Meet Your Presenters:

Tom Campbell (he/him)

As the son of an inner city schoolteacher and the director of a nonprofit that runs tuition-free schools in Haiti, Tom Campbell has long recognized the transformative power of education. Before joining College Essay Guy as the company's inaugural Community Manager, he worked as a College Counselor at Lakeside School (WA) and an Assistant Dean/Director of Admissions at Pomona College and the College of the Holy Cross. After graduating from Holy Cross (BA, Architectural Studies and History), Tom completed a year of postgraduate service through Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest (an AmeriCorps affiliate). He was placed at a family services program called CAPA (Childbirth and Parenting Assistance), which bolstered his passions for equity, mentorship and confidence-boosting (and taught him a lot about the parallels between toddler and teenage angst)! Upon his return to Holy Cross as an Admissions Officer, Tom continued to find ways he could live out his values, playing an active role in leading the school’s diversity fly-in programs and LGBTQ+ Staff Mentor Program. At Pomona, Tom co-managed the tour guide program, oversaw marketing and communications efforts, and helped restructure the College's application review process to account for test-optional admissions. He has spent four summers working as a faculty member at College Horizons, an organization that mentors and guides Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students through the college process. He was also nominated to join the Board of Directors for the Northeast Consortium Bridging Access to College (an organization that works to increase college access to low-income and first-generation students) and has presented and engaged with various higher education professional organizations, including the NACAC, ACCIS, and the WACAC.

Ayesha King (she/her)

Ayesha is a first-generation, Bangladeshi and Filipino daughter of immigrants with twelve years of experience working in admission at the graduate, undergraduate, and secondary school levels. After graduating and learning about the admission process from the University of Redlands, Ayesha worked in law school admission at Southwestern Law School and then at California Lutheran University. All institutions instilled in her the values of social justice and equity, and providing opportunities to students of all backgrounds. Now, as a Director of College Counseling at International School of Los Angeles, Ayesha serves students from military dependents to international boarding students, strengthening her work in student advocacy. An additional drive for supporting her work in education is her experience as a mom to two young boys, always hoping for a better world where they can grow up. Ayesha is a proud member of NACAC and WACAC, where she serves on the IDEA Committee.

Erin Kim (she/her)

Erin is in her 20th year as an educator and has experience in both small independent schools, as well as public and charter high schools. She is currently a College and Career Counselor at Granada Hills Charter High School, serving over 4700 students in the San Fernando Valley. She has also served as an Assembly Delegate for the Western Association for College Admission Counseling, was a Freshman Application Reader for both UCLA and UC Irvine, and currently on the Common App Outreach Advisory Committee.

This session is also joined by two special guests:

Ethan Sawyer (he/him)

Ethan Sawyer is the founder of College Essay Guy, which last year reached more than 3.5 million unique visitors. He is the author of two books, College Admission Essentials and College Essay Essentials, holds a BS in Performance Studies from Northwestern, and an MFA from UC Irvine.

Julio Mata (he/him)

Julio is the Director of College Counseling at Francis Parker School and President-Elect at Western ACAC. He has worked in admissions at Miami (OH), Bowling Green State University, and Florida Atlantic University, received a BA in International Studies from Bowling Green State University, and a Masters in Higher Education from Northeastern University.