Jay Benanav - Founder
Jay is a longtime college consultant and is committed to helping families find the right academic, social and financial fit. He served on the St. Paul City Council for 10 years, has a law degree from St. John’s Law School and has attended Harvard School of Government and Columbia University School of Business.
Jay’s wife Lucy is a clinical social worker and a former teacher in the St. Paul Public Schools. They have three sons all of whom have attended and graduated from college with very little debt.
Chris Wills - President
As a college student, Chris founded a company now helping over a half million high school students transition to life after high school and has had a passion to help families with the college admission process ever since he and his parents made many mistakes and learned things the hard way.
He has been a featured speaker at college admissions, school counseling and financial services conferences around the country, and he and his wife Vanessa, a high school teacher, have two young sons, John and Thomas.
Cozy Wittman - Education and Partnerships
Education and networking are a way of life for Cozy. At College Inside Track she runs both the parent events as well as professional development training for those who work with families who have high school students. She speaks nationally about college search, training financial and other professionals.
Cozy is excited to connect with organizations and families interested in learning more about the complex college process. She is a mom of 5 kids with very different goals for college, so she is no stranger to the college search challenge.
Heidi King - Education and Partnerships
Heidi's first career as an airline pilot of 20+ years taught her to manage important projects in time sensitive situations, arriving at the destination safely, on time and efficiently. She applied those same skills when helping her two boys find their right college fit, and now does the same helping thousands of families in her education role at CIT.
Heidi is a graduate of the University of Illinois and lives with her husband in the Chicagoland area, where you may also find her on one of the area tennis courts.
Suzy Fallon - College Consultant
Suzy has a passion for helping teenagers figure out what’s important to them and translating that into finding right fit colleges. Prior to joining CIT, Suzy was a corporate executive, where she honed her skills in listening, creative problem-solving, and advocacy. These skills, along with her varied life experiences, help families get to the heart of what they want from the college search and application process.
She received her B.A. in English from Binghamton University, her law degree from California Western, and her college counseling certificate from UC Irvine. Suzy and her husband have two children in college and an adorable newfie, Sully, at home.
Tiffany Kolb - College Consultant
Tiffany has worked with students and families throughout her professional life, as a teacher, administrator, and college counselor. She loves working with teens and young adults; finding a creative solution to a problem; and seeing the expression on student faces when they reach success.
Tiffany has a BA from Loras College, and an MA from Viterbo University. She and her husband Doug have lived the college application process with their three kids and understand how crazy it can get when parents try to do all the research required to figure out the college admission process.
Lessa Scherrer - College Consultant
Lessa has worked with many populations of students, including students with learning differences, students looking at non-US colleges, gap year students and the gifted. She is the former chair of the Gifted Youth Committee of American Mensa and also spent seven years teaching ACT test prep. She has also designed a curriculum for students preparing to apply to highly selective colleges.
Lessa is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Certificate in College Admissions Counseling through UCLA. A former homeschooler, Lessa lives with her husband and two older dogs. She enjoys traveling and visiting her three adult boys.
Heather McCowen, PhD - College Consultant
Heather has always loved the admissions process, going back to her undergrad days at Northwestern where she volunteered to call admitted students between orchestra rehearsals. Prior to joining CIT, Heather created the counseling program at ChiArts, was an admissions dean at Roosevelt University and The Longy School of Music, and was a financial planner.
An alum of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, she has performed with the Dallas, Fort Worth, Shreveport, and Indian Hill Symphonies (among others), and is currently co-principal bassoon of the Northshore Concert Band. Heather lives in Chicago with her husband, son, and Australian Cattle Dog. She enjoys playing ice hockey, sewing a handmade wardrobe, and reading really great books.
Kim Koffi - College Consultant
Kim thoroughly enjoys working with families to help them find their next best step and has worked in student advising at the university level and also as a college counselor and international student advisor at a college preparatory and boarding school.
Kim has a BS from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and an MS in College Counseling and Student Development from St. Cloud State University. Kim has two grown children and lives in St. Cloud, MN with her husband, a college professor.
Anne Weber - College Consultant
After graduating from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in English, Anne enjoyed a notable career in marketing. But she never completely strayed from education, continuously serving as an alumni interviewer, mentoring Northwestern University student interns, and counseling high school students on college essays and interview preparation.
Anne’s consulting passions are threefold: uncovering what’s truly important to a student, guiding families to unexpected options, and helping a student’s application stand out through compelling essays.
Anne resides in the Twin Cities with her beloved husband and two dogs. The Webers have two students in college and relish their weekly family FaceTime calls.
Paige Feldman - College Consultant
Having taught for over 24 years in both Los Angeles and Boulder, Paige is a passionate educator for all students and has a deep understanding of what it takes to aid students through the college admissions process. She works with all types of families and as an artist herself, also provides film, art, and dance portfolio guidance.
Paige graduated from UC Irvine and has Master's degree in special education. She and her husband live in the Boulder area and have two children currently in college.
Stephanie George - College Consultant
Stephanie first learned of college counseling as a HS junior when her family used one to aid her college search. She worked for many years as an academic advisor and admission reader at universities before joining CIT.
Stephanie has a BA in communications from Curry College, a MA in higher education from the University of Denver, and a graduate certificate in college counseling from UCLA
She and her husband live with their two children, and when not working with students, you can find Stephanie attending kids events, yoga classes, or walking Copper, the family dog.
Marit Lunstad - College Consultant
Marit brings a unique voice to college counseling because of her background in education, finance and marketing. She began her career in finance and transitioned to raising and educating her four children. She founded a successful, homeschool co-op, where she also began her work counseling students.
Originally from California, Marit has a BA in communications and psychology from St. Olaf College. She and her husband are in the middle of the college process themselves with a daughter at Harvard, son at Vanderbilt, daughter at Westmont and another in high school.
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Tiffany Eggers - College Consultant
Tiffany has a strong and diverse background from her work as a certified mediator, homeschool co-op instructor, manager of her family's business, international student exchange volunteer, and Choate Rosemary Hall parent.
Tiffany has a BA from Wartburg College and her MPA and law degree from the University of Minnesota. She and her husband are former CIT clients and have a son in college and daughter at home.
Carolyn Laurel - Office Assistant
Carolyn comes to College Inside Track after 30 years of successfully owning and operating Kinni Valley Riding Academy, where she won numerous awards and helped thousands discover a love for horses. Carolyn also worked in Hollywood as an associate producer.
She and her husband, Mike, have two children and are former CIT clients.
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Alyssa Lee - Office Assistant
Alyssa, a former client of CIT, has over two decades of office administration and leadership in dynamic environments. Her journey has been marked by a commitment to supporting students and families at all levels—a passion ignited while coordinating study abroad programs in London, England.
A Kalamazoo College graduate, Alyssa resides in the Chicagoland area with her husband, their college-bound child and high schooler, and a sweet puppy named Remi.
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