Great Oakland Public Schools

About

Staff

Note: These staff members are all employees of Great Oakland Public Schools Leadership Center (501c3), our sister organization.

Jonathan Klein, Executive Director
In January 2012, Jonathan Klein joined the GO staff full-time to serve as its first Executive Director. In fall 2008, Jonathan began working with parents, educators, and community to develop the network and organizations to advance GO's vision of an Oakland where all children receive the schooling and support they need to live successful, fulfilling lives. Prior to joining GO, Jonathan served as Chief Program Officer at the Rogers Family Foundation where he was responsible for investment strategy and partnership development to increase educational opportunity and student achievement in the City of Oakland. In addition, Jonathan served as Teach For America's Bay Area Executive Director from 1999-2003, served as Lecturer at the Haas School of Business on nonprofit leadership and management, taught elementary school in Compton Unified, and was a co-founder of the Oakland Schools Foundation and Revolution Foods. Jonathan is a fully credentialed California teacher and received a bachelor's degree in history from Yale University - where he served as student body president - and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. Jonathan lives with his wife and two children in Oakland's Dimond neighborhood.

Jessica Stewart, Managing Director

Jessica Stewart is a graduate of Auburn University,
where she was the President of the Alabama College Democrats State Federation and the Auburn College Democrats. She was a middle school math and science teacher at Elmhurst Middle School in East Oakland, and a founding teacher at Elmhurst Community Prep Middle School. In her second year, she was named the Alameda/Contra Costa County Math Teacher of the Year. As a teacher, Jessica was involved from the very beginning of Great Oakland Public Schools. She joined the GO team in June 2011 as Managing Director. She lives in Oakland with her husband Jonathon. She is an alumna of the New Leaders Council Fellowship and a member of the 2013 Cohort of Leadership Oakland.

Marc Tafolla, Policy Director
As the Policy Director, Marc leads GO Public Schools in developing policy and advocacy to improve the quality and accessibility of education in Oakland, California. He works with stakeholders (parents, teachers, district staff, etc.) from across the city to ensure that GO Public Schools remains an effective partner in improving public education in Oakland. Prior to joining GO Public Schools, Marc received a Skadden Fellowship to Direct the Education Equity Project (EEP) at the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights. As director, Marc helped establish and broaden the reach of the EEP, which focused on the implementation of the Williams v. California Settlement Legislation (a class-action lawsuit regarding equity in education). At the EEP, Marc was instrumental in supporting parents and teachers from across the Bay Area in understanding and asserting educational rights under Williams. He also worked closely with Districts to help them access resources and improve their systems. In addition to working on Williams, Marc provided legal services across a wide array of educational issues. Prior to law school, Marc taught high school history for five years in public schools in California and Oregon. As an undergraduate, Marc spent two years in AmeriCorps working on a youth anti-violence campaign. Marc holds a B.A from the University of Nebraska and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Richard Pelayo, Operations Manager & Executive Assistant

Richard supports GO Public Schools with office management, event logistics, and program support. He started his career in Richmond, California teaching multiple subjects at Nystrom Elementary School in West Contra Costa (WCC) County. As a fully credentialed teacher in WCCUSD, he also worked alongside a dedicated principal and staff to implement a School Improvement Grant at Lincoln Elementary School, a designated turnaround school. Prior to joining GO Public Schools, he developed his passion for community organizing while engaging in efforts to build awareness of political and social issues around West Contra Costa. The first to graduate from college in his family, Richard studied Sociology and Political Science to earn his undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

Ryan Phillips.jpg Ryan Phillips, Communications Manager

As the communications manager, Ryan helps tell the story of Great Oakland Public Schools. Among other duties, Ryan is in charge of the Board Agenda Watch program, writes informational documents for the community and manages social media for GO. Ryan is an experienced journalist who has been published in The New York Times and the Washington Post and joins GO after reporting on Oakland for the community news website Oakland North. Ryan developed an interest in education policy and reform while covering the OUSD board while at Oakland North. He has a master's degree in journalism from UC Berkeley.

