Cohort 20

Fernando Ansaldo-Sanchez is a higher education administrator and City Councilmember for the City of Soledad, committed to advancing student success, access, equity, and opportunity. At Monterey Peninsula College, Ansaldo-Sanchez serves in student services leadership, supporting initiatives focused on outreach, retention, admissions, and the student experience. As a local elected official, he is passionate about creating meaningful opportunities for residents and ensuring that the unique needs of rural communities are considered in policy and decision-making. Fernando is currently pursuing a doctorate to strengthen his leadership, expand his impact in higher education and public service, and help create more equitable systems that serve all communities.

Local girl makes good. Over more than twenty years as an educator, Susan Appe has been a music teacher, instructional coach, and now Assistant Principal at Monroe Elementary School in San Francisco. Her work has always centered on finding practical ways to make schools more equitable: building a culturally responsive world music program, helping teachers use data and collaborative inquiry to improve instruction, and redesigning school systems and schedules so that students receiving intervention do not lose access to enrichment. Susan believes school leaders have a responsibility to uncover and cultivate the genius in students and in the adults who serve them. In her Ed.D. work at San Francisco State University, she is especially interested in multilingual learners, language-immersion program design, and how schools can disrupt predictable outcomes for students.

Catherine Ballard is a Global Studies and Modern World History educator at San Domenico School. In this capacity, she teaches global history and works with students to develop historical thinking, research, writing, and critical analysis skills through a social justice lens. She also serves as a speech coach and has more than six years of experience working with secondary students as an educator and coach. Her professional interests include educational leadership, instructional technology, gender and education, social justice education, and equitable approaches to teaching and learning.

Ms. Ballard holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Scripps College, an M.A. in Religious Studies and Women’s Studies in Religion from Claremont Graduate University, an M.A. in Instructional Technology from San Francisco State University, and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from American College of Education. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, with research interests in educational leadership, gender, social justice, equity, and secondary education.

Shanna Beltran (she/her) is an Education Specialist with nearly two decades of experience in general and special education throughout Northern California. She currently serves in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, where she oversees a K–5 Learning Center at Carl Sundahl Elementary and collaborates with educators, families, and district leaders to advance inclusive and equitable educational opportunities for students with disabilities. Her leadership extends from the school site to the state level, including service on the district’s Guiding Coalition, Special Education Committee, and Affinity/Equity Groups. She previously served as a Yolo County SELPA Community Advisory Committee member and currently serves as an Folsom Cordova Education Association Executive Board Representative for Special Services and Chair of the FCEA Special Education Committee. She also represented educators on the California Teachers Association State Council for Region 2, District E.

A committed advocate for educational equity and systems improvement, Shanna has served as an Induction Mentor and as a Master Teacher across multiple districts. She was recognized by Folsom Cordova Unified School District for Excellence in Special Education for the last two years. She holds a Master’s degree in Special Education from California State University, Sacramento and Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Journalism from California State University, Chico. She is beginning doctoral study in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, with professional interests focused on inclusive practices, special education leadership, educational equity, and systems-level improvement.

Drawing on extensive experience in special education, legal compliance, early literacy, neurodiversity, specialized instruction and curriculum development, Shanna is committed to building collaborative systems that center student needs and strengthen professional and educational outcomes. Her work emphasizes meaningful partnerships among students, families, educators, leaders, and community agencies to advance inclusion, ensure educational benefit, and create systems in which all students have the opportunity to thrive.

Dominique Benavides Becerra (she/her/ella) is an educational leader who brings more than 15 years of experience in institutional research, student services, strategic planning, and organizational effectiveness. She currently serves as Vice President of Research and Institutional Effectiveness at RSSC, an educational consulting firm specializing in DEI professional development, equity-centered organizational change, and community-centered facilities planning. In her role, she leads mixed-methods research, evaluation, and planning efforts that help educational institutions and leaders better understand and respond to the communities they serve.

