Graduate Student

Katy Memon

Katy has worked in special education since 2015. Currently, she serves as the resource program specialist and special education team leader at Sutro Elementary School in the Richmond District of San Francisco. Throughout her nine years in education, Katy has also held roles as a paraprofessional, behavior interventionist, special day class teacher, and teacher educator. In 2024, Katy was nominated for the Advocate Worthy of Excellence Award from the SFUSD Community Advocacy Committee for her work at Sutro Elementary School.

Katy received her Bachelor’s in Philosophy, Neuroscience...

Elena DeNecochea

Elena Lycette DeNecochea is a Master's Graduate Student at the Berkeley School of Education (BSE) specializing in the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education (CSSE) program. She is an Assistant Coach for JV Football at El Camino Fundamental High School and a Substitute Teacher for the San Juan Unified School District.

They are a BSE Delegate for the Graduate Assembly. Previously, Chairperson of the Gender and Sexuality Commission (GASC) for UC Davis (ASUCD), the California State Student Association (CSSA) Liaison and Vice-Chair of Lobby Corps for (ASI) at Sacramento State University...

Henry Sales Hernandez

Henry Sales Leonel Hernandez, a first-generation college student from an Indigenous Maya Mam immigrant family from Guatemala, is a doctoral candidate in the Language, Literacy, and Culture cluster at UC Berkeley’s School of Education. His path as an Indigenous Maya Mam has been shaped by resilience and a dedication to his cultural heritage, driving him to become a recognized researcher and academic working to revitalize the Maya Mam language and culture. He lives in Oakland, CA with his wife and a lovely daughter.

Growing up in San Juan Atitán, Guatemala, Henry developed a profound...

Ivon Gomez Vargas

Ivon is an educational leader with over a decade of experience dedicated to advancing equity and justice in early childhood education. Her diverse roles—including teacher, director, founder of private centers and family child cares, and Head Start coordinator—have provided her with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the early childhood sector. As an equity-driven leader and edupreneur, Ivon is committed to serving historically marginalized children and families across various early childhood settings.

In her practice, Ivon is a reflective...

Kayla Thomas

Kayla Thomas is a third-year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the BSE. She graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minors in Education and Spanish. During her time at Stanford, she received the Andrea Naomi Leiderman Fellowship, allowing her to assist in the evaluation of a social-emotional learning curriculum as part of a research-practice partnership with San Francisco Unified School District. Kayla also worked as an Education Partnerships Fellow where she taught early learning skills to bilingual preschool and elementary students...

Sarah Goulart

Sarah Goulart is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Berkeley School of Education, specializing in social research methods. As a first-generation student with a strong interest in the transfer student experience, Sarah's research focuses on the challenges in the transfer process. She examines the intersection of institutional policies and AI models aimed at facilitating cross-campus planning.

As a Chancellor's Fellow and a Gardner Fellow, Sarah is committed to fostering equitable educational systems. Drawing from her own experiences and a passion for advocacy, she believes that...

Josephine (Josie) Ingram Defaye

Josephine (Josie) Ingram (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Language, Literacy, and Culture cluster at UC Berkeley's School of Education. Her research interests include LGBTQ+ inclusivity in education, creative writing pedagogy, queer literacy frameworks, digital learning spaces, and artificial intelligence in education. Her current project explores how informal learning spaces can support literacy development and identity formation for transgender and gender-expansive individuals.

Prior to Berkeley, Josie taught English, creative writing, and film in LAUSD, where she also...

Ally Collard

Alexandra (Ally) Collard is a first-year PhD student in the Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (SESAME). Ally has Bachelor's degrees in Chemistry and Math from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Master's degree in Chemistry from Institut Polytechnique de Paris, where she studied Electrochemistry and Materials Chemistry. Ally also taught high school Chemistry in Colorado, where she worked to develop her skills in inquiry-based teaching. At UC Berkeley, she is now studying Chemistry education, working with Anne Baranger and Marcia Linn's groups. Her research focuses...

Ben Wood

Ben is an MA student in the Language Literacy and Culture specialization. As a linguist in industry, Ben has worked at Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Capital One before coming to Berkeley. For over ten years, they have also worked as a linguistic consultant with the Houma Language Project, an indigenous and women-led effort to reclaim the indigenous Houma language of Louisiana.

Ben's research interest is the relationship between motivation and autonomy in language learning, particularly for indigenous languages using language technology. They are working to develop a language-...

Ryan Anthony

Ryan Anthony is a Master’s Degree candidate in the 24th Cohort of the Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) at the UC Berkeley School of Education.

Ryan is entering his 12th year working at public schools across California & Connecticut, half those years spent as a school administrator and the other half as a teacher. Ryan currently works as the Dean of Expeditions at Summit Shasta High School in Daly City, CA and before that as a Dean of Culture & Instruction at Summit Everest High School in Redwood City, CA. Prior to this, Ryan was the Science Department Chair,...