Our Team

Tierney Fairchild

Cofounder & Executive Director

Tierney and her husband Greg Fairchild co-founded Resilience Education in 2013. As Executive Director, she leads the Resilience team by designing and delivering programs and developing partnerships to meet the needs of the individuals Resilience serves. Tierney has dedicated her career to building innovative solutions to address societal challenges. She spent 10 years at United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in human resources and community relations, where she led a corporate philanthropy initiative for CEO George David with the Hartford Public Schools, UTC’s headquarters and designed and implemented a strategic K-12 education reform initiative. Tierney was the founding executive director of the Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education at the University of Virginia, where she led the design and delivery of a portfolio of executive development programs for educators. At the PLE, Tierney was a pioneer in the field of turnaround leadership, leading the development of turnaround principals for then Governor Mark Warner. 

As president of Socratic Solutions, Inc., Tierney consulted with national and regional organizations, state agencies, private foundations, and leading nonprofits around educational leadership challenges. Tierney has extensive media experience, her writing has been published in leading newspapers, and she co-authored The Turnaround Mindset in 2011. For the last decade, in addition to leading Resilience, Tierney has been deeply involved in racial equity at UVA, serving as inaugural chair of the UVA IDEA Fund, where she catalyzed efforts to address UVA’s relationship with slavery and served as chair of the Community Relations Task Force for the President’s Commission on Slavery and the University. She currently serves on the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers Community Engagement Committee and is a member of the President’s Commission on the University in the Age of Segregation. In 2021, she was appointed to the Governor's Board of Workforce Development in Virginia. 

Dr. Fairchild earned her Ph.D. in Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, her M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and her B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Greg Fairchild

Academic Director, Cofounder

Gregory Fairchild is the Isidore Horween Research Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business and associate dean for Washington, D.C., area initiatives. He is also the Dean and CEO of UVA | Northern Virginia. Since 2001, he has taught strategic management, entrepreneurship and ethics in Darden's MBA and Executive Education programs. He has received several awards for teaching excellence at the Darden School and was named in 2018 as Poets & Quants MBA Professor of the Year.

His research on community and economic development is likewise renowned. He is the author of Emerging Domestic Markets, a book highlighting innovative practices in broadening the reach of financial services. Fairchild is a recognized expert in community development finance. In 2008, he received an $850,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study best practice in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Fairchild was named one of five high impact research professors and the sole scholar focused in entrepreneurship by the Financial Times in 2010. In 2009, he received a faculty Pioneer Award presented by the Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education for his leadership and risk taking in integrating ethical, environmental and social issues into the MBA curriculum. His multidisciplinary work has been cited by Inc. Magazine, The Economist, National Public Radio (NPR), USA Today, New York Times, and The Washington Post, among others.

Fairchild's service is aligned with his research. In 2020, he was honored with UVA's Public Service Award for Faculty. He served on the investment advisory of the Virginia Retirement Service (VRS), the Commonwealth's public pension fund (2009-2012). Governor McAuliffe appointed Fairchild to the board of Virginia Community Capital, the Commonwealth's largest community-developed bank (2015-2017). In 2017, Fairchild was appointed to the Community Advisory Board of the US Treasury, became a trustee of Union Square Capital Core Real Estate Fund, a mutual fund, and was appointed by Governor McAuliffe to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Commonwealth's economic development authority (reappointed by Governor Northam). In 2020, he received the UVA Faculty Public Service Award for his long-term efforts in the community.

Bianca Bellino

National Program Director

As National Program Director at Resilience Education, Bianca leads the operations, strategy and expansion of the in-prison educational curriculum for current and future university and business partners. Bianca is particularly passionate about harnessing the power of businesses for good and the intersectionality between business, racial equity, social impact and climate change. Prior to Resilience, Bianca was the Associate Director of the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program (HPM) as well as the co-founder and co-chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility & Social Justice Committee (IDEAS) at Columbia Business School, an inaugural staff-focused and staff-led committee devoted to creating an equitable work environment at Columbia Business School. Bianca also worked at the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School where she helped develop the ReEntry Acceleration Program (REAP), Columbia Business School’s prison education certificate program in partnership with Resilience Education. She was a co-founder of the Directly Impacted Group at Columbia University, a group that provides support and advocacy for formerly incarcerated students, faculty, and staff and directly impacted family members on campus. Prior to her roles at Columbia Business School, she served as a Disaster Survivor Assistant in FEMA Corps, responding to four federally declared national disasters assisting with the rollout of their digital aid platform and their GIS disaster mapping platform. In 2013 she was awarded the Congressional Medal for Serve and the President’s Volunteer Service Award, two of the most prestigious honors given to youth leaders from the President of the United States and US Congress. She received her MPA with a focus on Advance Management and Financial and Sustainability Management from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA from Goucher College in Public Policy with a minor in Latin American Studies and Women Studies.