Dominique began her career in the Peralta Community College District, working in student and instructional support services, including EOPS, student finance, financial aid, and the Next Up foster youth program, before finding her way to institutional research. Her expertise in institutional research and institutional effectiveness, together with her emerging scholarship in critical approaches to educational research, shapes how she examines the ways policies, practices, and data systems influence students’ educational opportunities and experiences. As both a former community college student and a longtime practitioner, she is particularly interested in exploring questions at the intersection of research, racial equity, institutional responsibility, and servingness.

Dominique holds an Associate of Science in Social Sciences from College of Alameda, a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Mills College, and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Louisiana State University Shreveport.

Beyond her professional and scholarly work, Dominique draws joy, strength, and perspective from her rich, multicultural family and remains deeply connected to the Oakland community that raised her.

Sanam Compani is an educator and multilingual professional with more than 20 years of experience teaching English in diverse academic and community-based settings. She holds an M.A. in TESOL from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in Linguistics from Islamic Azad University in Tehran.

Her teaching experience includes English language instruction in both Iran and the United States, with a focus on adult English learners, multilingual students, and culturally responsive pedagogy. She has taught English for Specific Purposes, academic English, and general ESL courses across various levels and contexts. In the United States, she has worked with adult ESL learners and with younger students in after-school educational programs.

Sanam’s professional interests include adult ESL education, equity in language learning, learner engagement, bilingual and multilingual scaffolding, and improving educational outcomes for immigrant and international students. Her academic work has explored oral corrective feedback and factors that influence second language learners’ willingness to communicate.

As an incoming doctoral student in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, Sanam is interested in examining how educational institutions can better support multilingual adult learners, particularly in transitions between private language programs, community colleges, and higher education. She is committed to advancing inclusive, student-centered practices that empower language learners and promote educational access, belonging, and success.

Jorgina Cruz (She/Her) is a proud Bay Area native, raised in Milpitas, California. As a former foster youth, first-generation student, Filipina/Mexicana, and queer woman, her roots in the region deeply inform her commitment to equity and social justice. She earned her Bachelor's degree in English, Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, before going on to complete her Master's in Public Administration with an emphasis in equitable program design and implementation, also from San Francisco State University. Her academic foundation bridges the power of storytelling with the rigor of public administration, shaping her approach to program design that centers communities most impacted by systemic inequity.

She has spent her career in higher education doing work she believes in: producing events that create opportunities for connection and community, designing and supporting DEI initiatives, and developing early career and fellowship pipelines for students who don't always see themselves reflected in higher education. She currently works at Stanford University's Doerr School of Sustainability as a Program Coordinator.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of DEI program design and higher education, with a particular curiosity around students' experiences and how their lives are impacted when institutional support disappears. She looks forward to deepening that inquiry, finding community with fellow practitioners, and contributing to what gets built next. Her hope is to help develop initiatives that center marginalized voices, restore the focus on those most owed by these systems, and build something durable enough to outlast the pendulum of policy and politics.

Lorenzo “Lolo” Finau-Cruz (He/Him) is a first-generation college graduate and educator of Tongan and Filipino heritage from the Bay Area. 

His academic journey began at Skyline College, where he took his first Ethnic Studies course through the Kababayan Learning Community (KLC). Inspired to continue his education, he transferred to San Francisco State University (SFSU), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies. He then pursued a master’s degree in Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, graduating in 2021. His research explored storytelling as a method of mapping cultural identity, highlighting both his family’s experiences and his own personal narrative. 

Lolo discovered his passion for teaching through Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), where he taught K–12 Ethnic Studies through a Filipinx lens in San Francisco. He later taught Hawaiian Studies to Pre-K through fifth-grade students, including students in Special Education (SPED), at Red Hill Elementary School in Oʻahu. Today, he has returned to his roots at San Francisco State University, where he serves as an Outreach Specialist.

Lolo’s current goal is to learn through the SFSU Ed.D. Leadership program while focusing on equitable student access and success in higher education. He hopes to bring his knowledge and experiences back to the community college system where his own educational journey began, supporting and empowering future generations of students along their educational paths.

Outside of his professional work, Lolo is a devoted husband and father who enjoys spending time with his family in the North Bay.

Lucion Armani Fuller holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from San Francisco State University and a master's degree in Counselor Education from San Jose State University.

