Meet Our Faculty

The strength of the Educators' Institute, as is the case with any educational institution, lies in the passion, commitment, and training of our staff. Each of our faculty members is a master educator in his or her own right and we invite you to learn more about them below.

Bobbie Brooks received Bachelor of Science degree from University of California, Berkeley and a Masters in Special Education from Saint Mary's College in Moraga. She continued her education by attending the Principal's Center, Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Principal's Summer Institute satellite program at UCLA, the California School Leadership Academy Program, and California Alliance of African American Educator’s Summer Institutes at Stanford University.

During her 30 years as an educator, she held positions as the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for Alameda County Office of Education, Elementary Grade Level Director for Oakland Unified School District Elementary School Principal, Educational Diagnostician, Resource Specialist and Classroom Teacher. She also held positions as an adjunct professor in the Principal's Leadership Institute at University of California, Berkeley and in the Educational Leadership Department at California State University, Hayward.

Currently, working as an educational consultant, she continues to pursue her vision of closing the achievement gap for African American children by founding and/or co-found three non-profit organizations: the Southern Alameda County Alliance of African American Educators, the J.L. Davis Family Resource Center, and the Southern Alameda County Regional Educational Alliance.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Monique graduated Cum Laude from San Jose State University where she received her BA in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology and a MSW with a concentration in Children, Youth and Families. She has also been certified in Domestic Violence Counseling and received extensive training in Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse, School Systems, and Research and Statistical Analysis.

Her passion for enhancing the quality of life and life systems for underserved populations has led her to research, create, facilitate and manage academic and life enrichment and intervention programs from a holistic perspective for the last 15 years. Monique has worked intensely with youth, parents, educators, mentors and communities in East and West Oakland, San Francisco, San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Hayward, and East and South San Jose.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

John Robert Browne attended Ohio University and Antioch College for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He completed his doctorate in education, with a specialization in curriculum and organization studies, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. 

Prior to pursuing his doctorate, he taught at the junior or senior high school level in Ohio, Connecticut, and New York.  Upon moving to San Diego, California, Dr. Browne became the curriculum coordinator for multicultural education and social sciences at the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), and was also the Director of Leadership Development for SDCOE, leading their focus on instructional leadership.

He was then the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction in the Grant Joint Union High School District, in Sacramento, and the Instructional Team Leader for the Humanities and Director of Integration Programs and School Choice in the San Diego City School District (SDCS).  In addition, he led the SDCS program to improve African American student achievement.

After leaving SDCS, Browne was a CA. external evaluator and education consultant for under-performing schools in six California districts, including Oakland.  He administered the San Diego Association of African American Educators’ Academy at SDSU for “Effectively Teaching African American Students.”  Currently, he is an education consultant/executive coach, and is writing a book on culturally courageous leadership.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Ms. Gaskins has over 10 years of experience working with African American stedents and communities of color. Over the years, Ms. Gaskins has planned, developed and organized numerous programs that directly serve Preschool - 12th grade students, their families and the communities they live in. She has served as a classroom teacher, afterschool director, performing arts educator, community organizer, researcher and curriculum developer.

Over the years, Ms. Gaskins has made it her focus of her career to create learning environments that foster an enthusiasm for learning and that develop students' personal pride and self-esteem both in their lives in and out of school. She has studied the achievement gaps in mathematics among African American students in K-12 education and its effects on students' ability to have equitable access to opportunities later in life. Ms. Gaskins received her BA from San Francisco State University in Child and Adolescent Development with an emphasis in Youth and Families and her MA from UC Berkeley focusing on Culturally Relevant Practices in Mathematics Education.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Robyn began her career with the California State Senate as a Senate Fellow assigned to the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. She brought that experience to the City of San Jose, working first in the mayor's office, and ultimately as the City's first African American woman budget analyst.

