LaShawn Routé Chatmon, Executive Director
Prior to becoming Executive Director of BayCES in July 2007, LaShawn served as the Director of our Oakland High School Redesign Initiative for seven years. A California native and recipient of public school education, LaShawn earned her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and her Masters in teaching from Brown University. With ten years of teaching experience, LaShawn has taught American and World History, Economics and African American and Ethnic Studies, most recently as a faculty member at Berkeley High School. While at Berkeley High, LaShawn served with Dr. Pedro Noguera as Co-Director of the Diversity Project, a research and education reform effort in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley. As BayCES' new Executive Director, LaShawn is leading our strategic planning and partnership efforts. She is married with three children, and she and her family reside in Oakland, CA.

Jamie Almanzán
Jamie joined BayCES in August 2008. He most recently held the position of Director of Learning and Teaching at Pacific Educational Group in San Francisco. Jamie is a skilled facilitator, teacher, curriculum developer and effective leader. Jamie has focused his career on working with school and district teams to create more equitable learning environments incorporating observation, collaboration, and changing instruction to best meet the needs of underserved student populations, particularly African American and Latino students. For a number of years Jamie has been involved in school reform initiatives that focus on systemic school change at all levels and has been responsible for development and facilitation of leadership seminars for state, regional and district across the country.

Cathy Basen
Cathy brings to BayCES over 30 years of educational experience, both as a classroom teacher and as a public school administrator. She has a B.A. from Ohio University and an M.S. in Public School Administration from California State University, East Bay. Throughout her career, her goal in schools has been to create opportunities for all students to succeed, particularly those students who are underserved. As a former teacher and principal, and as a community member, it is Cathy's passion to build partnerships and teams to effect positive change and transformation for our students.

Alicia Bowman
Alicia has over 14 years of education experience in Oakland and San Leandro, CA. She holds a B.A. from Mills College and an M.A. from Saint Mary's College of California. As an educator she has been a classroom teacher, instructional coach, principal and staff developer. She has done research work with the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative and the Western Assessment Collaborative as a Lead Principal. She has also been a member of Creating Equitable Bay Area Schools, a group of administrators working on issues of racial equity in our schools. Alicia cares deeply about school reform and is dedicated to finding ways to improve student achievement.

Stephen Chang
Before joining BayCES in 2006, Stephen was a school counselor at Berkeley High School, a BayCES partner school, where he served as head counselor and the counselor for three of the four small schools within Berkeley High: Communications Arts and Sciences (CAS), Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA), and School for Social Justice and Ecology (SSJE). In addition to school coaching, Stephen conducts workshops and provides support in school design, such as master schedule building and bell schedule design. Stephen earned his B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University and his M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Before entering education, he was a manager and small business owner in the Health and Wellness industry.

Debra Coggins
Debra joined BayCES after 11 years as a mathematics education consultant and professional development provider, 10 years as a mathematics teacher, and 8 years as an elementary teacher. Debra holds a B.A from U.C. Berkeley, and an M.A. with a focus on serving districts and organizations as a math specialist. She has co-authored a book on the topic of strategies for teaching math to English language learners, and also one for teachers on key math concepts. As a coach, she has worked in the Oakland and West Contra Costa Unified School Districts.

Colm Davis
Prior to joining BayCES in 2004, Colm worked as the Fellow Advisor for the New York City Teaching Fellows, developing curricula for the Fellows program and teaching a graduate course on curriculum planning and teaching practice. Colm taught History and English for seven years at Satellite High School in New York City. Colm received his B.A. from Carleton College and his M.A. in English Education from New York University.

Jessica Gammell
Jessica joined the BayCES staff in July 2008 after teaching, coaching, and leading in Bay Area public schools for 17 years. A former math teacher at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo and Leadership High School in San Francisco, Jessica deepened her interest in the impact of school systems on student success as Dean of Students at LHS. She has also led professional development in data-based inquiry and Critical Friends Groups with the San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools. Jessica earned her B.A. in Mathematics from UC Santa Barbara and her teaching credential from CSU Hayward.

Zaretta Hammond
Zaretta Hammond returned to BayCES in July 2008 as Instructional Coordinator of the Impact 2012 Initiative, having previously worked at BayCES as our professional development specialist. She has provided professional development to hundreds of educators on improving instruction to accelerate learning to close the achievement gap for African American and Latino students. Zaretta has also written extensively about these issues over the past six years. Before returning to BayCES, Zaretta was the chief executive officer of Community Solutions Network, Inc., where she also directed the organization's Community Literacy Initiative, which trained volunteer reading tutors. Zaretta has also worked as an evaluation consultant with InSites since the early 1990s. Her other areas of expertise include qualitative evaluation of school reform initiatives, teacher change initiatives, and collaborative partnerships. Zaretta has taught writing at the high school and community college levels. She holds an M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction in secondary English Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a B.A. from New York University in English Literature.

Tom Malarkey
Tom has worked with BayCES since 1996 and specializes in equity-centered inquiry practice with teachers, teams, and whole schools. For the last twenty years, he has focused his work on urban schools, teachers, and students. He has taught high school English and first grade, and was the director of the Summerbridge Program in San Francisco, an academic enrichment program for middle school students. Tom holds an M.A. in international development education from Stanford University and is currently finishing his Ph.D. in Education at UC Berkeley, focusing on the dynamics of collaborative teacher inquiry and its relationship to equity and urban school change. Tom is BayCES' Impact 2012 Project Director.

