BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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Sharon Rose, MA

Co-Founder & Chair

Sharon is a longtime activist around educational issues in Oakland. She was Coordinator of  Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s Mentoring Initiative in 2014. She is Co-Chair of the Block by Block Organizing   Network, an Oakland city-wide, district-based organization mobilizing citizens for grass roots activity. In 2015 she co-founded Oakland Serves with Kay Lawson.She has taught English as a Second Language in the Oakland Adult School and in community colleges.

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Susan Wollowitz, PhD

Treasurer

Sue is currently Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations at Concentric Analgesics, Inc.  Previously she held similar positions of responsibility at Medivation, Inc and Cerus Corporation and is an inventor, author, consultant and teacher in the field of pharmaceutical development. Sue has mentored with Oakland Serves for two years.

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Ingrid Bran

Secretary

Ingrid is an former economist in the field of energy efficiency.  She has tutored and taught undergraduate students, Oakland high school students, and illiterate adults. Ingrid was born and raised in El Salvador.

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John Anyosa

Board Member

John has over 30 years of experience doing community-based work, directly as a service provider and/or in a management capacity. While he has worked for many organizations throughout the Bay Area his primary area of expertise has been in youth work, including system-involved youth and transitional age youth. John is currently the Program Manager for HPS (Homeless Prevention system) at West Valley Community Services. John holds a BA in Political Science from California State University Hayward with a minor in Sociology. John started out as a volunteer with Oakland Serves and is very passionate about helping the Oakland community, in particular its youth. 

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Ina Zhang, MPH

Board Member

Ina is Senior Research Scientist at PRECISIONhear, a consulting firm providing research strategy services to multiple healthcare stakeholders and has worked with Oakland Serves since its inception.  Once a mentee in an after-school program for low-income, underrepresented students herself while in high school, she understands the enriching experience of mentorship to members most at need in Oakland. 

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Maya Friedman, PhD

Board Member

Maya is currently Executive Administrator of InSpirit, a non-profit that supports people living with quadriplegia in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a degree in Evolutionary Biology from UCSC and has worked as a lecturer there and as a science education consultant for the Santa Cruz City School District.  Maya is a prior mentor for Oakland Serves.

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Sam Lu, MD

Board Member

Sam is currently an Associate Director at Denali Therapeutics.  As a pediatrician at UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland and elsewhere he witnessed the interplay between social factors and health outcomes. He joined Oakland Serves to improve graduation rates thus hoping to improve the future health of the children of Oakland. 

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