Board of Directors

FRESNO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Interim Superintendent Misty Her

Misty was born on March 5, 1975, in a small Prisoner of War camp in Laos during the final phases of the Vietnam War. Her father was involved in the CIA’s secret operations in Laos. The eldest of six siblings, Misty’s early life was marked by turmoil. Shortly after the war, her family attempted to resume farming, but her father was soon taken for “re-education” by the government—a fate from which many never returned. Fearing for their safety, the family fled to a refugee camp in Thailand, where they spent a year.

In 1980, at age five, Misty and her family relocated to the United States, initially settling in Garden Grove, California, before moving to Fresno. With no formal education and an inability to speak English, her parents chose Fresno for its agricultural opportunities, hoping to provide a better future for their children. It was here that Misty’s passion for education was nurtured through the support of teachers and mentors in the Fresno Unified School District. This early influence inspired her to pursue a career in education.

Misty attended Fresno State University, earning a BA in Liberal Studies and a master’s in administration and supervision. She started her educational career teaching grades two through six and progressed to become the first Hmong Vice Principal and, subsequently, the first Hmong Woman Principal in the United States. In 2011, she was appointed Instructional Superintendent for School Leadership in Fresno, overseeing educational programs and staff development across the district. Since 2021, Misty has served as the Deputy Superintendent of Fresno Unified School District.

In her Deputy Superintendent role, Misty was responsible for student achievement, analyzing performance data, and leading district improvements in curriculum, assessments, and community relations. She is also deeply involved in community service, serving on several boards and mentoring students throughout Fresno. Her contributions to education have been recognized with multiple awards, including the 2019 California Woman of the Year for Outstanding Service in Education and the 2022 Marjaree Mason Top Ten Woman Award.

Misty’s calling is to do educational missionary work, transforming the lives of children and families. She understands her decisions directly influence the paths of young minds she interacts with daily. Investing in and inspiring hope in our youth is profoundly powerful and necessary for success. Misty believes in the transformative power of education and is committed to inspiring hope and potential in the next generation.

GARDEN GROVE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Gabriela Mafi

A first-generation college graduate, Gabriela Mafi, Ed.D., was confirmed as the Superintendent of the Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) effective July 1, 2013. The nearly 49,000-student district is the 11th largest in California and 96th largest in the United States. The district has 68 schools, including seven comprehensive high schools, serving most of Garden Grove and portions of Santa Ana, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Cypress, Stanton, and Anaheim. The student population is 88% minority, 67% low income, and 48% still designated as English learners, with almost 75% designated as non-native English speakers. The District was selected as the 2004 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education and was one of five finalists in both 2002 and 2003.

Dr. Mafi joined the GGUSD in 2002 as a K-6 Principal, having served as an administrator and teacher in the preceding years at both the elementary and secondary levels. Prior to become Superintendent, she has served as the Executive Director of USC’s Ed.D. Program, Director of Personnel, Director of 7-12 Instruction, and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education

A product of urban Los Angeles, Dr. Mafi received her bachelor’s degree from Cal State Long Beach and her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Southern California.

LONG BEACH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Jill Baker

Dr. Jill Baker was unanimously selected by the Board of Education as superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District(LBUSD) effective August 1, 2020. The school district is California’s fourth largest, with about 70,000 students.

Prior to her appointment as superintendent, Dr. Baker worked for 28 years at LBUSD as a successful teacher, principal, and central office administrator. Her leadership contributed to increased student achievement, the development of multiple districtwide initiatives and systems, and a culture of continuous improvement.

A Long Beach resident, Dr. Baker has been recognized by several community-based organizations for her encouraging leadership and her advocacy for high expectations and support for students in need. She has worked closely with community groups such as Californians for Justice and the California Conference for Equality and Justice to include student voices in the development of programs and policies that focus on excellence, equity, and inclusion.

Dr. Baker served as Deputy Superintendent of Schools for six years prior to becoming superintendent. During that time, she provided leadership, supervision and support to multiple departments in LBUSD, ensuring that students graduate ready for college and careers. Her departmental oversight included early learning, leadership development, curriculum and instruction, and school supervision and support. She led the implementation of the principal supervisor learning community, a multi-year effort that focused on educational excellence and equity by improving coaching and support for principals. Her work with new and aspiring administrators was recognized nationally and was credited with building a high-quality leadership pipeline that would benefit local schools for many years to come. She helped to author several nationally published, scholarly articles on LBUSD’s work, particularly on the topic of leadership development.

