Richard Berlin
Richard Berlin, founding Chair of DREAM Charter School, served as DREAM’s Executive Director since 1997 and became co-Chief Executive Officer alongside Eve Colavito in 2021. Mr. Berlin began his journey with DREAM as a volunteer baseball coach in 1994. During his tenure, DREAM has grown from a summer recreation program with one staff member to a thriving community-based organization recognized locally and nationally with numerous awards for programmatic and operational excellence. DREAM now serves over 2,000 youth from Pre-K to precollege across East Harlem and the South Bronx through a growing network of inclusive, extended-day, extended-year charter schools and community sports-based youth development programs.
Mr. Berlin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and attended a Master’s Program in Political Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England. Additionally, he has completed certificate programs at Columbia University’s Institute for Not-forProfit Management in both Nonprofit Management and Leadership Development.
Dr. Michele Kong
Michele Kong, MD, MBA is the co-founder of KultureCity, the world’s leading non-profit in sensory accessibility and inclusion for those with invisible disabilities. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Alabama at Birmingham with a clinical practice in a tertiary 24-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's of Alabama. She is an NIH funded investigator, with a research portfolio focused on respiratory viral illness in critically ill children. She was awarded the 2019 Woman of Impact Award, which recognizes the honoree’s contributions to the state of Alabama that have moved the needle across business, government, and non-profit sectors. In 2021, her service was recognized by selection into the Good Morning America list of ‘Who is Making Asian American Pacific Islander History in 2021: The GMA Inspiration List’.
Michele is also an endurance athlete, completing both a 100-mile race and an Ironman.