Team

Board

Team

Staff

Robert Schwartz, Ed.D.

Executive Director

Robert Schwartz joined the Level Playing Field Institute as Executive Director in March 2010. Rob spent the three years prior as Chief Academic Officer for Inner City Education Foundation Public Schools in South Los Angeles, leading the strategic expansion of the academic program from three schools with 500 students to 15 schools with almost 4,000 students. As instructional leader, Robert facilitated the curricular design of the charter organization’s rigorous academic program with the goal to prepare students to attend and compete academically at top colleges and universities.

Prior to serving as ICEF’s CAO, Robert was the founding principal at ICEF’s flagship high school, where he led its growth from 93 to 375 students. Under Robert’s direction, the first three classes achieved a 100% graduation rate with 97% accepted to four-year universities.

As a 1994 Teach for America corps member, Robert spent seven years at his placement site in East Los Angeles. He was twice named teacher of the year and was made lead teacher and science department chairperson in his second year.

Robert graduated cum laude from Binghamton University with a double major in Biology and Classical Languages, and earned his MA in Urban Education Policy Planning and Administration and EdD in Urban Educational Leadership from the Rossier School of Education at USC. In 2009, Robert was named to the African American Achievement Commission by the California State Board of Education. He is married and has four-year-old twins. [ robert AT lpfi DOT org ]

Alexis Martin

Research Associate

Alexis Martin joined LPFI as a Research Associate in 2011. Alexis is a Ph.D. candidate in the Social and Cultural Studies program at the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences from the University of Redlands and her M.A. in Education from UC Berkeley.

Allison Scott, Ph.D.

Director of Research and Evaluation

Allison conducts and manages empirical research related to hidden bias and barriers in K-12, higher education, and the workplace. This research agenda is centered on expanding the understanding of hidden bias and inequity and providing practical solutions to ensure fairness from the classroom to the boardroom.  Allison comes to LPFI with a research background focused extensively on investigating educational inequality, perceived racial bias and discrimination, and educational outcomes for individuals with diverse backgrounds.

Bianca Escalante

Development Project Manager

Bianca is responsible for managing all projects related to LPFI's development plan with a special focus on developing the infrastructure to support LPFI's growing individual giving program. Prior to joining LPFI, she worked as the Manager of Donor and Member Relations at Zeum and prior to that she worked as the Enrollment and Outreach Coordinator at Leadership Public Schools. She is incredibly excited to join the LPFI team as it combines her passion for social justice with her extensive knowledge of nonprofit development.

Damali Robertson

Grantwriter

Damali Robertson joined LPFI’s Development Team as a Grantwriter in 2011.  Prior to LPFI, she served as the External Relations Coordinator for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University since 2007.  In that role, she was responsible for stewarding donors; conducting research on funding opportunities and program outcomes; drafting grant proposals, stewardship and endowment reports.

Henry Taylor

Chief Development Officer

Henry is responsible for leading the fundraising efforts for the Level Playing Field Institute including the engagement, cultivation and solicitation of individuals, corporations and foundations.  LPFI’s priorities of scaling SMASH and expanding the influence of the education and workplace research will be the primary opportunities for donors to invest in our success.  With more than 15 years of experience, Henry brings strong expertise in development as well as a passion for LPFI’s mission having worked most recently at the KIPP Foundation as Individual Giving Director.

Jamila Amarshi, M.B.A.

Director of Strategic Growth

Jamila joined LPFI in 2011 as the Director of Strategic Growth, responsible for developing the SMASH Program’s national presence by launching new sites across the country. As an Education Pioneers Fellow at LPFI in 2010, Jamila built financial models for LPFI’s scaling efforts and wrote an accompanying business plan. Prior to joining LPFI, she completed an MBA at Yale School of Management and an EdM at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a focus in Arts in Education.

Jarvis Sulcer, Ph.D.

Director of Education Programs

Jarvis joined LPFI in 2007, first as Academic Director for the SMASH Program. He received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering at Cornell University in 1998. He was the only African-American Male in the United States to receive a Ph.D. in his field of study that year. He graduated from Southern University in 1991 with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in Mathematics. In 2000, Jarvis received the Most Distinguished Dissertation Award from the National Society of Black Physicist at Stanford.

Jeremiah Sims, M.A. (Ph.D. Candidate)

IDEAL Student Services Coordinator

Jeremiah grew up in Richmond, California and is the first in his family to earn a college degree. A former IDEAL scholar, he graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 2008 with a B.A. in Rhetoric with Honors. He also earned in a M.A. in Education in 2010, from U.C. Berkeley. And, he is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, in a program entitled: Education, Language, Literacy and Culture, for which he received the prestigious Chancellor's Fellowship for Graduate Study.

Judy Liang

Data Project Manager (Education Pioneers Analyst Fellow)

Judy joined LPFI in 2010 as an Education Pioneers Analyst Fellow.  After graduating from college in Maryland, Judy started working at the ExxonMobil Corporate Headquarter in Fairfax, VA. She started off as an Export Coordinator who managed the logistics and supply chain of lubricant orders from affiliate companies in Asia. She then acted as a Global Modeler in the Supply Chain Strategy group. Judy created a supply chain model that optimized the supply chain for all synthetic products globally.

Michon Sanders

Development Associate

Michon is responsible for the management and maintenance of the donor database, as well as general administrative support to the development staff as a whole. Prior to joining the LPFI team in early 2012, Michon served as the Database and Office Coordinator for the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco. In that role she repaired and maintained the donor database, supervised maintenance and reception staff, and served as project manager for several administrative tasks.

Rachel Sims, M.A.