Her career in education began at San Jose State University where she developed and managed programs designed to increase the college-going culture in local high schools, including the California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP), the California Academic Learning Excellence Program (CAL-E), the Parent Education Program (PEP) and the Collaborative Training Institute (CTI). Her ties to Sacramento enhanced these programs as she worked closely with the California Student Aid Commission and the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

In 1999, Robyn founded R.T. Fisher Educational Enterprises, an educational and public outreach consulting firm with a mission to design and implement programs that enhance student learning and success from preschool through college. She has consulted statewide and nationally with Upward Bound, the Ronald McNair Scholars Program, the College Board, 21st Century Learning Centers, as well as with both the University of California and California State University systems.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Fred Clay is an experienced educator who has taught in K-16 school systems and afterschool programs. He has an MBA in Sustainable Management and has taught workshops and training programs at the University Level. With a similar personal background as many at risk youth he encounters, Fred relates directly to the academic and social hurdles on the road to higher education. Being compassionate about the challenges many low-income students will encounter on the journey of self-realization Fred finds joy in using his testimony to motivate students towards the opportunities afforded in institutions of higher education.

As a panelist and motivational speaker, he has spread the word of success through discipline and an unwavering determination. As a mentor, teacher, and tutor he has built his carrier on providing direct educational services to youth and adults.

Cloteal Thrower Herron is the owner of the TEAL Group (Train. Empower. Advocate. Link) a consulting and coaching service, specializing in empowerment training and development. Ms. Herron has a Masters degree is Educational Administration, a Bachelors degree in Ethnic Studies and Inter-personal Communication. She is an Educator, Author, Certified Mediator, and Life Coach. She is also a Faculty member with the University of Phoenix.

Her client list includes California GEAR-UP, Sacramento City Unified School District, Elk Grove Unified School District, Alpha Parent Academy, County of Sacramento, California State University, Sacramento, 100 Black Men, Colorado Children’s Campaign, Department of Human Assistance, Cal/Works Program, Sacramento Transitional Housing, Lutheran Family Services, University of California, California Community Colleges, and Cal/SOAP programs.

Ms. Herron is a champion for foster youth, and struggling families; promoting academic excellence, equity, and college access through her youth empowerment programs: GIRL Power and Boyz-2-KINGZ.

Ms. Herron remains committed to the values of self-respect, self-reliance, and personal growth. Her goal is to provide individuals, families, schools, and communities with self-help strategies to facilitate personal, academic, and professional success.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Michele is a highly sought after executive coach, business consultant, trainer and speaker helping entrepreneurs create substantial organizational growth. In 2001, she founded Nectar Consulting to work with business owners, executives and their teams, helping them to expand as leaders. She has worked with clients locally, nationally and internationally, assisting them to set clear goals, develop effective communication skills and identify business growth and marketing strategies that consistently attract their ideal clients and enhance their triple bottom line results.

Michele has been a facilitator with the California GEAR UP program for 5 years. Working with low-income middle schools across the state of California, she helps them develop a sustainable college-going culture, expand their leadership and communication skills, develop school-wide rigorous academic programs, and create positive school cultures. 

Michele received her professional coach training and certification from The Coaches Training Institute and her Professional Certified Coach (PCC) designation from the International Coach Federation. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising from the University of Florida, studied at the University of Paris, France and has a Graphic Design degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta.

She is the co-author of two books, has designed and lead a myriad of customized programs and workshops for personal, professional and business growth.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Cathy has 30+ years of experience as an educator.  Her administrative experience includes being and elementary and middle school principal for 15 years; Elementary Summer School Director; new elementary school planning principal; Principal-On-Special-Assignment: leading, organizing and coordinating the district’s Middle School Master Schedule Project and district Drop-out Prevention/Intervention “Destination Graduation” Project; and district Student Services Administrator.

Cathy has also taught elementary 2^nd through 5^th grades and middle /Jr. High school 6^th through 9^th grades English and Math.  She has additional administrative experience as the bi-county area Juvenile Justice  Accountability Center  Program Administrator.  The center provided educational as well as a variety of other services for youth who were on probation, parole, and incarcerated.

Cathy was also an Adjunct Professor for Eastern Washington University and Washington State University for several years in the Education Department.

Education & Awards:  B.A.- Mills College, Ed.M.- Washington State University, Principal Certification – Heritage College, Harvard University Summer Principal Institute, Washington State Sharon Christa McAuliffe Award For Excellence 1999.