Sophia Bender Koning

VP Operations

Sophia brings a background in startups and technology to Resilience Education to enable our team and programs to scale and thrive. Prior to Resilience, she joined Quizlet as the 5th employee and helped grow it to 50 people (and eventually ~ 850 people) and millions of happy teachers and students. She lives in Cambridge, MA with her husband and 2 adorable kids.

JESSICA TURNER

Program Manager

Jessica joined Resilience Education as a Program Manager with a deep knowledge of our in-prison teaching. For the 2022-2023 academic year, she served as the PREP (Prison Reentry Education Program) Manager for the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. At Darden, she successfully managed a team of 48 MBA instructors to deliver Resilience Education’s Business, Entrepreneurship & Financial Health Curriculum to 93 incarcerated learners. She also coordinated the Dean’s DC Fellows and Leadership Unscripted, two speaker series in Darden’s Rosslyn, VA location. She possesses a strong passion for creating positive change and making a difference, thriving in fast-paced and challenging environments. Prior to this, Jessica gained experience working in the service industry and as a volleyball coach for several years. She eagerly anticipates continuing her impactful work and expanding Resilience’s reach to other business schools. Jessica currently resides in Nashville, TN and is slowly growing her plant family.

Neil gallagher

Community Navigator

Neil serves as the Community Navigator for Resilience Education. In this role, Neil assists formerly incarcerated persons on their journey within Resilience. He hosts bi-weekly workshops for formerly incarcerated and their allies on topics in workforce development. Neil also teaches Financial Literacy courses within the Florida Department of Corrections, holding weekly classes within Florida Prisons and re-entry centers. Neil received a Bachelor’s in Financial Planning from the University of South Florida in 2020 and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree. He hopes to begin his J.D in the Fall of 2024. He also owns a roofing and Solar company based out of Tampa, Florida.

Allison Kroboth

RPC Manager & Backend Engineer

Allison is an advocate for the formerly incarcerated, seeking to change the narrative for returning citizens and drive down recidivism rates through education and career opportunities. She's been a long-time member of the Community Advisory Board for our Resilient Professional Community. While incarcerated, Allison completed an associate's degree through Piedmont Virginia Community College and the University of Virginia Darden School of Business PREP program. Following her release, she has gained experience in production management, grant writing, and software engineering. Allison now looks forward to using her varied experiences to help Resilience Education thrive.

KAESHELLE COOKE

Social Media and Communications Manager

Kaeshelle is a digital communications professional with experience in both startups and big tech. Before joining Resilience, she worked at Apple as an editor for the App Store. She has also worked on a freelance basis for various magazines, businesses and individuals. Kaeshelle is passionate about telling stories to drive social change. She holds a Bachelor's degree in French and Politics and a Master's degree in Media and Sociology.

Francisca Oyanedel Vial

Impact Evaluation Fellow

Francisca is a Chilean Sociologist from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, she holds a master in Sociology with a focus on Criminal Justice and Re-entry Process from the same university. Her research is focused on how imprisonment and the re-entry process affect the couples and family of incarcerated individuals. She has experience working with different NGOs and in Government Policy in different social development areas, with a particular interest in Criminal Justice. She believes in comprehensive solutions where empirical evidence plays an important role in the development of social programs.

Kristin O'Donoghue

Intern

Kristin O'Donoghue is an intern working on building the RPC Mentoring Program. Motivated by her belief in criminal justice reform, Kristin joined the Resilience team in 2021. She has enjoyed working on developing the mentoring program and watching mentors and participants forge meaningful and rewarding relationships. Kristin is pursuing her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Virginia, double majoring in History and Political & Social Thought and intends to graduate in 2024.

Whitney Johnson

Program Consultant