Our Staff
Gerardo Garcia-Rios
Director
Gerardo Garcia-Rios has been working at Brandeis University since 2005. He graduated from Duquesne University and then moved to Boston to work at an alternative high school in the Boston Public School system. He received his MSW from Boston College and continued to work with inner city high school students. Prior to coming to Brandeis, he worked in admissions at a small college in the Boston where he oversaw the recruitment of high school students from the Boston area, many of whom were primarily the first in their families to go to college. Gerardo is the first in his family to go to college and the only one to have received a Masters degree. As the Director of the Student Support Services Program, he advises students throughout their college career. Gerardo enjoys reading and biking in his spare time.
Lindsay Bruce
Assistant Director
Lindsay Bruce has been part of the SSSP family since 2007. She was the first in her family to go away to college when she attended Tufts University, graduating with a bachelor of arts in English. Before coming to Brandeis, Lindsay worked at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, where she recruited students for professional training in the arts and helped them prepare for college. She continued her studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she focused on issues of educational equity and college success. While at Harvard, she interned at the TERI college access center working with first-generation college applicants.
Mustafa Dualeh
Program Coordinator
Mustafa Dualeh is a dual degree candidate for the combined program between the Heller School (Sustainable International Development) and the Master’s in Coexistence and Conflict Resolution. He received his Bachelor’s from Saint Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where he majored in Political Science. Before he began working in SSSP last semester, Mustafa worked in Upward Bound as an academic advisor for low-income high school students, and prior to that he was active in co-founding the Muslim Student Association at his College. While at Saint Olaf, Mustafa was also a member of the Multicultural Student Council as well as employed by the College’s office of Multicultural Affairs. Mustafa enjoys playing soccer and listening to music.
Elena Wilson
Senior Department Coordinator
Elena Wilson began working at Brandeis in June of 2004. Before her arrival to Brandeis she served as the Counseling Coordinator and Critical Thinking Instructor for Student Support Services at Westfield State College. She credits Student Support Services and McNair as influential programs that guided her through her undergraduate degree from Westfield State College in Mass Communications. Currently, she is pursuing a Master's Degree in Sociology here at Brandeis, where she is researching gender, race, and class inequality and reconciliatory efforts to promote equity. For the past 8 years, her passion for working with students makes coming to work every day worthwhile. Aside from being a tech fanatic, watching movies and eating out are hobbies she enjoys in her spare time.