PROSPECT SIERRA - Key Persons
Adrianne Batiste, Accountant, is a Bay Area native, born and raised in Oakland, CA. Professionally, Adrianne brings eight years of experience in the field of accounting. She earned her BS in entrepreneurship and innovation from the University of San Francisco and received her MBA from California State University, Monterey Bay. Adrianne enjoys traveling, baking, music, dancing, gardening, and nature walks.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Co - Founder and CEO of Flymachine
Andew is a parent to two alums of Prospect Sierra. Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Flymachine, a technology company pioneering the digital future of live events. Prior to Flymachine, Andrew was the co-founder and CEO of Ticketfly (acquired by Pandora), a leading ticketing and technology provider to the live events industry. Andrew was the co-founder of the Virgin Mobile Festival, the largest recurring free music festival in the United States. Andrew was the co-founder, and CEO of TicketWeb (acquired by Ticketmaster), the first company to sell event tickets online. Prior to founding TicketWeb, Andrew was the general manager of Beserkley Records, a pioneering independent record label. Andrew holds a BA from Tulane University and serves as a director, trustee, or adviser to various for-profit and nonprofit organizations including Spotify and Headcount, a leading voter registration organization.
Job Titles:
- Chief
- Member of the Board
- Program Officer
Becca is parent to two children at Prospect Sierra, a 5th grader and a 7th grader. Becca is Chief Program Officer and Camp Director at Camp Tawonga. Prior to joining the full-time staff at Tawonga, Becca worked as a Staffing Director at Camp Walt Whitman, a private camp in New Hampshire, and served on the Steering Committee of the Emerging Professionals in Camping organization. Becca has coached girls' lacrosse for 10 years and received a Double-Goal Coach Award from the Positive Coaching Alliance. Her passions include backpacking, trail running, birding, and being outdoors. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children who attend Prospect Sierra.
Beth Alsberg, 8th Grade Math Teacher, has been working with middle schoolers for over two decades. She has taught all subjects in both public and private schools, though math has been the constant throughout her career. Her favorite word in the math classroom is "why," and she believes in constantly questioning and redefining with students what it means to be "good" at math. She is the Math Department Chair and the co-leader of the school's Gender and Sexuality Awareness group. When she is not teaching, Beth enjoys passing the time by swimming, swing dancing to some Big Band music, and getting messy on a potter's wheel. She also makes sure to visit her family back in Chicago whenever she gets the chance. Beth earned her bachelor's degree and teaching credential from Grinnell College in Iowa.
Brad is a current PS parent to a 4th grader and kindergartener. He also just finished a two-year term as co-president of the PSPA. Brad is a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, focusing on labor and employment. Brad practices in the areas of employee benefits fiduciary advice, ERISA litigation, and litigation involving fraudulent and abusive health care providers. He has represented clients in a wide range of ERISA matters in court and in arbitration, including complex class actions and single-plaintiff lawsuits.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- CEO of the Silicon Schools Fund
Brian has one child attending Prospect Sierra in the 7th grade and one alum. Brian is the CEO of the Silicon Schools Fund, a non-profit investment fund launching the next generation of personalized learning schools in the Bay Area of California. Brian is a former charter school founder, Chief Academic Officer, and worked previously as a classroom teacher, in politics on statewide and national campaigns, and in higher education at Carnegie Mellon University. Brian received his BA from Dartmouth College and an M.Ed. from Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Equity and Inclusion
Britt Anderson, Director of Equity and Inclusion, has worn many hats during her 18 years at Prospect Sierra including 7th grade humanities teacher and middle school librarian. She has served as Director of Equity and Inclusion since 2012. Originally from the Bay Area, she has a master's of library science from San Jose State University and a teaching credential from Mills College. When she's not creating spaces for people to share their stories, she tries to spend as much time by the Pacific Ocean as possible, ideally while reading a YA book.
Cory is a Prospect Sierra alum, class of -. He is the founding member of the Oakland Chapter of the Black Neighborhood. Over the past three years, Cory has partnered with Prospect Sierra in many ways, including allowing us to support The Black Neighborhood's annual turkey drive. In addition to being an educator for eight years, Cory is an organizer, activist, and visionary hailing from Richmond, CA. Raised under the principles of leadership and community activism, he has created and led multiple outlets of change. His hope is to spread love, prosperity, and a sense of honor not only amongst the black community but all communities. Cory Elliott is a man on a path of his own.
