Candidate for
Board Member; San Francisco Unified School District

I was elected at-large in San Francisco to the Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) in November 2006 to a four-year term commencing in January 2007. In 2008, my Board colleagues elected me as Vice-President of the Board and in 2009, as President.

I've chaired several of the Board's Committees (Budget and Personnel/Labor Relations) and currently serve on the Curriculum while continuing to chair the Personnel/Labor Relations Committee. Additionally, I serve as Co-Chair of the College District and School District Select Committee, a joint partnership between City College of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District.

As the former Program Director at the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health (CoE), I helped develop and guide programs that supported the CoE's year-round internship/leadership development opportunities for girls and young women.

Under my directorship, I was responsible for deepening and strengthening Community/Non-Governmental Partnerships, presenting & facilitating Community/CoE grant-making prospects, furthering the UCSF/SFUSD dialogue, in addition to creating new partnerships for the UCSF CoE to better serve San Francisco and its diverse neighborhoods.

Before coming to UCSF, I served as the Senior CEDAW Policy Analyst from the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. "CEDAW" is the United Nation's Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women, and in 1998, San Francisco was the first municipality in the U.S. to adopt CEDAW as a city ordinance.

While at the Department, I focused on critical life issues surrounding girls, young women, and health disparities for women of color in San Francisco. I began working with children in 1986 at an orphanage for mentally, physically, emotionally, and sexually abused children and I continued to work there until 1998.

I received my B.A. in Human Communication from the University of San Francisco; an M.B.A., with an emphasis in Marketing, from the University of Phoenix. I am interested in attending Law Schools with joint Education doctoral degree programs. I also serve as a Board of Directors Member of the Marin Institute - a National Alcohol Industry Watchdog and the Huckleberry Youth Wellness Academy's Advisory Board Member.

When I am not visiting with and educating families, school staff, and community members about issues that affect them throughout San Francisco, I (a certified USA Track and Field coach) volunteer with the Northern California Chapter of the International Special Olympics Association. I have one daughter, Francesca, 23, who is named after my mother, Frances.