“Having personally viewed Streetside in the classroom, I believe it is a wonderful program that brings not only knowledge, but joy and deep levels of engagement.”

— Susan Stauter, Artistic Director, San Francisco Unified School District

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Audrey Adams is a retired school teacher, who went back to school when her own children were in middle school to earn a BA and MA, with emphasis in Math Education, both from San Francisco State.  Audrey taught at James Denman Middle School in San Francisco for nearly 20 years, and has credentials in English, Social Sciences, Math and Science, all of which she has taught. She had an opportunity about 9 years ago to move into Language Arts, and was lucky enough to work with Streetside Stories during that first year.   Her proudest achievement recently was that she became a National Board Certified Teacher (Early Adolescence/Generalist) in 2002.   During retirement she looks forward to spending many hours traveling, gardening, reading, sleeping in late, working with the wonderful people of Streetside Stories, and waiting for grandchildren!

Colman Conroy has worked as a communications professional for both forprofit and nonprofit organizations including the youth focused firms Team-Up for Youth and Larkin Street Youth Services. Colman’s love of storytelling and his commitment to youth causes led him to become involved with Streetside Stories. He is a San Francisco native and holds a B.A. in English from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. He enjoys writing, chasing his one-year-old daughter, and playing catch with his five-year-old son.

Karen Donovan is an attorney specializing in natural resources and environmental law. She has extensive experience working with public agencies, particularly local water supply entities. Karen became involved with Streetside Stories because of her particular interest in the unique and demonstrably effective programs that Streetside has developed to promote literacy and build self in Bay Area youth. Karen attended public schools in Maryland and comes from a family where storytelling, writing, and the arts have always played a big role. She lives in San Francisco and holds a B.A. in English and History, a J.D., and an LL.M. in environmental law.

Varun Gupta is a software engineer in the Research and Development department of Salesforce.com, a company that has pioneered corporate philanthropy in the United States. Varun has been involved with Streetside stories as a volunteer ever since he joined Salesforce.com in 2007 and has a great passion for programs that allow students to explore creative channels to express themselves. Varun completed his Masters from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 and believes that every student should have access to quality education. In his spare time, Varun is a flying enthusiast and holds a private pilot license and is also an amateur photographer.

Wil Houston was raised in Georgia, Wil Houston graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in advertising. He holds a graduate degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  He currently works as a Cardiovascular Specialty Representative for Merck & Company.  Besides his board service with Streetside, he has mentored youth with the YMCA and Back on Track.  In his spare time, he enjoys reading, traveling, cooking and writing poetry.

Diana Lee Chair is a project manager at Oakland Unified School District, a Broad Resident in Urban Education (http://broadresidency.org) and also serves on the board of One Acre Fund (http://oneacrefund.org/). Previously, Diana was a public relations manager at Yahoo! Inc. developing communication strategies for the executive leadership team and the Search group. Diana also worked as a strategy consultant for ACE Public School Network, and is also a former co-director of Locus Arts, an all-volunteer nonprofit committed to promoting community through the arts. Diana holds a B.A. in Communications with a specialization in Business Administration from UCLA, and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is a proud graduate of the public school system and has always had a passion for writing and the arts. Her greatest inspiration has been her parents, who taught her the power of voice, education and in serving others.

Tanya Clark Marston is currently pursuing her MBA at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and has interned with Wells Fargo in their Small Business Segment.  Prior to business school Tanya was Program Coordinator at the San Francisco Foundation. Her love of reading and belief in the power of expression through storytelling attracted her to Streetside. Prior to her work in philanthropy, Tanya was the Assistant Director of Extended Education at California College of the Arts, where she implemented arts education programming for children and adults. She graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, with a degree in American Studies. She lives in North Beach and spends her free time at the farmers market, hosting wine clubs and practicing yoga.

Jon Narong is a web analyst at Apple and is very involved in the world of online marketing. Previously Jon managed analytics for Six Apart, a large independent blog service and social network provider. Jon is very passionate about open communication, blogging and the power of sharing one's story. Jon was born in San Francisco and holds a B.A. in Sociology from UCLA.

Linda Nguyen When Linda learned about Streetside Stories and its mission she admired and adored the programs because they combine the arts and literacy in order to promote access and equity for public school students. She has taught elementary school in urban public schools, and math, literacy, Japanese and Spanish through community-based organizations. As a program evaluator of school programs, Linda extends her passion for education program evaluation through volunteer efforts for NGOs in Vietnam, Tanzania and Latin American countries. Linda enjoys hiking, books, eateries, learning how to dance, playing the viola and being an aunt.

Alex Pugh is an associate attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LP and works in the real estate and business transactions group. Alex received his law degree from Columbia University Law School in 2005 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in 1999, where he majored in Economics. Prior to law school Mr. Pugh worked as a Program Manager for Microsoft Corporation in San Francisco. During his summers in college Alex worked as a camp counselor at multiple summer camps and schools.

Leilani Sanchez was born in Augsburg, Germany. She’s lived in San Francisco for over 20 years. Having attended Bryant Elementary, James Denman Middle School, and Balboa High School in San Francisco as a child, she fully supports Streetside Stories’ commitment in providing role models and after school programs for these schools and other schools in San Francisco. Leilani has a BA in Legal Studies and Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. From 1999-2007 she worked at CIBC World Markets in their Institutional Equity Sales Department. As a Director of Sales, her responsibilities entailed developing and managing client relationships by communicating information on equity research products,  qualitative and quantitative analysis, and equity offerings. Upon leaving CIBC World Markets, she transitioned her career from Finance/Investment Banking to Technology and is currently working at Kontera Technologies. As a Business Development Manager, she provides online advertising solutions to bridge the needs of advertisers and publishers through strategic negotiations, revenue projections, competitive analysis, and online branding & creative testing. She has many interests and hobbies, but her favorites include traveling, staying fit, following current events, and cooking.

Ken Tse, Treasurer is an accountant at the UCSF Pediatrics department. Ken grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown and attended public schools in San Francisco. Arts and education programs helped Ken acclimate to a new country and a new culture. As an immigrant, Ken is drawn to Streetside’s programs, which serve many kids for whom English is also a second language. He holds a degree in Managerial Economics from UC Davis. Ken also serves on the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Park Tennis Club. His interests include reading and travel.

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