Staff
Founder & Executive Director
AnnMarie Baines
AnnMarie Baines, PhD, is an educator, researcher, and public speaking coach devoted to promoting self-expression, literacy, and agency through inclusive education. She facilitates kind, welcoming places for people to develop their voice, believe their stories matter and navigate inequities to become transformative leaders. AnnMarie was trained as a special education teacher and started her career as a volunteer speech and debate coach for her high school. Today, more than 20 years later, she still gives back to the program that developed her voice as a quiet Filipina who was initially petrified of public speaking. Her work in speech and debate with The Practice Space was recognized by the National Speech & Debate Association for an Activating Equity Award.
AnnMarie has held faculty positions at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State and was a program officer at the George Lucas Educational Foundation. She is a TEDx speaker and the author of two books. She received her PhD in Learning Sciences from University of Washington, where she was recognized with the 2023 Distinguished Graduate Award, and also has a Master's in Education Policy from Harvard, a teaching credential from Boston Teacher Residency, and an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley. She is a graduate of West Contra Costa Unified and currently sits on the Board of Directors for PBLWorks.
Senior Program Director
Maribel Lopez
For twenty years, Maribel Lopez has been on a journey to expand educational equity through parent, student & community engagement, curriculum, and individual leadership development coaching in her community of West Contra Costa. In that time, she has developed skills and a passion that drives her to find new ways to affect positive change for social justice and racial equity.
As a former West Contra Costa student, bilingual elementary school teacher, and current parent of two daughters that attend WCCUSD schools, Maribel has deep roots in the community. Maribel was named WCCUSD teacher of the year in 2015 and uses her experiences to help create trusting relationships with families and decision makers centered around social justice and equity. Maribel has developed and led community leadership development work with a DEI lens where participants learn to harness their innate power by developing skills and strategies to support their advocacy and leadership efforts. Maribel holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in Social Welfare and a Masters in Urban Education from Loyola Marymount University. Maribel lives in Richmond with her husband, two daughters, two french bulldogs and enjoys quiet moments of contemplation and decaf-coffee.
Director of Business & Development
Caroline Clarke
Caroline Clarke has worked in development for over 15 years in the UK and the US. For the last 9 years, she has been the development and operations director at the Green Science Policy Institute in Berkeley. In this role, she has worn many hats: grants management, prospect research, budget management and board relations, to name just a few. Previously Caroline lived in the UK and worked in the development offices of the London Business School and the London School of Economics. She later lived in India where she carried out prospect research projects for a variety of arts and education organizations. She holds a BSc (Econ) and an MSc (Econ) in Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics.
Caroline is delighted to join The Practice Space team. She believes fostering confidence in youth through public speaking is critical for success in school, the workplace and every other aspect of life. You will often find Caroline walking the neighborhood with her rescue dog Amber, rushing to pick up one of her kids from school or watching teen-friendly shows with her family.
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Moneek Bhanot
Moneek Bhanot (she/her) is a strategist, coach, and facilitator with 20 years of leadership experience in education and non-profits. Her purpose and strengths sit at the intersection of educational equity, racial equity, organizational development, people & culture, and leadership development work. As a Punjabi Sikh woman, she is deeply driven by our need for collective healing and the dismantling of white supremacy. She has come to understand systems of oppression largely from her lived experience and the ways in which she has been granted and denied power based on her intersectional identities. These experiences have shaped her pursuit of access, healing, and justice for all people.
Moneek has held roles in the classroom as a K-12 teacher, as a leader in national college access and success nonprofits such as Summer Search and OneGoal, and as a racial equity coach and consultant. She has supported leaders with holistic organizational assessments, facilitated trainings, executive coaching, and strategic advising on how to address complex leadership & culture challenges in their organizations. Moneek received her undergraduate degree from UC San Diego, a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is a Certified Professional Coach. She also holds multiple and single-subject teaching credentials with English Learner Authorization in the state of California. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two wonderful children, and finds joy in spending time with her family, cooking, and listening to 90s R&B music.
