Associate Board

The First Graduate® Associate Board is a group of emerging leaders who dedicate their time, resources, and networks to raise awareness and support the mission of First Graduate® as it seeks to help local youth become the first in their family to graduate from college. Our key objectives are working with First Graduate® on network expansion, especially among young professionals, fundraising, and strategic projects and general support.

Osamudiamien ‘Osa’ Aigbuza

Osamudiamien Aigbuza is a native of San Francisco with deep roots in the Bayview community. He works as a private health consultant helping busy professionals in and around the Bay Area. He studied business Marketing with a minor in Kinesiology from San Jose State University, where he was a member of the football team. When Osa isn’t lost in a novel, he enjoys traveling, golfing, or new restaurants in SF.

Fun Fact; He’s afraid of heights but has gone skydiving twice!

Alena Byers

Alena is the Senior Development Operations Manager at Juma Ventures, a Social Enterprise Nonprofit that strives to break the cycle of poverty by paving the way to work, education, and financial capability for youth across America. She is a San Francisco native and a First Graduate Alumni of Cohort FG9. Alena completed her education as a first-generation college graduate at the University of California, Merced; where she received her bachelor’s in Public Health with a minor in Psychology. She aspires to earn a MPA/MPH dual master’s degree in the future. Outside of work, Alena enjoys cooking up new recipes, spending quality time with her friends and family, singing, checking off amazing restaurants from her bucket list, being a tourist in nearby cities, traveling, scrolling through Pinterest for some inspiration, or just being adventurous and trying out any activity she has yet to accomplish.

Ava Chang

Ava works on the Strategy team at Uber, where she focuses on global customer experience strategy across Rides, Eats, and emerging businesses. Prior to this, she spent a year working in Dubai and investing in hospitals for lower middle income populations across South Asia and Africa. Outside of work and First Graduate, you can find Ava running / playing tennis, exploring new neighborhoods and various food scenes, and planning new travel excursions. She graduated from Wellesley with a BA in Computer Science.

Ajay Cheema

Ajay is an Executive Assistant at Earthjustice, a Legal Nonprofit that focuses on environmental protection. He is a Bay Area native who is currently living in the Mission District of San Francisco. Ajay comes from a family of Educators and has previously worked in the Educational Equity space so the mission of First Graduate is really important to him. Ajay attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he received his undergraduate degree in Political Science and minored in International Communication. He hopes to attend graduate school on the East Coast but is still trying to figure out where that might be. In his free time, Ajay enjoys staying active whether that be going to the gym, getting out in nature or golfing with friends. He also enjoys reading, traveling, Bay Area sports and is big into jigsaw puzzles. Ajay is always looking out for new food to try so restaurant recommendations are highly encouraged.

Amelia Garcia

Amelia is a Revenue Strategy and Operations manager at BetterUp, helping to grow new business units in the digital coaching space. Amelia is originally from Miami, FL but has lived and fallen in love with San Francisco post-graduation. Prior to BetterUp, she worked in Strategy Consulting at Deloitte, as well as in strategy roles at two startups in the content space, first Scribd and subsequently at Pollen. Outside of work, she enjoys baking, going to dance classes, and leisurely bike rides. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Latin American Studies.

Lupita Garcia

Lupita is a proud first-generation Latina college graduate whose parents immigrated from Mexico. Lupita grew up in the Bay Area and was a part of a program similar to First Graduate when she was a student. Lupita graduated from the University of San Francisco, majoring in Sociology and triple minoring in Criminal Justice, Public Service & Community Engagement and Chicanx-Latinx Studies. During her time at USF, she was part of the Esther Madriz Diversity Scholars Living Learning Community and interned in Washington, DC during the 2016 Election. Understanding the importance of the support and work First Graduate provides first hand, she is excited to be part of the team and its mission, tapping into her experience in fundraising, operations, and finance to first graduate and help grow its impact on the students. During her free time, Lupita can be found spending time with her dog Shiloh, at Oracle park cheering on the Giants, cheering on the San Francisco 49ers, or wandering the aisles at a bookstore for the next book to add to her collection.

Amy Gragnolati

Amy currently works at GoodRx as a pharmacist editor where she writes and edits medical content. She graduated from The University of Georgia where she obtained her PharmD degree in 2014. She’s lived in San Francisco since 2015 and loves being outdoors with her family and exploring all the Bay Area has to offer. She also loves yoga, baking, and trying new restaurants.

Liana Hsu

Liana is a Bay Area native and UC Davis graduate. She currently works at Stanford as a researcher, running clinical trials in the latest advancements in Type 1 Diabetes technology. Liana lives in the Upper Haight area in San Francisco and loves taking walks around the neighborhood, admiring the Victorians and their eclectic color schemes. When she’s not working or gawking at houses, she enjoys baking, expanding her plant collection, playing with her pup, and hiking up mountaintops.

Vinishaa Kumar

Vinishaa Kumar is a native of New Jersey, and is currently based out in San Francisco. She currently works at Microsoft as a Solutions Architect. She completed her undergraduate degree at Northeastern University in Electrical Engineering. Vinishaa is the first to graduate from an undergraduate program in America.

She’s worked with youth groups since she was 16, and has a massive passion for working with children. Outside of the professional world, Vinishaa loves to cook, be a plant mother, bike ride, read, and travel!

James Murray

James is currently a 6th Grade Humanities Resident Teacher at the Town School for Boys in his second year. He moved to the Bay Area in 2022 from New York. Prior to working at Town, James worked as a career counselor and adult educator for the Ready, Willing & Able program at The Doe Fund for three and a half years. He graduated from Connecticut College in 2018 with a degree in Government. He spent most of his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio where he developed a love for the sports teams and the community at large. He has four siblings, two of whom are teachers. James finds meaning and purpose in mentoring, educating and guiding people to reach their goals. His time at The Doe Fund allowed him to discover this, and connect with a variety of motivated, ambitious and dynamic individuals all working to achieve something. In his free time, James enjoys discovering new restaurants around the city, birding, reading, and watching Sci Fi movies.

Anthony Tsodikov

Anthony is a private equity senior associate at H.I.G. Capital, where he focuses on making investments in companies across a range of industries. A first generation college graduate and San Francisco Bay Area native, Anthony graduated from Stanford University in 2016 with a BA in Economics and was a member of the Stanford Division 1 tennis team. When he is not working or playing tennis, Anthony enjoys watching the Golden State Warriors, attending stand-up comedy shows and cruising on a jet ski.

Allison Wan

Allison is a Services Ops Analyst with Crowdstrike, supporting the mission to fight the bad guys
in Cybersecurity :). She is a San Francisco native and completed her undergraduate degree in
Business Marketing at Santa Clara University.

Allison has previously volunteered and worked in the youth educational development space
because she believes higher education and strong mentorships are gateways to success.

For fun, she enjoys scuba diving and traveling, in search of the next destination diving can take
her. When not underwater, you can find her practicing hot yoga or embarking on a hiking
adventure or trying a new hobby.