Our Team
Alan Paul
Alan is our managing partner. He developed the original GRFP course at UCR Riverside in 2010 and subsequently refined it in partnership with two university writing centers.
Alan 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, his emphasis on applying theory to real problems puts his work squarely in the field of community development. Alan has consulted for school districts, health care organizations, law enforcement agencies and faith-based organization. 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; municipal economic development planning; and executive education for government and military agencies.
Patrick Ryan
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.
River is a Project Manager. They provide website and design support, as well as video production services.
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 currently work as a Utility Tutor teaching most all subjects k – 12 including Essay Writing and AP Test prep.
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.
