Our Team

EMAIL: Raquel.Jimenez@OUSD.org

Raquel Jimenez is a second generation Chicana from Mexican immigrant grandparents and the first in her family to go to college. She has roots in Oakland that reach back to 1952 when her grandparents settled in Oakland to work in the canneries and booming construction industries. Raquel, an OUSD graduate and Fremont High School Alumni, was an active student leader with All City Council (1989-1992).

Raquel graduated from UC Berkeley in Chicano Studies in 1997, and completed graduate work at UCLA in 2002, receiving a Master of Arts in Education, with a specialization in Race and Ethnic Studies in Education. Raquel was a lead organizer getting Black Studies and Raza Studies at Castlemont in the early 1990s, and served as teacher of Latino History and Culture at Castlemont for three years, before initiating the Youth Together program at Castlemont, building the first One Land One People/Healthy Start collaborative, and organizing to get the Student Unity Center on campus and convert the empty building next door into multi-service community youth center (now known as Youth Uprising).

In 2007, after leading the Organize Da BAY Coalition Student Power campaign, she joined Oakland Unified School District, as the Student Engagement Specialist. Raquel managed district-wide student leadership programs and organizing campaigns, and innovative student-adult partnerships and initiatives as strategies to increase student attendance, achievement, and institutional accountability. Later, in her role as OUSD coordinator for Youth and Family Engagement in the Community Schools Student Services Department, she led site and district staff and parent capacity to implement OUSD’s Board adopted Family Engagement and Student Engagement Standards.

EMAIL: Jerome.Gourdine@OUSD.org

Jerome Gourdine has served the Oakland Unified School District for more than 27 years, as a teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, Program Manager and now Director of Targeted Strategies. Among his many accomplishments is receiving the 2007 MetLife Principal of the Year Award, a distinguished title afforded to just twenty-five school leaders in the United States. Additionally, Gourdine served as principal to two teachers named California "Teacher of the Year."

Email: iminah.ahmad@ousd.org

Sistah Iminah is an Educator, Cultural Strategist, Singer/Songwriter, Dancer, Media Personality and Oakland native, with roots in Jamaica, Texas, Nigeria and the African world. A living example of redemption & radical transformation, Sistah Iminah's goal is to inspire the original greatness of Africa to rise again, through education, music and activism.

Her life journey can best be themed by rising “From Ghetto to Goddess”. As a youth, she overcame many trials that trapped young Black women in the sex trafficking & school to prison pipeline. A product of Oakland’s African centered schools and OUSD, she has dedicated her life to helping all rise FROM GHETTO 2 GODDESS.

As an educational activist, Sistah Iminah has been heavily influential in implementing key policies and initiatives aimed at improving life outcomes for students of color throughout the SF Bay Area. Her life's mission is to uplift the educational and life experience for African girls and women worldwide.

Email: phyllis.copes@ousd.org

Email: arcelia.gonzalez@ousd.org

I am a parent of three boys and grandparent to an 8-year-old girl. Born and raised in Durango, Mexico, I attended elementary, middle school, and part of high school there as well. Living in Oakland since 1990, I arrived with a vision in mind, to continue my education and grow as a leader for my community. In 2004, during the Small Schools Movement, a new adventure began. Starting off as a founding parent and a full-time volunteer at Think College Now, the journey of a parent leader soon became a commitment with the Latino community. In 2005, OUSD added a new member to the family; and just like that, TCN became the first step for me to grow as a leader and as a role model for families in the education field. After many years of working at Think College Now (TCN), and International Community School (ICS) as a shared site staff, developing my capacity in different roles within the school sites, I decided to move on to a new role at District level. 11 years later, I was hired and transitioned into the Meaningful Student and Family Engagement Team, as a District Family Engagement Specialist. My focus is to work with English Language Learners (ELL) families to define welcoming school climate and practices, and build family capacity in partnership with teachers, staff, and principals as specified in the Site Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) to achieve academic goals.

Email: john.lauti@ousd.org

Sione 'John' Lauti is a proud Oakland native, graduate of OUSD and honored to serve Oakland's Asian Pacific Islander students and community. Born to immigrant parents from the islands of Tonga, Sione's family arrived to East Oakland in the 1960's seeking a promising future for their family and future generations.

As a proud graduate of Sequoia, Bret Harte and Skyline, Sione is reminded of the foundation that an Oakland education laid for him as he pursued a career in business and education. Sione earned a Bachelor's degree in International Business and a Master's degree in Education. Sione's work focuses specifically on early intervention amongst Pacific Islander youth and the positive impacts it could provide toward college access, career success and living a meaningful life.

Email: kevin.jennings@ousd.org

Born and raised in Oakland, California, after receiving my Bachelor's in Mass Communications - Journalism, I spent a number of years in multiple roles working in media, youth development and academic programs throughout the Oakland community. Working for the Student Program for Academic & Athletic Transitioning (SPAAT), Lincolns Oakland Freedom Schools (OFS), Heads Up Program via Head-Royce School and most recently The Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA).