With over four years of experience in higher education across both the public and private sectors, Armani has held positions including Recruitment Specialist, Enrollment Counselor, and Undergraduate Admissions Evaluator. Throughout these roles, he has developed outreach strategies to recruit prospective and incoming students, advised students on the California State University (CSU) admissions process, delivered presentations on behalf of the university, and provided personalized enrollment counseling to guide students through each step of the admissions process. He has also evaluated academic transcripts to ensure students meet admission and transfer requirements, creating a smooth transition into higher education while answering questions and providing comprehensive support throughout the matriculation process.

Armani's research interests include student recruitment and retention with a focus on supporting underserved communities. Outside of work, Armani enjoys exploring local coffee shops, traveling, and discovering great food wherever he goes.

Andrew Hambre-Cook grew up in Daly City, CA and is a community responsive teacher leader. He earned his A.A. in liberal arts from the College of San Mateo, and earned his B.A. in Political Science from UCLA. Andrew also received his single-subject social science teaching credential, Masters in Education with a focus in Instructional Technology, and Ethnic Studies certificate all from SF State University. Andrew strives to bring transformative revolutionary change in educational spaces with most importantly the community and is motivated to serve the people who helped him be a critically conscious educator. His biggest motivators are his wife Desiree and son, Zaire.

Andrew navigated through the schooling system and continues to grow and build the system of schooling into a space of healing and transformation. His experience with Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP) in 2006 helped him understand the importance of Ethnic Studies and a liberatory vision of education to enact radical transformation in schools in order to bring critical hope into the classroom. He was one of the founding members of the Ethnic Studies program in Jefferson Union High School District and set up the pilot class in his alma mater of Westmoor High School. With the support of Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, and the Community Responsive Education team, Andrew has made sure that the Ethnic Studies program continues to grow and thrive for the district.

After teaching at Westmoor High School for 7 years, Andrew decided to bring his experience and knowledge to Thornton High School, the only continuation school in JUHSD. He brings a social justice perspective and ethnic Studies approach to the community in Thornton and piloted Thornton’s first Ethnic Studies class called the Feast of Resistance. The Feast of Resistance brought a community centered approach to transform what classes could be to build hope and change while learning about complex topics, such as race and identity. Andrew hopes to grow from this experience and answer the question: How do we bring meaningful radical change in our learning so that students can find purpose to be agents of change in their communities?

Gerald James is a native New Yorker raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He served twenty‑four years in the United States Air Force as an aviator, completing ten combat deployments, traveling to forty‑one nations, and attaining the senior enlisted rank of Chief Master Sergeant before retiring in 2024 and transitioning into education. He has taught adult Airmen for more than fifteen years, worked as a K-6 literacy teacher, and taught as an intern‑teacher at Skyline College. He describes his non‑linear path into education as the “B‑Side.”

His teaching philosophy is shaped by military leadership, service to community, and deep educational curiosity. Experiential memories in spaces such as visiting the EJI museum, standing at Reveille after the 9/11 attacks, and witnessing Maghrib at sunset over the pyramids of Giza inform his equity lens and ground his understanding of Community Cultural Wealth. These experiences also reinforce his belief that learning is contextual, sensory, and shaped by one’s ecosystem.

Gerald earned his B.S. in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University and his M.A. in Equity and Social Justice Education at San Francisco State University, where he created TechCrit, an extension of Critical Race Theory into the technological domain. In the Ed.D program, he is exploring narrative‑based and sensory‑rich STEM instruction, particularly aviation science, to expand STEM pathways for underrepresented and Title I students.

A fun fact: Gerald is a member of the RedTail Project, a Black/Veteran‑led grassroots movement building replica P‑51 aircraft similar to those flown by the Tuskegee Airmen and preparing underrepresented high school students for careers in aviation and aerospace. He lives in Dixon with his family - wife, son, three dogs & bird, and enjoys gardening, running, and hiking.

Monroe Lace is first, foremost, and forever a teacher. Monroe serves as Department Chair at a Title I school.