Manager of Learning & Impact
Caitlin Healy
Caitlin Healy is an educator with over 15 years of experience teaching youth of all ages, as well as adults, and has been at The Practice Space for over three years. Prior to joining the team, Caitlin taught social studies for seven years in public schools, where she helped coach teachers on project based and blended learning. As a Program Coordinator for San Francisco Peer Resources, she supported high school students in facilitating peer education workshops to over 1,000 middle and high school students. Caitlin also helped launch WiseTech Ed, an education startup that empowers students, families and schools to develop community-wide solutions that address the unintended consequences of technology. She has a Masters in Education from Mills College in Oakland and a B.A. in American Studies from UC Santa Cruz. Over the years she has learned the importance of building people’s confidence and strong communication skills, so that communities feel empowered to advocate for themselves and others to create a more just world. Many things bring her joy but especially raising her son, rock climbing, being outdoors, connecting with friends and family, and being born and raised in Oakland, CA.
Manager of Programs & Events
Cynthia Pinto
Cynthia Pinto is a first-generation Portuguese-American with roots in Angola and the Azores. She hails from Livingston, a small farming and factory town in the heart of the California Central Valley. She has nearly a decade of experience as an educator and educational professional working as a professor of English, a fellow in Peralta's Faculty Diversity Internship Program, and as the Senior Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions at Mills College. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Cynthia is aligned with The Practice Space’s mission to help folks find their voices and give them the confidence to elevate them. As a queer person of color, her time at Mills showed Cynthia she could be authentic and feel comfortable in her skin by using her voice and standing up for her beliefs. Her passion for helping individuals, especially those from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds, find their voice and see the best in themselves is at the center of everything she does. Cynthia believes that seeing someone first as a person is the key to helping them unlock their potential. When she isn’t working at The Practice Space, one will find her cooking meals for her loved ones, resting with her senior dog, cheering on her favorite sports teams, reading, writing, and binge-watching various TV shows.
Program Coordinator, Americorps/VISTA
Ryan Miller
Ryan Miller is a El Cerrito High School alumni and graduate of UC Davis with a degree Material Science and Engineering Major and an Education Minor. Ryan has been a cherished member of The Practice Space family since 2018, where he started out as a coach. Ryan was on El Cerrito’s speech and debate team, where he was coached by our founder…he even inspired the name The Practice Space! In high school he joined the Speech and Debate team for three years to improve his public speaking ability and become more comfortable with it. Ryan understands the intimidation and fears of public speaking and wants to help other students overcome them and improve. Ryan has a passion for games and rock climbing and will bring his coaching expertise to support even more programs.
Board of Directors
Board President
Jessie Stewart
Jessie Stewart is the Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships at Cameron Institute and brings a decade of experience at the intersection of education, community development, and higher education equity. She leads the development of intentional, reciprocal, and sustained community and student-driven engagement efforts between Cal Athletics and the larger campus and Bay Area communities.
Prior to Cal, Jessie had the privilege of serving as the Founding Executive Director for the Richmond Promise, where she had the opportunity to collaborate and see the positive impact of the Practice Space first-hand, through workshops with Richmond Promise Scholars.
Jessie lives in Richmond, and when she is not working, she loves to run, take the ferry across the Bay, travel to northern Michigan, seek out awesome views, and spend time with her husband Brian and baby girl, Avi Mae.
Board Vice President
Lorna Contreras-Townsend
Lorna Contreras-Townsend was born and raised in the East Bay and attended all WCCUSD schools, including El Cerrito High School where she was a policy debater for 4 years. She attended St. Mary’s College of California and received a Bachelor’s degree in Politics with a minor in Spanish, then went on to pursue a Master’s in Psychology from The Wright Institute. She spent over a decade in nonprofit management and is now committed to driving inclusion and workforce development strategies for corporate environments. Lorna's heart lies in community advocacy and she is passionate about public speaking and storytelling and its importance to amplifying voices in places where systemic injustices have been so deeply embedded.
Board Secretary
Sylvia Sudat
Sylvia Sudat is an Investigator and Biostatistician at the Center for Health Systems Research, Sutter Health, where she focuses on analyzing data from electronic health records and translating the results into (hopefully) understandable English. She received her PhD in Biostatistics from the University of California at Berkeley. She is passionate about the importance of effective communication, and is deeply committed to supporting empowerment through a strong sense of confidence in personal expression. During her youth, she grew to love public speaking through theater, music, debate, and her involvement in the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, a leadership and community service organization. When she is not at work or at Practice Space board meetings, she can most frequently be found singing, listening to audiobooks, running around after her three children, or drinking copious amounts of tea.