Operations Director

Rachel provides operational leadership to SMASH and IDEAL, focusing on the scaling of SMASH to achieve national impact. Rachel earned a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies Field with a focus in Comparative Studies in Management from U.C. Berkeley. As an experienced tutor and mentor to traditionally marginalized students, Rachel returned to school to obtain a master's degree in Educational Administration from San Francisco State University, in order to be counted amongst the passionate advocates for equity in education. [ rachel AT lpfi DOT org ]

Ruby Geballe

Education Programs Administrative Assistant

Ruby Geballe joined LPFI in 2011 after several years of teaching hands-on science in Boston Public Schools. She believes strongly that there is an element to STEM that can engage, excite, and empower any and every student and is excited to be part of an organization that is realizing the same belief. Ruby will be on campus at SMASH: UC Berkeley in the Summer of 2012 and is eager to spend more time with our scholars. Ruby holds a B.A.

Shantina Jackson, M.A. (PhD candidate)

Assistant Director of Education Programs

As Assistant Director of Education Programs, Shantina Jackson is responsible for the operational and logistical aspects of the summer and academic year components of SMASH.  She is also the Site Director for SMASH: USC in 2012. Shantina is a native of Richmond, CA. After graduating from Pinole Valley High School, Shantina attended UCLA where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies with an emphasis in Sociology.

Sumaiya Talukdar, J.D.

Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement

Prior to joining LPFI, Sumaiya served as a law clerk at Coan & Lyons LLP and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta where she worked to create and preserve the housing rights of marginalized members of our society. She owes her faith in the power of education to the Thurgood Marshall Academy, a public charter high school which has truly transformed the lives of its disadvantaged student population, where she served as an Administrative Assistant.

Board

Terence Hawley, J.D.

Board Chair

Terence is a partner at Reed Smith LLP, where he focuses on complex commercial litigation, including financial services, real estate and intellectual property cases. Terence earned his bachelor's degree and his J.D. from UC Berkeley. He has been involved with IDEAL since 2002, serving on the IDEAL board and the selection committee and speaking at IDEAL retreats. Terence joined the Level Playing Field Institute Board in late 2006.

Art Wong, M.D.

Board Member, Past Board Chair

Art has had a long history of service in the medical community. He was a board-certified practitioner of emergency medicine, and has been a twenty-year fellow at the American College of Emergency Physicians. While serving as the Director of Emergency Services at UCSF Mount Zion Hospital, Dr. Wong combined his business and medical skills as the president and CEO of the Emergency Physicians Medical Group.

Anula Jayasuriya, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.

Board Member

Anula received a B.A. from Harvard summa cum laude, having worked under the supervision of renowned scientist and conservationist E.O. Wilson. She received an M.D. and Ph.D. (in microbiology and molecular genetics) from Harvard Medical School; and completed an internship at Children's Hospital in Boston before leaving for Harvard Business School, where she received her MBA. Anula's expertise derives from her unique combination of business, basic science, and medical knowledge. Her most recent work is in the field of life science venture capital.

Freada Kapor Klein, Ph.D.

Founder, Board Member

Freada, founder of the Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI) and co-founder of the SMASH Academy, is a nationally recognized authority on issues of bias, harassment, and diversity. She co-founded the first organization in the US to focus on sexual harassment in 1976.  She received her Ph.D. in social policy and research in 1984.

Maria Echaveste, J.D.

Board Member

Maria Echaveste is a co-founder and partner of the Nueva Vista Group (NVG), a government relations firm. Ms. Echaveste is also a Researcher and Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt School of Law and Goldman Graduate School of Public Policy. Prior to NVC, she served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for President Clinton from May 1998 through January 2001 and as Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House from February 1997 to May 1998.

Michael Madison

Board Member

Michael Madison is the founder and Managing Director of Cocoon Ventures, a venture firm with support from Mitsubishi’s Innovation Kitchen in Tokyo. Michael was also recently named as one of the Business Journals' 2009 top 40 executives under the age of 40 in the Silicon Valley. He joined the LPFI Board in 2011.  Michael started writing software in the 2nd grade, and by the time he started junior high, he was a code contributor to NASA Langley’s supercomputer management systems.

Mitchell Kapor

Board Member

Mitch is, to quote the New York Times, an elder statesman of modern computing. As founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the designer of the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet (the "killer application" for the IBM PC), he helped make the personal computer ubiquitous in the business world.

Ross Fubini

Board Member

Ross Fubini is a Vice President of Engineering at SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF). He arrived at SuccessFactors after his venture backed company, CubeTree, was acquired in June of 2010. Ross was the Co-Founder and Board Member of Cubetree, an enterprise collaboration suite that integrates social networking features like profiles and microblogging with tools like wikis, blogs etc. Prior to CubeTree, Ross was Senior Director of Engineering at Symantec.

Sandra Tripp, M.B.A.

Board Member

Sandra is currently the Executive Director of the Boundless Youth Foundation, which is committed to improving the social and emotional resiliency of underserved youth.  She was most recently the Vice President, At-Risk Populations at Thrive Research, Inc.; a start-up social entrepreneurial company located in the Silicon Valley.  For over 30 years, Sandra has used her expertise and skills as a strategist and futurist to provide counsel and leadership to several Fortune 500 companies and innovative nonprofit organizations. 

Tyler Scriven

Board Member

Tyler Scriven is a member of the leadership team at Palantir Technologies, a leading Silicon Valley high-technology company dedicated to providing next-generation software in support of critical missions throughout the world. There he is responsible for leading all people operations, including the company’s global recruitment effort. Additionally, he is responsible for infrastructure development and planning, along with various other operational areas of the company, both domestically and abroad.