Brodie Azvedo
Brodie has been a teacher for five years at Napa High School. He has taught a variety of subjects including Mathematics, World History, AVID, and Peer Support and has been on journey to discover a new role in education. He was a participant in On the Verge Group 6 that created the Reach Institute and through that work established a connection with the Napa Educational Equity Initiative. Seeking to change education in a more profound way, Brodie joined the Educational Equity Initiative as the Leadership Academy Director while still providing direct service to youth as a teacher at Napa High School. Email: brodie@onthemovebayarea.org
Dennis Chaconas
Dennis’ experience in education spans over thirty-five years from classroom teacher to school principal to college professor to school superintendent. Dennis has worked with school communities to create and implement a shared vision, to identify the learning outcomes needed for success, to design, test and implement new aligned curriculum, and to draft benchmarks for all content areas. Currently, Dennis applies his experience starting and incubating over 30 schools to partnering with the leaders of 10 small schools across the bay area, helping them to ensure academic excellence and opportunity for youth who are traditionally underserved by the education system. In 2004 Dennis was elected to the Alameda County Board of Education.
Dennis is the former Superintendent of Schools for the Oakland Unified School District (50,000 students) and the Alameda Unified School District (10,000 students). Dennis has been a Professor Emeritus of Education at Mills College and an Adjunct Professor at Harvard University with their School of Education’s Urban Superintendent Program.
Email: dennis@onthevergebayarea.org
Nick Challed
Nick brings over 10 years experience teaching and administering programs for children from early childhood through high school. Currently he is the Director of ArtLinks, a component of On the Move's Educational Equity Initiative. He is committed to leading enrichment programs for Elementary School students, which will build Napa's future generation of leaders by developing the children's critical thinking, academic knowledge, sense of community, and cultural awareness. Before working with On the Move, Nick spent seven years as a teacher and director at HOME Sweet HOME Preschool in Alameda - where he led an innovative inter-generational program, which brings together children, high school interns, staff, and community members to learn and grow together. During his time at HOME Sweet HOME, he spoke at national conferences and was published in a national publication, working to disseminate this model of intergenerational learning. Nick is a BA graduate from The Evergreen State College.
Email: nick@onthemovebayarea.org
Peggy Dove
Peggy Dove teaches second grade at L.U.C.H.A. Elementary, a small autonomous school in San Jose’s Alum Rock Union School District and is a Lead Coach for the Reach Institutes teacher credential programs. Peggy started her teaching career in 2003 with the Teach For America program. Over the last year and a half, Peggy has stayed involved with Teach For America, developing her coaching and leadership skills as a trainer and mentor in that program. In 2006 Peggy joined On the Verge Group 6 with a desire to continue her own growth while helping to create a teacher credentialing program that truly meets the needs of beginning teachers. Peggy holds a professional clear multiple subjects teaching credential.
Email: peggy@onthemovebayarea.org
Victoria Folks
Victoria has worked in youth development and education for the past nine years. She received her B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley and then a Masters' in Education from UC Santa Barbara. She taught in San Rafael at the middle school level from 2000-2007, working after school with the Making Waves, a program committed to increasing college access for all students. She worked as a mentor teacher for the past three years, which led to her involvement with On The Verge Group 6, and in July 2007 she started working as a mentor coach with the Reach Institute.
Email: victoria@onthemovebayarea.org
Alissa Gentille
Alissa graduated with a BA in Psychology from San Francisco State University. She is a founding member of On the Verge Level 1 and Level 2 programs. In addition, over the last three years she has been involved with On the Move as an administrative assistant, program evaluator and participant. She has had extensive experience working with TAY (Transitional Age Youth) involved in the higher education, mental health, juvenile justice and foster care systems and is currently the program director at V.O.I.C.E.S.
Email: alissa@onthemovebayarea.org
Diana Gordon
Diana brings 30 years of experience with schools, both public and private, in the areas of development and implementation of programs, financial management, fund raising, media management, organizational systems development, legal and regulatory requirements, facilities management, recruitment and admissions, team building in training and supervision of staff. Diana co-founded with Leslie, Alternatives In Action, HOME, the Bay Area School of Enterprise, HOME Sweet HOME Preschool, Moving Forward, On The Verge and On The Move.
Email: diana@onthemovebayarea.org
Jonna Justiniano
Jonna joined the V.O.I.C.E.S. team in September 2005 to help with the grand opening and since then has come on board full time to serve as the Operations Director. Previously she was the Manager of Youth Leadership at Youth Service California working in the fields of service learning and youth development coordinating a statewide youth leadership program and a youth-led mini grant program. She is also a founding member of On The Verge and is committed to creating opportunities for life long learning and community building.
Email: jonna@onthemovebayarea.org
etsuko kubo
etsuko has a professional background in youth development and education. From 1999-2005 etsuko worked at Alternatives in Action, first with HOME as an enterprise coach, and then as a teacher and vice principal for the Bay Area School of Enterprise. In 2004 etsuko joined On the Verge and in the summer of 2005 began working for On the Verge. etsuko truly values intergenerational work and is committed to developing learning communities where young adults can learn what it takes to be a leader.
Email: etsuko@onthemovebayarea.org
Lauren McNerney
Lauren joined On The Move in March 2007 as the Program Coordinator for the pilot of the ArtLinks After School Program at Salvador Elementary. She is now on the OTM management team and coordinates the organization's marketing and communication efforts.
Email: lauren@onthemovebayarea.org
Leslie Medine
Leslie brings 30 years of community organizing, organizational and administrative planning, coaching, and direct service to youth. She has served as executive director, primary development officer, board president, recruitment and admissions director, financial manager, and community builder. Leslie is the co-founder of Beacon Day School, Beacon High School, and Educational Implementers Inc. Additionally, she and Diana co-founded Alternatives In Action, HOME, Bay Area School of Enterprise, HOME Sweet HOME Preschool, Moving Forward, On The Verge, and On The Move.
Email: leslie@onthemovebayarea.org
Ian Stanley
Ian has worked in developing ground-breaking programs focusing on youth, education, and holistic approaches to development. For 3 years, Ian worked in coordinating the Dual-Language Immersion Program at Silverado Middle School, promoting bilingual, bicultural and bi-literate education bringing together English and Spanish speaking youth. For the previous four years, he developed Northern California's first integrated, bilingual, Catholic Youth Ministry Program for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, working with over 500 English and Spanish speaking youth from varied backgrounds. He is dedicated to the healthy, holistic development of youth and in bringing them hope through relationships, acceptance and empowerment.
Email: ian@onthemovebayarea.org
Page Tompkins
Page Tompkins is the Director of the Reach Institute for School Leadership. The program addresses the full spectrum of leadership development needs in partner schools, including a newly accredited intern teacher credential program and a BTSA/Induction program. Reach Credential Programs serve teachers in a consortium of 8 charter schools in the Bay Area. Page has 15 years experience developing transformative educational experiences and organizations. He is the founding director of the Bay Area School of Enterprise, a charter high school now in its seventh year that serves youth who were unsuccessful in traditional schools. Page has also served as the Program Director for Outward Bound South Africa and as the Executive Director of Our Schools, a non-profit focused on school reform. Page holds a Teaching Credential in Social Science and a Master of Arts in Education.
Email: page@onthemovebayarea.org