Job Titles:
- 5th Grade Humanities Teacher
David Allen, Fifth Grade Humanities Teacher, joined Prospect Sierra in 2014 after four years at the Greenwich Country Day School in Connecticut. He grew up in the New York City metro area and earned his BA from Yale University. He was inspired to relocate to Prospect Sierra by its commitment to celebrating diversity and inclusion and its bold leadership in innovating for the 21st century. Outside of school David enjoys hiking, cycling, playing soccer, reading, going to concerts, gardening, trying cool new restaurants and playing with his cat.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Finance Committee
- Member of the Board
Delphine is the Chair of the Finance Committee and is a current PS parent to a 2nd, 4th, and 6th grader. Delphine is the Chief Financial Officer of BRIDGE Housing, a non-profit affordable housing developer. Prior to BRIDGE, Delphine was the Chief Financial Officer at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and the Chief Financial Officer of Aspire Public Schools, a national charter school management organization headquartered in Oakland, serving over 17,000 predominantly low-income K-12 students. Delphine received her BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from UC Berkeley.
Denise is a current PS parent to a 3rd and 6th grader. She serves as the VP of Operations for Cisco's Meraki business unit, where she's responsible for inclusion, employee experience, IT, business systems, program management, facilities, and business and manufacturing operations. Before her current role, Denise served as Meraki's Chief of Staff at Meraki and Head of People. An experienced operator, Denise played a pivotal role in enabling Meraki to grow from 300 employees to over 2,000, helping the team navigate its high growth startup stage through a successful integration as part of Cisco. Denise has held a range of roles at leading companies, including Uncommon Schools, Longs Drugs (CVS), TJX Companies, and Frito-Lay. Denise holds a BA in economics from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Denise is the PS Board Chair and has served on several committees in her previous years as trustee. Denise is a current PS parent to a 6th grader and two Prospect Sierra alumni (‘19 and ‘21). She brings social enterprise and nonprofit experience to Prospect Sierra. She is currently serving her 7th year as a trustee and on the Committee on Trustees and Development Committee. Denise also chaired the Head Search Committee that selected Nisa Frank as Head of School. She has a BA in economics and East Asian languages from UC Berkeley, an MBA from the Haas School of Business, and is originally from Oxnard, CA, where she grew up on a farm.
Prospect Sierra is an independent TK-8 school enrolling 470 students on two spacious campuses in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Prospect Sierra School is open to all children without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national or ethnic origin, medical condition, or disability, or any other legally protected status.
Emily has one child attending Prospect Sierra in 8th grade and a Prospect Sierra alum. Emily brings teaching and administrative experience in higher education to Prospect Sierra. A former lawyer, Emily's professional experience also includes diversity, equity and inclusion. A graduate of Princeton University and Stanford Law School, Emily is a meditation teacher and is pursuing a master's degree in counseling psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley.
Emma Banta, 1st Grade Lead Teacher, is excited to be joining the Prospect Sierra community this year! Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, she earned her master's degree in early childhood education from Bank Street College of Education in 2020 and has spent the past five years teaching kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade in Brooklyn, New York. When Emma's not teaching, she enjoys reading (fiction!), trying out new recipes, spending time with family and friends, asking the question "can I pet your dog?", and exploring her new neighborhood with her partner, Adi.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chairman of the Committee
Jennifer is the chair of the Committee on Trustees, and she and her husband have two sons - one currently attending Prospect Sierra in the 7th grade, and one Prospect Sierra alumni, class of 2020. Jennifer Morgan is an experienced brand and marketing communications professional having spent more than 20 years helping people and companies tell their amazing stories. She has held senior business management, brand and marketing roles for large, global corporations and start-ups alike, across a range of industries including aerospace, finance, technology and professional services. Jennifer grew up in the Bay Area and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Middle School Learning Specialist
Jessica Boyles, Middle School Learning Specialist, joined Prospect Sierra in 2017. She's worked in a broad range of diverse learning settings, working with students in everything from one-on-one to small groups to whole class environments. Jessica has also served as a student advisor, and has supported and coached classroom teachers in the design of curriculum and strategies to best meet student learning needs and outcomes. Jessica has a BA in religious studies and art history from Colby College and an M.Ed. in moderate special needs from Wheelock College.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Public Health Program Specialist at the California Department of Public Health
Jorge is parent to both a current 6th grader and an alum along with his wife Audrey Tang. Jorge is a public health program specialist at the California Department of Public Health in the area of Newborn Screening at the Division of Genetics Disease Screening. He has worked for the California Department of Public Health for more than a decade, in the areas of healthcare-associated infections and continuous quality improvement initiatives to support public health policy.
