Our Team
Orion is a non-profit organization, founded by leaders with broad experience in school administration, admissions, law, business, and military affairs.
Orion’s Directors
Eric Peterson - COFOUNDER, DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT
Eric has worked in schools for nearly 30 years, 13 of which he spent as the headmaster of an elite American boarding school. An attorney by training, he is also an author, speaker, and a consultant and advisor to independent schools and their Boards. Eric’s father and brother served as officers in the US Army.
Krista Peterson - COFOUNDER, DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT - Education
Krista has spent her career working with students in independent schools. She has been a college counselor, an advisor, and an admissions professional. Most recently, she has been the director of admissions at an independent school. Krista’s father served as a member of the storied 10th Mountain Division of the US Army.
Lisa Molinari - COFOUNDER, DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT - Operations
Lisa is a licensed attorney, book author, and military family columnist for Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for the US Armed Forces at home and abroad. As Navy spouse to Francis for 30 years, and as a mother of three, Lisa understands the impact of frequent PCS moves on military children, and the challenges of finding quality, stable educational opportunities.
Francis Molinari - COFOUNDER, DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT - Military Affairs
Francis is a retired United States Navy Captain, having served in naval intelligence for 28 years. Francis was assigned to multiple joint commands, where he worked closely with service men and women from the Army, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. He now works as Senior Director of Crisis Management at Charter Communications.
Victoria Serra - DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL MANAGER
Victoria joins Orion Military Scholarships as the daughter of two Air Force Pilots, raised with an understanding and respect for the sacrifices the members of our Armed Forces, and their families, make daily. In high school, Victoria attended Deerfield Academy, a boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Boarding school provided her with an opportunity to meet students from all over the world and build friendships that will last a lifetime. She is excited to support Orion's unique mission to provide the children of active military families a consistent and uninterrupted high school experience!
Martin Guay — DIRECTOR
Marty Guay is the Vice President, Business Development, at Stanley Black & Decker. In this capacity, Marty creates business value opportunities by working with startups, academia, venture capital, and global corporations. He has worked with innovation communities, universities, incubators, and accelerators across the world. Concurrently, he is working on workforce development, economic development, and advanced manufacturing strategies in Connecticut and in the United States. Marty earned a bachelor’s degree and M.B.A. from the George Washington University. He completed the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
Orion’s Advisory Council
Benjamin Patton - ADVISOR
Benjamin Patton is the Founder and President of the Patton Veterans Project. Since its founding in 2011, PVP has held more than 65 workshops at US military installations and VA facilities across the country and in Israel, helping nearly 1400 veterans create more than 300 short films. The youngest grandson of WWII’s General George S. Patton Jr., Ben is co-author of Growing Up Patton: Reflections on Heroes, History and Family Wisdom (Berkley-Caliber, 2012). Formerly a producer and development executive at New York City’s PBS affiliate, he also operates Patton Productions, LLC, a full-service video production company specializing in marketing and promotional videos and high-end family biographies for private clients. Ben has a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University-Teachers College and a BA from Georgetown University. He and his family split their time between New York City and Garrison, NY.
Walter “Ted” Carter, Jr. - ADVISOR
Prior to his current role as the President of the Ohio State University, Ted Carter was President of the University of Nebraska. Before these two collegiate appointments, Ted served on active duty in the United States Navy for 38 years, achieving the rank of Vice Admiral. Before his military retirement, Ted was Superintendent of his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy, and President of the U.S. Naval War College. Carter is a naval flight officer with more than 6,300 flying hours, having received both a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star. He and his wife Lynda have two adult children.
Tom Lawson - ADVISOR
Tom is a managing director of Bank of America Private Bank Philanthropic Solutions Group. In addition to serving on the Foundation’s Board, he is a board member of the Winston-Salem Foundation, Haiti Outreach Ministries Advisory Board, Mount Tabor Baseball Backers, and Sigma Upsilon Alumni Association. Tom is married to Megan (Carrier) and they have two sons, Will and Charlie.
Frances Tilney Burke - ADVISOR
Frances is the George P. Shultz Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. Frances was a special assistant to two Deputy Secretaries of Defense, a counterterrorism analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency, and, later, a foreign affairs specialist in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Frances served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. From 2019-2020, she was a visiting research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focused on foreign and defense policy, and especially policy issues affecting military families. Her commentary has appeared in the Weekly Standard, the National Review, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, Foreign Policy, and War on the Rocks. Frances is married to an active-duty Army officer. They have four children.