Lia has over 10 years experience working with students in non-traditional and traditional educational environments and over 9 years creating interactive academic content specific activities for middle school students in the areas of test preparation, math, English language arts, ethnic studies, physical education, arts and crafts, and music.

Currently she is the Assistant Director of Community Programs for RTFisher Educational Enterprises, Inc and The QUAD.  As the first African-American student to pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) (equivalent to the CAHSEE), on her first attempt in the 10th grade, she was selected to work with a group of seventh grade, African-American students to support them in passing their test, which is equal to California’s CST.  While attending Chabot, Lia became an Academic Coach for the QUAD and was a member of AmeriCorps and the Teacher Reading Development Program (TRDP). Through these programs, Lia worked as a Reading Assistant in a 2nd grade class at Colonial Acres Elementary School in San Lorenzo, CA and received specialized training to work with students who have been diagnosed with Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder.

Lia completed her undergraduate work receiving a BA in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Vicki Rice has a masters of Arts in Multi-Cultural/Multi-Lingual Education from UCLA.  She has taught at the elementary and junior high school level in regular and special education. 

For more than 10 years Vicki was a director for The Achievement Council.  Their mission focused on Closing the Achievement Gap.  Her responsibilities included assisting district personnel and school staff in developing and implementing school-wide strategic plans using multiple sources of data.

Vicki co-authored the professional development guide for Los Angeles Unified School District's Cultural Relevant & Responsive Education (tenet #3). She has also provided training to school personnel on backwards planning for standards-based teaching and learning, creating a college-going culture, organizing family-community-school supports, leadership development, developing school-wide rigorous academic programs, and identifying opportunities for a positive school culture.

Ms. Rice is the Executive Director of the non-profit organization she founded, Coalition of Educational Partnerships (CEP). CEP provides services to public schools and partnering non-profit organizations involved in public school reform.  These services include assessment and evaluation, parent education, data/leadership team professional development, curriculum development, facilitation, and strategic planning.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Paul Sakhu St. Roseman, is an independent educator, evaluation researcher, and entrepreneur who resides in Oakland, California.  Specializing in evaluation systems design, program development, and training services, he has assisted both private and public organizations to build capacity in the areas of evaluation research and program planning/development.

Mr. St. Roseman has designed, implemented and managed evaluative services for federal, state, and county programs that include; Federal Title V and TRIO Programming, state funded programming in the areas of gang prevention and domestic violence, as well as local school district initiatives designed to improve school/community relations.  In addition to his consulting practice, Mr. St. Roseman teaches in the University of California and California State University Systems.  His courses of instruction include; Research Methodology, Multicultural Education, Sociology of Education and Urban Education.

Mr. St. Roseman earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology at California State University, East Bay.  His Master's Degree in Education is from Stanford University with and emphasis in Policy Analysis and Evaluation. 

Mr. St. Roseman's professional philosophy is that education and research is a process of liberation. Thus as an educator/researcher, his goal is to discover, document, shape and/or facilitate what this experience looks like within the organizations that he works.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Steve Roth has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from State University of New York at Stony Brook and earned his MBA with Distinction from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration with concentrations in General Management and Marketing. While at Harvard Business School, he was privileged to teach business courses in its Executive Education programs and simultaneously teach Finance to undergraduates at the University of Massachusetts’ Boston campus.

Steve spent most of his professional career as a venture capital and private equity investor helping to start and build more than 3 dozen companies and was also an executive at Corning, Inc., Heublein, Inc. and RJ Reynolds before transitioning to venture capital. He also developed and taught a suite of business seminars for the U.S. SBA across the Bay Area with more than 5,000 adults participating in his courses each year.

Courses offered by this faculty member include:

Nathan graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Biology. He has researched and developed curriculum for charter schools, public schools, and private entities. Most recently, Nathan has managed teams of curriculum specialists in developing customized culturally relevant curriculum and programs of study for 5-8th students in Richmond, CA and  10-12th grade students in a STEM focused college-going student support program in San Francisco, CA. Nathan also has experience developing program and curriculum evaluation systems, the collection and analysis of academic data, and ensuring programs meet CA state and local educational standards.

Courses offered by this faculty member include: