Team

Sarah Mummah Executive Director and Founder

sarah@dreamcatchersyouth.org

 

Sarah founded DreamCatchers in 2008 while a student at Stanford University. The following year, Sarah and DreamCatchers were recognized by the City of Palo Alto with a Community Star Award for Outstanding Public Service, as well as by the Stanford Bingham Fund for Student Innovation. In 2010, she was invited to present her work with DreamCatchers at Stanford’s Leading Matters Bay Area Conference and at the Leadership Luncheon hosted by Cap and Gown, Stanford’s Honor Society for Women Leaders. After leading DreamCatchers for three years as a full-time student, Sarah now dedicates full-time work to leading and growing our organization.

Sarah graduated with Honors from Stanford University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology and a self-designed concentration in Addressing Health and Education Inequities through Social Entrepreneurship. She conducted her Senior Honors Thesis in the Stanford School of Medicine’s Prevention Research Center, serving as Lead Author on the peer-reviewed research publication. Sarah also served as a student panelist and planning committee member for Stanford University’s first Food Summit in 2010. Upon graduating, Sarah was awarded a Fulbright Grant to conduct research in Oaxaca, Mexico on obesity prevention and eating behavior change efforts, where she developed tailored recommendations for a health behavior change community intervention.

 

Carlos Guzman Academic Program Director

Prior to joining DreamCatchers in 2009, Carlos gained experience leading teams and afterschool enrichment programs. During his junior year of high school, Carlos founded the Academic Community & Cultural Enrichment Program for Triumph (A.C.C.E.P.T.), a program grounded in his passions for education, public service, and cultural awareness. Carlos continues to work extensively to further the development of the program and hopes to establish the group into a national nonprofit that promotes higher education, community service, and cultural enrichment.

As a native Spanish speaker and first generation college student, Carlos can relate to the demographic of students and families that DreamCatchers serves. As a former tutor and tutee himself, he also understands how crucial it is to instill a sense of excitement for learning in young students. Carlos is currently a senior at Stanford University and is pursuing a degree in Political Science and a minor in Education. He will also pursue a Masters in Education & Social Science Teaching Credential through the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP).

 

Genevieve Tuveson Healthy Behaviors Program Director

Genevieve has been a part of a tutoring and mentorship program for underprivileged kids in East Palo Alto since her freshman year, and has also been able to work internationally teaching middle school and high school students in India and volunteering with students during her time abroad in France. In India, she helped set up a program designed to inform students about the possibilities of college in the U.S. She is also currently working toward making Project Dosti a 501c3 non-profit, sending students abroad to educate orphaned and vulnerable school children.

Majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Child Development and Health Disparities Among Children, Genevieve is interested in exploring the intersection of health and education. This past summer she served as a mentor for a high school summer program at Stanford University. Through her coursework at Stanford, Genevieve has continued to study adolescent development and education and has recently become passionate about the relationship between food nutrition and education. She hopes that the DreamCatchers program will allow her to explore this new interest, and she is excited to begin working with the DreamCatchers team.

 

Kelly Donovan Finance Director

In 2008, Kelly graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accountancy and Anthropology. Following graduation, Kelly worked as a tax accountant at Ernst and Young, LLP and as the head accountant at The Lakes at El Segundo Golf Course. In 2010, she returned to school and enrolled in the International Comparative Education masters program at the Stanford University School of Education. During the 2010 – 2011 academic year, Kelly served as a tutor and as the Community Relations Director for DreamCatchers.  She graduated with her Masters of Education in August of 2011 and is currently working at AssuredRelocation in Menlo Park, CA.

During prior years working with DreamCatchers, Kelly enjoyed the personalized tutoring and mentoring experience and hopes to continue bonding with our DreamCatchers students, tutors, and staff. DreamCatchers provides an invaluable service to its students as well as unique opportunities for its tutors and staff members. This year is an exciting time for DreamCatchers, and she is honored to be a part of it.

 

Rashmi Sharma Outreach and Recruitment Director

Rashmi tutored students in the Middle School Writing Center program at her high school, which focused on giving students with promise in writing an extra edge in writing papers, poems, and short stories. She also volunteered for four years at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers), an organization that focuses on reusing donated bulk items from companies to make fun, educational, and low-cost project kits for public school teachers to use in their classrooms. Her interest in education stemmed mainly from these two experiences, and DreamCatchers piqued that interest when she came to Stanford. Rashmi also became interested in managing the publicity of various organizations in high school, and wanted to put this experience to use in DreamCatchers. As an officer in three clubs in high school, she raised awareness about the events they organized, coordinated with the school newspaper and photographer to get coverage of the events, and periodically reached out to the student body for recruitment. Rashmi joined DreamCatchers to both foster her interest in education in California and apply the skills she gained in high school.

 

Peggy Moriarty Development Director

Peggy first joined DreamCatchers as a Tutor in 2010 and had the opportunity to see first-hand how much of a difference she and the organization made for the community. This experience and her time spent working with her tutee inspired her to become more involved with nonprofit organizations. In the summer of 2011, Peggy interned with the development team at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, helping plan events and identify potential new donors. Through this internship, Peggy gained exposure to the multiple aspects of operating a nonprofit organization and looks forward to bringing this experience to DreamCatchers.

 

 

Jennifer Kuang Communications Director

This is Jennifer Kuang’s second year working with DreamCatchers. Last year, she served as a Tutor as well as a Public Relations and Outreach officer. This year, as Communications Director, she specifically deals with DreamCatchers’ social media, website content as well as quarterly newsletters and other marketing materials. From her experience growing up in Richmond, California, she is very passionate about present-day issues in education. She has worked with kids and young adults since high school and is excited to continue to do so through DreamCatchers in college. She is currently a junior studying Psychology and East Asian Studies at Stanford.

Amado Padilla, PhD

Amado is currently a Professor of Psychological Studies in Education at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of New Mexico and has taught at the State University of New York at Postdam, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, and Stanford University. He has written extensively on a wide variety of topics with approximately 180 journal articles and book chapters. In addition to the numerous honors he has received, he holds Fellow status in the American Psychological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Amado has always tried to combine his academic interests with local school and community service. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Palo Alto Unified School District and served a four-year term. Over the years, he has also served on numerous local, regional, and national boards dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth.

 

Kara Rosenberg, EdD

Kara has been principal of the Palo Alto Adult School since 2000. She has been passionate about educating immigrant children and adults since she began teaching in 1970. She earned her doctorate in educational leadership in 2010. She is proud to be affiliated with DreamCatchers, which strives to help students be academically successful.

Kate Young Palo Alto Housing Corporation

As Director of Resident Services, Kate oversees Palo Alto Housing Corporation’s family, senior and SRO resident services programs, which provide one-on-one support, community resource connections, and educational programming to foster stable housing and empower residents to build self-sufficiency. Kate holds a B.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Puget Sound, a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language from Seattle University and completed master’s coursework in Intercultural Relations from the School for International Training. She has nine years of experience in social service program design and delivery and four years experience teaching English as a Second Language, including living and teaching in Japan for two years. Kate is a member of the advisory board for the Palo Alto Adult School and was named a “Local Hero” in 2011 by the MidPeninsula Media Center.

 

Carol Zepecki, EdD Palo Alto Unified School District

Carol recently retired from her position as Director of Student Services for the Palo Alto Unified School District. She has been involved in education for over 40 years at every level from preschool to college. Carol holds a Doctorate in Educational Policy from the University of Southern California. She currently resides in Morgan Hill and has five grandchildren attending school in Santa Clara County.

