BOard Of Directors
Lisa Lasky
Board President; Managing Director, National Equity Project - Lisa has worked in education for over 30 years as a teacher, leader, school, and systems coach, and has led several organizational/system change projects across the country. She is a founding director of the National Equity Project, based in Oakland, CA and has served in many roles including Associate Director, Director of the School Grants Program, and Deputy Director. She currently leads a team of NEP Associates and Directors who work with clients on the West Coast and in several states across the country. Current partnerships include school systems, Charter Management Organizations, Foundations, and Intermediaries who work in Early Learning, Community/Family Engagement and Leadership, and Equity-Centered initiatives.
Originally from New York, Lisa moved to the Bay Area to begin and grow the organization – now called the National Equity Project – as a local center of a national school reform movement (Coalition of Essential Schools). Lisa holds a B.A. in Sociology and English from the State University of New York, College at Cortland and an M.A. in Urban Education from UC Berkeley.
Avi Zellman
Board Treasurer; Financial Advisor, Prudential Financial - Avi is a National Board Certified teacher who has spent his entire education career teaching and mentoring in Oakland. His teaching philosophy is grounded in the empowerment of his students and the development of skills beyond the academics in the classroom. As a math teacher, Avi developed a blended learning curriculum and worked with district leadership to create standards for technology learning across Oakland. Avi’s relationship with the Teaching Well began as an early supporter of TTW’s mindfulness practice and desire to create structured support for teachers and classroom communities. This relationship has been strengthened through ongoing thought-partnership and seeing the impact of The Teaching Well’s work on teaching communities across California. He is excited to be part of an incredible team supporting teachers and students!
Tre Johnson
Board Member; DEI Partner, Catalyst:ED - Tre Johnson is a career educator that started as a classroom teacher in Houston, TX via Teach For America. He has done work in youth non-profit college access and development work between Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, PA, working at the Urban Alliance Foundation and Philadelphia Futures. In Philadelphia, Tre served in grant-writing and admissions roles for the Mariana Bracetti Academy and Freire Charter Schools and he also served on Teach For America’s (TFA) Greater Philadelphia regional staff as the managing director of alumni affairs and as executive director. He has since served as the senior manager of the District Advisory Board and Strategic Partnerships in the Camden City School District and the deputy director for JerseyCAN, focused on education policy advocacy, community engagement, and community leaders.
Before joining Catalyst Ed, Tre has also started a career as a writer for major media outlets on issues of race, culture and leadership. Outside of education, he serves as co-chair for the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project, focused on juvenile life sentencing issues and reentry. He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Suzanne Spencer
Board Member; Sr. Communications Counselor, Full Court Press Communications - Suzanne leads climate crisis and public health communications strategy for nonprofits at Full Court Press Communications in Oakland. Previously, she managed a mentorship program for undergrads at the University of Washington and oversaw communications and fundraising for the Pike Place Market Foundation in Seattle. Now that she's back home in Oakland, Suzanne is honored to be a member of The Teaching Well team and to partner with the educators and schools that raised her. Suzanne holds a master’s in public administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s in anthropology from Willamette University. She lives in Oakland with her husband.
Michelle Seijas
Board Member; Professional Coach & Consultant - A passionate career educator, Michelle Seijas, Ed.D, has dedicated her career to advocating for students in a variety of settings, including as a bilingual and English-only teacher, elementary, high school and district level administrator, served in rural and urban communities and led schools in traditional and charter districts. She possesses a deep-rooted understanding of how schools and districts work from students to parents to staff to the district office to the superintendent to the board level. Her passions are rooted in a desire to build and work with teams for social justice and equity.
Michelle is passionate about serving youth and communities of color and carries that passion with her into elevating and empowering Oakland’s emerging education leaders. Michelle is excited to partner with the Teaching Well to support teacher wellness because as a teacher and administrator she saw first hand how teachers and staff could quickly burn out. We need to support the wellness of our school communities to retain teachers and administrators with a passion to cultivate long-term relationships with students and their families.
