Our Team
MANAGEMENT, COUNSELING AND ACADEMIC TEAM
TAMMY HUANG, CEO, Co-Founder
(she/her/hers)
Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Masters in Teaching English and Curriculum Development (Ed.M. 1998) University of California, Los Angeles, Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, minor in Education and Business Economics (B.A. 1996)
Tammy Huang-Anacleto is the CEO and co-founder of College Launch. Within the company, she oversees day-to-day business functions and serves as a premier consultant to select students applying for their dream schools. Her creative strategies and personalized approach has been effective in coaching clients for admission. She has also led counseling departments across school sites as a key consultant. Her recent contract was with Maranatha High School from 2014-2016, boosting record breaking college admissions results.
Tammy’s experience as a ten year, Harvard admissions interviewer gives students exclusive access to her expert interview coaching and expansive network of college admissions and companies across different fields. Beyond this, Tammy will help students create their own personal brand to market themselves to admissions officers through personal statement writing and selecting schools of fit. Tammy has assisted many students on applications ranging from law school, medical school, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees. Her excellent and groundbreaking work will help students achieve great results.
She specializes in undergraduate to graduate programs, medical school, general doctoral degrees, general master's degrees and college admissions. Tammy is also proficient in Mandarin.
Tammy has also served on multiple boards including YWCA, Otis College and Taiwanese organizations. She’s been recognized for her work as an entrepreneur and educator by LA Business Journal, Congress, City of Pasadena, Pasadena Magazine, Outlook Newspaper, Channel 18 and K-PAS.
JOAO DEDEUS ANACLETO, Co-Founder
(he/him/his)
Ryerson Polytechnic University, Canada (B.A., Interior Architecture); Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal (Thermal Energy Management in Buildings, Teaching Certificate); Harvard University Graduate School of Design (M.S., Real Estate Finance and Urban Development Policy)
As an entrepreneur, co-founder and visionary architect of College Launch, João’s compelling academic and business career has inspired many students and employees by continuously expanding programs focused on student success. Families at College Launch benefit from his everyday mission to bring affordable services typically reserved for students attending private schools. Throughout the maturation of his +20 year career on three continents, Joao continuously aligned himself with rewarding and award winning projects that enhanced the quality of life and provided a higher community good. João is an active board member with the Old Pasadena Management District, a founding board member with the Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association and a Harvard interviewer for over 10 years. He speaks Portuguese and some French.
VIOLET CHOU, Director of College Preparation - Programs and Enrollment
(she/her/hers)
Soochow University, Taiwan (B.S., Economics)
As a parent of San Marino High School students, Violet came to College Launch for guidance in selecting the appropriate universities for her sons in 2007. She was asked to join the College Launch team in the crucial role of assisting families and students in organizing personal calendars for the college admissions process, including academic coaching, college admission applications, and the required standardized test taking (ELD 1-4, TOEFL iBT, IELTS, SSAT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP exams, etc.). She also assists international parents with adjusting to American life and the U.S. education system. This mentoring is mastered by Violet equally in English and Chinese. Additionally, Violet offers over 20 years’ financial and business administration experience with international trading firms in Taiwan. She is fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese.
AILEEN HONG, M.S., Personality Assessment Counselor
UCLA (B.A., Psychology, Developmental Psychology); Fuller Seminary School of Psychology (M.F.A., Marriage and Family Therapy)
Aileen’s mission is to teach others how to use their unique personality strengths to achieve academic and personal success. She believes the key to success is to discover one’s own exceptional abilities, recognize weaknesses, and know what to do with that self-knowledge. When asked to join the College Launch team, Aileen found a nurturing environment that was not just another center cranking out high SAT and AP scores. She saw an opportunity where teachers could instill in students the skills and confidence to succeed in high school and flourish well beyond college. Aileen achieves this goal by administering and counseling students through personality assessments. Aileen also works at a counseling center as a licensed marriage and family therapist conducting workshops on parenting, marriage, and communication skills. She serves as a board member for various organizations, including her professional association and an Asian-American counseling service. Aileen is semi-fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese.
GIL TAM, Life Skills/Leadership Coach
California State University, Long Beach (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, honors); State of California (Professional Engineering License)
Gil is a calm, special individual who has been sharing his wisdom and life skills with College Launch and its students since 2008. His varied experience allows him to provide extraordinary career mentoring and advising to high school and college students, as well as young professionals. He is a volunteer mentor and a director on the board for the Asian American Professional Association. Gil is retired as an executive from Southern California Edison Company, where he started as a power generating station plant engineer. Over 32 successful years, Gil progressed through several management positions. Currently, he is a principle consultant for Electric Power Group in Pasadena, an elder at San Pedro Presbyterian Church and a volunteer mentor for the Penny Lane non-profit organization, where he was awarded “Youth Mentor of The Year” in 2004. Gil also volunteers as a coach for San Pedro High School’s JV basketball team. He and his lovely wife, Lisa, have been married for 37 years and have two children. Gil emigrated from China when he was 14, and is fluent in Mandarin.
