Board of Trustees at Gateway

Neggin Adams is a Vice President in J.P. Morgan's Private Bank. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Neggin was a Healthcare Investment Banker at Wells Fargo, providing M&A, equity, and debt strategies to secure investment opportunities and facilitate capital needs. Her strengths include a rigorous and disciplined approach to problem-solving.

Neggin grew up in the Bay Area, and her family is ingrained in Silicon Valley. A graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Neggin earned an M.B.A. in Health Sector Management and Finance as a Forte Scholar. She received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and began her professional career in a scientific capacity before pivoting to the business and financial side of the healthcare industry.

Neggin has a long history of philanthropy with a focus on education. She has worked directly with schools to provide education to children in Iran, India, Honduras, Colombia, and Kenya. She enjoys spending time with her family, painting, and hiking in Marin in her free time. 

Jake Berliner is a Partner at McKinsey & Company in San Francisco, where he advises leading technology companies on growth and customer experience. Jake’s last decade at McKinsey career has intersected with his passion for education through partnerships with universities, workforce development programs, and ed tech providers. He began his career in economic policy and political campaigns, including work for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Jake holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA in Political Science from Tufts University. Jake is passionate about economic mobility, and, as the 4th generation of his family to call San Francisco home, the future of our city. Jake, his wife Jen, and two sons live in the Richmond District, where they can frequently be found at the beach.

As co-chair of Gateway, Sapna Boze is fulfilling her passion to help provide exceptional education and nurturing environments to all kids. She joined Gateway’s board in 2013 and previously served as the board co-chair of Gateway from 2015-2019.  Sapna served as a Trustee at The Hamlin School for Girls for six years where she chaired the Governance Committee and the Financial Assistance and Economic Equity Task Force.  She also served as the Board Chair at Lone Mountain Children’s Center.  Prior to focusing full time on the nonprofit sector, Sapna worked in corporate finance at Autodesk and Cisco Systems. Sapna earned her B.S. in Managerial Economics from U.C. Davis and her MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, where she served on the Alumni Board. Sapna and her husband, Brandon, live in San Francisco with their three daughters.

Nyja is a Senior Vice President, Product Transformation and Change Management Director at Wells Fargo. Her career spans 20 years of digital, marketing, and product management experience across financial services, technology, and retail industry leaders. Prior to joining WF in 2006, Nyja held leadership roles in Digital Marketing and Product Management at Charles Schwab, Intuit, IBM, and Road Runner Sports. 

Nyja holds an MBA from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management and a B S.BA in Marketing and International Business from Georgetown University. Nyja is passionate about access to education and the power of travel to uplift communities and expand horizons. She is active in the Georgetown alumnae network and is a citizen of the world, traveling to over 30 countries and counting.

A San Francisco resident for over 23 years, Nyja is a proud soccer mom to a Gateway middle schooler, and enjoys taking advantage of all the Bay Area has to offer - the arts, food & wine, and natural wonders.

Dan grew up in a small New England town, attended college at Boston’s Northeastern University, and then headed west to San Francisco in the fall of 1995. Dan spent the next decade traveling the globe as a professional touring musician and putting his time in as a bartender and waiter when he was back home. As with many musicians and artists, Dan eventually found his way back to the services industry and has spent most of the last two decades managing restaurants in Vermont, Oregon, and San Francisco. He helped open the cool SF classic Urban Putt in 2014, and captained that crazy ship until the pandemic forced it’s temporary closure in 2020. Now Dan leans on his small business experience as a financial sales advisor for Elavon.

Dan and his wife Amanda and son Dash, a Gateway student, share their Sunset home with a gaggle of furry family members and love to explore the magic of Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. Dan and Amanda are both regular contributors to the Gateway staff lunches, and enjoy being active members of the school community. The Carr’s like to travel, love to cook, and very much enjoy the occasional competitive game night!

Mark is a Professor of Teacher Education and Associate Dean for Research in the Lurie College of Education at San José State University. As a teacher educator and research psychologist, he focuses on classroom dialogue and evidence-based reasoning in history and science classrooms. He has applied this work to support young adolescents' academic literacy and argumentative discourse in projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Office of English Language Acquisition. He earned a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University (1990) and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Development from Columbia University (1999).

Erin Hartfield, social justice advocate and veteran special educator has an ability to foster connections with students and staff to enact change. 

As a National Board Certified, Special Education teacher, she led the department at one of the largest comprehensive MS in her district. As the youngest leader and the first woman of color to hold that position, she worked hard to create structure within the department that helped ALL students feel a sense of belonging and make progress on educational goals.  Erin also led a department of up to 26 teachers and paraprofessionals for the school's special education department to be able to do their best and thrive in their positions. 

Most recently Erin has pursued her administrative credential, moving into school leadership. Erin is passionate about using the opportunities given to her to develop young people. From those different roles, she was able to see what young people needed and more importantly the power behind youth voice with a focus on Black youth and families.

Gabe has spent his whole life within a tight radius of the Bay Area and currently lives in Oakland. He went to UC Santa Cruz for college, majoring in Religious Studies before getting his MFA in Poetry at Saint Mary’s College. He’s been working with 8th graders since 2014 and at GMS since 2020. He greatly enjoys the absurdity of middle schoolers in all regards as well as opening their eyes to US History and their own stories & power. When not teaching, he can be found playing or watching basketball (go Dubs!), hiking, going to concerts, reading, or spending time with his wife and cat.

Doug has spent most of his career in the wealth management industry and thrives in developing solutions to help improve his client’s lives.  He currently leads the Client Relationship Team in Northern California for Capital Group Private Client Services.  Prior to joining Capital Group in 2019, Doug spent time at SmartBiz Loans, a fintech company helping small business owners get access to SBA loans with attractive terms.  Doug began his career at City National Rochdale Investment Management where he managed client investment portfolios.  Outside of time spent at the University of San Diego where he earned a BA in Business Economics, Doug has lived in the Bay Area his entire life and in San Francisco since 2005.   Doug and his wife Courtney live in the West Portal area with their two elementary school age children where Doug serves as treasurer for the school’s Men’s Club and is a member of the Athletic Board.   In his free time, Doug enjoys activities outdoors in the sun and training (sometimes successfully) their Cavalier King Charles/Australian Shepard dog, Rigby.

Gale, one of Gateway’s founders and a past board chair, practiced law for twenty years, eleven of them as Vice President for Legal Services at California Pacific Medical Center. Currently Gale serves as the board co-chair of Urban Adamah, an urban farm and Jewish environmental center in Berkeley. In the recent past, she served on the boards of, and as board chair of, Beyond Differences, Education Pioneers and Children's Council of San Francisco. Gale and her husband, a former public high school math teacher, have four grown children and five grandchildren. Their daughter graduated from Gateway in 2004.

Paula is a physician scientist, with specialty training in hematology and oncology, who moved to the Bay Area to work in the biotech industry. She has worked at companies such as Genentech, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Medivation, Coherus Biosciences, and now Nurix Therapeutics, where she is the SVP of Clinical Development, to develop and deliver medicines for patients with cancer.

Outside of work, Paula’s passions are tennis, which she played competitively as a child, and the care and growth of her daughter, who attends Gateway High School.

Marcio Panti is a San Francisco native and a Gateway High School alumnus (class of '08). He also attended City College of San Francisco, then transferred to San Francisco State University to earn his Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology and a California teaching credential. Currently, he works as an Physical Education teacher at Gateway Middle school. The path that led him back to the Gateway community and becoming an educator has illuminated the joy of working with young people in San Francisco. The opportunity to inspire students to build a positive relationship with exercise and view movement as an essential life skill is one that he values greatly. Marcio loves anything related to sports, and works as a soccer coach at both Gateway Middle and at a local soccer club in San Francisco. In his spare time he enjoys being with his family, especially his four year old daughter! Traveling and exploring the world is also very important to him, and prefers that there is always a trip on the horizon. Going forward, he is intrigued to see how he can further contribute to the larger GPS community through joining the board.

Ariana Proehl is a writer, producer and host with a passion for exploring and understanding why we do the things we do. She is a former culture reporter and host for KQED public radio, where she told unique stories about Bay Area life, arts and culture. Ariana also created and launched KQED’s annual Youth Takeover, a week that showcases stories produced by local high school students. She’s been the executive director of a youth development non-profit, served as co-director of a film festival and created the online media brand, Know This!, with a mission to educate, entertain and empower. Ariana holds a BA in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley and a Master of Public Administration from New York University. She’s a big music nerd who enjoys collaging, traveling and talking at length about the plot and character development of whatever TV show she’s loving at the moment.

Kevin has more than 16 years of experience in the social sector helping organizations and leaders understand their impact and strengthen their work. Kevin is currently a Senior Evidence Director at Project Evident partnering with nonprofit service providers to strengthen their evidence-building muscle. His community service includes advisory roles for 826 Valencia and the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and he is a former president of the board of the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association. A native of the Bay Area, Kevin and his family have lived in San Francisco for the past 16 years, where his two children attend public school. He rises early most mornings to run in Golden Gate Park or swim with the University of San Francisco Masters Swim Team.

 Joel has served as the Director of College Counseling at Gateway High School since the fall of 2005. Since that time, he has continually worked to develop a college counseling program that is responsive to student needs and supports students to make informed decisions in developing their plans after Gateway. Most recently,  Joel and the college team have worked to develop programming that is culturally responsive and supports the social emotional growth of students. In his role as Director of College Counseling, Joel teaches the College Counseling 11 and 12 courses and provides individual college admission and financial aid counseling to students and families. He is also a long-standing  member of the Gateway High Leadership Team and Student Life Team.

 Joel was born and raised in Richmond, Ca and is a child of Mexican immigrants. He believes deeply in the transformative power of a high quality education and educators who advocate for the equitable well-being of their students. Building and easing access to post-secondary education is important to seeking justice for young people from underrepresented backgrounds. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelors in Spanish bilingualism and linguistics and from Stanford University School of Education with a masters in education policy analysis and evaluation. Prior to joining Gateway high, he worked at the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Making Waves Education Program. When not working, Joel enjoys hiking through the East Bay hills, riding bikes with his son, and family movie time.

Laura received her MBA from Stanford University and a BA in Economics and East Asian studies from Wesleyan University. Laura has a diverse business background with experience in corporate finance, private equity investing, and general business management and operations. Laura previously ran operations for a division of health clubs for 24 Hour Fitness and did general business consulting to startups in the health and wellness industries. During Laura’s tenure on the Gateway board she has chaired the finance and faculty affairs committees, and participated in the investment, audit, and development committees. Laura is currently a trustee at San Francisco University High School, on the Stanford Business School Fund Council and formerly was a trustee and chair at San Francisco Day School. Laura and her husband, Greg, have four children who are college, high school and elementary aged.

Valerie is a native San Franciscan. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of California at Davis and a registered nursing degree from CCSF. She is currently an Associate Manager of Drug Safety at Quark Pharmaceuticals. Valerie is an active sustainer in the Junior League of San Francisco, the San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary, and an Auxiliary member of the Friends of Smuin Ballet. She enjoys creative crafts and is a passionate foodie.

Jake Welch is a partner at ValueAct Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm that he joined in 2009. At ValueAct, Jake sources and maintains a range of global investments and currently serves on the board of LKQ Corporation. Prior to joining ValueAct in 2009, Jake worked in private equity at the Blackstone Group. He and his wife live in San Francisco with their three young children and are passionate about education, homelessness, and youth mental health. Jake serves as deputy board chair of SLS preschool and was inspired to support Gateway’s mission by meeting the outstanding students and teachers at several Matters of the Mind events. Jake graduated from a small public school in Buena Vista, Georgia, has a B.A., cum laude, from Harvard College and is a CFA charterholder. In his free time, Jake can be found on the tennis court.

Angelina is a San Francisco native and a Gateway alumnus ('09). She has worked in Operations and Human Resources Management for a decade, including operations for Silicon Valley’s top tech companies. Throughout that role she partnered with workforce development programs, nonprofits and reentry programs to fill thousands of vacant roles in the culinary tech sector. In her current role as the Human Resources Manager at Meals on Wheels San Francisco, Angelina strives toward creating a diverse workplace that celebrates community and inclusivity. 

By joining the board of Gateway trustees Angelina hopes to help faculty and students alike with achieving community goals. Outside of the office you can find Angelina attending concerts, exploring new experiences in the San Francisco Bay area while traveling to new places. She volunteers her time to animals, peer counseling and spending time with her elderly grandpa. 

Beth is a graduate of Lehigh University and holds a MSEd in Guidance and Counseling from Hunter College. Beth worked for the N.Y.C. Board of Education at an alternative high school where she developed and implemented a counseling program for students who were at-risk in larger school settings. After relocating to San Francisco, Beth became the program coordinator for The College Bound Foundation, a nonprofit that connected students who live in San Francisco Public Housing with mentors. She served on its board for six years following her employment there. She was also a board member at the San Francisco Day School, where she served on numerous committees and was an officer on the board's executive committee. In addition to her volunteer work at Gateway Public Schools, Beth is a Court Appointed Special Advocate for SFCASA. In 2008, she created Revamp, a wardrobe consulting business for women. Beth and her husband have two sons.

Cathy graduated from Brown University and Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. She has 15 years of experience in financial services, industrial manufacturing, and high technology businesses. In the past, she has taken leadership roles with the National Board of Reading Partners, San Francisco Day School Board, the Brown Club of Northern California, and the Junior League of San Francisco. Cathy served as the chair of Gateway’s Board of Trustees from 2005-2009. Currently, Cathy serves on the Regional Board for Reading Partners and the Advisory Board for the Breakthrough Collaborative site at San Francisco Day School.  Cathy and her husband, Sandy, have three children.

Susan was born and raised in Bay Shore, NY. Susan graduated from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY with a BA in English Literature. Following college, she worked in the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley & Co. in New York. After a move to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1994, Susan worked in the development department of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum where she worked on the museum’s capital campaign and helped organize corporate constituent and membership events. Susan moved to San Francisco in 1995. From 1995 through 1999, she was the director of special events at Hambrecht & Quist, a small boutique investment bank. Susan served on the board of trustees of The Urban School of San Francisco for 6 years. For many years, Susan also served on the parent board at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, CA. Susan lives in San Francisco with her husband, Chris, and has four children

Lisille is one of Gateway's founders and the founding board chair. After seeing Gateway through its tenth anniversary year, Lisille moved to emeritus status. She has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Headlands Center for the Arts, the Oxbow School and the San Francisco Education Fund. She has served on advisory committees for the Schools of the Sacred Heart and the Charles Armstrong School. Currently, Lisille consults with and oversees the daily operation of the Art4Moore Fund, a small fund that gives grants for art supplies and instruction to students of all ages. Lisille and her husband moved to California in 1982 as owner/operators of Mount Veeder Winery in Napa, CA, where they lived for ten years. They have two grown children.

Joyce is an elementary school teacher who has been tutoring children of all ages since 1982. Her community service has included several volunteer organizations and boards, including the Diversity Task Force of the Junior League of San Francisco and Youth Advocates. She is married with three children. Her daughter graduated from Gateway in June 2002. For several years Joyce and her husband chaired the Gateway Parent's Annual Fund.

Suzanne was a co-founder of Gateway High School, where she also served as its second board chair. Throughout her career, Suzanne has been an educator committed to improving the quality of public education. Early on, she taught at Denby High School in inner city Detroit, before serving for over a decade as a lead teacher for special education programs at Evanston Township High School in Illinois. Since returning to her native San Francisco in 1993, Suzanne taught within SFUSD prior to working for ten years as the Associate Director of College Counseling at The Urban School. chair. Suzanne is currently a member of the advisory boards for UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education and Ten Strands, an environmental education non-profit. Previously, she was a member of the board of trustees at The Urban School, as well as Marin Country Day School, and acted as a member of the advisory boards for Aim High and the Parent Education Network. 

Peter was the founding principal of Gateway and served as its executive director until 2007. Peter then became chief of staff, and for six months the interim chief executive officer, of the California Charter Schools Association. In 2010 he moved to Rwanda to be the founding head of school at Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology, a boarding school for 270 A-level students. Prior to becoming Gateway's principal in 1998, Peter was the headmaster of Cate School in Santa Barbara, and he taught history for 18 years at Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs. Peter graduated from Williams College with a degree in art history, has a M.Ed. from Boston State College, and has done advanced study at the University of Colorado and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Peter is the father of two daughters--Amy who was with him in Rwanda for two years as the university counselor and now lives in Boston, and Elyssa who lives in San Francisco with her husband and son (making Peter a very proud grandpa!). He is the volunteer college counselor at Mandela International Magnet School and a search consultant for Wickenden/DRG, an firm that finds heads of school for independent and charter schools. Peter lives in Santa Fe NM with his wife Brigitte Uwantege and his stepdaughter Keza.