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Cyndy leads Kramden talent and focuses on sustainable practices, financial resources, and mission achievement. Her passions include environmental protection, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, (DEIA), and community service. Cyndy worked in public affairs roles at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lenovo, and AECOM. Prior to Kramden, she was Executive Director of National Association of Asian American Professionals, a national leadership development organization. Cyndy has a human biology degree from Stanford University and a masters in international relations from UC San Diego. Her family also operates a karate dojo that has produced dozens of world class competitors.
Cyndy Yu-Robinson
Executive Director
cyurobinson@kramden.org
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Cari is charged with overseeing Kramden’s events, volunteers and Scholar Program. Kramden welcomed Cari to the team in February 2010. Following her undergraduate studies at Grand Valley State University, Cari served two years as an AmeriCorps member in the communities of Elkhart Indiana and Grand Rapids Michigan. Cari continued her education at Grand Valley State University receiving her Master of Education in 2009. Cari’s graduate and professional work offers valuable experience in the areas of volunteer management, program development and grant writing.
Cari DelMariani
Director of Programs
cdelmariani@kramden.org
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Tom graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2014 with a degree in Media Studies and a concentration in Documentary and Television production. He was hired as a Master Control Operator out of school and eventually moved into the engineering side of broadcasting where he worked as a Broadcast Systems Specialist at ABC11 WTVD.
Tom Walters
Director of Technical Operations
twalters@kramden.org
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Marshall manages Kramden’s educational initiatives and develops and leads classes. He began volunteering at Kramden in 2013 and became a member of the management team soon after. He joined the staff in 2014 to launch Kramden’s education programs. Marshall received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. He has worked with non-profits from the very start of his career as a web developer and project manager in Washington, DC. He brings his deep technical knowledge and a dedication to making technology inclusive and approachable to his work at Kramden.
Marshall Burkes
Education Manager
mburkes@kramden.org
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As Lead Technology Instructor, Lile develops STEAM curriculum for digital media, drones, game design, and circuit building. Formally trained as an artist, he studied sculpture at Arkansas State University before doing his graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned his MFA specializing in installation and new media. Lile’s teaching and art practice are both rooted in the premise that technology has always been an essential element of the human experience. His work can be seen at lilestephens.com.
Lile Stephens
Program Manager
lstephens@kramden.org
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Gabi joined us in early 2022 as Office Manager with over 17 years of experience working with nonprofits around the world and customer service experience. She is originally from Puerto Rico and one of her native languages is Spanish. She has been in North Carolina since 1993. Her studies took her to Toccoa Falls College in Georgia where she studied Business Administration with a focus on Nonprofits. She has a passion for helping people and traveling. In her free time, Gabi enjoys playing with her dog and visiting her family.
Gabi Saez Capo
Office Manager
gsaezcapo@kramden.org
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Jay is tasked with developing and managing funding proposals and developing strategies to increase Kramden’s donor base. After graduating with his MA in History from UNC Greensboro in 2016, Jay moved to Durham and was immediately drawn to the non-profit community in the city. His past experience includes volunteer management and community engagement. Originally interested in education, his time working with various non-profits in Durham sparked an interest in efforts to close the digital divide. Jay is passionate about digital equity and has been a member of Digital Durham since 2019. He enjoys meeting others doing non-profit work at every level and learning from people doing the work to make positive changes their communities.
Jay Ethridge
Development Manager
jethridge@kramden.org
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Katie McNeirney was raised in Raleigh, NC. She attended Barnard College in New York and returned to North Carolina after graduating with a degree in English in 2012. She worked for libraries (public, nonprofit, and digital) for several years before joining Kramden in 2020 as a Technology Instructor. She also works part time as a florist.
Katie McNeirney
Technology Educator
kmcneirney@kramden.org
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Ian graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2018 with a degree in Information Technology. He was hired as a Level2 Production Support Analyst at Credit Suisse out of college before moving over to work on one of their Release Management teams. Ian joined the Kramden team as a part-time staff member in 2021 and is now a full-time employee.
Ian Templeton
Production & Sales Manager
itempleton@kramden.org
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Paul got his start in the IT world serving in the US Navy. Since then he’s worked in many facets of the industry; from web design, computer repair, to data recovery. Paul spent over a dozen years training Apple technicians on how to troubleshoot and repair devices, discovering his passion for teaching and mentoring. When not in a computer his hands can be found in his garden and foraging wild edibles.