Monroe was appointed to the Human Rights Commission by Mayor Daniel Lurie. Previously, Monroe served as Miss San Francisco. During her year of service, Monroe partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco Education Fund to teach character education across thirteen K–12 schools. This moment inspired Monroe to pursue a career as a teacher. Monroe decided right then to dedicate her life to children. In recognition of her service, Monroe received a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Monroe also received the Excellence in Education Award from The Association of Chinese Teachers.

Monroe holds an AA in History from Diablo Valley College, a BA in History from UCLA, and an MA in Educational Administration and Leadership from SFSU. Monroe also holds a cosmetology license. Monroe is pursuing an EdD in Educational Leadership at SFSU, with a research interest in school finance. Monroe resides in an SRO hotel in the South of Market neighborhood.

Meagan Rachel-Andrews Murch is the Elementary Assistant Principal at Bayside Academy in the San Mateo–Foster City School District, where she is committed to creating equitable, student-centered learning environments through strong relationships, instructional leadership, and meaningful partnerships with students, families, and staff.

Now in her seventeenth year in education and twelfth year with the district, Meagan has served as a preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade teacher, an Elementary Math Teacher on Special Assignment, and a Summer School Principal. Throughout her career, she has worked primarily in Title I schools serving multilingual learners and historically underserved communities, helping to build teacher capacity while improving outcomes for all students.

Meagan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, a cleared Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership. A proud product of California's public education system, she attended College of the Sequoias, California State University, Monterey Bay, and Fresno State, and is excited to continue her educational journey in the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program at San Francisco State University.

Raised in Visalia, in California's Central Valley, Meagan is the granddaughter of immigrant farmworkers whose belief that "no one can take your education away from you" profoundly shaped her commitment to public education. That lesson continues to guide her work as she advocates for high-quality, inclusive educational opportunities that empower every student, regardless of background or circumstance.

Meagan is passionate about strengthening home-to-school partnerships, developing educator capacity, and fostering school communities where every student feels safe, valued, and capable of success. 

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time on the California coast with her husband and their cats, cooking, hiking, and spending time with family.

Chiara Ojeda (she/her/ella) is a committed and impassioned superteacher and community college education advocate. After resisting teaching as a path but being given the opportunity to teach English composition at Valencia College in Orlando, Fl, she fell in love with the community college model and with teaching as a profession. For over two decades, Chiara has been privileged to serve as a tenured professor, learning support specialist, division coordinator, and academic dean. Chiara brings deep pedagogical practice and systems thinking to her work as an educational leader. She is motivated to develop intentional, actionable, and equitable practices that foster belonging, agency, and self-determination for students. 

Chiara is currently the Dean of the Language Arts Division at the College of San Mateo, where she leads a division that includes English, ESL, Communication Studies, Film, Modern Languages, the Writing Center, the Communication Studies Center, and the ESL Center. At CSM, she serves as the management tri-chair of the All Campus Professional Development Committee. In this role, she advocates for professional development that guides faculty, staff, students, and administrators to actualize the college’s mission, vision, and values. Prior to joining CSM, she served as Interim Dean of Communications and Associate Dean of The School of Writing and Literature at Valencia College. There, she coordinated OER initiatives that saved students nearly $9 million in textbook costs, built cohort-based faculty mentorship programs, and led data-informed action research that increased student success rates in gateway courses from.

Chiara holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Florida and a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Central Florida. Through her work on both coasts, Chiara has arrived at a clear research interest for her doctoral work. As part of Cohort 20 of SFSU’s EdD in Educational Leadership, she intends to explore how deans, a college’s academic middle managers, are developed, mentored, and supported to become equity change agents, navigate conflicting interests, and lead faculty and staff through organizational, legislative, and societal change.

Chiara is a proud Puerto Rican, una Boricua Americana, who spent her childhood in San Juan before moving to the States in 1989. A recent transplant to the Bay Area, she enjoys exploring San Francisco’s many eclectic neighborhoods with friends and is quickly falling in love with her new home. Outside of work, she can be found singing along at a live music show, getting lost at a museum, building models, or spending time with her three fur babies: her dog, Gwen, and her cats, Sophie and Howl.

Angel Pilar is a tenured math faculty at College of San Mateo. He is also a coordinator for the Puente Program, a MESA faculty advisor, and works closely with EOPs. His commitment to these programs comes from his own experience as a low-income, first-generation college student.

