Padma Gargeya | Executive Director

Padma is deeply committed to working with youth and education as a way of bridging the opportunity divide in our communities. In her prior role as Executive Director of Mentor Tutor Connection, she significantly strengthened the organization through leadership, planning, stewardship and fundraising. Prior to a nonprofit career, Padma worked in senior technical roles in the Bay Area and she has been a long-term volunteer at Bright Futures, an organization that works with vulnerable youth. Padma earned a BA in Economics from the University of Delhi and an MS in Math and Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts.

Ofelia Delgadillo | Development & Outreach Director

Ofelia has extensive experience working with nonprofit organizations in development, program management and community outreach. She strongly believes that the success of our community correlates to the strength of our children’s education and is passionate about building community partnerships that support that mission. Ofelia holds an MBA from Southern Methodist University and volunteers locally. She and her husband are the proud parents of a son and daughter.

Julie Atkinson | Substitute Site Coordinator

Julie Atkinson has worked at HWC for the last 2-1/2 years as a site coordinator substitute. Julie holds a Montessori Teaching certificate from St. Nicholas College in London,UK and attended Homerton College, Cambridge as an exchange student in the BEd program. She has experience in Special Education. Her favorite teaching moments are sparking curiosity and excitement in life-long learning.

Nancy Diaz | Site Manager/Literacy Head (Baywood)

Nancy runs Baywood’s Literacy Center in addition to managing the site and other Literacy Centers. She is passionate about helping students thrive and building relationships with parents and school communities. In addition to her work with Homework Central, Nancy has worked in several elementary and middle schools and school districts for the past seven years.

Jaylyn Hornstein | Program Accounting & Site Coordinator

This is Jaylyn’s second year with Homework Central. With her background in accounting, Jaylyn used her numeracy skills in homeschooling her three sons. She enjoys engaging with the students in math games and hopes to develop a love of numbers in them.

David Light | Site Coordinator (Sunnybrae)

David Light retired after 40 years in research for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. He began his relationship with Homework Central as a tutor volunteer before transitioning to Site Administrator for the Homework Central Summer School Program. This is his first year as Sunnybrae’s Site Coordinator.

Jessica Nimni | Site Coordinator (Laurel Literacy Center)

Jessica Nimni is a recent graduate from Loyola Marymount University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Studio Arts. She has experience tutoring elementary, middle, and high school students in various subjects as well as teaching children in after-school programs. While her ultimate career goal is to become a child psychologist, she finds working with the children at Homework Central to be extremely rewarding.

Skyler Green | Program Operations & Site Coordinator (Baywood)

Skyler is a recent graduate from CSU San Bernardino’s school of Sociology. Coming from this research-heavy field, Skyler enjoys seeing a direct impact through his work at Homework Central.

Elaine Kauffman | Site Assistant

Elaine has a BA in Secondary Education, with a major in history, and a Master’s degree in Museum Public Programming. After working as a museum educator for many years, she began working in 2012 at the Richmond District (SF) After School Collaborative, which provides after school enrichment to approximately 360 Kindergarten through 5th graders in four Richmond District elementary schools. She started working at Homework Central as a volunteer in 2016 and since then has worked in several different capacities at all four sites.

Susan Kling | San Mateo Park Homework Center

Susan graduated with a Masters and Ph.D. in British History from UCLA. Looking for a way to stay engaged while raising a family, Susan created a studies skills curriculum to teach to middle schoolers, as well as volunteering with Art in Action and Girl Scouts. For the past several years, Susan has run her own private tutoring business helping middle school to college-age students.

Nichole (Nikki) Medrano | Site Coordinator (Laurel)

Nikki is a Bay Area native who has been working and volunteering with kids since 2014 through local recreation centers as well as the YMCA. She is passionate about creating a safe and positive environment for her students to be able to learn and grow during their time at Homework Central. Nikki also currently works part time at a recreation center supporting children’s programming and activities.

Matt Feuer | Board Chair

Matt is a co-founder of McClure & Feuer, a legal search firm founded in 1995 and dedicated solely to recruiting attorneys on behalf of law firms and companies throughout California. Matt received an MA in Political Science from Northwestern University and a BA in Political Science from Santa Clara University.

