Get in Touch with Us!
Coaching Corps
310 Eighth Street, Suite 300
Oakland, CA 94607
Tel: 510 663-9200
Fax: 510 663-1426
Information for Visitors
Public Transportation
Our office is conveniently located near both the Lake Merrit and 12th Street BART station in downtown Oakland. For more information visit the BART website.
Parking
There are many public garages and parking lots near the Coaching Corps office.
Driving Directions
Google Maps
Our Staff
Janet Carter, Executive Director
janetc@coaching-corps.org
Janet Carter joined Coaching Corps as Executive Director in 2008. For 15 years prior, she served as Vice President of the Family Violence Prevention Fund, helping to grow the organization from a local nonprofit to a national leader in the effort to end domestic violence.
Janet has been recognized nationally for her leadership in building the field of violence against women and children and has received awards from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community, and the State Justice Institute, to name a few.
She is the author of numerous articles and curricula on violence against women and children and is the Chair of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Children and Family Fellowship.
Janet was born in Birmingham, England and lives in San Francisco.
Allison Bauer, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Coaching Corps
allisonb@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5133
Allison is a recent graduate from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. She comes to Coaching Corps with a degree in Communication Studies and Art. She has a background in Public Relations with skills ranging from recruitment to event planning. While attending UW-L, Allison worked alongside the Executive Director of a local food pantry to create an annual fundraising event and also wrote an undergraduate thesis on communication maintenance. She is also an artist with a background in painting, photography, sculpture and printmaking and during her college career began to produce art pieces infused with social justice themes, such as poverty, sexism and genocide. She comes to Coaching Corps with a great enthusiasm and a strong belief in the mission. She moved to the Bay Area with her partner and their lovable mutt, Simba.
Amy Branner PhD, Director of Research and Evaluation
amyb@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5110
Dr. Branner’s passion for underserved youth and sports began 20 years ago when she served as a tutor, mentor and supervisor to the athletes of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Since that time, she has continued to build her expertise in youth development and research, leading projects of every shape and size, including studies of youth media use across the US, youth outdoor recreational activities in West Philadelphia and community identity in remote Alaska. Dr. Branner’s PhD is from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Her background includes serving as a director for the Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) at Children’s Hospital Boston where she helped build the preeminent Harvard research center. She has consulted for research and evaluation firms and non-profits, including Public/Private Ventures, RTI International and Sport In Society. Most recently, Dr. Branner served as an Associate Research Scientist for the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, where she managed a large federally funded portfolio of studies that examine alcohol and substance use, and physical and sexual aggression in San Francisco nightclubs. She has made her home in the hills of Oakland, CA where she enjoys every outdoor recreational activity available.
Janelle Cavanagh, Director of Strategic Development
janellec@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5125
Janelle brings 20 years of development experience to Coaching Corps. She began her fundraising career in the United States Peace Corps while raising money from international corporations for agriculture projects in Thailand. After returning to the United States and counseling adolescents with serious emotional disturbances, she earned her Master’s in Social Welfare with an emphasis in Management and Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. Since then, she served as a Director at the United Way of the Bay Area and Chief Development Officer at Girls Inc. of Alameda County. She was formerly the Executive Director at UC Press Foundation.
Olivia De Lara, Program Coordinator, Development
oliviadl@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5136
Olivia de Lara comes to Coaching Corps with a background in systems, communications and nonprofit development. She enjoys work that allows her to remain inspired, cultivate others, and build community. These interests culminated into Olivia working within a variety of fields, including broadcast, theater, and volunteer-based organizations. A UC Berkeley alumni and Bay Area native, Olivia appreciates activism, education, art, the outdoors, adventure eating, yoga, distance running, and bike rides. She recently became associated with Girls on the Run-Bay Area to become a running buddy for young girls.
Chris Fajardo, Manager, University Chapters
chrisf@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5121
Chris comes to Coaching Corps with a unique background in education and coaching. Chris built a foundation in education through 5 years of teaching marine mammal conservation, physiology and science. Chris coached youth soccer for 8 years at Kidz Love Soccer and helped manage and expand club soccer at UC Santa Cruz before graduating. When he is not chasing his dog Koa, Chris chases down opponents on the soccer field.
