2007-2008 Board Officers
We are sad to announce that on September 13, 2007, board member Ginny Yamate lost her battle to cancer. Ginny's years of serving on the Ed Fund board and her belief in our mission made an outstanding impact on the organization and on public education. Ginny's positive and radiant energy will be greatly missed by the Ed Fund. Our condolences go out to Ginny's family and friends.
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Andrew Torre
President
Andrew Torre is a Vice President of New Products for Providian. He has many years experience in financial services and strategic consulting. He has worked in Moscow, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic and holds degrees from John Hopkins SAIS and the University of Vermont.
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Kwan WangVice President
Kwan Wang is currently Vice President of Education for the San Francisco PTA. She has extensive experience in the school district and represents the PTA on many district task forces and committees. She was the president of the PTAs at Lowell, Presidio, and Claire Lilienthal schools. Kwan practiced business law for many years and obtained law degrees at Yale and the University of Rangoon.
Bill Jackson
Treasurer
Bill Jackson is the founding president of GreatSchools.net and the creative force behind the organization. GreatSchools.net provides parents with information that helps them choose the right school for their children, support their children's learning, and improve schools in their communities. Under his leadership GreatSchools.net has grown to become the leading national source of information about K-12 information for parents, serving over two million parents per month. He was treasurer for the 2003 Prop A and 2004 Prop H campaigns, both successful efforts to improve funding for SFUSD schools. He was also recently appointed to the California P-16 Council by State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O'Connell and is a member of the board of directors of the California Voter Foundation. Bill is a graduate of Yale University and the San Francisco Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.
Nancy Mayeda
Secretary
Nancy Mayeda began her career in the San Francisco Unified School District as a teacher at Argonne School in 1960. She served in many curricular and staff development capacities from 1971 to 1982, when she became the principal of Rooftop Alternative School. In 1997 the Nancy Yoshihara Mayeda Campus for grades 4-8 of Rooftop was dedicated. Nancy attended the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education and the Principal Leadership Institute. She is currently a member of the Mayor's Office of Community Development Citizen Committee and in 1994 was selected as a Woman Warrior by the Pacific Asian American Women's Bay Area Coalition.
Board of Directors
Michael C. Berg, CPA
Michael has been a practicing accountant for over 20 years. He has extensive managerial and financial experience and has worked with corporations and nonprofits alike. Michael has also taught accounting and business planning courses at San Francisco State. Michael was once the lead auditor for the San Francisco Unified School District and continues to work with nonprofit organizations. He served on the Board of Directors for the Names Project and was Board Chair for two years. Currently Michael works with the Mexican Museum, Meals on Wheels, and is on the advisory board of Horizons Foundation, a nationally recognized gay and lesbian foundation.
Jo Ellen Brainin-Rodriguez
Dr. Brainin-Rodriguez is a psychiatrist at the UCSF School of Medicine and is also the Medical Director of Bridge to Wellness. She received her medical degree from UCSF. and her residency was completed at St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center in San Francisco. Jo Ellen is an active community supporter, and her commitments include serving as a member of the Ed Fund's Equity Collaborative Advisory Council as well as numerous assignments for the Committee for Health Rights in the Americas. She and her husband have two daughters who attended San Francisco public schools.
Oswald Cousins
Oswald Cousins is a partner in the Employment Law Group of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP in San Francisco. Mr. Cousins has extensive experience advising employers and litigating employment-related disputes. Mr. Cousins received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and his law degree from UCLA. He has lived and worked in San Francisco for more than 13 years.
Kate Godfrey
Kate Godfrey worked in the philanthropic sector for 12 years, serving as a program officer with Northern California Grantmakers and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and as a consultant to the San Francisco Foundation and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. Her grantmaking focused on teacher professional development, youth development, and the environment. Prior to joining the philanthropic sector, Kate worked in various positions at Stanford Law School, the Stanford University Office of Development, and Senior Adults Legal Assistance. Kate holds an A.B. from Stanford and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law. In addition to serving on the board of the San Francisco Education Fund, Kate volunteers as a grief counselor with Kara Grief Support.
Andrew Grimstad
Andrew Grimstad has taught algebra at James Lick Middle School since 1966. Previously, he had a fifteen-year career with Wells Fargo & Co. He has volunteered previously on a variety of nonprofit boards, including six years with the Alvarado School PTA and two prior terms as a board member for the Ed Fund. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana for three years. His formal education began at LeConte Elementary (now Leonard Flynn) and led to Georgetown (B.S.), Harvard (M.B.A.), and San Francisco State (Teaching Credential).
Carol Kocivar
Carol Kocivar has a wide range of interests and talents focusing on the PTA and education, soccer, journalism, and community service. An attorney, she serves on the California State PTA Board of Managers as legislative advocate for education. She is a soccer coach and referee and is on the board of the Stonestown Family YMCA. She is a columnist for the West of Twin Peaks Observer and radio host on KALW of "Looking at Education." Her children attended San Francisco public schools.
