LIFE LEARNING ACADEMY - Key Persons


Adam Yas

Job Titles:
  • Dean of Student Affairs
Adam moved from Boston, Mass to San Francisco in the summer of 2000 to pursue a career in the music industry as a recording/performing artist. Fate intervened and brought him to the Delancey Street Foundation where the founder, Mimi Silbert, offered him an opportunity at a then Delancey program, the Life Learning Academy. Adam began teaching American Literature, and Music Appreciation and Entrepreneurship. His current administrative position as Student Affairs Director has him working closely with the students who continue to inspire him. Adam still writes and records music, and has released five studio albums.

Allyson Halpern

Job Titles:
  • Chief Advancement Officer
Allyson joined LLA in 2021 as its first Chief Advancement Officer. She has spent her career in nonprofit management and philanthropy, specializing in mission-driven organizations that are starting up and/or at a critical stage of growth. Immediately prior to LLA, Allyson worked at educational nonprofit 826 Valencia, where she helped the organization triple its contributed income, amass a significant financial reserve, expand to two additional sites, and double its student reach. She has a degree in Writing, and a Masters of Public and Nonprofit Management, both from Carnegie Mellon, and, as of fall 2021, a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAPⓇ) via American College.

Amy Kao

Ms. Kao has long been passionate about furthering education for young people, working at USC's Center for Urban Education to advocate for equity in higher education, and volunteering at Northwest Neighbors and 32nd St. School in Los Angeles. She spent a number of years as a management consultant in Deloitte's Strategy and Operations group, eventually specializing in healthcare and life sciences. She is now part of the Growth Strategy team at a digital health startup called Honor, which strives to use technology and a novel network model to enable quality in-home care for older adults.

Aubria Lamendola

Job Titles:
  • Development Director

Craig Miller - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Co - Founder
  • Co - Executive Director
Mr. Miller is Co-Founder of LLA and Co-Executive Director of Life Learning Academy (LLA). Craig was a member of the planning team that designed the school, and previously the U.S. History teacher, Vice Principal, and Chief Operating Officer before becoming Co-Executive Director. Prior to LLA, Craig worked with the Delancey Street Foundation for six years, during which he developed and evaluated juvenile and adult criminal justice system reforms. Craig has served as basketball coach, tutor, and mentor at Balboa High School in San Francisco and site coordinator at Bayview Safe Haven. He has a teaching credential in Social Studies, a Masters in Education from San Francisco State University with an emphasis on teaching disengaged youth, and an Administrative Services Credential.

Dana Dominguez

Job Titles:
  • Construction Teacher

Derrek Brown

Job Titles:
  • Executive Chef

Elena Rosen

Job Titles:
  • Chief Academic Officer
Elena joined LLA in 2021, as the Chief Academic Officer. She is an educator with over 15 years experience in the Bay Area, and has been a teacher, an instructional coach, and an administrator. Elena enjoys supporting students and teachers in creating dynamic learning environments, where students are inspired and encouraged to dream big and set meaningful goals. She adds, "I believe it is our job as educators to help students set goals and then build on their skill sets in order to meet those goals. Nothing is more powerful or satisfying than empowering students to have ownership of their learning environments."

Elizabeth Karn

Job Titles:
  • Director of Alumni Services and Community Schools Liaison

Jack Scott

Jack has been a supporter and source of guidance for LLA since the very beginning. About 28 years ago, he volunteered with the Delancey Street Foundation as a Construction Manager on the Treasure Island building that would become the home of LLA. Impressed with leadership and believing in the mission of LLA, he has stayed deeply involved ever since. Jack Scott and Associates was founded in 1972 as a full service general contracting company with experience in commercial and residential construction. Mr. Scott has since founded Jack Scott Construction Consultants.