Gladys Garcia, Program Manager, Research & Evaluation
gladysg@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5122
Gladys comes to Coaching Corps with a strong background in communications and social services. During the last several years Gladys worked in the family support, sexual assault victim, and job search/retention arenas of social services. Prior, she worked in public relations with a focus on local and national media outreach. Having recently moved to the Bay Area, she plans on riding her bike to work and learning to kayak.
Sarah Howes, Bay Area Regional AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Coaching Corps
sarahh@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5131
Sarah comes to Coaching Corps having already served with AmeriCorps*VISTA in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a VISTA, she served with the Council on Crime and Justice and worked to develop programming for ex-offenders and their families. She loves being a VISTA Leader, because she gets to work with dedicated volunteers on a daily basis and to be a problem solver. Sarah has worked in a multitude of roles in theater and film: stage manager, actor, playwright and assistant director. In the future, she hopes to attend law school and find a way to combine her passions for the law and the entertainment industries. She graduated from the College of Saint Benedict/St. John’s University in 2009 with a degree in political science and theater.
Joseph Hong, Regional Program Coordinator, Southern CA
joeh@coaching-corps.org, 510.506.3844
Joseph Hong was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He graduated with a degree in Sports Communications from Indiana University-Bloomington. His focus is on youth development and the intersection of the passion and interests of youth with sports. He spent the last eight years with the After-School All-Stars, a national non-profit organization that provides comprehensive after-school programs for communities throughout the country. During his time there, he held a myriad of management positions including: District Manager, Director for Service Learning, and Program Director. He regularly consults with school administrators, after-school providers and program staff to help create model youth programs with a strong focus on staff and program development. Joe currently resides in Carlsbad, CA.
Bob Kirwin, Executive Assistant
bobk@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5102
Bob came to Coaching Corps with over 8 years of experience in land conservation. Prior to his non-profit experience Bob spent several years working in finance and also owned his own personal training business. He has extensive event planning experience and enjoys work where a high level of organization and detail is needed. In his spare time, Bob enjoys gardening and landscape design, and always has several craft projects being worked on simultaneously.
Lynne Lee, Deputy Executive Director
lynnel@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5107
Lynne came to Coaching Corps with extensive experience in advertising and communications. She is an expert at social norm change, public education strategy and advertising development. Previously, Lynne served as Senior Vice President at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, where she created the “Coaching Boys into Men” campaign. Before that, Lynne worked at Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising and developed public service campaigns for the Ad Council in New York. Lynne enjoys cycling with her husband and two daughters, Sophie and Naomi.
Peter Moravetz, Regional Program Coordinator
peterm@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5109
Peter joins Coaching Corps with a background in education, coaching and urban redevelopment. A Midwest transplant, and alumni of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Peter taught and volunteered in Santiago, Chile before coming to Oakland to teach middle school Spanish and coach baseball and basketball. When he’s not on a basketball court or at a concert, Peter enjoys hiking, cooking and exploring the Bay Area.
Talia Nagar, Managing Director of Programs
talian@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5113
Talia comes to Coaching Corps with a decade of non-profit program development and management experience. Most recently, Talia was Assistant Executive Director for Program Development at a large community organization in New York where she was focused on fundraising, evaluation and developing new programs. Talia’s career in youth development began at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), where she oversaw programs to help young people from low-income communities improve their business, academic and life skills through entrepreneurship education. After receiving a Master’s degree in Education concentration on Risk and Prevention, she created a comprehensive after-school program for a settlement house on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. New to the Bay Area, Talia is excited to spend time hiking and camping throughout Northern California with her husband, son and dog.
Ben Nyhoff, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Coaching Corps
bnyhoff@saysandiego.org, 858.565.4148 X258
Ben came to Coaching Corps all the way from Michigan where he grew up, attended college, and completed his first year of AmeriCorps*VISTA service with the Michigan Campus Compact. In his first year of service, Ben worked with a college campus where he focused on connecting students to community needs through service. Ben graduated from Grand Valley State University with a degree in Public and Non-Profit Administration. His belief in the power of volunteerism and service drove his career goals toward the non-profit sector and as a result he is very excited to be a part of the Coaching Corps team. Ben enjoys being outdoors, hiking, and a wide variety of sports.
