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Gwyneth Galbraith is a strategic development consultant with more than 25 years of experience creating successful strategies to develop, fund, and implement high-impact programs focused on financial inclusion, economic development, and education. Her consulting practice offers expert research, analysis, strategy development, and thought partnership to non-profit organizations and leaders looking for new ideas and a fresh perspective. Previously, Gwyneth served as Chief Development Officer at Opportunity Fund, a leading Community Development Financial Institution providing responsible financial products to underserved entrepreneurs and communities. During her 15+ year tenure, she helped build Opportunity Fund into the nation’s largest nonprofit lender to small businesses. She has also served as Development Director at UC Berkeley and the University of Chicago. Gwyneth holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Rosa Luevano joined the BCS board in early 2020; she has been an active volunteer in the Berkeley public schools since 1996 when her first child entered elementary school. Having three children go through the BUSD has kept her busy for the last 23 years. Her involvement took her from a PTA member to President of the PTA at both the elementary and middle schools. At BHS she joined and led the Berkeley High School Development Group for 6 years. Rosa’s interest in the Berkeley Community Scholars stems from her experience as an immigrant and first-generation college-educated person that benefited from scholarships and support systems. Being in a position to have an impact on the next generation has been an important goal that her family is intent on achieving. Rosa and her husband Charles have been Berkeley residents since 1980 and supporters of the Berkeley Community Scholars since 2016. In June 2020 she became Board Secretary.

Lila is a CPA and CFO with about 30 years of broad and deep experience with public and private companies, ranging from start-ups to multinational ventures in various industries. She is a leader in promoting strong corporate financial and operational risk management and in optimizing opportunities within a framework of good governance and business ethics. Lila joined the board in 2022 and serves on the Financial and Racial Equity Committees.

As an immigrant from a financially challenged family, Lila understands that education is a “way up.”  Determination and a little help from the community make a big difference in a student’s future.

Lila’s own path through higher education started at Diablo Valley College. She transferred to and earned a BS in Business Administration from University of California, Berkeley. She later earned an MBA from California State University, Hayward. In addition to her work with BCS, Lila serves on the board of the Concord Shiva Murugan Temple and on the Finance Committee of Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, another non-profit.

Ilse Daniela Rueda Hernandez is an alum of the organization, as she was awarded the Berkeley Community Scholars High Hopes Scholarship in 2011. She is a proud indigenous, first-generation college graduate receiving her B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development from San Francisco State University. Ilse is also a former Education Specialist, serving middle and high school students and their families in the Berkeley and Oakland communities. As the recent Chair of the school’s Special Education Department, Ilse had the opportunity to coach other educators and participated in multiple district-wide forums regarding mental health and academic programs. In collaboration with a few other educators, Ilse’s grassroots fundraising efforts during the recent pandemic financially supported over 200 immigrant families.  Ilse now works for a biotechnological pharmaceutical company assisting the Research & Development Operations senior leadership. Her personal connection to cancer fuels her work with the operational activities of oncology clinical trials. Ilse’s passion for program development, scholar advocacy, and social justice allows her to be an essential community leader who can bridge her many experiences and network across industries.

Ina Bendich directed the Law and Government Academy at McClymonds High School, a public college preparatory school located in West Oakland from 2001-2011. As Academy Director, she incorporated Restorative Justice processes in 2007 to provide her students with viable alternatives to the traditional justice system. Her “youth court” students became circle keepers, resolving disputes among peers and those referred by teachers and staff. Students learned to take on leadership roles at school and in the community. Since 2014, Ina has taken the lessons learned at McClymonds and shifted her focus from the classroom toward training adults and youth in Restorative practices. She has coordinated training, coaching, and professional development in using Restorative Justice to build community and repair harm with Los Angeles Unified School District, Piedmont Unified School District, Phillips Academy in Alameda, Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT, and Legacy Preparatory Academy in Santa Ana, CA. She is a graduate of the New College School of Law, holds a single-subject social science credential, and MA in Education from University of San Francisco.

