Leadership Team

Vice President, Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove

Christina Sepulveda is the Vice President of Community Impact Programs for Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove. Christina has been in youth development for 15 years and on the CAN Leadership Team since 2017 and Co-Chair since 2020. She is currently responsible for overseeing Early Learning Initiatives, Community Health Services, and Family Engagement/Outreach. She is responsible for the recruitment, coordination, and maintenance of community partnerships that foster the coordination of services for families in the community. She has a proven track record leading and facilitating community projects that build healthier communities through education, advocacy, and support. Christina’s focus in youth development has been on ‘whole-child’ models and mental health. Her strong belief in collaboration and serving the ‘whole-child’ has been a guiding philosophy throughout her career in youth development.

California Regional Director, Girls Leadership

Amal has worked in the Expanded Learning field for about fifteen years, providing leadership to out-of-school time programs in non-profit, school district, and municipal organizations throughout California. Amal has received her Masters in Education with a major in Equity and Social Justice from San Francisco State University. She is currently the California Regional Director at Girls Leadership and is a serving member on the California Afterchool Network Leadership Team.

Regional Director, LA’s Best

Maria holds an LA’s BEST Regional Director position with the Los Angeles Unified School District, in which she is responsible for providing support and development to a Region. Her role includes monitoring program sites to ensure that program values are implemented and that sites are in compliance with terms and conditions of grants. As well as creating and supporting continuous learning opportunities for staff in successfully integrating ideas and strategies towards quality student engagement. Maria’s passion comes from 26 years of experience in the afterschool movement. Maria has seen first hand the memorable impact afterschool programs have in the communities we serve and through the experience has assimilated the understanding needed as an afterschool practitioner into the various field positions she has held within the LA’s BEST Afterschool Enrichment program.  Maria was motivated to join the CAN Leadership Team because she is committed to working to develop the growth and progress of our staff so that our children have a safe place to engage in meaningful learning experiences. 

Co-Regional Lead,  Ventura County Office of Education

Consultant, California Expanded Learning Programs
 

Expanded Learning Program Manager, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD)

Laila Jenkins-Perez is one of three Expanded Learning Program Managers for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Included in their role at OUSD, is to ensure that all 76 expanded learning programs are designed to complement learning and enhance the achievement opportunities for all students; assist K-12 schools in implementing operational/programmatic systems to fulfill the goal as full-service schools by aligning after-school programs with the school day; implementation of grant-funded quality after-school programs to ensure that program goals are achieved, necessary parties are mobilized, and efforts of all personnel involved in the programs are operating at a high standard. Laila is passionate about out-of-school time because it represents actualized social justice at its core with youth at its center.  Laila was motivated to join the CAN Leadership Team because she is excited to serve her community at the state level, enhance her strategic systems design experience, and amplify the expanded learning voice, visibility, and value.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ProYouth

Dr. Marie M. Pinto is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for ProYouth, a nonprofit, Expanded Learning organization based in the Central Valley of California. In her role at ProYouth, Marie oversees the operation that serves 15,000 students, on 50 school sites, in six school districts and two counties. Marie is passionate about out-of-school time because it provides opportunities to those children who may not access to academic support, enrichment, a healthy meal, and a caring adult. Marie was motivated to join the CAN Leadership Team because it allowed her to participate in the process that can effect positive change for the field of expanded learning, and to work and interact with the change agents of the state.

Director of Programs & Operations, Think Together​ 

Harlyn Santos is Director of Programs and Operations for Think Together in the Santa Fe Springs Region. Harlyn has been in the Expanded Learning field for over 20 years. In her role, she leads strategically, acts intentionally, and works collaboratively across several platforms in order to ensure that students benefit from participating in OST programs. Her primary responsibility is to ensure the quality and fidelity of all programs by supporting daily operations, and oversight of the region. She collaborates with district partners and community partners to ensure that policies, procedures, and protocols are followed to benefit the students served. Harlyn was motivated to join the CAN Leadership Team because she is passionate about closing the achievement gap and giving all students an opportunity to develop as a whole. She wants to be part of the catalyst for change that is needed across our state for benefit of those in the field and for the field.

 Interim Executive Director, University-Community Links (UC Links)

Mara Welsh Mahmood is the Interim Executive Director for University-Community Links (UC Links), a network of university and community partners working together to develop expanded learning programs that connect K-12 young people with university faculty and students in engaging, informal learning activities. Mara has been involved with UC Links since 1996, when she was a graduate student at UC Riverside, teaching the UC Links undergraduate practicum course and serving as the site coordinator for the UC Links program at a local elementary school. Mara went on to join the UC Links statewide office in the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley as the Director of Site Development and Evaluation and later as Associate Director. Mara has explored, studied, and written about learning within and across multiple contexts including K-12, higher education, and after-school across California and the US, as well as out-of-school (OST) learning in São Paulo, Brazil, and other countries. Mara was motivated to join the CAN Leadership Team to leverage this unique “pandemic as portal” moment and work collaboratively to re-imagine expanded learning opportunities and rebuild the systems and structures to support California’s children, youth, families, and the OST field.