Board Treasurer
Paul Baines
Paul Baines is Head of Engineering for QCWare, after being at Checkr, Inc and Wise.io (GE Digital). With the Wise.io team, Paul helped build intelligent industrial systems that aim to make the world a safer and more efficient place. Prior to joining Wise.io, he was an Assistant Professor of Statistics at UC Davis, where he learned the joys and challenges of public speaking by teaching Statistics to over 2,000 students. In addition to his role as Board Treasurer, Paul serves as resident handyman and barista at The Practice Space. Paul received his PhD in Statistics from Harvard University, an MPhil in Statistical Science from Cambridge University, and a bachelors degree in Mathematics from Durham University in England. In his spare time, Paul enjoys running ultramarathons and curling up with his dog, Leo, to recover from them.
Board Member
Rashon Lane
Rashon Lane (She/Her) is a proud graduate of K-12 WCCUSD schools and a native of Richmond, California. She is a Senior Health Equity Scientist at Sutter Health's Institute for Advancing Health Equity. Rashon is motivated by developing research addressing the root causes of health, specifically cardiovascular disease and mental health. She is driven to center marginalized communities in the research process with the aim of equitable research focusing on justice and healing. Rashon served as a Senior Health Scientist/Behavioral Scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 15 years. Rashon finds joy in mentoring BIPOC college students and early career professionals and was awarded 2022's Most Influential Women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rashon completed her doctorate in medical sociology at the University of California San Francisco and has a master's from Claremont Graduate University and a bachelor's from Tuskegee University in psychology. She is an amateur gardener/plant mom and enjoys trying new coffee/tea while traveling.
Board Member
Todd Groves
Todd Groves supported public education in a variety of roles over the past 20 years. Most recently, he was elected to the West Contra Costa Unified Board of Education from 2012–16, with his colleagues electing him to clerk in 2013 and president 2014. Todd led WCCUSD through the implementation of the largest one-to-one device to student initiatives in the country. He saw his role as bridging gaps between educational researchers, innovators, policy makers and practitioners.
Todd has also been a board member of many nonprofit organizations. He worked under the famous disability rights advocates Judith Heumann and Ed Roberts on international disability rights issues and toward the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He raised two children whom attended WCCUSD schools and he performed many varied volunteer roles throughout the district. Todd earned an AB in Neuroscience from Oberlin College in 1986.
Board Member
Carey Hawkins Ash
Dr. Carey Hawkins Ash, J.D., Ph.D, is an equity-minded, visionary strategist with legal, legislative, business, research, and partnership development skills. He began his career as a Legislative Aide in the Louisiana State Senate where helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Thereafter, he practiced education law in Sacramento, CA, where he advised school districts and higher education leaders on issues pertaining to students’ rights, special education, litigation, labor and employment, workforce development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion issues.
Dr. Hawkins Ash also served as Chief of Staff for Business and Operations in Oakland Unified School District overseeing an $800 million unit (7 departments and 24 subdivisions) in service of more than 50,000 students across 118 schools. As Managing Director of Community Engagement & Growth and Vice-President for Partnerships for Making Waves Academy and its Foundation, he successfully navigated the facilities approval and permitting process for $400 million in public charter school campuses and designed and executed engagement plans supporting a $2 million expansion of college and career access programming for high-need students in Pittsburg, CA. In his personal time, Dr. Hawkins Ash leads Foresight Strategy Solutions, a high-powered strategic consultancy that helps organizations catalyze transformational change. His firm currently advises the largest system of public higher education in the United States on its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Board Member
Jade Shipman
Jade Shipman owns a consulting firm that advises nonprofits, banks, and governments nationwide on how to improve economic development in low-income communities. In this work, she conducts interviews and surveys to understand the stories and needs of lower-income people. She is deeply committed to ensuring that regardless of background, people can find their voice, express their needs, and be responded to effectively by the programs seeking to help them thrive. She holds a Master’s degree in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA with High Honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara. In her free time, she can be found playing music with several bands, volunteering, snuggling with her cats, and going on long walks around San Francisco.