DERRICK PATTERSON, College Admissions Counselor
(he/him/his)
St. John’s University, New York (multiple degrees in Sociology, Philosophy, and Criminal Justice); University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. Sociology); University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the US Department of Education (Research Fellow, The Center for Education Policy); Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (Certificate, Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
Derrick has counseled students about university admissions for College Launch since 2007, and continues to advise via computer conferencing. He has a quick sense of humor, and a pulse on the east coast, as he lives in New York and instructs Sociology for New York University. Derrick has taught for the Peace Corps in Thailand, the Ministry of Education in Thailand, California State University, Northridge and Los Angeles, and the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology. He has written over 20 publications for major academic journals, and his online resources have been featured in the American Sociological Association Journal. Derrick developed cross-cultural training materials for the Peace Corps, and holds teaching certificates in two countries. Fluent in Thai.
GERARD W. HOLLINS, JR., Graduate Launch
MBA Admissions Counselor
Harvard Business School Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.), University of Southern California Doctorate of Policy, Planning, and Development (D.P.P.D.), Morehouse College Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (B.A.)
Gerard W. Hollins, Jr. has extensive experience and contacts in the finance industry. Having worked for several of the top Wall Street investment banks, global management consulting firms and real estate development & management firms, Gerard's real world experiences make the difference for students wishing to pursue careers in the finance sector. Gerard has considerable experience in the world of academia. Gerard has been a guest lecturer at the University of Southern California and currently teaches graduate courses in public policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Over the last 10 years, Gerard has worked with numerous students to help get them admitted to the most competitive graduate programs. Before Graduate Launch, he worked at Kaplan as a business school consultant. His expertise in business school admissions is due to his diligence with networking with admissions staff, visiting top business school campuses, and continually researching new admission trends. Gerard has also consulted with students applying for masters programs in the areas of public policy, finance, and marketing as well as students applying for general doctoral degrees. When it comes to realizing your graduate school dreams, Gerard will help you impress admissions officers in any school of your choice. Gerard specializes in Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Masters of Public Policy (MPP, MPA), and general doctoral degrees (Ph.D.).
STEFAN KAZACHKI, Academic Coach
Caltech (B.S., Mathematics and Economics)
“Is it possible to be a math/science expert and act and look like an Olympian?” As a mentor to over 300 individual students in many different subjects, primarily math, physics, chemistry, biology, and SAT/ACT preparation, Stefan’s results have consistently exceeded the expectations of both his students and their parents. He accomplishes this by individualizing his teaching strategies to every student, continuously getting to know them and monitoring their learning style and feedback. In addition, he has classroom experience from teaching freshman math at Caltech, and AP Chemistry and AP Physics at Academy 1600. As a high school student, Stefan participated in many math competitions, including the American Mathematics Competition series, in which he placed among the top 20 students in the US, and trained with the US Math Team to be a representative in the International Mathematical Olympiad. “So yes, Stefan is an Olympian!” Fluent in Bulgarian, Russian and German; familiarity with Chinese and Japanese.
COOKIE FISCHER, Academic Coach
Pomona College, Claremont (B.A., Linguistics); Woodbury, Burbank (M.A.O., Organizational Leadership)
With her unique range of international experience, Cookie coaches College Launch students in languages and cross-cultural communications. She currently teaches Transcultural Competence at Woodbury University and trains executives and families for international relocation. Her career has spanned 30 years on four continents as a multilingual, multicultural trainer and businesswoman in the Far East, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. She taught communications at the Hanze University in Groningen, the Netherlands, developing curriculum for Intercultural Competence. In Beijing, Cookie’s clients included CISCO China, ING Beijing Insurance and Real Estate, and Kerr-McGee Petroleum Ltd. She is fluent in French, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian and Portuguese, with limited working proficiency in Chinese, Dutch and Japanese.
JONATHAN HUANG, Associate Director
Cal Poly Pomona University, (Bachelor of Science in Finance, Real Estate, and Law)
Director of Summer Programs
Assisting in enrollment for leadership, K-12th grade, private school applications and extracurricular activities
Jonathan Huang is looking to expand College Launch programs, international base and strengthen the modifications of education consulting with properly selected resourceful partners. He brings over 10 years of experience in management, operations, branding and marketing from having owned several businesses prior. He has also lived overseas in Asia and has strong experience with international clients.