Paul Schreck
Technology Manager
pschreck@kramden.org
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Nadel joined Kramden as a Production Intern in early 2022. After graduating from Wake Tech Community College with a degree in Information Technology, Nadel transitioned to a full-time position. As a Support Technician, Nadel aids in Kramden’s mission by refurbishing computers, taking tech support calls from computer recipients, and helping with classes and camps as an assistant instructor. In her free time, Nadel likes to crochet, read, play games and spend time with friends and family.
Nadel Comper
Interim Technology Manager
ncomper@kramden.org
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Alex first came to Kramden as a volunteer in 2016. As Logistics Coordinator, Alex leads volunteers and assists with all aspects of the technology refurbishing process.
Alex Schwarting
Logistics Coordinator
aschwarting@kramden.org
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Jon graduated from NCSU in 2010 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Ergonomic Design.
He started ItsTechnicallyFixed.com to provide low-cost tech support to average customers in the Raleigh area. “Correcting computer conundrums without costing considerable coin.” He has been a seasoned tinkerer ever since he popped open an NES Controller so Mario could jump again. He always enjoys discovering areas of improvement. If there is a better way to do something, he will strive to find it. His hobbies include video games, retro and new (mostly RPGs, adventure, and platformers), and cooking (an absolute lover of tasty food and will try making and eating anything).
Jon Muscarella
Production Associate
jmuscarella@kramden.org
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Evan joined Kramden as a full-time employee in 2023 after a previous internship and part-time position. He enjoys his work as Production Coordinator and helping Kramden achieve its goals. In his spare time, Evan enjoys learning about new tech and retro video games.
Evan Vowell
Production Coordinator
evowell@kramden.org
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Melanie McMillan is a native of Durham and has always had a passion for helping others. She received her bachelor’s degree from Fayetteville State University. She has been an educator for 16 years, during which she has had the pleasure to teach in private, public, and non-profit organizations. Her work with non-profit organizations gave her the opportunity to coach students, lead other educators as well as coordinate afterschool programs that provide academic coaching, enrichment, and steam activities. Melanie’s hobbies are music, arts, reading, and spending time with family and friends. She is excited to bring her background in education to help bridge the digital divide.
Melanie McMillan
Technology Educator
mmcmillan@kramden.org
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Nathanael supports Kramden’s computer basics program and coordinates its implementation in communities across North Carolina.
Born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, Nathanael has worked and volunteered as a translator and interpreter for nonprofits in Costa Rica and Panama.
Nathanael has worked in telecommunications since coming to live in the US in 2010. Most recently he consulted with the Women’s Business Center of NC providing small business counseling and support.
Nathanael is a lover of literature and the fine arts. Music, photography, and tree enthusiast with major enthusiasm for mountains and big forests. He co-wrote the song “Yo Soy Guatemala” in 2019 and created the “Esperanza Kite” along with his wife and artist Cristina España for the “Day of all Saints” at the NC Museum of Art in 2020.
Nathanael Sperger
Program Coordinator
nsperger@kramden.org
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As the Sales and Support Associate at Kramden Kevin assists the production team with inventory management and organization as well as supporting the sales team to identify and realize value from Kramden’s inventory.
Kevin previously spent seven years working in customer service for a national pharmacy chain. After leaving in 2021 to better support his family from home he discovered a love and passion for building gaming computers. Assembling his first system was all it took to get him hooked, pestering friends and family to let him build them computers. This love led Kevin to Kramden in mid-2023 where he has the opportunity to work with computers every day.
Kevin McCarron
Sales & Support Associate
kmccarron@kramden.org
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Doga graduated UNC Chapel Hill in 2022 with a B.S in Computer Science and a Minor in Statistics. He first came to Kramden as a volunteer in 2023. After rediscovering his passion for computer hardware, he joined Kramden’s production team shortly after.
Doga built his first PC at the age of 16 and has been building, testing, and benchmarking computers ever since.
Doga Pamulkar
Production Associate
dpamulkar@kramden.org
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Lacey is a native of upstate New York and moved to Raleigh in 2020. She worked in the public health field for 7 years before coming to Kramden in 2023. She is passionate about helping folks find the resources they need in order to live a fulfilling life. She is very excited to use her public health knowledge and skills to help bridge the digital divide in North Carolina by assisting folks signing up for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
When not at work you can find her exploring the Triangle for different types of food and experiences.
Lacey Dickerson
Affordable Connectivity Program Outreach Coordinator
ldickerson@kramden.org
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Javier has led Kramden’s Spanish-language digital literacy classes as well as other technology courses, including CompTIA A+, since 2016. He brings his ongoing experience as an IT Manager for an association management company in the Raleigh and Clayton area. Javier spends his free time with his family and enjoys everything related to Space and Electric vehicles.
Javier Herrera
Technology Instructor
jherrera@kramden.org
Board of Directors
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John Wilson was elected Chair of the Kramden Board in March 2023. John brings with him 20 years of experience in technology strategy and execution spanning pharmaceutical, banking, and insurance industries. He currently leads IT Costing and Performance Management for MetLife’s Global Technology organization.
Within the capacity of IT Costing, his department is accountable for the financial management of +$1B in global technology annual spend which includes budgeting, approval, forecasting, regional transfer pricing, multi-year optimization initiatives, and internal billing mechanisms. The underpinning driving force and thematic element for this organization is enterprise operational and strategic enablement through financial transparency. In the role of Performance Management, his organization is accountable for numerous enterprise systems for IT all with the focus of increasing performance awareness through analytics. In addition, the group facilitates all IT executive reporting presented to the IT Operating Committee, Board of Directors, and CEO.
Prior to joining MetLife in 2014, John supported the build-out of Credit Suisse’s global service desk strategy, designed Credit Suisse’s first Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) views of IT Services, and facilitated Merck Pharmaceutical’s build-out of an internal IT Help Desk environment.
John Wilson
Board Chair
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Derek Kelly joined the Kramden Board of Directors in 2014. Derek is the Senior Director of Market Development at Lumos, a fiber-to-the-home company with operations in North Carolina and Virginia. Derek joined the Lumos team in December, but has been in the industry for more than 20 years with leadership roles in sales, operations, and government relations. For Kramden, Derek was instrumental in launching Kramden’s partnership with Martin County Schools, was involved in multiple computer awards with Sampson County Schools, and led lobbying efforts to make changes allowing for state surplus computers to flow to organizations like Kramden.
For Lumos, Derek leads public-private partnerships, broadband grant programs, government relations, as well as developing and executing expansion strategy for the company. Derek engages external partners within local and state government and the community to expand exposure in targeted markets along with forming public-private-partnerships. Derek is also the chairman of the Virginia Broadband Industry Association.
Derek Kelly
Board Vice-Chair
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Dick is an entrepreneurial financial executive with over 30 years experience in accounting, finance, and operations in public, private, and nonprofit organizations. He has focused his more recent career serving start-ups through their growth stage in life science, technology, and healthcare organizations. Dick’s broad range of business experience has involved organizations in a variety of industries including financial institutions, hospitals and other healthcare providers, biotechnology, specialty pharmaceuticals, informatics, manufacturing, retail, and numerous others. Dick has specialized experience in areas including intellectual property valuation and prosecution, managing in highly regulated environments, healthcare facilities reimbursement, accessing capital markets, SEC reporting, strategic partnering, and government contracting. Dick holds a Master’s Degree in accounting from Virginia Tech, and is a CPA licensed in North Carolina. He is an active member of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, and supports fund raising efforts involved in a number of nonprofit organizations including of the North Carolina Ballet as a patron, and more recently the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Richard Martin
Board Treasurer
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David Costar is a Senior Vice President and the Chief Information Officer at Wolfspeed. As CIO, David is responsible for leading Wolfspeed’s business transformation to deliver scale and efficiency through modernized digital capabilities, advanced process automation, and enterprise shared services. He is also responsible for setting Wolfspeed’s technology vision and strategy and supports the global business solutions, applications and infrastructure that underpins Wolfspeed’s global operations.
During David’s tenure at Wolfspeed, David has also served as the Head of Talent Management and Vice President, Human Capital Management. In these roles, he implemented a comprehensive talent strategy, led a strategic program to increase manager effectiveness and spearheaded Wolfspeed’s HR business and technology transformation. This transformation included the implementation of a new enterprise Human Capital Management (HCM) platform, HR shared services, and a new employee service center.
In addition to his CIO duties at Wolfspeed, David serves as a Governing Member of the Evanta CIO Community and is an active resident of the greater Raleigh-Durham (North Carolina) area. In 2022, David joined the Board of Kramden Institute.
David holds a Bachelor of Science in Operations from Auburn University and has over 20 years of diverse, global experience in Semiconductor, High Tech, Big 4 Consulting and professional services and has a successful track record of enabling business strategy with effective technology.
David Costar
Board Secretary
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Mark D. Dibner, Ph.D., MBA, brings to Kramden Institute a strong background in management of technology, education, non-profit management, and entrepreneurship. In June 2003, he and his 13-year-old son, Ned, built a PC from spare used parts in their basement and agreed to refurbish more PCs to give to students in Ned’s middle school lacking a home computer. They did 42, and Kramden Institute began (FYI, Kramden is Ned/Mark spelt backwards). Mark has served as the Chairman of Kramden’s Board of Directors since its founding in 2003.
Mark was the founder/President of two companies, BioAbility, LLC (1994-present) and Strategic Outcomes Services (1998-2001). In 1986-1998 he was an Adjunct Assoc. Professor of Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, teaching MBA courses in entrepreneurship and technology management.
Mark’s not-for-profit management experience includes as a VP of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center 1986-1994. He holds a Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from Cornell Univ. School of Medicine, an MBA in Strategic Planning from Widener Univ., and a B.A. in physiological psychology from the Univ. of Pennsylvania. He worked as a researcher in neuropharmacology at the Univ. of Colorado Medical School and U.C. San Diego, and served 6 years as a principal scientist at E.I. DuPont. Mark has authored 13 books on technology management. He has served on numerous boards of directors, including companies, non-profits and editorial boards. Mark and his wife Elaine live in Raleigh and Henderson, NC.
Mark Dibner
Founder & Board Member
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Luis is the Vice President of the PC&SD Integrated Development Center at Lenovo.
Luis Hernandez
Board Member
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Kurt Schmidt is an entrepreneur, advisor, and investor passionate about startups, entrepreneurship, and innovation. His experience spans all stages of startup operations from founder to successful exit. Kurt has spent nearly 20 years in the entrepreneurial ecosystem serving in operational, advisory, and investor roles with multiple entrepreneurial endeavors. He has also served as a board member, chairman, and advisor to technology innovators globally from San Francisco to Shanghai to Sydney. Having spent years working with Silicon Valley and West Coast-based companies, Kurt is deeply connected in the technology industry. He is a member of the Executive Committee at Triangle Angel Partners, an angel investment fund that invests in technology startups. As a TRW fellow, Kurt earned his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from The University of Southern California and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. At Duke University’s School of Law, he honed his skills in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, private equity and entrepreneurial transactions. Kurt is also an inventor on numerous issued and pending U.S. and foreign patents.
Kurt Schmidt
Board Member
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Mia is the Director of Government Affairs for Charter Communications’ Triangle and Triad regions in North Carolina. Her responsibilities include making use of the 15+ years of experience that she has gained working with local governments and the NC General Assembly to coordinate and implement strategies on the local and state level. In addition to the Kramden Board of Directors, Mia is a Board Member of the NC Cable Television Association, Executive Board Member of the Downtown Housing Improvement Corporation (DHIC), YMCA SE Raleigh Advisory Board and the SE Raleigh Promise Board. A graduate of Shaw University and North Carolina State University, she lives in Raleigh with her family.
Mia Bailey
Board Member
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Tom graduated in 1984 from Penn State Capitol Campus with a Bachelor of Humanities majoring in Multi-Media Journalism. He joined IBM in 1994 after spending nine years in retail and merchandising with Silo/Dixons, plc. During his career at IBM, Tom has held management positions launching Options by IBM in the consumer business worldwide, sales operations, brand management, and e-business Internet strategy and execution. As the Director of Marketing and Merchandising for US Direct, he was responsible for all marketing with IBM Direct including merchandising, offerings and promotions, segmentation, and web strategy and execution. Tom was promoted to Vice President, Global SMB TeleWeb Sales in January of 2003. He was responsible for all aspects of the Small / Medium business Worldwide through the tele-web organization of ibm.com. Tom then moved on to be VP of Inside Sales at IBM responsible for the Lead Development Reps generating leads for IBM, the marketing team, and the Online Commerce group which delivered 18 of 18 quarters of over achievement to plan. He later became VP of Global Marketing Volume Demand Systems in Global Technology Services. He was responsible for the Volume Demand System Program and driving demand through events and agencies for Global Technology Services.
Tom currently is Vice President of IBM Global Digital Sales Acceleration where he manages a lead development team, a group of data scientists, the private digital commerce function, and the sales acceleration/marketing teams. His focus is on social selling, developing talent, and new business opportunities. Tom is an advisory board member of AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals) where he was named a 2010 Top 50 Most Influential Inside Sales Professional and received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Inside Sales.
Tom and his wife Natalie (1985 Penn State Capital College, Bach of Hum) have two daughters, Maire and Anna, and live in Chapel Hill, NC
Tom Dekle
Board Member
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Tracy Sternberg joined the Kramden Board of Directors in February 2020. She is currently the Director of Programs and Sponsorship at NC TECH and is responsible for developing and executing content and programming, and securing sponsorships to support those efforts with the goal of ensuring that NC TECH members have meaningful and productive engagement with the organization and its members.
Tracy Sternberg
Board Member
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Quincy Campbell is a technologist, Agile Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Certified Product Owner (CPO), Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), servant leader and eternal optimist! Since 2021, Quincy has served as Engineering Program Manager at NetApp and has been a volunteer coordinator for NetApp’s regular volunteer shifts at Kramden. Quincy has also served in roles of senior project manager or program manager working with multimillion dollar projects at Advance Auto Parts, SAS, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Fidelity, and IBM spanning an impressive 25 years.
Quincy is an alumni of three North Carolina institutions and one in Washington, D.C. He earned his MBA from UNC Chapel Hil (2010), a MS certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, in the District of Columbia (1998), a MS in Computer Science from NC A & T State University (1997) and BS in Computer Science from Fayetteville State University (1995).
Quincy Campbell
Board Member
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Kevin Lyn is a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP and is the chair of WBD’s Diversity Committee and serves as primary liaison to prominent diversity organizations. Kevin helps global companies create and provide better, more-competitive products for their customers. As a result of his intellectual property counsel, major appliances are more user friendly, airplanes are more efficient, building materials are more fire-resistant, video games provide an enhanced user experience, medical procedures are more precise and effective, and a whole lot more.
A registered patent attorney as well as a licensed professional engineer, Kevin has invested a career in helping clients, from start-ups to major multinationals, maximize and protect their investments in new products and product improvements, and achieve their business goals.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, he was a product safety testing engineer for Underwriters Laboratories and as a semiconductor processing engineer for Mitsubishi Semiconductor – experience that facilitates his practical, business-focused approach to counseling clients.
Kevin’s practice involves all aspects of intellectual property, with a focus on the development of domestic and international patent portfolios crafted to bring products to market faster, while maximizing the available scope of protection in the client’s markets.
Two kinds of blue! Kevin is a graduate of University of North Carolina School of Law (1998) and earned MS (1989) and BSE (1987) degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Material Science from Duke University.
Kevin Lyn
Board Member
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MariaRosa Rangel is the Director of Family and Community Engagement for the Wake County public School System. MariaRosa obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Bilingual/ Bicultural and Elementary Education from Northeastern University of Chicago, Illinois, Master’s Degree in School Administration and Doctoral Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision from North Carolina State University. She has served as a third-grade Bilingual teacher, a GED instructor, Spanish / ESL Teacher, an Assistant Principal, district-wide LEP/ Dual Language Coordinator, Senior Administrator for Latino Outreach, Senior Administrator for LEP Family Outreach and presently the Director for Family and Community Engagement in the Office of Equity Affairs in the Wake County Public Schools System.
Her special focus areas include equity education, bilingual education programs, family engagement, Spanish for educators, interpretation/translation services, Latino culture, and cultural responsiveness.
In addition to board service to Kramden, MariaRosa also volunteers as a Board Member of Governor Cooper’s Hispanic/Latino Advisory committee, Board Chair of the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals, and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Board Chair for the Wake County PTA.
Maria Rosa Rangel
Board Member
Kramden Institute, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
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