Cohort 7

Trisha Gonzales-Waters serves as an elementary school teacher in the Antioch Unified School District where she has taught grades kindergarten through fourth for the past eight years. She has previous experience teaching in the Pittsburg Unified School District where she taught grades kindergarten through third for seven years. Prior experience includes teaching preschool for the City of South San Francisco and working at the Jefferson Unified School District’s Childcare Program. Dr. Gonzales-Waters works to help implement programs and design curriculum that will cater to low socioeconomically disadvantaged students and those with emotional and/or psychological needs, programs that combine teaching academics with life counseling to students who need support with getting on track with their education due to life circumstances, such as abuse, pregnancy, incarceration.

Dr. Gonzales-Waters earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies, a Multiple-Subject Teaching Credential with an Emphasis in Elementary Education, and a Master’s in Education ifrom San Francisco State University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Therapeutic Classrooms as Social Emotional and Academic Refuge: A Teacher Research Study.

Julie Jang serves as a school psychologist at Milpitas High School in Milpitas, California. Her research interests include educational policy in California, social equity, mental health services in schools, academic standards and educational assessment, and special education. Dr. Jang holds a Bachelors of Arts in Child and Adolescent Development and a Masters of Science in School Psychology from San Francisco State University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Special Education Transition: Preparing Students with Learning Disabilities for Post-Secondary Education.

Clyde H. Lewis Jr. is the Diaspora Program Manager at Skyline College. Before that, Clyde was the Proposals Coordinator for the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley National Lab, located in Berkeley, CA. In addition to his current post, he is assisting the labs efforts to enhance workplace diversity. Prior to his current post, Clyde spent several years in Japan and Hawaii teaching, mentoring, coaching and consulting. His research interests include student access, development, matriculation and graduation patterns. He holds a BA in Ethnic Studies and MEd. in Educational Administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Lillian Marrujo-Duck is the Dean of Instruction at City College of San Francisco. Her research interests include the history of women in the United States, especially Latinas, and the impact of coursework and textbook content on student engagement. Her Master's Thesis in History focused on the impact of Latina participation in the Watsonville Cannery Strike of 1985.

She holds a BA and MA in history from San Jose State University. Lillian earned her doctorate for her dissertation titled Talking Ourselves into Outcomes: Teaching, Learning, and Equity in California Community Colleges.

Billy Martin has served as a 5th grade teacher at Daves Avenue Elementary School in Los Gatos for the past six years. He has been involved in technology integration as a member of his district’s Technology Action Team. Billy has served as a grade level coordinator during his district’s most recent mathematics curriculum adoption and developed the district pacing guide for grade level math. Additionally, he served as a member of his school campus Facilitators, supporting the site principal in decision-making and policy implementation. Most recently, he worked a member of the district’s Teacher Leader program working to implement the transition to Common Core Standards. Billy’s research interests include the use of technology as a mode to instruction to improve equity and access for special education students, the use of STEM in elementary school, as well as the use of Number Talks as a method to improve computational fluency among special education students in mathematics.

Dr. Martin holds a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College, a member of the University of the State of New York as well as a Masters of Education majoring in Cross-Cultural Teaching from National University. He received his doctorate for his dissertation titled A Case Study Investigation of Practices and Beliefs of Teachers at a STEM-Focused Elementary School.

Angela Meeker is the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for Santa Cruz City Schools. Prior to this position, she was principal at DeLaveaga Elementary and Branciforte Middle Schools. Angela began her work in education as a bilingual social studies teacher at Watsonville high school, working closely with migrant students and their families. She volunteers with Senderos, a multi-cultural non-profit organization that provides cultural connection for Latino families through dance, music and academic support.

Angela received her doctorate for her dissertation titled "Just Showing Our Culture": Latino/a Students Constructing Counter-Stories Through Baile Folklórico.

Mignon Page-Broughton serves as a Deputy Probation Officer in San Mateo County. She currently provides intensive case management to youth with significant pathology and family issues. She has twenty years of family service experience and continues to focus on the entire family through the life span. Her research interests include higher education accessibility, educational motivation among adolescents, and psychosocial factors related to juvenile delinquency and education. She holds a BA in Child and Adolescent Development from San Francisco State University and a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University.

Joshua Pong has served as a private school teacher based in San Leandro/Alameda for three years, and a substitute teacher operating in Pacifica before that. During teaching and long before, he has spent many years in Texas and San Diego heavily involved in leadership training, mentoring, and coaching for his local churches and fellowships. His research interests are focused on the idea of mentoring within the educational system, ranging from student access to mentors through to incentivizing and development of mentors. He holds a B.S. in Biology (General) from University California San Diego and an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Holly Royaltey serves as AVID and Social Studies teacher at Del Mar High School in the Campbell Union High School District. She serves as AVID coordinator and Social Science department chair for Del Mar High School. Dr. Royaltey has led equity and diversity workshops for the National Coalition Building Institute, and has led professional development for teachers in the areas of grading practices and equity, formative assessment, and AVID methodologies. She has been teaching 10 years. Her research interests include: issues of college access and success for historically underrepresented groups, as well as, postsecondary success for first generation college students. She is also interested in issues of equity in high schools related to rigor, grading practices, and preparation for university success.

Dr. Royaltey holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from UC Santa Barbara, a Master of Arts in Education and Single Subject Teaching Credential at UC Santa Cruz. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titlte Level Up: Dual Enrollment in AVID and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs.

Valerie Royaltey-Quandt is now the Director of Student Services, Assessment and Accountability for Campbell Union High School District. She served for five years as the Principal of Mission Hill Middle School in Santa Cruz, and also as the principal for Lexington Elementary International Baccalaureate School in Los Gatos, giving her experience K-12 in educational leadership. For three years before becoming a principal, she was an assistant principal at Mission Hill Middle School and Watsonville High School. Before becoming a school administrator, Dr. Royaltey-Quandt was the International Baccalaureate Diploma Coordinator for Scotts Valley High School, as well as an AVID Coordinator, EL Designee, and Secondary Advisor for Migrant Education for Monterey County Office of Education. She taught Spanish and the core International Baccalaureate course, Theory of Knowledge. She has been active as a trainer for the National Coalition Building Institute, and has written advisory curriculum focusing on the social emotional needs of middle school students.

Dr. Royaltey-Quandt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from U.C. Santa Cruz , a Bilingual Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and a Master of Arts and Administrative Credential from San Jose State University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Preparing Educational Leaders for Queer Inclusion in Schools.

Supinda Sirihekaphong serves as Project Director for International Support Services at Cañada College. She assists international students by helping them adjust to a new environment both inside and outside of the classroom. Previously, Dr. Sirihekaphong was an International Student Advisor at The New School in New York and the Assistant Director, International Services at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA. Her research interests are in team dynamics and how competitiveness and collaboration effects organizational development and student learning outcomes. Supinda’s formative education is within the NYC public schools and Ruamrudee International School in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Sirihekaphong earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Bond University in the Gold Coast, Australia and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from The New School in New York. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Resurfacing Race: Recruitment and Retention of Faculty in California Community Colleges.

Maia Steward is a Biology teacher at Irvington High School in Fremont, Ca. She has taught 6th-12th grade Science, Drama, and Math over the past 14 years. Dr. Steward is also involved in a variety of site-level interventions for at-risk youth. She sits on the committee for Common Core implementation, and has been a BTSA mentor for five teacher candidates in Science. Her research interests include teacher training and successful implementation of professional development, especially in the area of critical thinking.

Dr. Steward holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies of Anthropology and Theatre from Bates College and a master'sdegree in Multicultural Education from National University. She received her doctorate for her dissertation titled Collective Critical Conversations: Addressing Equity in Teacher Induction Programs.

Timothy Weekes serves as a high-school math teacher in the Bay Area for the last six years. His research interests are related to improving the academic performance of under-represented groups and finding strategies to help close the achievement gap which can implemented as part of a large scale reform effort. Prior to pursuing a career in education, he worked as a systems analyst and corporate financial planning manager for two Fortune 500 companies.

Dr. Weekes earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Farleigh Dickinson University, and an MBA from Penn State University. He also received his teaching credential and an M.A. in Secondary Education from San Francisco State University. He received his doctorate for his dissertation titled Characteristics of High-Performing California Charter Schools Serving Low-Income Minority Students.