After teaching at AAMA for six years and becoming an impactful facilitator, I found myself in a unique situation, where I was able to teach black boys and have the opportunity to expand as a leader in cultural youth development. I was able to create an annual school wide empowerment conference for 200 boys of color, build relationships with local and national resources, manage cross-country exploration trips for young people and, most importantly, foster a culture of empowering and engaging black boys within a school system through changing the narrative about who they are.

I recently finished my Master's in Education Policy and Management from Harvard Graduate School of Education '19'. Upon returning to Oakland, I wanted my work to foster systems and structures for equity and inclusion, growth and dynamic experiences in education through different mediums, which led me to continue my work with AAMA and join The Office of Equity.

Email: sabria.hassan@ousd.org

Email: adriana.villegas@ousd.org

Born and raised in East Oakland to hard working Mexican parents, Adriana was instilled in the values of family, culture, and education. Her passion for student voice and participation in OUSD began at Youth Together when she became a lead student organizer and had access to ethnic studies, leadership development, and political education. She reinforced her leadership at the All City Council retreat where she presented the campaign for accessible credit recovery to improve graduation rates and a preparedness after high school in 2016.

She went on to pursue a degree in Sociology and a minor in American Politics at UC Santa Cruz. There she supported California Freedom Summer (CFS), a participatory-action research project alongside the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center as a teaching assistant and later on as the Northern California Internship Coordinator. The student led project aimed to increase voter turnout in low income and historically disenfranchised communities while promoting youths’ civic leadership.

Adriana is a proud Mexican Muslim woman, daughter, sister, wife and OUSD Alumni. As a product of meaningful student engagement, She is excited to be the next Student Engagement Specialist and serve the needs of our students to continue to develop strong leaders.

Email: munera.mohsin@ousd.org

I am a parent of four children ages 18, 16, 13, and 3, all in OUSD schools. I am a first generation Yemeni American, from Dearborn, MI, with a deep commitment to supporting Middle Eastern families navigate home cultures, family and spiritual obligations with expectations and norms in US society and institutions. I've lived in Oakland for the past 20 years and have raised a family here, allowing me to develop strong relationships within the Middle Eastern community. In 2006, I emerged as a parent leader volunteering at International Community School, and served in various parent leadership roles. Soon after, I was hired by the East Bay Agency for Children as a Family Advocate, connecting families to resources and support. In 2015, I transitioned into my role with OUSD's Family Engagement Team, as a District Parent Liaison, developing parents' capacity to partner with teachers and principals for their children's learning. Now, in my role as District Family Engagement Specialist and Equity Partner for Network 3, my focus is on developing parent-staff teams to design and implement parent partnership strategies to advance student learning goals as written in the SPSA.

Email: cintya.molina@ousd.org

Email: jamal.muhammad@ousd.org

Jamal Muhammad is a proud native of Richmond, CA. He has worked in the service of youth and families throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in roles ranging from classroom teacher, case manager, coaching and in the foster care system.

Email: karina.najera@ousd.org

Email: sara.nuno@ousd.org

Sara, an Oakland native and mother of 3, has worked in Oakland schools for over 20 years to support students, families, staff and the community. She has been involved with the Oakland Public Schools in many different capacities. Beginning as an AmeriCorps literacy tutor, then leading AmeriCorps teams at OUSD schools, Sara began to understand the complexity of the educational system. She then joined Oakland Unified in 2003 as a Student Attendance Compliance Officer and began reaching out to families of students who were experiencing serious challenges with attending school.This work forced her to dig deep and shed tremendous light on all the inequities in our school systems and society that keep many of our students from succeeding. This work propelled her to join the Meaningful Family Engagement Unit of the Office of Equity in Oakland Unified, where she was able to more actively engage families, staff, leadership, including the school board, and community around the current status of the schools and what changes needed to take place. Sara has been a part of building the Family Engagement work in OUSD for the last 12 years and is currently serving as the Family & Community Engagement Specialist. She is continuing the work of advocating and organizing the Oakland community to improve public education.

Email: nicole.wiggins@ousd.org

Nicole Love Wiggins was born in San Jose, CA and is a single mother of two living in Oakland, CA. Her two children attended and graduated from Oakland public schools, her son in 2016 and her daughter in 2018. Nicole started her work in social justice in 2000 by getting involved with the Healthy Babies Project in Oakland, helping young pregnant mothers find shelter and resources.

In 2004, Nicole attended Merritt College in Oakland, CA, where she received a certificate in Human Services, and in 2008 she received an AA degree in Social and Behavioral Science and joined an organization in Sacramento, CA called "Save Our Youth." Where she worked as a Parent Advisor supporting families from the Bay Area to the Central Valley. Nicole is currently a District Family Engagement Specialist for Secondary Schools and supports the African American Achievement Department. She is also a support staff liaison working in partnership with OUSD's parent committee called "Committee to Empower Excellence in Black Student Education" (CEEBSE).

Email: tiago.robinson@ousd.org

Program Manager, College and Career African American Male Achievement. His favorite thing about working with AAMA is helping our kings and queens get to the next level in their lives. Degrees that I hold are: A.A in Art, B.S in Recreation Therapy and M.S in Counseling and Student Services.

Email: raul.hernandez@ousd.org

Email Me

Email: eve.delfin@ousd.org

Email: carl.williams@ousd.org