Board Member
Dr. Evangelia Ward-Jackson
Dr. Evangelia “Angel” Ward-Jackson is a servant leader and nurturer of brilliance who is also a first-generation college grad, and a life-long learner that has earned three master’s degrees (M.A., M.Ed., M.Th.), two doctoral degrees (Ed.D., Ph.D.) and several credentials. In addition to being a Principal Executive Consultant specializing in coaching leaders and businesses on strategy, precision, and progressive impact, Dr. Ward-Jackson serves as the Senior Director of Humanities & DEI for Envision Education, a network of public charter schools in Oakland, Hayward, and San Francisco. Her 25+ years of experience in the field also includes service as a teacher/professor, an instructional leader, and as an executive school leader across the traditional public, public charter, collegiate, and for-profit supplemental education sectors. She is a civically engaged leader who navigates the field of education with contagious joy, and a persuasive acuity that consistently leads to progressive outcomes. A proud and involved Hercules resident, City Commissioner, Education Foundation Director, and Rotarian, Dr. Ward-Jackson is also a family-oriented person who enjoys traveling, singing, writing, and cultivating others towards success.
Board Member
Dr. Paul Porter
Dr. Paul Porter is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA), where he oversees the development, implementation, and assessment of DEI efforts for the largest high school speech and debate organization in the nation. Since 2012, he has developed programs and initiatives designed to help create inclusive environments for diverse student populations, as well as diversity strategic plans and program assessments. Paul has presented on topics including multicultural competence, unconscious bias, difficult dialogues, and making meaning of DEI across the state of Indiana and nationwide. Paul holds a B.S. in Communication Studies from Ball State University, an M.A. in Communication and Rhetorical Studies from Eastern Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Indiana State University.
Coaches
Coach - Debate
Joel Jacobs
Joel Jacobs has been involved with debate for four decades, as a successful high school and college competitor, judge, debate parent, and coach. He claims to have been involved in parliamentary debate longer than any other high school coach in California, but has no idea whether that is actually true. He has coached debaters who won the high school and college national championships, the California State Championship, and invitationals on both coasts, and who were ranked in the Top 5 nationally. He is currently the head coach of Berkeley High School, and serves on the board of the National Parliamentary Debate League, as the Director of the Parliamentary Tournament of Champions. By day, he is a practicing lawyer, and sometimes serves as faculty in a trial skills training program for other lawyers.
Coach—Acting and Oral Delivery
Gabrielle Meacham
Gabrielle Meacham is a Theater and Music major at Pepperdine University, where she also studies dance and stage directing. She grew up performing in Bay Area community theaters, dance recitals, and voice recitals. At El Cerrito High School, she competed for four years with the Speech and Debate Team, and has coached the Summer Camp for the past three years. She is passionate about teaching, and loves supporting students in becoming the most confident versions of themselves through performance and communication.
Junior Board of Directors
2022-2023 Junior Board: Stella Adler, Everett Aishiteru, Mistura Bankole (co-chair), Amber Crenna-Armstrong (co-chair), Will Flowers, Cole Guimaraes, Alonso Hernandez, Lindsey Lam, Max Mankita, Elohiym Mudaavanha, Mercy Niyi-Awolesi, Chelsy Silva
2021-2022 Junior Board: Mistura Bankole, Mariana Castro (chair), Amber Crenna-Armstrong, Will Flowers, Lindsey Lam, Elohiym Mudaavanha, Mercy Niyi-Awolesi, Michael Schoonover, Mela Seyoum, and Gloria Zearett.
Assistant Coaches
2022-2023 Assistant Coaches: Stella Adler, Theo Borys, Ella Bramwell, Maddy Christensen, Alonso Hernandez, Jamie Lacson, DeAndre Lendsey, Max Mankita, Elohiym Mudaavanha, Melchizedek Mudaavanha, Maria Ortega, Zander Peterson, Natalia Rojas, Chelsy Silva, Camila Uribe, and Esmeralda Vasquez