Justin Fok | Board Vice Chair

A native of San Francisco, Justin graduated from U.C. Davis with a BA in English and received his JD from the University of San Francisco, School of Law. He currently serves as the lead attorney at Fok Immigration Law, an immigration law firm with offices in San Mateo and San Jose.

Ellyn Corey | Treasurer

Ellyn is deeply invested in youth and education, and has mentored high school students for over a decade through Bright Futures, a San Jose based organization for at-risk youth. She also served as treasurer of Hillbarn Theatre of Foster City. In her professional life Ellyn works in her family’s commercial real estate business, where she handles finance and operations.

Betsy Woodward | Recording Secretary

Betsy is a UCC Commissioned Minister and served as Minister of Christian Education at the Congregational Church of San Mateo for 25 years before retiring in late 2012. A founding member of Homework Central, Betsy has been a member of the Board of Directors since the organization’s inception and has served in several leadership capacities. In addition, Betsy has been a volunteer tutor for 14 years!

Antonio “Tony” Gallo | Board Member

Tony has deep roots in volunteering in the community: as a long-term volunteer tutor at Homework Central, in organizations promoting science among students, and at the Congregational Church of San Mateo (CCSM). He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and retired after a distinguished career.

Tony serves on the board of the Santa Clara Valley Science Fair Organization, which hosts an annual science fair with over 1200 students presenting projects and 800 judges. Currently, he teaches Chemistry at San Francisco State University, and has also taught science classes at several of the schools in the area under a program called “Science from Scientists”.

Rosie Issel | Board Member

Rosie has worked as a translator for several school districts for the past 25 years, where she learned about the needs of the children and parents in the community. She loves working with children and volunteered throughout her children’s school years. She was part of the Super Bowl 50 Volunteer Team and is a Wish Granter for the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation. She holds a BA in Hotel Administration from UNLV, and works as a properties designer for theater. In her free time she enjoys traveling with her husband and attending theatrical performances.

Saroja Ramanujan | Board Member

Saroja is a Principal Scientist and Associate Director at Genentech Inc, where she leads the Translational and Systems Pharmacology group and oversees Genentech’s Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) program. Saroja received her BSE in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in tumor biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Joan Rosas | Board Member

Dr. Joan Rosas has dedicated over 30 years to students, parents and staff in the field of education. She has served as a bilingual elementary school teacher, middle school teacher and an administrator. In 1993 Dr. Rosas opened Fiesta Gardens International School, a K–5 magnet program, in the San Mateo–Foster City School District. She continued her work in the same district as the Director of Education Services, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services and Assistant Superintendent of Human Services. In 2011, Dr. Rosas joined the San Mateo County Office of Education as the Associate Superintendent of Student Services. In that role she was responsible for the county court and community schools, Regional Occupation Program and Special Education program. In 2015 she became the Superintendent of the San Mateo–Foster City School District where she oversaw curriculum and instruction, managed budget concerns, facility needs and most recently the changes required by the pandemic. Although retired, her mission is to continue to support all students in reaching their academic and personal goals.

Dr. Rosas earned her doctorate from the University of San Francisco in Organizational Leadership. She served on the Association of California School Administrators Boards both locally and at the state level. She is a Rotarian and will be seated on the Board for the San Mateo Club in July. She has received the Latino Community Education Award, Pupil Personnel Administrator of the Year from the Association of California School Administrators and PTA Founders Day Awards. She was recognized by Josh Becker and Kevin Mullin at her retirement.

Benjamin N. York | Board Member

Benjamin N. York, PhD, is the founder and CEO of ParentPowered Public Benefit Corporation and advisor to the National Center on Parent, Family, and Community Engagement. Prior to founding ParentPowered, he was the Executive Director of CEPA Labs at Stanford University. His career spans education technology, education research, public education, philanthropy, and finance, including time as an After School Program Manager in Boulder Valley School District. Ben has a BA in economics from the University of Colorado, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, as well as an MA in political science and a PhD in education from Stanford, where he was a Karr Fellow and an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Quantitative Education Policy Fellow. Ben has served as a Referee of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, and his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Shelly, and daughter, Ellie (and he looks forward to welcoming their second daughter into the world this spring).