“Building strong communities starts with building strong families.”
Originally from Bronx, NY, hip-hop culture and dance were somewhat of a birthright for Alicia. However, she completely fell in love with Ballet at the age of four when her mother took her to see Swan Lake. Her passion for movement and dance still informs everything she does to this very day. After receiving her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Lehman College, City University of New York, Alicia went on to receive a Master’s in School Counseling at Hunter College and worked as a middle and high school counselor in the South Bronx. Motivated by the desire to meld her love of dance, mental health, and working with families, Alicia moved to the Bay Area where she earned her Master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology with a concentration in Expressive Arts Therapies. Alongside being passionate about helping to build stronger families, Alicia also teaches adult dance fitness as well as a variety of children’s movement, tumbling, and music classes. She is a loving wife and mother of two boys and lives in Oakland, CA.
“I am passionate about ideas and technologies that enable individuals to create opportunity through education and entrepreneurship.”
An entrepreneurial professional with a background in finance, Jen has most recently been an independent consultant providing strategic analysis and innovation management to a variety of companies in the Bay Area. Prior to that, Jen served as Chief Financial Officer at Kiva. She has launched her own business ventures, including On the Road Travel, an online travel resource and booking portal for travelers in Latin America, and Perth Bagel Company, an innovative restaurant that introduced “specialty bagels” to the town of Perth, Canada. Jen received a bachelor’s of commerce from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, and an MBA from INSEAD in France and Singapore. When not chasing her two young children around, Jen spends her free time practicing yoga, skiing, cycling and enjoying San Francisco's restaurant scene.
“This creation is too beautiful to be ignored, people too precious to be forgotten, my hands too eager to serve and my heart too hungry to love.”
Born in Northern India, Mansi grew up with poverty all around her. She came to the Bay Area to pursue a master’s in social entrepreneurship and consult on the Impact Hub's Business Development Initiatives. Mansi is a UN Mandated UPEACE Fellow in the Designing Social Innovation and Leadership Program in Cambodia and Thailand. Prior to coming to the US, Mansi worked as a brand manager and communication designer. She has also worked as an assistant film director and did a short stint in advertising after earning her bachelor’s in mass media. No stranger to travel and a nomadic lifestyle, Mansi had lived in 12 different cities before she turned 16 years old.
“I believe that the cycle of poverty is both caused by and can be broken by one thing: education.”
Sophia’s has taught high school and middle school English in classrooms from South Central, Los Angles to Oakland, and most recently in Quito, Ecuador. She received a BS in communication from the University of Southern California, has two teaching credentials and an MA in education policy and administration from Loyola Marymount University. Outside of work, Sophia loves design, dance and travel.