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Oakland Unified School District

Patrice Berry

Throughout her career, Director Patrice Berry says she has been on a mission to disrupt the opportunity gaps that deny historically resilient communities the transformative power of education and economic empowerment. She currently leads policy advocacy and impact strategy at End Poverty in California (EPIC), a poverty abolition organization founded by former Stockton Mayor, Michael Tubbs. As EPIC’s Chief Impact Officer, Director Berry brings together people in our community, government, and private sectors to focus on economic justice and eliminating poverty.

Prior to joining EPIC, Director Berry served as an Executive Advisor in the Office of then-Mayor Libby Schaaf, where she led postsecondary and workforce success initiatives that emphasized the importance of equity-driven innovation and systems change. As a member of Mayor Schaaf’s education team, she helped catalyze key policy reform, including Assembly Bill 1774, which authorized the California Student Aid Commission to extend financial aid application deadlines for students affected by qualifying events that impact their ability to meet established deadlines.

While working for the city, Director Berry also co-founded the Northern California College Promise Coalition (NCCPC) and AssistHub, a tech-based organization in Oakland that eases the process of obtaining public benefits in California. Previously, she served as the Director of College Track East Palo Alto, and as the director of a student success center in Philadelphia, where she helped hundreds of high school students pursue their college and career dreams. She also co-founded Leaders of Change, a paid internship program that trains aspiring college students in social entrepreneurship.

Director Berry earned a Bachelor’s Degree in political science from Swarthmore College and a Master’s Degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Hack The Hood, and is an alum of 4.0 Schools, the Fast Forward Accelerator, Camelback Ventures, and the Roddenberry Foundation Fellowship. She is also a 2024 graduate of Emerge CA and the Women’s Foundation of CA’s Beatriz María Solis Policy Institute.

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District 5 Director
1st Term Ends: January 8, 2029

Phone: (510) 879-1945

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Degrees & Certifications

  • BA in political science from Swarthmore College
  • MA in education from University of Pennsylvania

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District 5 Offerings

District 5 Public Schools

LIFE Academy
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  6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
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  2101 35th Avenue, Oakland, CA