Alicia Parise

Alicia comes to the Oakland Public Education Fund with an extensive background working in schools and in the nonprofit sector. After receiving her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Latin American Studies from UCLA, she moved back home to the Bay Area, where she worked at several schools and nonprofits, helping low-income students engage in school and gain access to college. After working as a site director for an after-school program for primarily English Language learners in San Rafael, she decided to go back to school to pursue her Master’s at USF in Counseling Psychology with a Pupil Personnel Services Credential so that she would be certified to work as a school counselor. During this time, Alicia was hired to help launch the SEO Scholars program in San Francisco as the first expansion site out of New York City–an intensive academic after-school, Saturday, and summer program that helps low-income students get into and through competitive four-year colleges. Most recently, she was the Regional Program Director at SMASH where she managed all West Coast sites that brought intensive STEM education via summer and year-round programming for high school students at Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UCLA. She likes hanging out and playing with her toddler in her free time, relaxing with friends, reading, cooking, and completing 1000-2000 piece jigsaw puzzles.