Julia Bourland, Middle School Librarian, joined Prospect Sierra in 2015. She has worked at middle and elementary school libraries and holds a master's degree in library and information science from San Jose State University and a BA from Mills College. She enjoys reading realistic and historical middle-grade novels.
Julia Epifania Basnage, K-1st Grade Art Associate Teacher, was raised in the Bay Area and returned last year after studying at Barnard College in New York City. Though she earned her degree in sociology, her last year of college was spent primarily in the Niemann Center for Print Studies, developing a love of the craft. She has worked with nonprofits such as 826 Valencia and Peninsula Bridge, and taught at Tompkins Hall Nursery in NYC. Julia has a soft spot for printmaking, the work of Corita Kent, the Pacific Ocean, and rollerblading.
Job Titles:
- General Pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente
- Keedra McNeill - Sales / Board Member
Keedra is a general pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in Fairfield and is also the first Assistant Physician in Chief for Culturally Responsive Care and Inclusion in the Napa Solano Service Area. She enjoys engaging with her patients and families to positively impact their emotional, social, and physical health and well-being. In her administrative role, she serves to foster the tenets of inclusion, equitable care, and individualized culturally responsive care that are critical to achieving health and wellness for both patients and colleagues throughout the medical center. A Bay Area native, she enjoys walking, trying new recipes, and traveling with her husband and their two daughters who are currently at Tapscott in the 2nd and 4th grades.
Job Titles:
- 7th Grade Math Teacher Associate
Lesly Ayala, 7th Grade Math Associate Teacher, was born in El Salvador and raised in the Bay Area. She attended the University of California, Davis where she earned a BS in biological sciences. Lesly is pursuing her master's of science in nursing with a family nurse practitioner specialization. Lesly has spent the last five years working in both the medical and educational fields. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, surfing, spending time with her family, and serving at her local church.
Job Titles:
- Comp TIA Certified Technology Support Specialist
- Technology Support Specialist
Melanie Anderson-Stampley is a Comp TIA certified Technology Support Specialist. She has worked with multiple tech companies and schools to not only support and help troubleshoot issues end users might run into, but also has over 10+ years of A/V and film experience. When she's not on the PS campuses, she helps podcast hosts film, edit, and livestream their shows. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking with various spices and being a movie buff.
I am pleased to welcome you to Prospect Sierra, a nationally and internationally recognized school for TK-8 students on two beautiful campuses in El Cerrito, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Ruth uses her anthropological training to coach teachers and support diverse, equitable educational experiences that have included leading educator workshops and leadership trainings for various independent schools and institutions including the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. Ruth is joining the Meridian School community as Head of School on July 1st, 2022. Ruth also serves on the Board of Directors for the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, CA, supporting their diversity work. She is a foodie, sport-shopper, and loves to travel with her family.
Ulrike is a current PS parent of a 5th and 7th grader, and new alum, and a long-time member of the finance committee. She is the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance at Berkeley Haas and Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley. Her research interests include corporate finance, behavioral economics/behavioral finance, economics of organizations, contract theory, law and economics, and law and finance. Her area of focus is the intersection of economics and finance, and why and how individuals make decisions-specifically how individuals make mistakes and systematically biased decisions.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Head
- Assistant to the Middle School Head & Registrar
Viviana Alejandre, Assistant to the Middle School Head & Registrar, was born in Mexico and raised in San Pablo. She attended California State University East Bay where she earned a BS in health science. She is currently completing her master's degree in educational leadership at St. Mary's University of Minnesota. Viviana has spent the last five years providing administrative support to different organizations. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, hosting events with family and friends, and loves dancing.
Job Titles:
- First Director of Workplace Relations
- Yohance Edwards / Board Member