Rhea Wong

RHEA WONG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Rhea’s career began with Breakthrough as a Breakthrough middle school student in San Francisco, then called Summerbridge. Thanks to the doors opened for her, she went on to attend the Thacher School, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Rhea also holds a certificate in non-profit management from Columbia Business School. Rhea began her professional career with Breakthrough as a Teaching Fellow while in high school and, later, in college. She taught at Summerbridge sites in Hawaii, Hong Kong and New York , and was the first-ever Teaching Fellow to be hired at Breakthrough New York in 1999. Following her college graduation, she worked at the Breakthrough Collaborative National Office in San Francisco in national Teaching Fellow recruitment at top university campuses nationwide, and created the Collaborative’s first on-campus recruiter program. Since starting as Breakthrough New York’s Executive Director in 2005, Rhea has opened two additional Breakthrough New York sites, grown its staff and services, increased the number of students served, and expanded the yearly operating budget by 800%. She also has become a voice for education policies at the local, citywide, and national levels and been featured on television and in print and radio.