Administration
Lorna Gray
President & Founder
Lorna Gray is known for her commitment to families and entrepreneurial insight. Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, English, and working knowledge of Japanese, Lorna has become an expert in East Asian culture and professional ethics. Her many talents include a giftedness for navigating bicultural transition and challenges, recognizing personal values and commitment in others, as well as an acute sense of business intuitiveness. Before founding Interface, Lorna was a Vice-President of Professional Financial Services and CEO of Angel Education. Lorna graduated with an engineering degree in technology from Xiangtan University in Hunan Province. She has lived in China, New Zealand, and the US.
Keith Gramling
Director of College Counseling
With over 20 years in college admissions experience at a selective liberal arts college recruiting and evaluating both international and domestic students, Keith joined Interface in 2015 to continue helping Chinese and other students find success. Building on his years of admissions experience, he enjoys working with students as they begin planning for the next stage in their growth. Keith provides extraordinary guidance and support throughout the entire process and his professional guidance leads to excellent college outcomes. Keith’s students regularly come back to say how he went over and beyond for them. He has a great sense of humor and possesses the professional experience and patience to lead Interface students through the complex college admissions process. Keith is a strong networker and is a member of many professional organizations that focus on college admissions. As the Assistant Director of College Counseling, Keith is responsible for the ongoing training and mentoring of the counseling staff and developing new programs and services to strengthen our college counseling program for our families. He also leads our annual college tour program.
Sonja Montiel
Deputy Director of College Counseling
director of talent development
Sonja has served more than 23 years in the college admissions profession, having extensive experience in the areas of freshman, transfer, and international admissions. After earning her master’s degree in education, she began as an admissions officer for the University of California system, followed by becoming a director of college counseling at a private preparatory school in California where nearly 100% of students attended four-year universities worldwide.
To protect the integrity of the college planning experience for students, Sonja became a Positive Intelligence (TM) mindset coach and Virtues Project (TM) facilitator, ensuring opportunities for courageous self-reflection and thoughtful decision-making. She is also the education writer for AwareNow Magazine.
Debbie Greenberg
Director of Programming
Debbie brings over 20 years of college counseling experience to Interface as a former college counselor at one of St. Louis’ leading private high schools. She also developed a college counseling curriculum and program for a nationally recognized college access program. Debbie’s students love her energy and enthusiasm, knowing that she genuinely cares about their well-being and success. She was recently selected by the internationally known Colleges That Change Lives consortium as outstanding counselor of the year. Debbie received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and her master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Her son is attending medical school, and her daughter is a teacher in Memphis, Tennessee. When Debbie isn't working, you can probably find her at a yoga class, the gym, or gardening in her back yard.
Rainbow Chen
Director of Customer Service
Rainbow has over two decades of experience teaching both Chinese and American students and understands the importance of customer satisfaction and the education of young people. Her extensive knowledge of cross-cultural training, account management, and organizational skills have enabled her to guide Interface students and their families through this process toward the success of the student and beyond. Rainbow’s linguistic training and experience allow her to effectively close the communication gap that is imperative during the application process, allowing the applicant and family to feel comfortable and confident throughout their child’s educational career.
Lei Shen
Associate Director of Customer Service
After several years working with students at Education First in China, Lei Shen came to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in Education. After completion of her studies, she worked at a private high school in Texas before joining the Interface team in 2011. Lei plays a pivotal role in training the customer service team, and her passion for education, cross cultural communications, and customer satisfaction assures the best quality service for Interface students and families.
Tiffany Noel
Director of the Writing Team
Tiffany brings a dynamic blend of academic excellence and practical experience to Interface Education Services. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University and a B.A. in English with a TESOL certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With over 14 years of experience in international higher education and K-12 education, Tiffany has excelled as a university programs director, researcher, and professor, delivering more than 50 presentations and publishing over 40 scholarly works.
Passionate about empowering students to craft unique and compelling essays, Tiffany ensures their narratives shine. Her expertise in leveraging technology to enhance learning provides students worldwide with access to high-quality education. Known for her student-centered approach, she collaborates closely with counselors and students, offering expert guidance and personalized support at every step.
Tiffany's dedication to fostering student success, mentoring diverse learners, and integrating innovative teaching methodologies underscores her invaluable contributions to the IES community and her unwavering commitment to serving students.
Susan Goodkin
Advisor-Interface Programs
Susan is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Oxford University, where she was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar, one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world and awarded to a small number of college graduates.
After practicing law for many years, Susan turned to using the persuasive skills she developed through writing legal briefs and arguing cases to help students craft compelling college applications for the most selective schools.
Susan specializes in helping Interface students find creative and impressive ways to pursue their interests and passions beyond the usual high school activities, to help them stand out from other applicants. Her unique role at Interface is to team with counselors to help their students pursue unusual paths based on their interests and talents and to build an outstanding extracurricular resume necessary to get accepted to the most selective schools.
Susan oversees Interface’s additional programming, where she designs and co-designs one-of-a-kind experiences with university instructors, professional authors, scientists, and performing artists.
Serena Yao
Director of Personnel Administration
Serena Yao holds an MBA from Sun Yat-sen University. She had served as an engineer in the Technical Department of Guangzhou Broadcasting and Television Network Co., Ltd for years. In June 2013, Serena joined Interface and went to the US Headquarter for further study. She is currently the Director of Administration and Human Resources Department. With professional knowledge and strong work ethic, Serena's motivation is to make scientifical and rational evaluation of and plans for human resources for the company in order to enhance the employees' enthusiasm and creativity for their job. Her goal is for the whole team to help every student get into the most selective schools possible by providing the best service for them and their families.
Hope Murtaugh
Special Advisor
Assistant Director of Admission at Princeton University
Assistant Director of College Counseling at Charlotte Country Day School
Associate Member of Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA )
Member of Southern Association of College Admissions Counselors (SACAC)
Member of Overseas Association of College Admissions Counselors (OACAC)
Graduated from Princeton University
Hope's experience includes work in all dimensions of the college admissions process. As an Assistant Director of Admission at Princeton University, she learned how selective admissions decisions are made and what makes students stand out in the global applicant pool at highly competitive universities. She was trained by Fred Hargadon, the longtime Dean of Admissions at both Princeton and Stanford Universities, and an acknowledged leader in admission philosophy and process.
Her subsequent years as the Assistant Director of College Counseling at Charlotte Country Day School gave her experience from the high school side of the college admission process, where she demonstrated expertise assisting students with essay composition for their university applications. When her family relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, Hope served as a volunteer for the college counseling office at Christ Church Episcopal School and later worked with Educational Directions of Greenville prior to living in France for two years for her husband's job with Michelin. Hope graduated from Princeton University, with a degree in English.