Allison Bernstein Paillant is a business developer with a knack for creating unique solutions and designing business outcomes anchored by social and economic justice. Her family, friends, informed her early on that genius is equitably distributed while opportunity is not. Thus, she has demonstrated a history of applying a lens of equity to businesses she develops. Her 14 years of experience within the technology, housing, finance, media, and entertainment sectors have provided a diversity of platforms to build unique, bespoke, and scalable businesses regardless of sector. She’s an equitable development investor, entrepreneur, housing policy advocate, strategic partnerships leader, consultant, researcher, and entrepreneur. She currently is building her real estate business, Grounded Development, and has recently worked as a Strategic Partner Manager with DoorDash, Business Inclusion Program Manager with Google, with stops at JPMorgan Chase, Related Companies, CNote, CAA, CBS Records, and The Los Angeles Sparks. She splits time in Los Angeles, CA and Oakland, CA, and received her Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business (2010), Minor in Music Industry (2010) from the Thornton School of Music, MBA and MPP from the University of Michigan Ross School of nBusiness and Ford School of Public Policy.

Deborah A. Cooksey is a VP and the General Counsel at WestEd, a large research and
development agency that works with federal and state governments, educational institutions, and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. Prior to joining WestEd in 2019, she worked as in-house counsel for large urban school districts in the Bay Area. She specialized in labor negotiations, complex public employee dismissals, and Board governance/ advice. Deb has also served as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley in both the Master of Education Program and in the School Psychologist Doctoral Program. She is a graduate of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service (where she was a Community Scholar) and the Georgetown Law Center. Deb also serves on the Board of the Urban League of the Bay Area.

Rashida Hanif is the founder and CEO of RepresentED, a 501(c)3 that “prepares high potential non-traditional students for leadership roles in the public and private sector.” Her passion for inspiring young adults to reach for their dreams has led her to serve as a facilitator, instructor, and mentor in both academia and impact-focused organizations. Rashida received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley where she was a transfer student from Los Angeles Valley College. Rashida was introduced to the Berkeley Community Scholars through the mentorship program. She is currently a mentor to Jayden Rose, a 2018 High Hopes Scholar.

Adena Ishii is a proud alumna of Berkeley City College, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and Santa Clara University School of Law. She has been involved in the Berkeley community through work in education and local politics for thirteen years and is honored to join the Berkeley Community Scholars Board. Adena sits on the League of Women Voters (LWV) Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville Board, where she previously served as the youngest and first woman of color to be elected President. She is also a director on the California state LWV board and the Japanese American Women Alumnae of UC Berkeley Boards.  

Ursula Rodriguez joins the Berkeley Community Scholars with over 15 years of experience in educational settings in underserved communities. She has served as an Art Educator, Lead Teacher, and Dean of Students with the Knowledge is Power Program and Aspire Public Schools.  Her career in education grew from a desire to understand diverse learning styles and a conviction that all students can learn.  After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Sociology, she obtained an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  With two elementary age children, Ursula has volunteered in Berkeley and West Contra Costa public schools as a member of School Governance Councils, English Learner Advisory Committees, and as a school volunteer.  She has also become an expert in navigating the rights of and accommodations available to students with special needs.  She continues to insist on raising a bilingual family and loves nothing more than watching children get lost in their own creativity.

Tina Self is Vice President of Quality at Bayer, Berkeley, California. She is the proud leader of a fantastic team focused on ensuring product quality and patient safety of recombinant human factor VIII products which serve the hemophilic community. Tina has over 20 years of experience with diverse product platforms including small molecule, autologous drug therapy, enzyme replacement, tMABs and recombinant proteins in both clinical and commercial environments. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Georgia Southwestern State University, a Master in Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University and a Master in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and playing Scrabble.

Ann is an optimist who believes a college education is a key driver of social and economic mobility. She joined the board in 2012 because she enjoys working with people committed to building a more equitable future and providing greater opportunities for Berkeley youth. Ann brings a broad range of business, civic, and nonprofit experience to BCS. After years of working for international trading firms in the aerospace and construction industries, Ann set down roots in Berkeley, where she founded a research consultancy and finally had time to connect with her local community. Diving in, she served on Berkeley’s Transportation Commission for nine years, including two years as chair. She also served as president and education programs director of a multimedia trade association. She co-founded and chairs an environmental coalition that won important mitigations for public schools, pedestrians, and cyclists along a major transportation corridor.