Cohort 2011

Diana Balgas is the Special Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Assessment for Student Affairs Division at California State University, East Bay. In this capacity she serves as the primary interface with Academic Affairs staff, is a member of the Student Affairs Leadership Council,  and is involved in assessment, evaluation and research projects designed to eliminated student achievment gaps. She has more than 17 years of experience in higher education, as an educator and administrator. Previously Dr. Balgas was the Executive Direcor of Student outreach and Retention Services at CSU East Bay providing  administrative oversight to Academic Advising and Career Education, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Summer Bridge, three federal TRIO programs, and the Renaissance Scholars Program for former foster youth.

Dr. Balgas holds a B.S. in Business administration and an M.S. in Counseling from California State University, East Bay. Diana received her doctorate for her dissertatation titled Predictive Factors in Baccalaureate Degree Attainment Among Latin@ College Students.

Darren Battaglia is Dean of Students for the Hillsboro School District in Oregon.  Previously, Dr. Battaglia was the coordinator of the New Teacher Induction Program for the San Jose Unified School District. He has worked as a classroom teacher and teacher trainer in Oregon, California and Mexico.

Dr. Battaglia holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Occidental College, an M.A. in TESOL from California State University, Los Angeles and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential from Cal Poly Pomona. He received his doctorate for his dissertation titled Teacher and Organizational Characteristics Predict Teacher Retention.

Eric Blancaflor Claravall is an assistant professor at Sacramento State University in the College of Education. Previously, he was a lecturer at SFSU in the Department of Elementary Education and has taught elementary special education. Prior to teaching, he was a school psychologist. He obtained his mild to moderate education specialist credential at San Francisco State University. He has been a recipient of a number of research awards from the International Literacy Association -  the Teacher as Researcher Grant in 2010,  the 2011 ILA Award for Reading and Technology for his project “Podcasting: Developing literacy skills and poetry appreciation in special education,”the  Helen Robinson doctoral student research, and the Elva Knight Research Grant for his proposal on historical thinking.  Dr. Claravall’s research interest is in the areas of language development, digital literacies, disciplinary literacy of children with learning difficulties, and of educational and instructional equity in special education.

Dr. Claravall holds a BA. in Psychology and an MEd in Guidance Counseling from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and an MEd in Reading and Language from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He has also done graduate work in Clinical Child Psychology at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He received his doctorate for his dissertation titled Creating and Sustaining Classroom Knowledge Through Teacher Research: Morphology as Design Intervention for Struggling Learners.

Megan Corry is the Program Director and primary instructor for the Paramedic Program in the Department of Health Care Technology at City College of San Francisco. She has more than 25 years experience in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in the San Francisco Bay Area, both as a Paramedic and research coordinator.  Dr. Corry's research interests are diverse and include increasing diversity in EMS, investigating the role of Career and Technical Education (CTE) in the improvement of science literacy, and addressing racial and social equity in higher education through mentoring, innovative instructional methodologies and changes to statewide higher education funding for the community colleges.

Dr. Corry has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Physiology from San Francisco State University.  She received her doctorate for her dissertation The Evolution of Crisis at City College of San Francisco.

Ana Gutierrez is currently the administrator for Monterey County Office of Education’s Teacher Induction Program and taught English in Salinas, California for 13 years.  Dr. Gutierrez holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Arts in World and Comparative Literature from San Francisco State University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Bridging the Community College Divide: Developing Homegrown Educators in Salinas.

Jeanine Hawk is Interim Vice-President, Administrative Services for the Napa Valley Community College District. Dr. Hawk previously served as the Vice-Chancellor, Administrative Services for the San Jose Evergreen Community College District and has held executive positions at De Anza College and Santa Monica College. Her first career was in the electronics industry but later transferred to public education in search of more rewarding work.  Dr. Hawk's interest is in providing holistic leadership in a higher education setting, removing organizational silos and developing a dynamic team approach to management and her research interest is in understanding the connections between resource allocation and student success at the micro level.

Dr. Hawk holds a B.A. in Social Science from University of California, Irvine and an M.B.A. from Southern Oregon University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Show Me The Money: Investment in Equitable outcomes for California Community College Students.

Carol Hill is an educational consultant and was previously the Director of Community Schools for Burton High School. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Putting the Community in Community Schools.

