our Board
Ryan Baum | Board President
Partner, Jump Associates
Ryan Baum is a Partner at Jump Associates. For the past 10 years he has acted as a partner and advisor to Fortune 500 executives setting the course for large-scale transformations and aggressive growth. That has included work ranging from helping a major airline clarify and roll-out a new corporate strategy, to partnering with an automotive company to recapture the Millennial market, to helping a technology giant break into the healthcare space by redefining the long-term care market.
Ryan is an active thought leader in business strategy and innovation. He teaches a course at Stanford University in which students draw upon methods from anthropology, design, and business strategy to discover insights about people and define new offerings. He has also written for publications such as FastCompany, spoken at conferences such as the Economist’s Ideas Economy conference, and guest lectured at universities such as Wharton and Berkley.
Ryan holds a B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics from Yale University.artner
Danesha Mead | Immediate Past President
Danesha Mead is first in her family to go to college. She grew up in Los Angeles and went to a high school where more students dropped out than went to college. She saw first hand how difficult the journey can be to navigate and is dedicated to helping the next generation avoid the many many mistakes she made herself.
Danesha works at McKinsey & Company where she focuses on data driven growth for technology, finance, and retail companies. She started her career at Hall Capital Partners, an investment management firm based in San Francisco, where she grew from a portfolio management analyst to an internal technology and operations strategy associate. Her love for technology drew her away from Hall to Salesforce, where she was an internal consultant for their marketing group focusing on data strategy, data visualization, and attribution modeling.
Danesha holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, a Masters in Economics & Finance at the University of Leeds in England, and a BS from UCSD. Danesha also served on the board of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco. In her spare time, she makes and distributes maple syrup so that people can know what real syrup tastes like and enjoys morning walks with her daughter (7 months), dog and husband.
Hanish Rathod | Finance Committee Chair
VP, GTM Strategy & Operations (Revenue Operations), ZipRecruiter
Hanish leads a global GTM organization driving strategy & operations for sales, marketing and success. Additionally, he leads deal desk, market intelligence, enablement and process & systems teams which are responsible for driving operational excellence. He has over 20 years of experience in the tech industry in functional roles spanning from product, investments, marketing, strategy and operations.
Prior to ZipRecruiter, Hanish led the GTM teams at ServiceTitan where he transformed the entire marketing pipeline architecture for scale, effectiveness and efficiency. He also built a high performing operations organization that has enabled the company to gain higher efficiencies. At Zendesk, he led the GTM Strategy & Analytics team to develop and execute growth / transformation initiatives that supported the growth from ~$400M to $1.2B+.
Outside of work, Hanish has been actively involved in higher education for over 20 years supporting students, building institutions and serving through various channels to advocate on behalf of students. Earlier, his grass roots efforts led to the house bill H.R. 3412 (Higher Education Affordability and Equity act) during the 108th congress. He has served on the boards of the Dashew International Center for Students and Scholars, Vanderbilt University Engineering School Advisory Council and UCLA Alumni Board of Directors.
Hanish attained an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from UCLA, and a Bachelors of Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
Tucker Serenbetz | Audit Chair
Managing Director, TMT Strategy at KPMG US
Tucker is a 12-year resident of San Francisco and lives just a short walk from the First Graduate® office. His career has focused on advising large enterprises on growth and operating model strategy. In that time, he has worked for a number of companies in the Bay Area, including Yahoo! and McKinsey & Company.
Tucker is a graduate of Yale University where he studied Economics and History, which remain favorite hobbies.
John A. Spensieri | Vice President & Development Committee Chair
Retired Financial Advisor
John served as a Financial Advisor in San Francisco with MorganStanley SmithBarney. Prior to that he was a Financial Advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors in NYC.. He made a career change into the financial services industry joining AG Edwards in NYC which was acquired by Wachovia Securities, which was then acquired by Wells Fargo Advisors.
Prior to Wells Fargo Advisors he was a VP & Senior Partner with Core Strategies, a market development consulting firm providing services to technology small businesses to help them dramatically grow their sales & profitability.
Previous responsibilities included Chief Marketing Officer for an eMarketplace startup Fast Parts, President of a new business unit within International Data Group, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Avnet’s Computer Marketing Group and Vice President of Marketing for Arrow Electronics’ Commercial System Group.
John received his MBA in Marketing from Loyola University in Chicago and a BSME from Marquette University in Milwaukee. John is a board member of the San Francisco Embarcadero YMCA, has served on the board of the NYC McBurney YMCA, Enterprise for HS Students- Board member & mentor in the Career Exploration Program, Career Coach for Summer Search, Volunteer for KIPP Charter Schools, Volunteer for First Graduate, Co-op Board Finance Committee Chairman, Co-President of the NYC Loyola Chicago Alumni and Host Committee member for Marquette University Circles events. Has served on various committees including the advisory committee for Youth Chance HS, YMCA Board Development Committee, YMCA Financial Development Committee , Program and Development for EHSS and Mentor for Enterprise for Youth. He and his wife Jayne enjoy collecting Contemporary Art and traveling.
John is a first generation college graduate.
Marvell C. Allen | Board Member
Principal & Owner, Millennium Career Advantage, LLC
Marvell C. Allen is Owner and Principal, of Millennium Career Advantage, LLC, a professional leadership development and coaching practice, started in 2010. Current and past clients have included Twitter, LinkedIn, Contra Costa County, The Bureau of Indian Affairs (U.S. Department of the Interior), Marin County, UC Davis, Marriott International, City of Mountain View, Kaiser Permanente, SanDisk, Watermark, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Genentech, to name a few.
