Justin Carder, Pirate Store Manager and Publishing Director, started interning at 826 Valencia in the Summer of 2007 and hasn't left since. After studying theater at College of Marin (with, among others, the "Log Lady" from Twin Peaks) and earning a BA in Political Science from UC Santa Cruz, Justin heard and could not help but heed the call of the high seas. In addition to his role as the go-to-guy for the San Franciscan Working Buccaneer, Justin enjoys painting and playing drums.
Emilie Coulson, Programs Coordinator, was an all-star 826 volunteer for two years before joining our staff in the fall of 2008. As a volunteer, she once co-taught a poetry workshop so brilliantly that other volunteers paid for her to fly out to San Francisco from Maine (where she was then living) for the release party. She has worked with English language learners of all ages and in many locations, including the Wisconsin Migrant Education Project and the Mid-Maine Regional Adult Community Education Center. She graduated from Colby College with a BA in English.
Anne Farrah, Development Director, is a fifth-generation San Franciscan. Prior to joining us here at 826, she did development and community-relations work for a variety of organizations, always focusing on children- and youth-related issues including education, training, and mental health. She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science from Loyola Marymount University, and is a life-long lover of books and drinker of tea. She aspires to be an aspiring poet.
Marisa Urrutia Gedney, Programs Director, first became involved with 826 Valencia through the Writers' Room at Everett Middle School. For the 2006-2007 school year, she was an AmeriCorps member at the Mission Beacon Center at Everett where she coordinated the after school tutoring program. She has several years of classroom experience in her hometown of Los Angeles and in Santa Barbara where she earned a BA in Creative Writing at UC Santa Barbara. She is active in Danza Azteca and loves the strong community of art, culture and youth empowerment in the Bay Area.
Leigh Lehman, Executive Director, joined our staff in 2005 as a Programs Director, and became Development Director in 2006. As of June 2007, she serves as the Executive Director of 826 Valencia. She has seven years of experience as a middle and high school English teacher in Louisiana and Massachusetts. She also taught EFL in Northern Thailand for two years. After moving to the Bay Area in 2000, she wrote and edited online courses and resources for K-12 teachers at Classroom Connect. She holds a BA in American Studies from Wesleyan University.
Margaret McCarthy, Volunteer and Events Coordinator, is interested in all things communicative. Prior to joining our staff, Margaret participated in nearly every student program we offer: after-school tutoring, custom field trips, college essay writing, the Quarterly editorial board, the SUN, and the James Lick podcasting project, to name a few! Margaret holds a BA in English and Drama from San Francisco State University. She has stage-managed and directed multiple plays (she even won a faculty award for Best Student Director while at SFSU), and has recently returned from two years of teaching EFL in Poland and Germany. Margaret has been known to rhapsodize wistfully about Bavarian pretzels, will happily recite a Polish poem about ladybugs, and speaks fluent Pig Latin.
María Inés Montes, Design Director, has a BFA in graphic design from California College of the Arts and nearly ten years of experience working for various advertising and design firms. Before coming to 826, she was the art director at Carol H. Williams Advertising in Oakland, where she directed mail campaigns, promotional materials, signage, and web sites.
Cherylle Taylor, Programs Assistant, comes to us through the BAYAC AmeriCorps program. A woman of many talents and extraordinary time-management skills, she has worked as a sales associate, a secretary, a runway model and a freelance hair stylist, all while pursuing a degree in Business Administration from Laney College, Oakland. Although she loves working hands-on in the community, she also has a great deal of experience working in PR. Cherylle's diverse skills and experiences all come together at 826, where she assists a variety of programs each day. One minute a tutor, the next a volunteer coordinator - Cherylle's adaptability, flexibility, humor and quick-thinking mean she's a huge asset to our programming team.
Miranda Tsang, Programs Assistant, is a BAYAC AmeriCorps member and a San Francisco native, who earned her BA in English and Sociology/Anthropology with a focus in creative writing at Middlebury College. While there, Miranda involved herself in the literary magazine, organized a battle of the bands, attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, interned at a marketing company in Madrid, and archived oral histories for the Vermont Folklife Center. In 2008, Miranda interned at 826 Valencia with the ELL Summer Series, and she loved it so much, she came back.
Vickie Vértiz, Programs Director, has over 15 years of experience working in the social justice, economic development, and youth arts programming sectors. Most recently, she worked at the California College of the Arts' (CCA) Center for Art and Public Life on the Community and Youth Development Project, where she maintained community partnerships with public schools and non-profit organizations. She has also done health care and labor rights advocacy, and is an active member of the Oakland Museum of California's Latino Advisory Committee. In her spare time, Vickie writes poems, stories, and plays. You can read some of her work at the writing website Tacos de Nube. She holds a BA in political Science from Williams College and a Masters in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.
Erin Archuleta, Development and Outreach Director, was previously the Educational Programs Director of 826 Valencia and is a former classroom educator originally from Flint, MI. The Everett Middle School community honored Erin with two César Chávez Peace Awards for her service in the 826 Valencia Writers' Room. She was part of the publishing team that received a Moonbeam Spirit Childhood Wellness Award for Children's Literature for Exactly, an 826 Valencia publication with Wallenberg Traditional High School. Her curriculum appears in Don't Forget to Write: 54 Enthralling and Effective Writing Lessons for Students 6-18. Erin also co-owns ICHI Catering, an award-winning San Francisco business.
Nínive Calegari, cofounder of 826 Valencia and CEO of 826 National, is a veteran public school teacher who has had ten years of classroom experience. Before teaching in her family's hometown in Mexico, Nínive worked at Leadership High School, San Francisco's first charter school, where she also served on the Board of Directors. She holds an MED in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. Ninive was coauthor of Teachers Have it Easy: the Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers. She was also the recipient of Edutopia's 2007 Daring Dozen award, and was appointed to the San Francisco Arts Commission in the spring of 2008.
Lauren Hall, Development Director, moved to the Bay Area from Arkansas, where she earned a BA in American Studies from Hendrix College. Before coming to 826, Lauren worked as a development associate at The Women's Project, a nonprofit focusing on social justice issues in Little Rock, Arkansas. An essay that emerged from her work with the organization was published in the Journal of Social Policy in the fall of 2007, and will be included in the collection Lessons from the Field: Organizing in Rural Communities. She has been deeply involved in all-things-826 since the summer of 2005.
Ryan Lewis, Operations Manager, studied Political Science at UCLA. He then served for two years in AmeriCorps *NCCC and completed projects with multiple organizations including the Charleston and North Charleston public schools, the St. Matthews Community Outreach Center and After-School Program in Charleston, SC, and various groups performing recovery cleanup after Hurricane Katrina. He is finishing his Master of Public Service degree from the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, AR, where he focused his fieldwork in education and completed projects in program evaluation, development, and strategic planning with the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center in Marvell, AR and the South African Education and Environment Project in Cape Town, South Africa.
Mariama Lockington, Programs and Administrative Coordinator, moved to Oakland after earning a BA in Creative Writing and African American studies from the University of Michigan. Prior to working at 826, Mariama completed a 2-year teaching fellowship with Citizen Schools, where she taught writing to middle school students around the Bay Area. She recently received a Masters in Education from Lesley University and is an aspiring and published poet.