develop the Rochester Reading Champions' program, which reaches the underserved with Orton-Gillingham instruction, and remains active as its liaison. She presents locally, regionally and nationally.
Kristen Bieber, Associate/OGA, C-SLDI
Director of Tutoring Programs - Twin Cities
Kristen joined The Reading Center as a Staff Tutor in 2022. In addition to her role as an Academic Language Therapist, she is the Director of Tutoring Programs for the Twin Cities Metro Area, a Practicum Instructor, and teaches small groups at one of The Reading Center’s Twin Cities partnership schools. Kristen has a B.S. in Elementary Education from Winona State University, hold a MN teacher’s license, and has over 20 years of teaching experience. She is an Associate level certified instructor through the Orton-Gillingham Academy.
Evalina Day, Associate/OGA, C-SLDI
Director of Tutoring Programs - Southeast Minnesota
Evalina joined The Reading Center in 2021. She is certified at the Associate Level with the Orton-Gillingham Academy and designated as a Structured Literacy Dyslexia Interventionist through the IDA. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois. Before becoming an Academic Language Therapist, she worked at non-profits serving children and youth in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. She has two children; her husband and son are both dyslexic.
Ashley Lund
Director of Testing
Ashley Lund became a Staff Tutor for The Reading Center in 2018 and has been the Director of Testing since the Spring of 2022. Ashley has her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis as a Reading Specialist. She has over 10 years of public school teaching experience including first grade, third grade, as well working as an intervention specialist.
Jamie Schwaba
Director of Development
Jamie joined The Reading Center in 2021. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Carroll University and a M.S. in Adult and Continuing Education from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has spent her career serving non-profits with a focus on education and the arts. Jamie works as a volunteer with adults with disabilities through Home & Community Options and has served on the Winona Nonprofit Alliance and River Arts Alliance Boards.
Staff Tutors
The Reading Center employs staff tutors who work for us full-time, and more than 60 others who work with students on a more limited schedule. Each of our tutors has taken our comprehensive training that includes classroom instruction and supervised student practicum.
Lillian Stewart
Practicum Instructor, Staff Tutor, Evaluator, and Program Navigator
Lillian has been an Academic Language Therapist since 2010. She is a Practicum Instructor for our new institute trainees, conducts all levels of testing, and tutors students of all ages - specializing in math instruction. She also responds to many of our new intake client calls - so she is one of the first people you meet when you join The Reading Center family. Lillian has a BBA from Howard University.
Polly Raatz
Academic Language Therapist and Practicum Instructor
Polly is an Academic Language Therapist and has tutored over 20 students ranging from ages six to fifty-nine! Polly has written many of the materials on our Tutor Resource including advanced wordlists and grammar material. Further, she is one of our tutor discussion and practice group leaders, a Best of Basics teacher, writing class instructor, and a Practicum Instructor for Basic Institute.
Barb Walbruch
Practicum Instructor and Staff Tutor
Barb has been an Academic Language Therapist since 2004. She is a Practicum Instructor for our new institute trainees and 1:1 tutor for students of all ages.
Elena Walden
Staff Tutor, Best of Basics Coordinator
Elena joined The Reading Center in 2021. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Jenny Zweber, Associate/OGA, C-SLDI
Placement Coordinator, Staff Tutor
Jenny joined The Reading Center in 2021 as an Academic Language Therapist. She has a bachelor's degree in K-8 Elementary Education from the University of Northwestern - St. Paul. Jenny co-founded a dyslexic youth organization called Dreaming Dyslexic (now part of Decoding Dyslexia MN) and served as director for 2 years. She also homeschools her dyslexic daughter, who was a Reading Center student for many years.
Office Staff
Gade Grinnell
Business and Finance Manager
Gade (Somsiri) joined The Reading Center as a bookkeeper in 2011. Originally from Thailand, Gade earned a BA in Linguistics from Chiangmai University, Thailand, MA in Comparative Cultures from International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan, and an Associate Degree (Dean’s List) in Accounting from Madison Area Technical College.
Jemma Anderbeck
Teacher Training Assistant
Jemma joined The Reading Center in 2024. She is delighted to aid in its mission of literacy for all, as she loves to read and wants others to be able to experience that joy as well. With a B.A. from Seattle Pacific University, her educational and professional background is in foreign languages and linguistics.
Karli Guyer
Office Administrator
Karli joined The Reading Center as the Office Administrator in 2024. She graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a B.A. in History and a minor in Anthropology.
Sarah Miller
Academic Language Therapist, Assessment Scheduling Coordinator, and Program & Outreach Marketing Coordinator
Sarah came to The Reading Center in 2015. She began as a tutor after she completed the Orton-Gillingham Basic and Advanced Institutes that year. During her nearly 10 years with TRC, she has worked with several students of all ages in both tutoring and classroom education of grammar and writing. Seven years ago, Sarah got her introduction into the testing processes when she began conducting student’s yearly re-assessments with The Reading Center and has been committed to this endeavor ever since.
When not organizing testing schedules at the office or engaged in marketing outreach functions, you can find Sarah working toward her degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice or playing games with friends and family.
Zhade Stupar
Development Assistant
Zhade joined The Reading Center in 2021. She graduated from Rochester Community & Technical College with an AA and honors in Elementary Education. She is also a part of the dyslexia community and had been tested through TRC in the past.