Joanne M. Brown - President

Job Titles:
  • President
Ms. Brown combined legal and community organization skills throughout her career. Her legal practice primarily focused on criminal law and civil rights litigation. Joanne was appointed to the bench in Alameda County as a Superior Court Commissioner assigned to Juvenile Court and Criminal Court. During two periods, Joanne worked in state government in New Mexico. She served as Division Director for Adult Institutions in the Corrections Department and later, as General Counsel for the Department for Children Youth and Families (CYFD), responsible for statewide child and family services and juvenile corrections. Joanne consulted for a decade for the National Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues (Center on Children and the Law, American Bar Association) where she worked with state courts and child welfare agencies in over forty states to implement the system of national child welfare outcomes. During the past 6 years, Joanne has been a member of the faculty at the Center for Human Services, University of California, Davis. The Center, through the Northern Training Academy, provides training for social workers throughout California and management support for county social services leadership. Joanne is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where she received her BA, MSW and JD.

Karla Brundage

Job Titles:
  • English Language Arts Teacher

Keith Brock - Treasurer

Job Titles:
  • Treasurer
Keith is a partner with EY-Parthenon and has spent over 20 years advising corporations large and small on complex mergers and acquisitions and sell-side transactions. He lives in the East Bay with his wife and two young boys and is passionate about education and its power to transform lives. Keith grew up in London and obtained a MA(Hons) in Modern History from the University of Oxford. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Kelly Baker

Job Titles:
  • Director of Administration and Operations
Kelly Baker has been at Life Learning Academy since 2017. She supports both the School and Development Program as Director of Administration and Operations. Kelly attended the University of Oregon where she was a sociology major. Kelly is new to the Bay Area having moved recently from Arizona, where she worked for a practice of orthopedic surgeons. She enjoys working in the school environment, especially LLA, where the unique education model supports the individual challenges their student population has.

Kevin Hicks

Job Titles:
  • Life Sciences Teacher

Monica-Raven Hinojosa

Job Titles:
  • Communications and Development Coordinator
Monica-Raven joined the Development Office in 2022. She has a BA in Religious Studies from Tulane University, is a published author, and has ten years of experience working as a grant manager, content writer, and marketing coordinator for nonprofit and mission driven organizations. Monica-Raven's communication style is rooted in compassionate storytelling. She believes that each of the passionate people involved in LLA, whether students, staff, or our donor community, have an irreplaceable story to tell. Together, these stories make Life Learning Academy the place of transformative healing and learning that it is.

Nate Farris

Nate has over 15 years of accounting experience, providing audit and consulting services to Bay Area companies and organizations. He worked with BPM LLP, offering audit, review, attestation, and consulting services to a wide variety of private companies and nonprofit organizations. Nate holds a degree in Accounting from Azusa Pacific University and has been a Certified Public Accountant for 13 years. Currently, he is Chief Financial Officer of PTLA Real Estate Group and he oversees the administrative, financial, and risk management operations of the company. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and of the California Society of CPAs (CalCPA) and is a Board Member of Catalight Foundation and Life Learning Academy Charter School.

Randy Seriguchi

Randy is obsessed with Black progress. He believes that if we can successfully eliminate barriers to success for our most vulnerable students-in America, Black children-we can successfully support the needs of any student. As the Executive Director of Urban Ed Academy, Randy supports a team obsessed with one mission: placing a Black male teacher in every elementary school in San Francisco. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Randy worked to lift up social justice through education in D.C. and California. He is an active member of the New York State Bar Association, holds a Juris Doctor degree from the American University Washington College of Law, and received his Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Michigan.

Selina Flores

Job Titles:
  • Health Education Teacher / Master in Public Health - San Francisco State University / Master of Science in Behavioral Health - University of San Francisco

Stephany Welch

Job Titles:
  • Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator

Steven J. Carnevale

Job Titles:
  • Founder and Chairman of the UCSF Dyslexia Center
Mr. Carnevale is the Founder and Chairman of the UCSF Dyslexia Center which is translating cutting edge neuroscience to enable precision education. He is a Founder and Chair of Breaking-Barriers-by-8, a new Public-Private partnership coalition with corporations, philanthropy, and government working together toward 100% literacy in early childhood education for California by 2035. Mr. Carnevale serves on the Boards of many other education non-profits, including Learning Ally, the SERP Institute, Boon Philanthropy, Diverse Learners Coalition, Potentia Institute 21, and Eye-to-Eye. He is an advisor to ESO Ventures, a social venture fund being piloted in Oakland CA for community workforce development. He has been a venture capitalist most recently with his own boutique investment firm Point Cypress Ventures. He is currently Chairman of Sawgrass, a developer of digital industrial inkjet technologies and cloud-based mass customization software. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan College of Engineering. As a Founder of the UM Center for Entrepreneurship, he is the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He is also the former President and Emeritus Trustee of The Olympic Club Foundation, whose mission is to support disadvantaged youth sports programs that develop future community leaders. He and his wife are the owners of a boutique Napa Valley wine Blue Oak and have twin sons who are seniors at Washington University in St Louis and U Chicago.

Sue Shalvey

A resident of Linden, California, Sue's work as an education consultant grew out of her successful career as a teacher, principal and leader in San Joaquin County, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley district and charter systems, where her expertise in serving students with disabilities and advancing their success was established. As Aspire Public Schools' Director of Special Education, she established cooperative programs with states, districts and non-profit organizations, as well as launched Aspire's special education teacher residency program with University of Pacific. Sue was a member of California's State Task Force for Special Education and established California's statewide charter schools organization. She served on the Board of Charles Armstrong School and currently serves as Chair of the Community Foundation of San Joaquin and as a member of the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation Board.

Sylvia Piatt

Job Titles:
  • Director of Residential Services

Teri Lynch Delane

Job Titles:
  • Co - Executive Director
  • Co - Founder and Co - Executive Director
Dr. Delane is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Life Learning Academy (LLA). Teri credits the Delancey Street Foundation for saving her life in the early 1970s and teaching her how to create a healthy community. She has over 35 years of experience working with people with substance use disorders and the previously incarcerated in jails, prisons, and community programs. In 1997, she started a highly successful in-custody substance abuse program, Choices, which is still in operation in the men's and women's jails in San Mateo, California. Teri has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University, is a licensed psychologist, and holds a PhD. in Clinical Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California.

Will Mulcahy

Job Titles:
  • Adjunct Professor at the School of Business
  • Retired Business Consultant
Will is a retired business consultant, having served as a strategic and operational advisor to management teams for over 30 years. His practice was focused on: 1) development of profitable marketing and selling strategies; 2) installation of disciplined approaches to operational and financial management; 3) sourcing of new capital; and 4) providing interim "C level" leadership for clients. He has been a board-level advisor to privately owned companies and nonprofit organizations since 1980. Will began his career with Chevron Oil, serving as advertising manager for East Coast markets. He subsequently transitioned to Dymo Industries, helping to restage and revitalize their Dymo Products operating company. Following Dymo, Will led the Northern California offices of Bozell-Jacobs, an international advertising agency. In 1980 he co-founded The Browning Group, retiring in 2010. Will has served on several corporate advisory boards including White Cloud Mountain Coffee, Center for Culinary Development, Irvine Technology Management Services, Frontier Natural Products, and American Asphalt. Will has been an adjunct professor at the School of Business, California State University-East Bay and has served on a variety of business and community service boards, including the Hotel and Restaurant School Advisory Board at Diablo Valley College, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Napa Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau, the California Council for the Blind, St. Helena Hospital Foundation, De Marillac Academy, Archbishop Riordan High School, and as Chairman of Partners-For-Profit, a community service arm of REDF, focused on funding and advising social enterprises which help "at-risk" individuals return to the mainstream. Will received his MBA from Seton Hall University and his undergraduate business degree from Golden Gate University. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Management Program.