 

 

 

Bobby Cupp, MEd

Bobby teaches World History at Summit Preparatory Charter High School in Redwood City. Bobby received his B.A. in American Studies at UC Berkeley (Go Bears!) and his M.Ed. at Stanford. Before teaching, he worked with Breakthrough Collaborative, helping under-served middle schoolers to be more prepared for high school and bringing college students to their first teaching experiences. Bobby’s longtime goal has been to level the playing field for all students, and to make sure that hard work and success are tied together.

 

Elliot Haspel, MEd

Elliot is the President of the Education Success Network (ESN), a non-profit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap at scale through spreading best practices.  He leads ESN’s main product, a free professional development service for teachers called Best Practices Weekly which bridges the gap between research and practice by summarizing education research into a useable format.  A former 4th grade teacher in Phoenix, Az. through the Teach For America program, Elliot has extensive knowledge of both the practical side of teaching as well as the research landscape. After his time in the classroom, Elliot attended Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, where he received a M.Ed. in Education Policy & Management. Elliot most recently served for two years as a Manager of Teacher Leadership Development for Teach For America’s San Francisco Bay Area region, where he supported cohorts of 25+ first and second year teachers. In addition, Elliot previously trained incoming Teach For America teachers at the TFA training institute in Phoenix. Elliot holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

 

Daniel Stringer

Before joining DreamCatchers in 2009 as the Evaluation Director, Daniel worked in a variety of public service roles in the Silicon Valley area. He has acted as a curriculum developer for Shelter Network, a local organization providing transitional housing for families, and as a volunteer for East Palo Alto’s Boys and Girls Club. In addition, Daniel has done post-Katrina redevelopment in Louisiana and Mississippi, and marketing and customer support work with Google, Inc.

Daniel is a fifth-year PhD student at the Stanford University School of Education, where he studies the role of culture, identity, and technology in education. Daniel graduated from Stanford in 2006 with a B.S. degree in Science, Technology, and Society with Honors, and a Minor in Arab and Middle Eastern studies.

 

 

Amira Anuar Stanford University Major: English Year: Senior

Before becoming a part of DreamCatchers, Amira spent many years tutoring and working with underprivileged primary school children through programs such as Stanford’s MathMagic tutoring program in East Palo Alto and the Americorps Jumpstart program. She has conducted extensive research on the importance of self-regulation in early childhood and interned at a national non-profit called Raising A Reader, which works to engage parents and children in daily routines of “book cuddling” to foster healthy brain development and early literacy skills critical for academic success. Amira has come to DreamCatchers with these same interests in mind and is excited to apply her knowledge and experience to an older age group.

Amira is a Senior at Stanford University majoring in English and minoring in Education, and she will soon be beginning the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) to become a middle school English teacher.

 

Cynthia Huynh Stanford University Major: Psychology Year: Senior

Cynthia first joined DreamCatchers in 2009 as a Tutor and returned in 2010 to serve as an Assistant Site Director. She is interested in education, emotional health, public policy and the arts, and she plans to enter the fields of youth development and law. Cynthia has served as the Cultural, Social and Public Service chairs as well as the Frosh Intern Coordinator for the Stanford Vietnamese Student Association (SVSA), a 2010 Teaching Fellow for the Stanford Psychology department, and the Health Educator through Arts summer intern for the Mural Music Arts Program in East Palo Alto. During her third year with DreamCatchers as a Site Director, Cynthia hopes to inspire the entire DreamCatchers community to become strong, healthy role models through understanding the power of passion, perseverance and self-respect.

 

Fairley Nickerson Stanford University Major: Chinese Language and Culture Year: Senior

Before joining DreamCatchers, Fairley worked with The Hotchkiss School’s Middle School Mentoring Program where she tutored middle school students in math. She also acted as the organizer of The Hotchkiss School’s Peer Math Tutoring Program, and participated as a tutor. With her dedication to education and her aspiration to become a high school teacher and ultimately an education administrator, Fairley has joined DreamCatchers to share her love of teaching and learning with Palo Alto’s students. Fairley is currently a senior at Stanford University majoring in East Asian Languages and Cultures, with a specification in Chinese, and is planning to teach English in China after graduation.