Sheilagh Polk, Program Director, Communications
sheilaghp@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5101
Sheilagh Polk joined Coaching Corps after several years of working in the trenches on a myriad of social justice issues. She brings with her extensive experience in social justice communications for nonprofits, community organizing, and education advocacy. Prior to joining Coaching Corps, Sheilagh spent two years as the Outreach Manager at The Education Trust-West where she led successful communications campaigns, as well as, worked closely with grassroots community groups to increase and strengthen dialogue between them and school districts across the state. Prior to that Sheilagh worked in South Los Angeles with Community Coalition, a non-profit founded by Karen Bass that focuses on eradicating the root causes of addiction, poverty and crime in South LA. Sheilagh is also an actress and spoken word artist. She lives with her daughter Jadyn in West Oakland.
Monica Santos, Director, Program Development
monicas@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5118
Monica brings 10 years of prior youth development experience to her role at Coaching Corps. Through UC Berkeley, she conducted outreach presentations in underserved communities about success in higher education. She has also run an after-school tutoring program and a school-based mentoring program. Recently she earned a Masters in Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco. In her spare time, Monica plays tennis, flag football and softball.
Jamie Sharp, Regional Program Coordinator
jamies@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5129
As a graduate of Oakland Public Schools, Jamie is excited to bring her passion for youth sports, community development and volunteerism to Coaching Corps. While earning her BA at Boston University, Jamie coached youth sports and taught high school health education in public school classrooms. Upon graduation, Jamie returned to the Bay Area to make an impact in her home community and has since worked with local adaptive sports organizations, public health non-profits and local youth programs. When she is not with East Bay coaches, Jamie can be found on the stage, on a trail or in a kayak.
Suzanne Sillett, Manager, Training & Education
suzannes@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5104
With 15 years experience in the youth development field, Suzanne joined Coaching Corps from Community Bridges Beacon where she coordinated after-school sports and health and wellness programs. She is an avid soccer coach and is currently leading the girls’ squad at Berkeley High School and another youth club team. Suzanne earned a Masters in Recreation from San Francisco State where her thesis focused on girls’ participation in sports. Besides her passion for soccer, she also enjoys trail running and backpacking.
Mindy Towe, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Coaching Corps
mindyt@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5132
Mindy Towe comes to Coaching Corps from St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to relocating to Oakland, she worked with adolescent males suffering from abuse and neglect at a treatment center for children. She has volunteered with The St. Louis Effort for Aids Organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters Program, and the St. Louis Crisis Nursery where she worked with infants and toddlers. Upon completion of her term-of-service as a VISTA, she hopes to pursue a Masters Degree in Social Work, specializing in the care of youth and families.
Lisa Wanzor, Director of Finance and Administration
lisaw@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5103
Lisa has worked in non-profit organizations for over 20 years. Prior to joining Coaching Corps, Lisa was the Associate Director at Breast Cancer Action for eight years. Before that, she coordinated the employment programs at Chinese for Affirmative Action. She has also done community organizing with low-income youth and diverse communities. A native of New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton University, basketball is her favorite sport. She also enjoys hiking and swimming with her daughter and her partner Sarah.
Nyjeri Whipps, Director of Development
nyjeriw@coaching-corps.org, 510.496.5112
Nyjeri brings a combination of fundraising and communications expertise to Coaching Corps. An Oakland native, Nyjeri has a BA in Mass Communications and an MA in Broadcast Journalism from UC Berkeley and the University of Miami respectively. She began her fundraising career at Girls Inc. and quickly fell in love with the challenge of raising money for causes dear to her heart. Before entering the non-profit development world, Nyjeri worked for Washington D.C. government on the City Council as Chief of Staff and at the Child and Family Services Agency in resource development. She also worked as a production assistant at the Washington D.C. Bureau of ABC News. On the weekends, Nyjeri enjoys all of the outdoor kite, sandcastle and street festivals the Bay Area has to offer with her husband and young daughter.