Paula March
Paula March is principal of Marchpartners, providing comprehensive consulting services in not-for-profit management. She formerly held the position of Chief Development Officer of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and as the Deputy Director for Marketing at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She holds a B.A. from Santa Clara University and an M.A. in Museum Studies from John F. Kennedy University. She is currently on the board of Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera and formerly served on the Board of Leadership San Francisco. Paula also served as the PTA President while her sons attended Claire Lilienthal Elementary School.
Patricia Martel
Patti recently retired after 39 years with the San Francisco Unified School District. Holding a B.A. from San Jose State University and an M.A. from University of San Francisco, her career began as a classroom teacher and ended after 11 years of service as Principal of George Moscone Elementary, an award winning school, recognized for sustained high student achievement, serving a low-income Latino population. She was appointed to the California P-16 Advisory Council by Superintendent Jack O’Connell and currently works as an independent educational consultant.
Perviz Randeria
Perviz Randeria is an Organizational Effectiveness consultant, with strategic change management, leadership development, and work process improvement experience in the business, education, and public sectors. She participated in creating the first experiential education, community and service-learning program at San Francisco State University, designing and developing programs including peer counseling and supervision. Perviz's involvement with the San Francisco Education Fund began when peer counseling, through Peer Resources, was piloted at Galileo High School.
Jeanne Schroeder
Jeanne Schroeder has over 13 years experience in the Marketing and Communications field and is currently the Vice President of Marketing at ABC7 KGO-TV, where she creates marketing programs for clients, facilitates event-based marketing partnerships, and writes, produces, and edits television commercials. She is also in charge of Internet revenue generating opportunities for the ABC7 website. Jeanne has a strong belief in making a difference in the community and has worked on many projects for nonprofits including the Breast Cancer Fund, the American Cancer Society, AIDS Walk San Francisco, and Habitat for Humanity.
Lydia Stack
Lydia Stack is an international English as a Second Language Teacher Educator. She worked in the San Francisco Unified School District as an elementary ESL teacher, a high school ESL teacher, and ESL department head. As a district administrator, she coordinated primary and secondary ESL programs, the Mentor Teacher Program, the Beginning Teacher Support and Assistance Program, and the Special Education Speech and Psychological Assessment Team. She has also taught courses in second language acquisition and ESL methodology at Stanford University and San Francisco State University and trained ESL teachers in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. During 1991-1992 Lydia was President of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), an international association concerned with English language teaching worldwide.
Douglas G. Tom
Doug Tom is founding principal of Tom Eliot Fisch, a San Francisco based architectural and interior design firm. He has 30 over years of professional experience in building design, renovation, and interior design working with public, academic, corporate, developer, and nonprofit clients. Doug is currently on the boards of the Architectural Foundation of San Francisco and Envision Schools and served as the president of AIA San Francisco in 1998. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley.
Paul Tsang
Paul Tsang joined Wells Fargo in 1992 and is currently the Senior Vice President of the Strategic Auto Investment group. Prior to his current position, Mr. Tsang managed numerous functions in the auto finance area of Wells Fargo including Strategic Planning, CFO, Internet Business, and Operations. Before joining Wells Fargo, Mr. Tsang worked at First Nationwide Bank and Ernst and Young as a Senior Auditor. Mr. Tsang lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children. He is an active participant in Wells Fargo’s mentoring program, and he also serves as the Advisory Council Chairperson for Oakland Asian Student Educational Services that provides after-school enrichment programs for low-income immigrants. He has been a past board director for Community Educational Services and Asian American Recovery Services in San Francisco. Mr. Tsang received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from California State University, East Bay and his M.B.A. from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a licensed Real Estate Broker.
Chantel L. Walker
Chantel L. Walker is a principal and co-founder of the Walkeryee Group, a national consulting and research firm focused on strategic planning, executive coaching, program development, and policy analysis for foundations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. During her 20 years of experience in philanthropy and the broader nonprofit sector, Chantel has worked throughout the country on children, family, and neighborhood development issues. She has published and presented on issues of human services reform and community development, early childhood education policy, and change and the role of philanthropy. Chantel is an active and dedicated volunteer for family and community issues with several nonprofit organizations and public agencies. She is a past president of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and the Women's Foundation of California. In addition to serving on the board of the San Francisco Education Fund, Chantel’s current volunteerism includes serving on the Boards of Directors of the Neighborhood Funder’s Group and the Association of Black Foundation Executives. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and University of San Francisco.
Ginny Poon Yamate - In Memory
Before being named Manager of Diversity Outreach and Contributions for the California State Automobile Association in 2003, Ginny was the Director of Public Affairs at ABC 7 KGO-TV. In over 22 years at the television station, she has met and worked with hundreds of community leaders and representatives of nonprofit organizations. Despite a busy work schedule, Ginny believes in giving back to the community. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Chinese Newcomers Service Center and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.
Ex-Officio members:
Jane Kim, Board of EducationCheryl Lee, Superintendent's Liasion
Gladys Thacher, Founding Director
Hugh Vasquez, Executive Director