Marvell is an expert at delivering executive, management, and staff development programs that support organizational objectives. Moreover, she has a solid track record as a training leader for dynamic organizations to resolve complex business issues. Marvell is known as a key strategic partner for senior executives and cross-functional teams to help achieve business imperatives.
Marvell has spent many years supporting strategic organizational/learning initiatives with topics including:
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Marvell’s academic credentials include a BA degree from UC Berkeley, a MA in Political and Economic Assessment (International Business Asia) from Dominican University of California, and coaching certifications in StrengthsFinder, Leadership/Talent Management, and Career Management Coaching.
Rosemary Arriada-Keiper | Vice President & Governance Chair
VP, Global Rewards, Adobe
Rosemary identified First Graduate as an organization that spoke to her on a deeply personal level. As a First Graduate® from a Hispanic immigrant family, Rosemary is passionate about providing opportunities for other students to also become the First Graduate® in their family. Rosemary is enthusiastic about using her time and professional skills to serve this organization, and is prepared to help First Graduate® leverage their resources to continue driving maximum impact.
Neera Bhat | Board Member
Managing Director, Accenture
Neera is a Managing Director at Accenture, and like all of our students she is the first in her family to graduate from college.
Gopa Dasari | Board Member
Vice President, Fremont Group
Gopa Dasari was a volunteer with First Graduate® for seven years before joining the board. Over the past 10 years, he has worked in the Private Wealth Management industry, dealing primarily with high-net-worth families and institutions.
Mark Hamilton | Board Member
CEO & Founder, Hamilton Zanze
Prior to co-founding Hamilton Zanze in 2001, Mark Hamilton sponsored the acquisition, ownership, and development of nearly 40 properties in the Bay Area. Mark’s main focus has always been locating value-add properties in changing urban neighborhoods and then re-working them into higher-quality buildings with higher incomes, improved tenant profiles, and higher resale values.
Mark has considerable experience in partnership formations and operations, project planning and implementation, asset management and management oversight, landlord-tenant and rent-control issues, risk management, and zoning and building department matters. Before forming his own commercial brokerage and investment business in 1994, Mark worked in the San Francisco office of Marcus & Millichap, subsequently co-founding Property Resource Group (real estate brokerage) and Quantum Land Company (development).
Mark earned a B.A. with High Honors in English Literature from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University, which he attended as a University Scholar and Fellow.
Susan Knowles | Board Member
Director of Genomics Services at UCSF Health
Susan Knowles has been a volunteer with First Graduate® for four years, and she enjoys working with students on resumes, school applications and math homework. Susan manages four clinical genetic labs and supports the implementation of cutting-edge genomics methods for precision medicine. Susan spent 10 years in the life sciences industry developing DNA-sequence based applications in the fields of reproductive health, infectious disease, and metagenomics.
Susan has a BS degree from The George Washington Universityand an MBA from the University of Chicago. Susan lives in San Francisco and in her spare time enjoys cooking and just about anything outdoors.
Alex Lazo | Board Member
Inclusion and Access Specialist & Program Director at The Bay School
Alex is a member of the first ever First Graduate® cohort. He received his BA in Latin American and Latino Studies at University of California Santa Cruz and he credits First Graduate® with providing the essential support he needed to become the first in his family to graduate from college. Today Alex works at the Bay School of San Francisco as a Teacher and Student Support Specialist. He works with 9th graders in the classroom teaching the 9th Grade Seminar and as a part of the Jump Start team within the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging.
Alex also teaches the 9th grade Immersive course Everyone Has a Story. Alex loves teaching because he has the opportunity to bring his interests and values to the classroom. While helping mold the next generation of young people, Alex enjoys the opportunity to pass along the lessons and support he received from the First Graduate® community.
Jenina Soto | Board Member
General Manager at DoorDash, Northern California
Dionne Teasley | Board Member
Assistant Director, Office of Undergraduate Admissions at UC Berkeley
This is Dionne’s first year as a First Graduate® Board member. She has over 10 years’ experience working with college bound students. Currently, Dionne is an Assistant Director with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at UC Berkeley. She has a passion for assisting students with finding their pathway to higher education.
Dionne is a fierce advocate for first generation students and their families. When working with First-Generation students Dionne loves to enlighten and demystify the daunting task of applying to college. Dionne is a huge fan of the work being done at First Graduate® and looks forward to being a source of support for students and staff at First Graduate!
Shelly Vernick | Board Member
VP, People Business Partners at NextRoll
Shelly Vernick volunteered with First Graduate® for 7 years before enthusiastically joining the First Graduate® Board. Her lifelong passion is education, and firmly believes that every child deserves access to a high quality education. She studied Psychology and Italian at Stanford University, then crossed the bay to UC Berkeley to earn her Masters in Education and Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential. She taught 4th and 5th graders in San Leandro Unified School District for four years before transitioning into Human Resources in the education non-profit sector for nearly a decade. Most recently, she works as a VP, People Business Partners at NextRoll, where she volunteers as a Board Member of NextRoll Gives Back, coordinating volunteer opportunities for her fellow colleagues with First Graduate® and other local non-profits.
Outside of work, Shelly can be found hiking in the Marin Headlands, playing with her nephews, dabbling with a new recipe in the kitchen, or planning her next trip to Italy.