Leslie Plettner
Leslie has over 10 years of experience in education working in urban districts and focusing on curriculum development and frameworks. Now a Senior Coach, Leslie has worked with BayCES since 2002. Prior to joining the organization, she worked at Berkeley High as a Small School Teacher and Director focusing her work on curriculum development, teacher research and community development. Leslie has also taught ELL English at the middle school level and has extensive experience as a trainer, coach and facilitator in teacher evaluation. Leslie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Spanish from Macalester College and a Masters of Arts in Education and a Teaching Credential from Mills College.

Shane Safir
Shane Safir joined BayCES in July 2008. Prior to her work with BayCES, Shane worked as a school coach with Stanford's School Redesign Network where she led coaching efforts with June Jordan School for Equity and Envisions Public HS in Oakland. Shane was also the founder and co-principal of the June Jordan School for Equity. A former teacher at Life Academy in Oakland and Balboa High School in San Francisco, she has deep knowledge about critical pedagogy and is working on a book on signature pedagogies in small schools.

Mark Salinas
Mark has worked as a BayCES coach since 2002. Born and raised in San Francisco, Mark is a product of San Francisco public schools. He received his B.A. from San Francisco State University in African American Studies, as well as his Teaching Credential. Prior to working at BayCES, Mark directed and taught summer intervention programs for middle school students in New Orleans and San Rafael. He also taught high school Social Studies and Academic Literacy in both San Francisco and Hawaii. Mark has extensive experience coordinating interdisciplinary teacher teams, student activities, and youth leadership development. Mark is a proud parent of a two young boys, and a self-described "family guy".

Elizabeth Simons
Liz is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and taught high school history in New York City and Massachusetts before moving to California, where she attended UC Berkeley and received a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies. For several years she pursued research, directing the Minority Education Project for the late John Ogbu, professor at UC Berkeley. She then worked for six years as the High School English Teacher Coordinator for the University of California's Puente Project. More recently she edited a monograph series for the National Writing Project. She is the author of Student Worlds, Student Words: Teaching Writing Through Folklore (Heinemann, 1990) and, with Sarah Freedman, Julie Kalnin and the M-CLASS teachers, co-author of Inside City Schools: Investigating Literacy in Multicultural Classrooms (Teachers College Press, 1999).

Phil Tucher
Phil joined BayCES in July 2008. Phil has worked as a math educator for more than 20 years and most recently held positions in the San Lorenzo and Emery Unified School Districts as well as Mills College and as an Independent Educational Consultant. Phil has supported and coached many K-12 teachers, administrators and teams in a wide variety of contexts including math coach, site and district administrator, project director, program master teacher, department head and colleague.

Ken Yale
Ken has been a Bay Area educator for over twenty years and a school coach at BayCES since 2003. He has worked as a teacher and administrator at all levels from kindergarten through university, including 11 years as a high school principal and several years as the Assistant Director of the Service-Learning Research & Development Center at the Graduate School of Education, UC Berkeley. Ken has particular expertise in youth leadership development and alternative instructional strategies, including experiential learning, project-based learning, and multiple intelligences approaches. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University, an M.A. in Educational Administration from St. Mary's College, and California K-12 teaching and administrative credentials.

Administrative and Program Support Staff

Sara Brown, Development and Communications Associate
Prior to joining BayCES in 2006, Sara worked in fundraising for a social service agency in Connecticut. She has a deep commitment to racial and social justice and enjoys supporting BayCES' work for educational equity. Sara holds B.A. in American Studies from Trinity College.

Julia Chih, Manager of Finance and Operations
Julia joined BayCES in 2004 as part of the Oakland Unified School District Expect Success Redesign Team. Prior to BayCES, Julia worked in the California Governor's Office of Education to develop a $30 million program to increase access to challenging coursework for all high school students. She holds a B.A. in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Currently she is responsible for project management of finances, strategic planning, and operations.

Will Lerner, Program Assistant
Will joined BayCES in 2007. As Program Assistant, he researches topics in education, provides administrative support, videotapes classrooms, and occasionally writes articles and proposals. A graduate of Berkeley High School and Northwestern University, Will has worked as a reporter for various newspapers and a public relations coordinator for Amnesty International in San Francisco.

Natalie McBride, Administrative Manager
Prior to joining BayCES in 2005 as the Administrative Manager, Natalie worked in Administration and Human Resources at the nonprofit organization Community Resources for Independent Living in Hayward, California. Natalie continues her commitment to community involvement and working to improve conditions for underserved populations by supporting BayCES' mission. She holds a B.S. in Business from California State University, Hayward and is certified in Human Resources Management.

Rosie Papazian, Data Manager
Rosie graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Sociology. She then spent two years working with teachers, principals and school leaders in urban schools in the Bay Area with Partners in School Innovation, an AmeriCorps program. Interested in being involved with school reform at the policy level, she went to UCLA's School of Public Affairs where she received a Masters in Public Policy with a concentration in Education. She joined BayCES in 2003 to forge her commitment to educational equity with her skills in policy analysis, data management, and evaluation. She is a proud mother to her new baby girl, Issa Rain.

Fenny Widagdo, Controller
Fenny joined BayCES in 2004 as part of our Finance team. As Controller, Fenny maintains financial records. Previously Fenny worked at Zeum, a non-profit multimedia arts and technology museum in San Francisco.