 

Norma Pantoja UC Berkeley BS, Microbial Biology ’10

Norma’s interest in working with kids in an academic setting started while volunteering for seven consecutive summers at Fiesta Gardens International Elementary School (FGIS). While at FGIS, she thoroughly enjoyed aiding the teachers, talking with the parents, but most importantly, building a mentor-like bond with the kids, which to this day still remains. What began as a simple volunteering activity, turned into a passion and desire to help kids thrive and succeed at school. During college, she tutored at Willard Middle School where along with other tutors, she would prepare short science lectures that were followed by hands-on science experiments. Norma joined DreamCatchers because she, too, believes that kids are capable of doing anything they set their minds to, and her job is to simply offer them guidance through the process. As cliché as it sounds, kids are the future. Better start working.

Edgar Velasco Stanford University Major: Math and Computer Science Year: Sophomore

Before joining DreamCatchers, Edgar spent 4 years volunteering at the Foster Homes program in Santa Barbara which gave preschool and elementary school children at a foster home the chance to socialize while doing arts and crafts. In addition, he has worked at the Santa Ana public library as a program coordinator for a summer reading program to increase the reading habits of minority students grades K-12. Edgar has been a tutor in both physics and math for high school students by coordinating programs such as PhysicsLab andMathLab in Carpinteria, CA.

As a first generation Chicano student, Edgar is interested in helping more underserved students receive higher education, and making palpable the benefits of academic autonomy. He decided to join DreamCatchers because of the wonderful resources he received in middle school — resources that, in retrospect, allowed his academic growth to take off on its own. Ultimately, it is Edgar’s hope that we begin to make higher education a reachable goal in the minds of underserved middle school students.

 

Ari Wee Stanford University Major: Materials Science and Engineering Year: Senior

Ari is a senior majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. Prior to Stanford, she served as a coordinator and student tutor in math and science for her high school in Dallas, TX. Before joining DreamCatchers, she was a tutor for Science in Service, a Stanford-based group that tutors middle school students in East Palo Alto in the sciences. Ari joined DreamCatchers because of the mentorship philosophy of the organization. For, as a person who has admittedly vacillated between apathy and distaste for school as a middle schooler, Ari joined DreamCatchers because of the invaluable relationships and mentors she had as a teenager. She admits she probably would not be at Stanford, not for lack of academic preparation, but rather, for lack of direction. It was from the help of her mentors in middle school and high school that education and the world it opened up became a reality. Even if she does not end up going into education as a career, Ari hopes to continue to try to do for others what her mentors did for her.

Patricia Eng University of San Diego BA, International Relations ’09

Patricia graduated in 2009 from the University of San Diego, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations. During this time, she spent a summer abroad studying in Guadalajara, Mexico where she gained a new perspective on public education and became interested in improving the large discrepancy between public and private education in both the U.S. and Mexico. Prior to joining DreamCatchers, Patricia volunteered for Turning the Hearts Center of San Diego where she engaged in programs enriching youth leadership and family enhancement services, such as Gang Awareness through Mentoring and Education. As part of her university curriculum she was also able to participate in a Juvenile Hall program that mentored teenagers and helped them cope with the severity of their situation.

Although born and raised in the U.S., Patricia’s Mexican heritage has influenced her greatly, and she decided to join DreamCatchers for the opportunity to engage with youth of a similar background. Patricia has joined the team as a Site Director with the Healthy Behaviors Program, with the goal of positively influencing the nutrition and health of students and their families.

 

Efrosini Proios UC Berkeley BA, Molecular and Cell Biology ’11

Efrosini has more than 10 years of experience volunteering in the community: fundraising for worthy causes, providing aid in hospitals and patients, and organizing activities for children with autism. In the past she has worked as a language and science teacher and tutor and as a summer camp leader. Efrosini has served as a Toastmaster for the last 4 years, and she is passionate about improving communication and leadership skills through practice. In 2011, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. Efrosini’s passion at DreamCatchers is to build a bridge between science and everyday eating habits, by helping organize the Healthy Behaviors Program.

