Our Team

Tanya grew up moving, England to Germany to the American South, and eventually San Francisco, picking up a lifelong habit of reading and a deep curiosity about how things work along the way. From her high school paper to editing a college philosophy journal to a stint in television production, that thread eventually led to marketing and communications work helping companies find a clear voice and build the structure to carry it. She came to 826 Valencia as a volunteer for the Adventurous Authors Workshop because she believes writing is one of the most practical skills a kid can have: it sharpens how you think and helps you say what you mean. She keeps coming back to watch students turn ideas into full stories on the page, and to see the confidence that comes with it. She is glad to deepen that work and support the organization in reaching more students as an 826 Valencia Associate Board member.

Musadiq Bidar is a first-generation college graduate and communications strategist who is passionate about expanding opportunities for young people through education, mentorship, and storytelling. After nearly a decade as a political reporter based in Washington, D.C., Musadiq returned to the San Francisco Bay Area. He believes storytelling can be a powerful tool for building confidence, connection, and community. In his free time, Musadiq enjoys golf, travel, photography, and exploring California’s natural beauty.

Jess grew up in the South Bay and moved briefly to the East Coast to get her undergrad degree in International Relations at Tufts University. Her love of writing and getting to know new people manifests in working in media and journalism, including three years as an editor and writer for the magazine Alta Journal. She’s now in grad school at UC Berkeley and freelances as much as she can. She got to know 826 Valencia through tutoring at the Mission location, which helped her connect with her local community, find purpose, and meet wonderful people (including her roommate!). She also enjoys moving her body through yoga, skiing, and hiking, and writing silly novels with her friends.

Travis started volunteering with 826 in LA in 2009, and after a lengthy hiatus in the American south, he picked up again in SF in 2018. These days, he lives in the Outer Richmond with his wonderful wife, long-time dog pal, and two delightful children. He is a veteran, and he supports his lifelong dream of having a mortgage by working in tech. Some of the best parts of his week are spent with young people in the Tenderloin Center, trying to remember the difference between alliteration and assonance. Their energy and creativity are inspiring and always leave him feeling more hopeful and buoyant than before.

Scott moved to the Bay Area for school in 2004 and has been here ever since. He’s served as an after-school tutor at the 826 Valencia Mission Center since the start of the 22-23 school year, but only joined the 826 Valencia Associate Board in May of 2026. For work, he leads the communications team at a mobile gaming company, and for life, he hosts a monthly writing event called Thirst Draft.

Spencer grew up in the Bay Area and has long been passionate about both writing and teaching. His first job was as a Montessori school teacher, and while attending Wesleyan University, he helped direct a tutoring non-profit focused on youth in foster care. Outside of teaching, he developed a particular fondness for journalism as an editor for his college newspaper. Now, he works in San Francisco as a technical writer. He’s also an avid musician and enjoys playing guitar and bass with his family and friends. After spending many afternoons tutoring students at 826 Valencia’s After-School Programs, he’s thrilled to further his involvement as a member of the 826 Valencia Associate Board.

Megan Doherty-Baker (she/her) is a proud queer third-generation San Franciscan. She loves humans, tiny things, Giants (baseball and mythical beings), birds, sea turtles, adventures, building puzzles with her girlfriend, and women’s sports, especially the Golden State Valkyries. Writing and young people have enriched her life for decades, and so she’s found her way to the 826 Valencia Associate Board to pour back into both.

Asha grew up in the Bay Area and has always been an active volunteer and community member. He has many fun stories from summers spent volunteering at all sorts of Bay Area summer camps. In addition to his work as a user experience researcher, he is a hobbyist woodworker, yogi, and olivemaker. Having been a volunteer, he’s excited to see and experience the board side of 826 Valencia!

Darci won her first essay contest in second grade for a story about her mom. Coincidentally, her first publication was also an essay about her mom. She moved to San Francisco in 2018 to pursue her MFA in Creative Writing. It was during this time that she began volunteering and interning with 826 Valencia and developed a passion for work that has an impact. She now works as a fundraising specialist at Blood Cancer United. When not reading or writing, Darci enjoys cycling around the city, cooking elaborate meals, and seeing as much live music as possible.

Rebecca discovered the beauty of the written word while lost in the science fiction and fantasy sections of her childhood local library. Her own adventure began when she left home to study business at Boston University. The next chapter of her story brought Rebecca to the Golden State, where she works as a change management consultant. Rebecca was fortunate enough to be introduced to 826 Valencia by a friend and immediately saw how impactful a program like this would have been in her own life growing up. She is excited at the opportunity to start supporting students in finding their voice through storytelling.

Kate is a born-and-raised San Franciscan bookworm with a deep love for this whimsical city and its people. She spent her childhood inhaling stories at the West Portal Branch Library and exhaling tales, poems, and essays of her own. This passion propelled her to pursue an English degree at UCLA. Thoroughly convinced that writing is the key to a brighter future, she soon found herself interning at 826 Valencia’s Mission Center. She was hooked! Five years later, Kate still spends her weekends volunteering with the Center’s boundlessly creative young authors (and her weeks leading communications and events at a policy think tank). Outside of these endeavors, she also loves hosting themed dinner parties, exploring San Francisco’s parks, and reading books that make her heart sing.

Soliman grew up in the East Bay and has always loved a good story. What draws him to 826 Valencia is the opportunity to support an organization dedicated to developing the next generation of storytellers. Soliman attended UC San Diego, where he studied Political Science, and later earned his law degree from Santa Clara Law. In his free time, Soliman enjoys exploring San Francisco in search of new restaurants, photographing the city, and playing pickleball with far more enthusiasm than skill.

