Alan is our managing partner. He was born in NYC, grew up in rural Arizona, attended the University of Wisconsin and now resides in Los Angeles. Trained as a geographer and economist, he applies theory to real world issues in support of community development initiatives.  Alan has consulted for universities, school districts, health care organizations, law enforcement agencies and faith-based organizations. His past projects include program design and evaluation for university institutes and centers; startup business planning for NGOs; board retreats for government and NGOs; policy analysis for state government; and regional economic development planning.  Before retiring from the University of California, Alan was responsible for technology transfer initiatives and executive education for government and military agencies.

Patrick is a Partner. He provides editing, writing, and training services for all clients.

Patrick Ryan is a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at UC Riverside, studying the historical development of philosophy and cognitive neuroscience. He also works on foundational issues in logic and mathematics. Patrick teaches philosophy at Cal State Fullerton and Fullerton College.

Patrick has extensive experience as a writing teacher and coach. He learned the nuts and bolts of writing as a grammar and composition teacher and developed a deep understanding of the art and science of persuasion by teaching critical thinking courses. Patrick joined Brainsteering after serving as a writing consultant at UCR’s Graduate Writing Resource Center, where he helped his clients produce compelling, polished grant applications, cover letters, proposals, and essays.

Patrick’s work at Brainsteering focuses on crafting storyboards for proposals and other strategic communications, and editing and polishing drafts into works of art.

Professor of Genetics and co-director of the Basic Sciences Curriculum at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

He is the author of A Practical Guide to Writing a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Grant, now in its second edition from Academic Press. He provides insider knowledge to F-Series grant applicants and mentors on how these applications are evaluated, the biases inherent in the reviews, and the information required for a successful NRSA application. He focuses on the exact purpose of each section of the document and offers suggestions and recommendations on how to construct a winning application.

Dr. Hollenbach is also the lead editor for the AAMC publication “Instituting Curricular and Institutional Climate Changes to Improve Health Care for Individuals who are LGBT, Gender Nonconforming, or Born with DSD.”

River is our Operations Manager. They manage every project we have, working behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly. They help with website design and building, marketing to prospective clients, class administration and technical support.

River graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in both Cinema Television Arts and Philosophy. They are a freelance worker with a wide range of services including video production and editing, freelance writing, and photography services. They work as a Tutor supporting k – 12 students in most all subjects, however they specialize in Essay Writing, AP Test prep, and SAT/ACT writing instruction.

Their design knowledge comes from experience building multiple websites across various platforms including WIX, WordPress, and GoDaddy. River has vast academic writing capabilities as well as an interest in Graphic Design. Samples of River’s creative projects are available on their portfolio page.