David Orphal, Manager of Teacher Leadership

A teacher at Skyline High School, David works for GO part-time to strengthen GO's network among OUSD teachers and to help launch our Teacher Policy Fellowship. David began his teaching career at Zoe Barnum Alternative High School in Eureka, California in 1996, and the following year won a Fulbright Memorial Teacher Scholarship that allowed him to travel to Japan and talk with teachers about the future of education. In Humboldt County, David served as both the Grievance Chair and President of his teachers union. In 2005, Dave moved to the Bay Area and began working at Skyline in Oakland. In addition to teaching, David serves as a veteran teacher leader for the Bay Area New Millennium Initiative, works with the California Teachers Association's Institute for Teaching, and serves on the Teacher Advisory Board for both the Stuart Foundation and the Center for Teaching Quality. Dave writes about education policy and reform at TransformED. He has Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Social Studies Teacher Preparation from Humboldt State University.

Angela Badami, Manager of Teacher Leadership

A teacher at Westlake Middle School, Angela works for GO part-time to strengthen GO's network among OUSD teachers and to connect OUSD teachers with leadership opportunities within the district and beyond. Angela began her teaching career in 2007 with Oakland Teaching Fellows and was placed as the Resource Specialist at East Oakland School of the Arts. While there she participated in Teachers for Social Justice conferences and the Bay Area Coalition of Equitable Schools Impact 2012 Initiative. Since joining Westlake in 2009 as a Special Day Class (NSH-SDC) teacher, Angela has served on its Instructional Leadership Team and worked with the OUSD Talent Development Office to create a Special Education Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program. She has a BA in Political Science from Dickinson College, MA in International Relations from University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK), and Mild/Moderate Disabilities Education Specialist California Teaching Credential.

Mary Prime Lawrence, Manager of Parent Leadership

Mary has been a member of the Great Oakland Public Schools Board of Directors since 2012. She moved to Oakland in 1993 to attend Mills College. She instantly fell in love with Oakland and Mills, where she received a B.A. in Political Science. Mary is currently an after school intervention specialist in Mathematics and English Language Arts at Monarch Academy, teaching some of the most amazing students for two years, and will be a junior high math or science teacher in OUSD in the fall of 2013. She's a member of the Parent Advisory, Black History Month and Women's History Month Committees at Lionel Wilson College Preparatory Academy. Mary is married to her husband of 12 years, Joseph, and has three kids, three animal shelter cats, (Magic, Bird, and Jordan), and two dogs, Shadow and Kylie. She lives in the Foothill Square area of East Oakland.

Aurora Barajas, Manager of Parent Leadership

Aurora Barajas was born and raised in Oakland. She attended Oakland public schools, and has experienced the need for improvement in Oakland's education. Her passion and love for education has driven her to work in Oakland's schools, and with GO. She has managed after school programs, worked as a parent facilitator and community advocate, and is an active parent of her two kids in OUSD schools. Aurora is also a member of the Education Policy Committee with National Council of La Raza, where she helps organize Advocacy Day in Sacramento, which takes as many as 50 Oakland community members to speak to legislators about education, housing, and health bills. Aurora received her Bachelor's of Arts degree in Sociology at Cal State East Bay.

Tyfahra Singleton, Ph.D., Data Manager

Originally from South Central Los Angeles, Dr. Tyfahra Singleton came to the Bay in 2003, fell in love with Oakland and now serves on the Housing Rent and Relocation Board. She received her bachelors in Comparative Literature from Oberlin College and her doctorate in the same field from the University of California, Berkeley.Tyfahra is also presently a Visiting Scholar at Cal in the Department of Comparative Literature. Tyfahra's scholarly work deals with jazz and blues as a testimony to the trauma of the legacy of slavery in America. She also researches the connection between 20th century lynching and 21st century police brutality. Her commitment to racial justice, through equal opportunity for education, has led Tyfahra to want to make a bigger difference at the K-12 level after having the opportunity to teach only 5 African American students out of 479 over the course of 9 years at Cal. For fun, Tyfahra likes to sing jazz, build things, and spend time with her dog, Chaka Khan. She lives with her best friend from Oberlin and her nephew, a student at Laney College.