Gavin is a native Texan who fell in love with the West Coast during a childhood trip to California. Years later, that fondness remained, and after completing an engineering degree at Purdue University, he moved to San Francisco to start his professional career—the Bay Area has been home ever since. An avid reader and lifelong learner, he is thrilled to serve on the Associate Board as a steward for 826 Valencia and students in the local community. Alongside volunteer work, Gavin finds joy in cooking, photography, and treks to the mountains to snowboard.

Niketa Kumar has been an 826 Valencia volunteer since 2018, predominantly at After-School Tutoring sessions and Sunday Workshops at the Mission Center. She leaves every session at 826 Valencia feeling renewed and hopeful, and feels fortunate to learn from and with San Francisco students, who fill their writing with immense creativity and cutting humor. Outside of 826 Valencia, Niketa leads strategic communications and narrative campaigns for immigrant justice and labor coalitions and organizations. Her favorite things include taking on new cooking projects, going on long walks, and reading very early in the morning.

A Bay Area transplant, Sydni grew up dancing her way along the coast of Connecticut. As a kid, she fell in love with trying to understand the human experience, which led her to pursue a career in counseling while staying up late writing stories about the human condition. Her clinical career has focused on eating disorder recovery and the reclamation of sexuality and body autonomy after sexual harm. She currently works in independent school education and counseling. If she wasn’t a therapist, she’d be an olive oil sommelier and open a fresh pasta restaurant. She is an avid journaler, part-time poet, and full-time reader. She recharges by dancing in her kitchen to Fleetwood Mac and sitting in the sunshine. She always has room for dessert.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Mario (All pronouns) is a Salvadoran-American, queer, and nonbinary educator dedicated to supporting the city’s youth. With a rich background working within diverse educational environments across the city, Mario brings an intersectional perspective to their work. Their practice is rooted in the belief that learning spaces must be intentionally designed to celebrate all facets of a student’s identity. By combining a deep, lifelong understanding of San Francisco’s community fabric with practical institutional insight, Mario focuses on ensuring that educational experiences are grounded in equity, accessibility, and genuine community care.

Yanit was born and raised in Pune—a city of 7 million people, over 350 bullock carts, and an incalculable number of street vendors. He has always been an urbanist, constantly energized by human interactions. Nothing more energizing than the moments shared with the brilliant students at 826 Valencia. He sees his life in America as a topsy-turvy Ulysses-esque journey (the California version). He moved here as a doe-eyed eighteen-year-old studying Film, English, and Comparative Literature at UC Irvine. He made some life-long friends in Orange County but knew it wasn’t his perennial home. Consequently, he was pulled to the eerie fog and Monterey Cypress of San Francisco like a moth to a flame. Now you can find him running marathons, sketching portraits, or sticking googly eyes around the city he loves most.

Monica grew up in Austin and was inspired to tutor by her dad, who spent hours every day helping her with her schoolwork. She is a deep believer in the power of reading and writing and is thrilled to get to serve her San Francisco community as a member of the Associate Board. Monica graduated from Wesleyan University, where she was a member of the women’s varsity rowing team and volunteered as an elementary school math tutor. For the past six years, Monica has worked at the intersection of social impact and technology (in nonprofit tech, climate fintech, and civic tech). In her free time, she enjoys yoga, running, and reading cozy mystery novels.

Katie didn’t read much as a kid. She was known for her long meandering stories that never seemed to land, and spent most of her time either staring at the black line at the bottom of a pool or creatively avoiding her homework. She did read a poem once that she really liked. So she read it a few hundred more times until everything around her started to finally make sense. Powered by poems, Katie’s become an expert in mental health care and computational psychiatry. Her stories have gotten better, she’s not afraid of chaos, and she’s pretty good at Jenga. She also loves sharks and being on a team.

Caroline is a true California native; she was born and raised in the Bay Area, attended UCLA for her undergrad degree, and finally moved back to SF. She is powerless against the magnetic pull of the Bay Area’s easy outdoor access, vibrant culture, and abundant quality coffee shops. Caroline is also a lifelong reader and writer, founding the literary magazine at her Oakland high school and writing for a Feminist publication at UCLA. Working with 826 Valencia has been the perfect opportunity for Caroline to give back to the community she loves by sharing her passion for writing and reading. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga, drawing, skiing, making small dents in her ever-growing stack of to-be-reads, and saying hello to every dog she sees on the street.

A lifelong Harry Potter fan and an avid short story writer, Kat grew up passionate about storytelling. Kat graduated from Brown University with degrees in History and Computer Science-Economics, where she also served on the e-board of Brown’s Organization of Multiracial and Biracial Students (BOMBS). She now works in private wealth management in SF. Kat began volunteering in middle school, and she founded a music-based nonprofit in high school. Excited to serve on the Associate Board of 826 Valencia, Kat looks forward to supporting its mission of empowering others through education and creativity.

An avid reader and writer, Linnea embarked on her writing journey at Real Change Newspaper, a paper that advocates for social justice. There, she wrote bi-monthly back pages and helped to organize fundraisers. Now, she writes technical documents as a Product Manager by day, and by night, dabbles in poetry and puns. She loves volunteering at the 826 Valencia Tenderloin Center and taking part in the 826 Valencia Associate Board. When she is not hunching over her work from home setup, Linnea enjoys training for triathlons, dancing, skiing, and planning elaborate themed parties.