BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Victor Díaz, President
Tracey Shear, Board Chair
Jabari Mahiri, Vice-President
Christyna Serrano, Secretary
Nancy Williams
Rebecca Prager

 

Board of Directors Bios

Victor Q. Diaz, President
Victor is the Founder and President of the Board of REALM Charter Schools. Victor, former the Principal of Berkeley Technology Academy (BTECH), the continuation High school in Berkeley, California, where he raised the API score 270 points and earned the school its first accreditation through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) during his 6 year tenure. Prior to BTECH, Victor was the principal of the Community Academy in Boston, and taught at the Real Alternatives Program in the Mission District of San Francisco and for San Francisco County Schools. Victor is a Koshland Fellow, a Redford Center Honoree and a Ph.D Candidate in Language, Literacy, Society, and Culture at the University of California at Berkeley. He holds a BA from UCLA, a JD from the New College of California Law School, and a Master’s of Education from the University of San Francisco. Victor has two children in Berkeley public schools.

Tracey Schear, Chair of the Board
Tracey Schear is a seasoned coach and consultant with twenty years of advocacy, education, health and human services, and systems reform experience. Today, she provides leadership coaching and consulting services to nonprofit, profit and public sector organizations through her firm, Schear Innovations. Clients have included the Berkeley Unified School District, the Oakland Unified School District, the California State Department of Education, and San Francisco State University. Ms. Schear also currently works as the Director of School Health Services for the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency where she oversees a 7 million dollar budget and works with district leadership throughout the county in the planning and development of learning and health supports. Ms. Schear has held a number of executive leadership positions including as the founding Executive Director of NEST, an international nongovernmental humanitarian aid organization based in El Salvador’s war zones, as Director of the Berkeley Alliance and as the Director of Technical Assistance and Training for Family Support California. She is dedicated to addressing the opportunity gap that differentially impacts children and youth of color in the Bay Area. Ms. Schear holds a Masters Degree in Social Work and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Jabari Mahiri, Ph.D., Vice-President
Dr. Mahiri is a Professor in UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education in the division of Language and Literacy, Society and Culture. He is the Principal Investigator of T E A C H (Technology Equity And Culture for High-performing schools), a research initiative that collaborates with urban school and community partners on educational equity and academic achievement as well as digitally mediated learning in and beyond schools. He is also the Faculty Director of the Bay Area Writing Project. Dr. Mahiri received his Ph.D. in English (Language, Literacy, and Rhetoric) from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is author of Shooting for Excellence: African American and Youth Culture in New Century Schools (1998), Out of Bounds: When Scholarship Athletes Become Academic Scholars (2010), and Digital Tools in Urban Schools: Mediating a Remix of Learning (2011); He is editor of What They Don’t Learn in School: Literacy in the Lives of Urban Youth (2004) and Virtual Lives: Nerdfighters, the Cutting Nation, Little Sisters, Future Souls, and Future Schools (Forthcoming, 2012).

Christyna Serrano, Secretary of the Board
Ms. Serrano believes that every individual, no matter what their background, has the right to a quality education that nurtures their greatest potential, and allows them to make the world a better place as a result. Christyna can be found working to achieve this vision at the University of California, Berkeley in the Graduate School of Education’s Policy Organizations Measurement, and Evaluation (POME) program where she is a doctoral student and Chancellor’s Fellow.  Christyna has received numerous scholarships, awards and research grants for her work in education.  She has also served on several university-wide committees, including the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for Dependent Care and has been a student member of a university academic senate committee on “The Status of Women and Ethnic Minorities in Higher Education”.  In addition, she is also an Education Pioneer Fellow alum. During Christyna’s time with Education Pioneers, she worked for Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) where she co-authored an updated version of “The Education Impact Guide,” due to be released in late Spring of 2011.

Nancy Williams, Board Member
Nancy was born and raised in Berkeley, and attended elementary, junior high and high school in Berkeley. Because of her commitment to Berkeley families, Mrs. Williams has developed relationships with families throughout the Berkeley community, and serves as a parent advocate and resource. Mrs. Williams has over 25 years of public service and people skills. Mrs. Williams worked for U.C. Berkeley, Berkeley Housing Authority, Kaiser Permanente, Salvation Army, and is currently employed by the Berkeley Unified School District, where she started out as a Parent Coordinator and is now School Secretary III at Berkeley Technology Academy. Mrs. Williams is passionate about helping to improve the lives of all people in the community of Berkeley, with a particular focus on providing excellent service and educational opportunity to Berkeley families.

Rebecca Prager, Board Member
Becca is a licensed clinical social worker who believes in the innate potential of all youth to thrive when given love and support. She is the Director of HEAT, The Health and Environmental Awareness Training Center at Berkeley Youth Alternatives, a multi-service Community Center for youth and families in West Berkeley. She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and is on the Board of Directors of The Ecology Center. Becca has been working with youth and their families for over 18 years. She started as a community organizer in San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point with SLUG (San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners) building gardens and hiring youth in Public Housing to grow food for their community. She has since worked in community centers, garden programs, and public charter schools in San Francisco, North Richmond, Berkeley and in Massachusetts. Becca holds a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from UC Berkeley. She is also a massage therapist and birth doula, approaching her social work from a holistic perspective of health and wellness.