ALAN TAKASHI RILEY, College Launch Leadership and Interview Coach
Azusa Pacific University (B.A., Industrial/Organizational Psychology); Azusa Pacific University (M.A., Management)
As a member of the Association for Talent Development since 2016, Alan has continued to grow professionally as a coach through participating in seminars, conferences, and round table discussions with some of the most decorated leadership thinkers spanning various industries, and he enthusiastically brings these ideas and strategies to his clients at College Launch. He trains students for networking with admissions at college fairs, college tours, and college interviews. He also assists younger students in applications to private schools through our Junior Launch program.
Alan has coached and mentored over 500 individual middle and high school students in the areas of leadership, personal growth and development, and strengths recognition starting in 2003 when he was a freshman at Arcadia High School through the activity of drum majoring.
TONY GREBLICK, Writing Coach
University of Southern California, Doctorate in Linguistics Yale University, Bachelor’s of Arts in Linguistics
Tony Greblick has twenty-plus years of academic experience. He has helped many students prepare for their personal statements and supplements through online editing or in person sessions. He has worked as an admissions consultant (for top undergraduate and graduate programs); and taught English and ESL classes for local universities and community colleges, the LAUSD, and other private schools. He currently holds the title of Assistant Professor of English and Communications at Shepherd University (in Los Angeles). Tony graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in linguistics (summa cum laude, distinction in the major); he also earned a varsity letter in football. In 2000, Tony received his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Southern California (specializing in the history of English, colloquial American English and American dialects, English syntax/grammar, sociolinguistics, and historical language change). He was an expository writing instructor at USC for twelve years and has been a member of American MENSA, Ltd. (160+ IQ) since high school.
CALLIE CARDAMON, Writing Coach
University of Iowa, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing University of Iowa, Bachelor of Arts Classical Latin, Minor in Classical Greek
Callie Cardamon is a graduate of the world-famous University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her story-collection, The Princess Who Sang Like a Frog, was selected for Kirkus Review's list of Top 100 Indie Books of 2022. She and her husband Eric coach writing workshops for College Launch, and Callie mentors a select group of College Launch students each fall.
Eric Rawson is a professor in the English Department at the University of Virginia. Formerly Professor of Writing at the University of Southern California, Dr. Rawson is the author of several books and articles. For over twenty years he has conducted college-admissions classes in the Los Angeles area.
TEBY WAMMACK, Admissions Counselor
Whitworth University, B.A. in Spanish
Point Loma Nazarene University, M.A. in Education with an emphasis in Counseling
UC San Diego, College Counseling Certificate
Having worked with Tammy in the past at Maranatha High School, Teby is excited to be joining the College Launch team this season! Teby has a heart for students and is passionate about providing students and families the resources, guidance, and support they need in making the best decision about their degree and future. Teby brings extensive experience tutoring students one on one as well as 7 years of full time college counseling at the high school level. This also allows Teby access to the most recent updates in college admissions and many hours interfacing directly with college admissions representatives, giving insight into the best strategies for the admissions process.
In her free time, Teby enjoys the beach and hiking in Palos Verdes. When she’s back in her hometown of Pasadena, Teby spends quality time with her family, including her 4 adorable nieces/nephews.
JAMES YU, Writing Coach
University of Pennsylvania
Studied at the University of Chicago before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a BA in English, summa cum laude. He received his MFA in fiction writing at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he designed and taught writing courses to undergraduates.
SOLIANA HABTE, Writing Coach, College & Fine Arts Portfolio Advisor
(they/them/theirs)
Graduate Launch Writing Coach and Fine Arts Portfolio Advisor
BA from Harvard University in English and Spanish Literature
Specializing in photography at Parsons Paris.
MA from Goldsmiths University in London, MFA from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago
Specializing in interdisciplinary art practice working with sculpture, video and photography
Soliana joined College Launch with a passion for mentoring students using a interdisciplinary background plus coaching in creative writing and narrative writing techniques useful in crafting effective personal statements and supplements. They have been advising students on the college application process for the past 11 years, and helped students gain acceptance to many schools, including Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Brown, NYU, UCLA, Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, and RISD. Over the years they have developed strategies to help students with a wide range of abilities, backgrounds and personalities. Soliana really enjoys getting to know students and helping them construct creative, compelling applications that make them stand out. They specialize in the personal statement, portfolio review and construction, and working as a writing coach.