EFC Board Leadership
Nick Driver
EFCPS Board Chairman
Nick Driver is the co-founder of Clear Thinking, a non-profit dedicated to supporting schools and organizations with their governance, programmatic, financial and operational needs. Nick’s motivation to be a school advocate and leader grew out of his research into the experiences of countless students that have not been given an adequate education. His professional and personal goal is to help schools and the public school system reach the point where every child is able to master their learning in a challenging and rewarding way, so that they graduate from high school with the skills, mindset, and agency necessary to thrive as adults. Nick currently serves as Superintendent at Griffin Technology Academies.
Nick has led Education for Change Public Schools, a six-school charter management organization in east Oakland, for the past four years as Board Chair and 10 years as board member. In addition to serving as Board Chair, Nick is also the Chair of its Executive Committee;
Eva Camp
EFCPS Board Vice Chair
Eva Camp also serves on the Board of Full Circle Fund. A mother of three children, she dedicates her time to improving education. She currently leads the Parents Association with over 600 volunteers and serves on the Board of Trustees at Head-Royce, her children’s school. She also serves on the Board of National Equity Project (formerly BAYCES), which coaches people to become the leaders who deliver on the promise of a quality education for every child in America. Eva worked for more than 10 years at Microsoft, marketing some of the company’s most successful products, including Word, Office and consumer titles. Her last role there was Director of Market Planning and Analysis for Microsoft’s line of home products. Other highlights at Microsoft include helping lead the turnaround in the company’s Japanese application software business during a 3 year stint in Microsoft’s Far East region and leading the first worldwide launch of Microsoft Office in over 25 languages. Prior to Microsoft, she worked in product management at Proctor & Gamble. Eva has a BA from Harvard University.
Eva is a member of the Executive Committee and serves as Board Vice Chair.
Mike Barr
EFCPS Board Member
Mike currently provides financial consulting services to non-profit and educational organizations. He has served as CFO at the Center for Youth Wellness, Reading Partners, and Aspire Public Schools, and has also filled interim roles at several other nonprofits. Mike began his career in the tech sector and then made the move into nonprofits in 2004. Mike lives in Oakland with his wife and two daughters.
Mike is the current Finance Committee Chair. Click here to email Mike.
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Lauren Weston
EFCPS Board Member
Lauren has nearly two decades of leadership experience in fundraising, philanthropy, and advocacy from several well-regarded education nonprofits including the Breakthrough Collaborative, Hiller Aviation Museum, and the YMCA. She is currently the executive director of Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet, a Bay Area climate action organization. Her expertise lies in team building, infrastructure, and program design. Her passion is building capacity and finding resources for her teams to be successful in their own areas of expertise. Lauren is an alumna of New York University, where she received her master’s degree in Fundraising and Philanthropy, and the University of California–Davis with a Bachelor's in International Relations with a focus on African-American Studies. She is currently an EMBA student at Quantic University. Lauren is a trained Climate Reality Project leader and is a Senior Fellow for the nationwide Environmental Leadership Program.
Damon Grant
EFCPS Board Member
Damon Grant has been working in Oakland public schools for the past 15 years as an English teacher and, currently, as the co-principal of Oakland Unity Middle School. She has two children who attend EFC schools and is a resident of East Oakland.
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Valia Almendarez
EFCPS Board Member
Valia Almendarez has 4 kids, of which 3 have graduated from Oakland schools. She is participating in the board to become more knowledgeable of what is happening in her son's school and to be able to give feedback as a parent. She currently work full time as a Certified Medical Assistant. She has been working as a Medical Assistant for the past 16 1/2 years. She has always worked in community clinics because she likes to be able to help as many people as she can from my community. She is also a part time student. She is trying to get her bachelor in science in nursing. She really likes what she does and she is trying to advance her career to be able to better help patient's.
Doreen Ardayfio
EFCPS Parent Board Member
Doreen Ardayfio is an Oakland Native born and raised. She attended Oakland public schools during grade school, middle school and graduated with honors from Oakland High School in 2003. Doreen currently work as a Certified Nurse assistant specializing in Hospice care for the past 14 years. She loves and has a passion for helping others during the end of life. She is a single parent to a beautiful, smart, outgoing, charismatic, sweet 7-year-old that attends L.W.L in Oakland. Doreen is looking forward to being on the board to gain knowledge of what is happening in her child's school and other Charter Schools. She looks forward to being an advocate to other parents of color to encourage involvement or to be in the known on what’s going on. Doreen desires to gain helpful information surrounding the expectations and needs of our children and to help her child succeed in life.
Erika Cisneros
EFCPS Parent Board Member
Erika Cisneros has lived in Oakland for 32 years. She graduated from Fremont High School in Oakland, California and went on to earn an AA degree from Chabot College in Radio/TV Broadcasting. Erika has 2 daughters (Junior at San Jose State University/Sophomore at Latitude High School). She currently work as a Payroll Specialist. Erika has volunteered with The Unity Council Council De Colores Head Start, Oakland Police Department Citizens Academy, and many other local non-profit organizations throughout the East Bay. Her goal is to continue her education by obtaining a BA in Community Leadership from San Jose State University and to continue building stronger communities for underserved and diverse populations surrounding Oakland. Erika's passion will always be serving her community where she has lived and where she was raised by bridging the gap for better education for future generations.
Sonia Urzua
EFCPS Board Member
Sonia Urzua has worked in Bay Area community planning for more than 20 years. She currently works as the Assistant Planning Director for the City of Lafayette where she supervises the department’s work analyzing developing city-wide land use policy and preparing and evaluating environmental impact reports. She enjoys volunteering her time in support of education-related organizations.
Sonia earned her B.A. in History from UC Berkeley, an M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA, and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin School of Law. She lives in Alameda with her three children.
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Niloy Gangopadhyay
EFCPS Board Member
Niloy Gangopadhyay has spent the last twenty-plus years combating the inequities in public education. He has served as a system, school, and non-profit leader. He currently serves as the Senior Director of Advancement & Engagement at Envision Schools. Previously he served as the Executive Director of Special Populations at the Texas Education Agency, where he led the state’s programming for highly mobile and at-risk, English learners, and gifted & talented students. Before that, he was the co-founder and executive director of Success Preparatory Academy, a K-8th grade charter school in the Treme/Bienville Corridor for ten years. Before moving to New Orleans, he was the founding principal of Cleveland Lighthouse Community School. He also served as the Director of Special Projects at Excellence Charter School of the Uncommon Schools network in Brooklyn, New York. His initial entry into urban education was as a 2002 Teach For America (TFA) corps member in San Jose, California where he taught 4th grade. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.