Leilani Carbonell Pedroni
Board Secretary ; Vice President Customer Success, Nium - A former public school teacher, Leilani used her experience and knack for technology to break into the tech industry. Over the last 16 years, she's held leadership positions at Promethean World (Head of Client Services), and Illuminate Education (Director of Customer Marketing and Customer Success Leader) where she was a key contributor to growing the company from $2 million in revenue to over $100 million. During her time at Illuminate Education, she led workshops at company off-sites on work-life balance to support co-workers like herself who struggled with meeting the demands of their careers and family/personal life. This inspired Leilani to create SIS (strength in sisterhood) Circle where women support, motivate, and inspire one another. Through SIS Circle, Leilani has organized and led retreats for women, facilitated panels focused on women in leadership, and hosted events focused on self-care and empowerment.
Leilani graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Sociology and Asian American Studies, and from San Francisco State University with an M.A. in Instructional Technology. Leilani lives with her husband Aaron and four young children in Oakland, CA.
Tracie Noriega
Board Member; Assistant Superintendent, San Lorenzo Unified School District - A second generation Filipina -American, Wife, and Mother of 4, Tracie Noriega currently serves the students of San Lorenzo Unified as the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services. As an Educator of 25+ years, Tracie has served as a teacher, site administrator, and district office administrator. A few other roles in which she serves are as the Past President of FAEAC (Filipino-American Educators Association of CA), the current President and Equity Chair for ACSA (Association of CA School Administrators) Region 6, and faculty of the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium. Tracie graduated from CSU Sacramento with a B.A. in Liberal Studies and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, an Administrative Credential and an M.A. from CSU East Bay and is currently a Doctoral student in Educational Leadership at CSU Sacramento.
Education became the route she chose to take as she was inspired by her high school teachers who supported her as a teen mom struggling to balance motherhood and education. She credits her Asian American Studies professors and Ethnic Studies classes for helping her to understand and vocalize her experiences as the daughter of Filipino immigrants navigating the challenges of straddling two cultures. It is the tenets of Ethnic Studies that continue to keep her centered as an Educator. She continues to be inspired by our Youth as she works to create lasting change in our educational system. That change for students necessitates healing and ongoing wellness of the people that serve them. Tracie is excited to be part of The Teaching Well Board and the supports that the organization will provide for our Educators.
Dana Cilono
Board Member; Director of Education Strategy & Ventures: Kenneth Rainin Foundation - Dana is responsible for the program direction, grant-making priorities, and evaluation that ensure every child enters kindergarten ready and is reading at or above grade level by third grade. As an educator for nearly 15 years, Dana helped create and implement solutions in Oakland schools that improved literacy attainment. Before joining the Rainin Foundation, she was the Program Director at FluentSeeds, a professional learning nonprofit. Dana began her career in education as a first-grade teacher in East Oakland. After teaching transitional kindergarten through second grade, she stepped out of the classroom to become an instructional coach, curriculum trainer, then program director. These experiences helped her understand the mechanisms of educational systems and the steps needed to improve opportunities for children. She has a deep personal and professional commitment to supporting the language and literacy of Oakland’s children. Dana has a BA in Theater from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was a 2021 Surge Institute Fellow.
Tiffany Hamilton
Board Member; Director of DEI and Learning & Development, TrueCar - As a third-generation educational leader, Tiffany Hamilton, Ed.D., has witnessed the power education has to change the trajectory of one’s life, both personally and professionally. She is a compassionate, committed and engaged diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leader with over 22 years of experience as an educational professional and adult learning specialist. Creating and implementing DEI and change management strategies requires a clear vision and ongoing development and stewardship. As an author of multiple curricular and programmatic offerings, Tiffany understands how to provide inclusive leadership coaching and development to empower people and organizations.
A certified neuro-linguistic programming coach, meditation facilitator, and mindfulness practitioner who has presented at conferences on topics as varied as intercultural development to spiritual leadership, all of her academic research has focused on how to support the transformation of others. Tiffany found both her passion and work aligned with the vision and mission of The Teaching Well and felt called to help serve students, teachers, schools and districts through service on The Teaching Well Board. Tiffany received her B.A. in communication studies and sociology with a minor in education and her Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership from the University of California, Los Angeles.
