Who We Are
Each of the three campuses has an executive director who provides strategic leadership and coordination, and the directors are overseen by a Management Committee.
Management Committee
Christina A. Christie
Wasserman Dean of the School of Education and Information Studies, Professor of Education, Division of Social Research, UCLA
David Faigman
Chancellor & Dean, UC Law SF, William B. Lockhart Professor of Law and the John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law
Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini, MD, Ph.D.
Charles Schwab Distinguished Professorship in Dyslexia and Neurodevelopment, Director of Neurology; Co-director, UCSF Dyslexia Center
Executive Directors
Francesca Pei
Executive Director, CA Institute, UCSF
Liz Butler Steyer
Executive Director, CA Institute, UC Law SF
Alison Yoshimoto Towery, Ed.D.
Executive Director, CA Institute, UCLA & UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning
Staff
Jorge Castaneda
Project Coordinator, CA Institute, UC Law SF
Researchers
Cynthia Valencia-Ayala
Postdoctoral Fellow - Juvenile inJustice and Behavioral Health Lab at UCSF
Kathy T. Do
Assistant Project Scientist, UCLA California Institute on Law, Neuroscience, and Education and UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning
Thalia González
Professor of Law and Harry & Lillian Hastings Research Chair, Co-Director of the Center for Racial and Economic Justice, UC Law SF
Rebecca Gotlieb, Ph.D.
Assistant Researcher - UCLA School of Education and Informational Studies
Evan Holloway
Assistant Professor - Juvenile inJustice Behavioral Health Lab at UCSF
Sarah Hooper
Professor of Practice and Executive Director of the UCSF/UC Law SF Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy, UC Law SF
Angela James
Research Director, Center for the Transformation of Schools, UCLA
Andrea Lollini
Senior Research Scholar at the UCSF/UC Law SF Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy, UC Law SF
Jeanne McPhee
Clinical Research Analyst - Juvenile inJustice and Behavioral Health Lab at UCSF
Emily Murphy
Professor of Law and Harry & Lillian Hastings Research Chair, UC Law SF
Mariah Pospisil
Learning Interventions Applied Research Manager, UCSF Dyslexia Center’s Multitudes
Laura Rhinehart, Ph.D.
Assistant Researcher - UCLA School of Education & Informational Studies
Julie Schneider, Ph.D.
Associate Project Scientist - UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning
Christa Pereira Watson
Assistant Professor, Neurology - UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
Advisory Board
Over the past year, the CA Institute has established an Advisory Board of experts, with a range of professional and lived experience, in accordance with Cal. Ed. Code § 99277. The board serves as a check on accountability to ensure that the CA Institute is meeting its goals, and they also provide fiscal oversight. As outlined in the legislation, the membership of the board includes community representatives, including formerly justice-involved representatives and their family members, as well as members chosen by each of the three campuses in the institute (UCLA, UCSF, and UC Law SF) and representatives from the CA State Assembly, the CA State Senate, and the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.
The board is comprised of the following members:
- Patrick Brennan – Director of Policy, Philanthropy, and Partnerships at UC|CSU Collaborative (Ex Officio Member)
- Steve Carnevale – Founder and Chair of the Advisory Board for the UCSF Dyslexia Center
- Debra Duardo – County Superintendent of Schools for Los Angeles County
- Gustavo Gasca – UCLA Alumnus and Current PhD Student
- Evelyn Gonzalez – Cross County Youth Voice Coach at Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY)
- Jennie Grammer – Associate Professor of Education/Faculty Director at UCLA
- Tanisha Hill-Jarrett – Neuropsychologist & Assistant Professor of Neurology at UCSF
- Yaneth Hurtado – Project Policy Analyst at Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health (JJBH)
- Judge Kathleen Kelly – San Francisco Family Treatment Court
- Rose LaValley – Cross County Youth Voice Coach at FLY
- Mara Madrigal Weiss – Executive Director of Student Wellness and School Culture for the San Diego County of Education and Chair of the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
- Michael Massa – OYCR Education Subject Matter Expert
- Marlen Medina – Mother of Bryan Diaz
- Carl W. “Chip” Robertson – Co-Managing Director at Warland Investments Company
- Javier Rodriguez – Regional Coordinator at Rising Scholars
Partnerships
Effective July 1, 2021, pursuant to Senate Bill 823, a new Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR) operates within the California Health & Human Services (CalHHS) Agency. Supporting the transition of justice involved youth being served in local communities, the OYCR will promote a youth continuum of services that are trauma responsive and culturally informed, using public health approaches that support positive youth development, build the capacity of community-based approaches, and reduce the justice involvement of youth.
According to Section 99275 of the California Education Code, the Office of Youth and Community Restoration is a legislative partner of the CA Institute in its development, implementation, and management, as well as in the pursuit of its goals.
Rancho Cielo is a comprehensive learning and social services center for underserved and disconnected youth in Monterey County. Rancho Cielo invests in all young people facing challenges for success through diploma education, vocational training, counseling, and life skills development in a safe and affirming environment.
Rancho Cielo runs a series of programs and opportunities to wrap around the whole youth: diploma education to age 24; true vocational training with industry professionals; mental health counseling; probation case management and support; job readiness; life skills; physical activity; enrichment activities; and connections to health, social and family services. It is in the transformation business. Rancho Cielo serves 150 youth across five programs. It responds to the needs of the economy through workforce development and college preparation.
The interdisciplinary team from the CA Institute has visited the Rancho Cielo campus twice in the past year to learn more about their innovative program design and to investigate ongoing projects between Rancho Cielo and the CA Institute.
The Department of Law at the University of Torino is a key hub for socio-legal studies focused on issues related to the intersection of juvenile justice, mental health and related social issues. It has been designated a “Department of Excellence” by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research for the quality of its teaching, research, and institutional environment.
This project, Juvenile Justice at a Crossroads, aims to advance transdisciplinary legal education and research by examining the correlation between criminal behavior and mental health issues in the juvenile justice population, through a pilot study using quantitative and qualitative socio-legal research methodologies. In particular, it explores trends such as the medicalization and institutionalization of juveniles to provide evidence-based solutions for international comparison.
The UCSF Juvenile inJustice Behavioral Health (JJBH) Research Team includes a program of research aimed toward improving behavioral health outcomes for youth involved in the legal, child welfare, and foster care systems. Incorporating frameworks of ecodevelopmental theory, community-engaged/participatory co-design, anti-racism in research, social justice, health equity and structural and social determinant of health, these studies aim to improve systems-impacted youth health outcomes. Examples of study foci include expanding engaging and tailored behavioral health care options; reducing alcohol and drug use; advancing sexual and reproductive health equity; preventing continued legal and child welfare system, including incarceration and identifying ways to successfully improve access to and engagement in behavioral health services, thereby reducing health inequities.
Cre8Innovations is a nonprofit organization founded and led by formerly incarcerated individuals committed to transforming the lives of marginalized students, particularly those impacted by the criminal legal system, foster care, and housing insecurity. Rooted in the principles of education, advocacy, and reentry (EAR), Cre8Innovations provides supportive housing, mentorship, and trauma-informed programming to ensure students not only access higher education but thrive in it. Through partnerships with community colleges, universities, and local organizations, the organization bridges critical gaps in services by offering holistic support that includes financial literacy training, college navigation, case management, and youth diversion programming. By centering the voices and leadership of directly impacted individuals, Cre8Innovations is building pathways for systemic change and reimagining what educational equity and community reintegration can look like.
