Our Team
As we continue to grow, we are looking for sharp consultants who are interested in contributing to projects. Learn more here.
Talia Milgrom-Elcott
Founder & Executive Director
Talia is the Founder and Executive Director of The Starfish Institute. She is widely recognized for her visionary and innovative approach to tackling large, systemic challenges.
Talia is also the Founder and Executive director of Beyond100K (formerly 100Kin10), a nonprofit that prepared nearly 110,000 STEM teachers in 10 years and is committed to ending the STEM teacher shortage. Beyond100K is now working towards its next moonshot goal: preparing and retaining 150,000 new STEM teachers, especially for schools serving majority Black, Latinx, and Native American students by 2032. Talia’s innovative work has been featured in Forbes, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Harvard Business Review, and other publications. Prior, she worked at the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the NYC Department of Education. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their three fierce and (mostly) fun young daughters.
Grace Clawater Doramus
Managing Director
Grace is the Managing Director of The Starfish Institute. She plays a leadership role in building out and growing the organization, oversees Starfish’s client-facing projects, and manages the Starfish team.
Grace is also the Chief Innovation Officer at Beyond100K (formerly 100Kin10), where she leads the organization’s efforts to take a nimble approach in shaping how Beyond100K catalyzes long-term, systemic change against the grand challenges facing STEM education. Previously, she served as the Chief of Staff for 100Kin10, and before that, as the Project Associate for the Opportunity Equation, a STEM education mobilization initiative that helped launch 100Kin10.
Grace, who holds a Bachelors degree in History from Princeton University, taught math and science in a Special Day Class setting at the International Studies Academy in San Francisco as a Teach For America corps member.
Current and Past Advisors
The advisory board guides The Starfish Institute's growth and development.
An-Me Chung, Dr. Seuss Foundation
Cecilia Conrad, Lever for Change and MacArthur Foundation
David Ehrlichman, Converge
Mo Fong, Stanford Technology Ventures Program
Olivia Leland, Co-Impact
Edwin Macharia, Dalberg Advisors
Emily Oster, Brown University
Christina Peña Brower, A/B Partners
Sandy Speicher, Former CEO, IDEO
Governor Bob Wise, Former West Virginia Governor and U.S. Representative, Global Science of Learning Education Network, and Bob Wise LLC