We'd like to welcome our inaugural Board of Educators
Mentorship is something that is core to our mission and dear to many of the team members’ hearts. Our Summer Social Impact Fellowship program was started to address the opportunity gap and the network gap that students from under-resourced backgrounds oftentimes have to learn to navigate on their own. Running the programs every year, we are always excited to learn from the past on how to better the programs for the next cohorts.
Going through the internal feedback loop, we have found that having a growth mindset - focusing on action items and specific steps - has been really helpful. However, we also wanted to get guidance in the overall direction that we as an organization are headed. We want to make sure to see the forest as well as the trees. This is why we are extra excited to bring on the Board of Educators with considerable experience and expertise.
Last November, we first started reaching out to some of the educators in our network to get nominations for the Board of Educators, which was followed by more outreach to AVID and BIPOC educators’ groups through social media and emails. After months of outreach and deliberation, and thanks to the overwhelming interest and support, Close the Gap Foundation is excited to announce our inaugural Board of Educators!
Here’s who they are at a glance:
- Covers coast-to-coast, including California, Georgia, and Texas.
- Teaches pre-K, high school, and adult education.
- Represents the full spectrum of teaching tenure, from 5+ to 20+ years.
- 4 out of 5 educators identified as low-income growing up.
- 4 out of 5 educators identify as females.
- 2 out of 5 educators identify as BIPOC.
Hear from our Board of Educators
Darius Phelps
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Preferred pronouns: He/Him
Grades currently working with: Pre-K
My name is Darius Phelps, and I am a Pre-K Specialist with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. I received a Bachelor of Science degree from UGA in 2015 and a Master of Education in 2019. Currently, I am working on my Specialist degree in Educational Psychology. I've been teaching for nine years ranging from birth-through-five, Pre-Kindergarten, and recently middle grades.
I gave a TEDx talk titled “Fingerprints Upon My Heart'' and received the Georgia Child Caregiver of the Year award for 2016. My dream is to become a children’s book author and illustrator, focusing on subjects such as anxiety, depression, and grief. I joined the board to advocate for and be the change that I needed while growing up in a marginalized environment/Title 1 school.
Fun fact: I am moving to New York this summer and am starting my Ph.D. in English Education at Columbia University!
Grace Sauser
Location: Davis, California
Preferred pronouns: She/Her
Grades currently working with: Adult education and high school seniors
I have been an educator for 23 years - my entire adult life! I started out as a high school English teacher then moved into a regional coordinator position for the AVID program in the Sacramento region and had no plans of changing to a different educational field. In the wake of the 2009 Recession, the grant funding for my AVID position was cut, and I was forced to re-evaluate my career path.
I applied to the Educational Technology Master's program at CSU Sacramento and began applying for every job I could find. This is how I got into adult education - a field in education that I had never even considered previously and which, now, I can't imagine ever leaving! I am currently the principal of Davis Adult and Community Education in Davis, CA, and oversee eight different programs for adults in the Davis community.
Fun fact: I have twin daughters who are 11 years old, and I moonlight as a singer in a cover/wedding band!
Jasmine Hobson Rodriguez
Location: Hesperia, California
Preferred pronouns: She/Her
Grades currently working with: High school, 11th grade
I grew up as a low-income student, and I’m a first-generation college graduate. I began tutoring at 14 to earn money, started my first minimum-wage job at 16, and worked two jobs for several years during college. I had no mentor, no guidance, and only knew that college (and my initial plan to be a Computer Engineer, despite my lack of passion for the subject) was said to be a ticket out of poverty.
At 19, when I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, I was forced to slow down, take stock of my life, and reflect on my circumstances. After chemotherapy, some soul-searching led me to change my major and join the world of teaching. I firmly believe that if I had more guidance or opportunity in my high school years, I would not have felt obligated to work between chemo sessions or waste two years in a major that was financially lucrative but simply not for me.
Too often, I have students that remind me of myself and the circumstances I was stuck in. I know the support that could have helped me, and I hope to provide students with those experiences: mentorship, inspiration, and a place to go for an honest and open conversation about the difficult realities of climbing out of poverty.
Fun fact: When I was 8 or 9 years old, I won a Cap'n Crunch cereal box contest! I also have five pets: a cat, three French bulldogs, and a parakeet.
Magret Nunes
Location: Danville, California
Preferred pronouns: She/Her
Grades currently working with: High school, grades 9-12
I was born in Berkeley and raised during the Civil Rights Movement. I am the daughter of an immigrant and a mother of an immigrant. My parents were hardworking blue-collar workers, and we struggled as a family. My father's union membership saved us. I worked my way through college and changed careers from Corporate Accounting to Public School Teacher when I turned 30. I love working with students and reminding them that they will make a positive difference in the world; that they matter.
Over my years in education, I have seen more and more marginalized students who are challenged to assimilate to a system that does not center them. Although I have always been politically active, that work has intensified as I learn more about racial and social injustices in our institutions. I am committed to the collective and collaborative work to change that. I have two daughters (Anna, 23, and Sophia, 20) and a Sheltie named Nara (Arabic for "river"). I am President of my Teachers' Union, as well as a National and State Union representative. I enjoy gardening, hiking and camping, and the beach.
Fun fact: I am a Japanese Taiko drummer! One of my college degrees is in German.
Rhonda Price
Location: Santa Fe, Texas
Preferred pronouns: She/Her
Grades currently working with: High school, grades 9-12
I was raised in a small rural Texas town where my family often struggled to make ends meet. After being labeled as gifted in kindergarten, I was told I could be anything, but no one ever told me how. In my late 20s, I decided I wanted to help students discover and meet their own future goals, so I became a teacher.
For ten years, I taught junior high and high school in very small rural school districts where resources were scarce, if available at all. These were all Title I schools, and students from these areas were high drop-out risks. I had to learn to teach all students with minimal support. Without curriculum specialists to turn to, I found my own resources for special population students and reluctant or struggling learners. After leaving these small schools, I gained experience in a large, diverse district outside of Houston, Texas. I taught 7th and 8th grade ESL English to beginning speakers who had been in the United States less than two years. I was also the ESL specialist for the campus, and I helped in implementing the pilot dual-language program. Now, I am currently in my first year as a high school counselor.
Fun fact: I worked as a cosmetologist right out of high school until I realized it was not for me. I am a huge fan of The Monkees!