Dr. Baker also helped to develop evaluation systems for classified and certificated personnel. She co-chaired the English Language Learner/Social-Emotional Education Task Force on closing achievement gaps, and she served on the bargaining team for union negotiations. A teacher at heart, Dr. Baker spends much of her time in local schools, maintaining an “in-the-field” perspective and interacting with teachers and administrators.

Prior to her work as deputy superintendent, Dr. Baker held various assistant superintendent positions and was Chief Academic Officer while LBUSD saw several critical milestones: an increase in the school district’s elementary promotion standards; the implementation of a collaborative K-12 walk-through process for school visitations; refinement of standards-based report cards; launching Transitional Kindergarten; co-leadership of the principal evaluation system development team and other efforts to cultivate a leadership pipeline.

Dr. Baker enjoys multiple connections with local organizations, foundations and universities, all of which continue to support efforts in the school district. She also serves on two non-profit boards that support the Long Beach community.

Starting as an exemplary teacher at Burnett Elementary School (now Smith Elementary) in 1992, Dr. Baker then worked as a successful principal at Garfield Elementary School from 1998 to 2005 before serving as a central office administrator in LBUSD for 14 years.

In 2005, Dr. Baker completed her tenure as a fellow in the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy. She earned her doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Southern California in 2004, master’s degree in school administration at California State University, Long Beach in 1998, and her bachelor’s degree in sociology at University of California, Irvine in 1991.

Dr. Baker was born at Beale Air Force Base in Marysville, CA. Her parents had earlier met in Japan while both working on a U.S. Air Force base there. Her mother was teaching for the Department of Defense, and her father was an officer in the Air Force. Her parents settled in Santa Cruz, Calif., where Baker was raised until she left for college.

She is the proud mother of an LBUSD graduate who is currently a college sophomore, and she married an LBUSD graduate, Trevor Baker, more than 27 years ago.

Dr. Baker has earned numerous awards and accolades, including the Education Champion Award from the Mayor’s Fund and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, and the Secondary Education Award from the Long Beach Branch NAACP, which also recognized her with an Outstanding Women Award. The Teachers Association of Long Beach presented her with a Golden Apple Award for Administrators, and Soroptimists International named her a Woman of Distinction.

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho

Alberto M. Carvalho has served as Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district, since February 2022. He was selected by the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education in a unanimous vote following a comprehensive community engagement process and a nationwide search.

Superintendent Carvalho arrived in Los Angeles with a sense of energy and purpose, focused on elevating every single student in the District to their full academic potential and unifying the Los Angeles community through the power of education. Acknowledging the remarkable leadership and resilience demonstrated by the Los Angeles Unified school community in providing the safest possible learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Superintendent Carvalho is seeking to establish a balance that resumes the routine and normalcy that students need while respecting protective measures to keep our communities safe.

During his 14-year tenure as Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), the nation’s fourth-largest school system, Superintendent Carvalho garnered local, state, national, and international recognition. His honors include Florida’s 2014 Superintendent of the Year; the 2014 National Superintendent of the Year; the 2016 winner of the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education; the 2018 National Urban Superintendent of the Year; the 2019 National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) Superintendent of the Year Award; and recognition by Scholastic Administrator as one of “The Fantastic Five” educators making a difference in America.

Superintendent Carvalho currently serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education. He also serves as a committee member for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine and as an Advisory Committee Member to the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance. Superintendent Carvalho is a dedicated member of the National Board of Directors for Common Threads and the Posse Foundation.

Under his tenure, M-DCPS became one of the nation’s highest-performing urban school systems, receiving systemwide accreditation from AdvancEd in 2014. M-DCPS was named as the 2014 College Board Advanced Placement Equity and Excellence District of the Year and the 2012 winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education.

An instructional leader at heart, Superintendent Carvalho is the proud founder and principal of the award-winning iPreparatory Academy, which has become a model of robust 21st-century learning in the age of innovation and technology. He is recognized by his peers as a national voice for equity in education.

Superintendent Carvalho has been awarded many honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Public Service by Florida International University; a Doctor of Humane Letters by both Barry University and Florida Memorial University; and a Doctor of Pedagogy, Honoris Causa from Nova Southeastern University. He has been honored by the President of Portugal with the “Ordem de Mérito Civil,” by Mexico with the “Othli Award” and was awarded the Official Cross of the Orden de Isabel la Católica(Order of Isabella the Catholic) on behalf of King Felipe VI of Spain.

OAKLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell

Kyla Johnson-Trammell, who has more than 18 years of service to Oakland Unified School District, was named superintendent of the district in May 2017.

She had been the district’s interim deputy superintendent of academic and social-emotional learning, as well as the district’s lead network superintendent of elementary schools.

Johnson-Trammell has also served the district as a teacher, principal, director of talent development, and associate superintendent for leadership, curriculum and instruction.

The Oakland native is known as a fierce advocate for Oakland Public Schools, which she attended as a student. Johnson-Trammell strives to work collaboratively with staff to unearth and eliminate inequities that impede student learning. She is known for being a strong instructional leader who has developed deep relationships in the district.

Johnson-Trammell earned her master’s degree and doctorate in educational leadership from University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from University of Pennsylvania.

She is a recipient of the Oakland Unified School District Leadership Excellence Award, and the district’s Principal Academic Excellence Award. She was keynote speaker at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conference.

SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Lisa Allen

Lisa Allen enters her 28th year of service to the students and families of Sacramento City Unified(Sac City). She is a caring and compassionate educator whose leadership is guided by an unwavering commitment to improving student achievement and outcomes. Lisa cares deeply about creating safe, warm, and welcoming learning environments for every student, teacher, and staff member.

Lisa is a proud Hoosier and graduate of Indiana University. Not surprisingly, it was a college professor who saw a spark in Lisa and encouraged her to pursue a career in education. Feeling seen and inspired, she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Multiple Subject Elementary Education with a minor in Mathematics. Lisa has since received a master’s degree in education and an administrative credential from Sacramento State University.

During her time with Sac City, Lisa has held positions at every level – climbing through the ranks as a resource teacher supporting Title I students, all the way to Deputy Superintendent, overseeing every major department within the school district. Along the way, she has built strong personal and professional relationships with staff and demonstrated a love for Sac City and a passion for equity in education.

In her personal life, Lisa loves to travel, write and create children’s stories, read, sing, meet new people, and experience other cultures. She and her husband have been married for 38 years. They have three sons and three incredible grandchildren.

SAN JOSE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Nancy Albarrán

A veteran educator with nearly two decades of service to San José Unified School District (SJUSD) students and their families, Nancy Albarrán was named Interim Superintendent in September of 2015. At the time, she was overseeing the Division of Curriculum and Instruction as Assistant Superintendent. She was permanently appointed as Superintendent in May 2016.

As Assistant Superintendent, Nancy worked to increase the instructional capacity of over 1,600 teachers, 60 instructional coaches, and 42 school leaders through professional development and continuous improvement efforts aligned to San José Unified’s strategic plan. She also served San José Unified as its Director of Curriculum, Instruction and EL Services, PreK-5 (2010-2012); Director of Bilingual Education and Special Programs, K-12 (2009-2010); and Manager of Elementary Bilingual and ELD Programs (2007-2009). She also dedicated four years serving families in Downtown San José as Principal of Lowell Elementary (2003-2007). Under her leadership, the school received the California Association of Bilingual Education (CABE) Seal of Excellence Award for exemplary bilingual program. In addition to her work at Lowell, Nancy serve as Assistant Principal at Booksin, Olinder, Washington, and Willow Glen Elementary schools (2002-2003).

A Southern California native from the San Gabriel Valley, Nancy joined San José Unified in 1999 as a Bilingual Teacher at Horace Mann Elementary, bringing a wealth of experience from two of the largest school districts in California, Oakland Unified and Los Angeles Unified, where she began her teaching career. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education, Administration, and Supervision from San José State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley.

SANTA ANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Superintendent Jerry Almendarez

Before coming to Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD), Jerry Almendarez served as Superintendent of Colton Joint Unified School District since 2010 and was responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day operations of an economically and ethnically diverse district of 23,000 students.

Almendarez’ career in education spans 27 years and includes experience as a classroom teacher, an assistant principal, and a principal. He also served as Director of Human Resources for Colton Joint Unified from 2003 to 2007 and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources from 2007 to 2010.

As the Superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District, Almendarez is responsible for leading the 10th largest school district in the state, with 61 schools and programs, approximately 5,000 employees, and an expense budget of $697.4 million.

Almendarez has a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Redlands, and a bachelor’s degree in business/finance from Cal State San Bernardino.

He has also taught as an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University and the University of Redlands, and in March was named a 2019 Ted-Ed Innovative Educator.