 

Louis Lagalante

Louis has always been interested in education, and when he arrived at Stanford immediately set about looking for a tutoring group to join. When he discovered DreamCatchers and realized that their educational philosophy went much deeper than simple once-a-week tutoring sessions, he jumped at the opportunity to participate and contribute in every way he could. With a talent for organizing people and a disposition toward working with a team, he felt confident choosing DreamCatchers as his first extracurricular activity and is excited to be a part of this growing and vibrant community.

 

Connie Huynh

Connie Huynh, a photographer for DreamCatchers, is currently a freshman at Stanford and enjoys getting involved with the community and spreading awareness for great programs. Aside from being a photographer for DreamCatchers, Connie is also Vice President of Administration for Stanford’s Circle K, a community service, leadership development, and friendship organization. Some of her interests include photography, fashion, and public service.

Karen Islas

Karen Islas, a designer for DreamCatchers’ Communications team is currently a freshman majoring in Communications at Stanford University. Aside from participating in Dreamcatchers, she is also a tutor for EPATT (East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring) and a freshman intern designer for the Stanford Student Store. She has also worked as an intern on the development team at Taller San Jose, a nonprofit located in Orange County. Some of her interests include designing, photography, and writing.

Meredith Marks

Meredith Marks, currently a freshman at Stanford, is the Social Media Manager of the DreamCatchers Communications team. She loves both technology and public service, and is especially passionate about combining the two. She is currently a section leader for the introductory Computer Science classes at Stanford and enjoys introducing people to the exciting field. Some of Meredith’s other interests include playing the drums, exploring the beauty of nature, and traveling the world.

Kim Saloner is excited to be a new member of the DreamCatchers’ Healthy Behaviors team. As a senior at Stanford majoring in Psychology, she sees DreamCatchers as the perfect opportunity to combine her interests with healthy living and motivating young people to make good choices. She’s eager to combine past experiences of tutoring and mentoring in East Palo Alto with the opportunity to give children information about what healthy habits they can start now to ensure that they lead healthy lives.

Marika is a Stanford University freshman from Pendleton, Oregon. She is very interested in the intersection of food and the environment and believes it is important that every one be exposed to information that will help them lead a healthier life. As a part of the Healthy Behaviors Team, she hopes to spread my enthusiasm for delicious, wholesome, and sustainable food to local children and their families.

Kelly Schindler

Kelly Schindler is currently a sophomore majoring in mathematics and minoring in education and Italian. She loves planning events and seeing everyone enjoy them. She organized several activities in high school and is now involved with tutoring in college. She is very excited to be working with DreamCatchers as Event Coordinator and to be able to help provide participants with an amazing experience!

 

 

Jacqueline Tao

Jacqueline Tao is a member of the Outreach and Recruitment team of DreamCatchers, and has previous experience as the volunteer coordinator and event planner for Be the Star You Are!, a literacy charity in the East Bay. She is currently a freshman studying Bioengineering at Stanford.

Shadie Parivar

Shadie joined the DreamCatchers staff in 2010 as part of the Development Committee. As an undergraduate at the University of Southern California she studied Business Administration and Developmental Psychology. In her free time, she volunteered with the Joint Educational Project where she taught classes at elementary schools in the surrounding low-income neighborhood. She also did research on abused and maltreated children in the local court system. Throughout law school, Shadie worked for and volunteered at legal clinics and public defenders’ offices that serve many low-income and minority members of our community. Now an attorney working in Los Altos, Shadie is excited to have found DreamCatchers as a way to get back to her passion for education and for supporting our youth. She is excited to be reaching out to local businesses and writing grant applications that will provide the funding DreamCatchers needs to give young students the opportunity they deserve.