Armineh Noravian is the Coordinator of Institutional Effectiveness at Gateway Community College in Arizona. Before moving to Arizona, Dr. Noravian was an adjunct faculty member at San Francisco State University teaching Engineering courses as well as the Program Coordinator and developer of the new Metro Academy of Engineering. Before coming to San Francisco State University, Dr. Noravian worked in the high-tech industry for over 20 years in various roles. As an engineer she has been involved in design and development, management, and business. After earning her degree in Anthropology, she became involved in community development and worked with high school students in special internship projects outside of the school. She has also taught at various times in her career.  Dr. Noravian's academic and research interests include identity development in educational settings, critical thinking, the use of technology to improve access to education, STEM education, and effective practices to support student success.

Dr. Noravian holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sydney, a Master of Science in Engineering and Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology (Cultural) from San José State University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Building Technical Capital Among Community College students in Advanced Technological Education.

Avani Patel is a Local Portfolio Director for the Peery Foundation. Before joining Peery Fondation, she served as the Academic Dean for Costaño School and the 49ers Academy in East Palo Alto.  Dr. Patel began her career in education straight out of college when she joined Teach for America teaching 6th grade summer school in Watts in Southern California. She has taught middle school in East Palo Alto and in East San Jose before returning to Ravenswood in East Palo Alto to serve as the district's Math Coordinator.

Dr. Patel holds a B.A. in Sociology and African & African American Studies with a minor in Political Science. She holds a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and M.A. in Education from Alliant International University. Avani received her doctorate for her dissertation titled An Evaluation Study of Ravenswood's Youth Transitioning To and Through High School.

Carissa Purnell is the Director of the Alisal Family Resource Center (AFRC).  She works for the Alisal Union School District to address socioeconomic factors that impact students and families outside the classrom, so their capacity to learn and grow in the classroom increases.  Dr. Purnell's work with AFRC is broad, including MediCal support to teaching English and women's support groups.  She writes, "For a program like SFSU's Ed.D. model that prides iteself on social justice in education, AFRC is truly a place where that lives." Dr. Purnell is also a lecturer at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Before heading up AFRC, Dr. Purnell was the Youth and Technology Librarian for the City of Salinas Library and Community Services Department and coordinated the development and implementation of culture, justice, art, technology, and literacy-based programs for youth and young adults throughout the Salinas community.

Dr. Purnell holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a MLIS in Library Science, Information Architecture and Systems Design from San José State University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Amor Sin Condiciones: The Impact of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy on Latin@ Students.

Kelvin Quan is the Chief Executive Officer for the Mayview Community Health Center in Palo Alto.  He has held a variety of executive roles including the Chief Administrative Officer at On Lok, and was the Associate Dean and CAO at U.C. Berkeley's School of Public Health. Previously, Dr. Quan was a health care executive, CFO and lawyer at several Bay Area health plans & hospitals. He has been published and active in research and advocacy to eliminate disparities, especially related to language and cultural differences. He has also been active on numerous non-profit boards of directors in healthcare; community service; services for the elderly, youth and disabled; and historic preservation. Kelvin is a member of Region IX Health Equity Council and the California State Bar.

Dr. Quan holds a B.A. in Economics and History from Northwestern University, a Master of Public Health from University of California, Berkeley in Corporate Healthcare Management, and a J.D. from University of California Hastings. He received his doctorate for his dissertation titled Academic Journeys of Chinese American High School Girls and Their Immigrant Parents.

Marla Williams is a Financial Services Director for Oakland Unified School District. She has over 20 years of educational finance administration—15 with the University of California, Berkeley and subsequent years with the Oakland School District where she current serves a key leadership role in central operations.

Her research interest is addressing budgeting practices for programmatic structures in support of continuation schools at her institution.

Ms. Williams holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Public Administration from California State University, East Bay.

Rebecca Wong is the Title III Grant Coordinator and a faculty member in the Mathematics Department at West Valley College in Saratoga, California. In addition Dr. Wong is a facilitator/coach for the RP Group’s Leading from the Middle professional development initiative and is active in promoting reform in statistics education.

Dr. Wong holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Science in Teaching Mathematics from Santa Clara University. SHe received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Factors Promoting the Adoption of Acceleration Among Community College Mathematics Faculty.