Growing up, opportunities through AVID and the Upward Bound Math and Science program at UC Berkeley introduced him to college. These experiences helped him see himself as a college student. They also showed him how access to the right opportunities, community, and support have the power to change how students see themselves and what they believe is possible. He is passionate about teaching. One of his interests is in how programs help create impactful moments in students’ lives.  

Angel Pilar has a degree in Applied Math from UC Berkeley and MA in Math from SF State.

Brianna Redondo is a first-generation college graduate whose path to academia has been anything but linear. She joined the United States Navy in part to get away from college, a decision she now looks back on with a bit of irony, given how far that journey has brought her. During her time in the Navy, she served as a career counselor, guiding service members through career planning and professional development, and it was there that her passion for helping others navigate education and career pathways first took root.

Brianna currently works in Merced County's Department of Workforce Investment, where she manages contracts and budgets supporting grants, youth empowerment initiatives, job training, and career advising programs. Her work is grounded in California's Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), where she has seen firsthand the gap between preparing people for economic opportunity and equipping them to actually transition into the workforce.

Brianna holds an MBA/MSLM from the University of La Verne. As a doctoral student in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, she plans on developing a dissertation focused on that same gap, examining how leaders and systems within workforce development can be strengthened to better bridge education and employment outcomes in Merced County and the surrounding Central Valley region.

Outside of her professional and academic life, Brianna is devoted to motherhood, finding joy in teaching her daughter the ways of the world.

Jamilah Shimi is a Bay Area native and first-generation student born to Palestinian and Dominican immigrants. Jamilah has spent the majority of her career working in the nonprofit sector throughout Northern California, focusing on higher education attainment with first-generation students and minimizing the systemic barriers that impact a student’s right to learn. She is currently the Youth Supervisor at International Rescue Committee Oakland where she supports in the coordination and development of programming centered around academic navigation, healing spaces, and caregiver engagement for refugee families and community members.

Jamilah received her B.A. in American Multicultural Studies and Anthropology from Sonoma State University and her M.A. in Multicultural Education with a concentration in Ethnicity and Race from Sacramento State University (CSU represent!), where she conducted qualitative research on SWANA youth identity development in relation to family dynamics and the school experience. She is committed to championing equity and honoring the identities and lived experiences of students and their families in and outside of the academic space.

Outside of work Jamilah enjoys yoga, watching movies/reality tv, and trying new coffee shops!

Pcyeta Stroud is the Chief Operations Officer and Vice President of Administration for RSSC, an educational consulting firm based in Oakland, California. She has spent more than 15 years working in and alongside higher education, with a particular focus on equity-centered community engagement, workforce development, organizational leadership, and creating pathways to opportunity.

In her current role, Pcyeta works with community college leaders and other education partners throughout California while also overseeing RSSC’s internal operations and organizational strategy. Her work allows her to bring together two areas she cares deeply about: helping educational institutions become more equitable and effective, and building the organizational structures needed to turn those commitments into action. She is particularly interested in the intersection of education, politics, history, and systems, and in understanding how those forces shape educational opportunity and outcomes.

Pcyeta is also passionate about creating opportunities for others. After co-founding the Student Internship & Job Shadow Program at Skyline College, she launched RSSC’s internship program, which provides emerging professionals with opportunities for career exploration, mentorship, and professional networking through an equity-centered lens.

Her commitment to community extends beyond her professional work. Pcyeta serves on the Board of Directors for S.O.S. Meals on Wheels and on the City of San Leandro’s Community Police Review Board.

Pcyeta proudly considers herself a community college success story. Her own educational journey was not linear. After 15 years of pursuing her education, she earned an Associate of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies: Letters & Science from Skyline College. She later graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Arizona State University and earned an MBA from Northcentral University. She is now pursuing her EdD in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University, where she hopes to bring greater scholarly rigor to the questions she has encountered throughout her career and deepen her ability to create meaningful systems-level change.

Pcyeta is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and Kappa Beta Delta International Honor Society. Outside of work and school, she is a wife and mother who loves good food, running, and hate-watching movies with her partner.