Our Board of Directors is accomplished, passionate and dedicated to helping families succeed
Jim Chappell
President
Jim is a retired urban planner, and 15-year president and executive director of SPUR, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, including community organizations, professional associations, and educational institutes. His primary work has been in public-private partnerships, community building, and civic betterment. He has a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sharon Donovan
Vice President
Sharon is a recently retired Faculty member in the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at City College of San Francisco and has a MA in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University and a BA in Psychology from Regis College. Prior to City College, she worked in parent coops, directed Early Care and Education direct service programs, and consulted to community based organizations on child care center start up. She has been actively involved in Early Care and Education advocacy and public policy for many years.
Albert Lee
Treasurer
Al is a business builder with experience in finance, treasury, governance, investments, investment operations, and business operations, and has spent the bulk of his career in the financial services industry in San Francisco. He currently works for Charles Schwab in their mutual fund and exchange traded fund business. Al previously worked as an SVP in the exchange traded fund business of The Hartford, and as a management consultant for The Boston Consulting Group. He has an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and an AB in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Jackson Chin
Board Member
Jackson is a retired financial services executive with over 25 years of experience in strategic planning, finance, technology, and operations. He is actively involved in non-profits and has volunteered as a Taproot Foundation pro bono consultant for well over 10 years as well as serving as a business mentor at SCORE. He has an MBA from San Francisco State University and a BA from UC Berkeley.
Bob Daoro
Board Member
Bob is the Director of Finance at Baker Tilly. He was a Founding Partner of DZH Phillips, with extensive experience in audits, reviews, compilations and tax planning, strategic planning, and succession planning. His expertise also includes management consulting and advisory assistance. He is a long-time board member of Compass Family Services and has served as treasurer and on the Executive Committee. Bob was treasurer at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture and now serves as Chair of their Audit Committee. He is a past treasurer of the Educational Foundation of Orinda. Bob joined the Wu Yee Board to help with the very important task of providing excellent child care and education for all children, right from the start.
Samira Khan
Board Member
Sharon is a recently retired Faculty member in the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at City College of San Francisco and has a MA in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University and a BA in Psychology from Regis College. Prior to City College, she worked in parent coops, directed Early Care and Education direct service programs, and consulted to community based organizations on child care center start up. She has been actively involved in Early Care and Education advocacy and public policy for many years.
Dean Marotta
Board Member
Dean is Senior Vice President-Sr. Audit Director and Senior Management Committee member at Bank of the West, a BNP Paribas Company. He was previously Chief Audit Executive, AIG Companies in Japan; Managing Director at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Tokyo Japan, Financial Services Advisory; Executive Vice President–Risk Management at Zions Bancorporation and Executive Management Committee member in Salt Lake City; and Vice President-Audit Director with Merrill Lynch in Tokyo. Dean also served as Vice President – Audit Director with Citibank in London, covering capital markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Vice President-Global Markets Audit with JP Morgan in New York. Dean is a graduate of Fordham University in New York and completed the RMA Advanced Risk Management Program at Wharton School of Business-University of Pennsylvania. Dean was born in New York City and among his hobbies are skiing, music, wine appreciation, travel and quality time with family, friends and his dog.
Cindy Yang
Board Member
Cindy is a finance and operations executive, with over 15 years of experience in high growth environments. She is currently the COO and was on the founding team of SoMa Equity Partners, an investment firm, where she oversees several functions including finance/accounting, operations, legal, and compliance. Previously, she held roles at other investment firms and was an auditor at Ernst & Young. She is also a licensed and active Certified Public Accountant. Cindy is committed to improving underserved communities and promoting social justice. She lives in the East Bay with her husband and two boys.
Sonya Thomas
Immediate Past President
Sonya is Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications at Tides. As a marketing and general management professional, she led and grew national consumer brands at Del Monte, Big Heart Pet Brands, and the JM Smucker Company before transitioning to a sector that is near and dear to her heart – nonprofit and philanthropy. Originally from Alabama, Sonya graduated from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. Sonya is passionate about the power of storytelling and uses her expertise to amplify the visions and voices of nonprofits and nonprofit leaders. She is proud to serve the children of San Francisco and the San Francisco community.
Raymond Delacruz
Secretary
Raymond currently leads special projects at TruePlan. Prior to TruePlan he held operations, growth and analytics leadership roles at Trash Warrior, Opendoor, StubHub, and Deloitte Consulting. He graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in Business Administration. Raymond is a Co-founder of Wu Yee Ambassadors, a volunteer program to support Wu Yee’s mission through fundraising and strategic projects. He is committed to providing resources and services for children and local communities.
Blanca Rocio Cendejas, MD
Board Member
Rocio is a Pediatrician at Kaiser San Francisco where she serves a diverse patient population with a strong focus on Latinx families. Before completing her medical training, Rocio devoted her early professional career to international medical aid working for Direct Relief, an organization active in over 80 countries with a mission to improve the health of people affected by poverty and humanitarian crises. Today, outside her clinical practice, Rocio is involved in various community-based projects focusing on early childhood education and early developmental screening, as well as health outreach in minority and low-income communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a strong interest in education, she also serves as a UCSF volunteer clinical faculty teaching UCSF medical students and pediatric residents. Proud daughter of immigrant parents, Rocio is passionate about programs and initiatives that foster access to high-quality childcare and early education for all communities in need. Rocio received her medical degree from the UCSF School of Medicine and completed her specialty training in Pediatrics at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.
Victoria J. Chin
Board Member
Victoria is a Product Marketing leader at Asana. Previously, she held marketing and customer experience leadership roles at high-growth tech companies Dropbox and Opendoor, and established enterprises Bloomberg and Dow Jones (publisher of The Wall Street Journal). She has a MBA from UC Berkeley-Haas and a BA from UCLA. As a daughter of immigrants from low-income families, Victoria is committed to serving communities in need, and was raised to value family and education above all else.
Milu Maggin
Board Member
Milu became involved with Wu Yee Children’s Services in 2016 when her son started preschool at Wu Yee’s New Generation Child Development Center and served as the Chair of the New Generation Family Committee for two years. She also joined Wu Yee’s Policy Council in 2016 where she served as Chairperson in FY16-17 and FY17-18. After her son began kindergarten, Milu continued to serve on the Policy Council as a Community Representative. Born and raised in San Francisco, Milu is passionate about early education, special needs education, and creating opportunities for these populations. She graduated with a B.S. in Economics from University of San Francisco.
Catherine Ngo
Board Member
Catherine serves as in-house counsel for Upgrade, a fintech startup in San Francisco. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. As a first-generation college graduate raised by immigrant parents, Catherine is committed to programs and initiatives serving diverse and low-income communities.
Diana Pohle
Board Member
Diana is a psychologist and healthcare business leader whose North Star is connecting the heart of what drives people with the data that provokes meaningful action to make the world a better place. She leverages extensive analytical skills and a relentless curiosity to produce deep insights, improve decision making, and guide strategies with unwavering equanimity. Diana is Senior Director, Business Analytics and Insights in a West Coast-based biopharma company that seeks to transform men and women’s health. She has over 20 years of experience in healthcare market intelligence, serves on many philanthropic and industry association boards, and teaches undergraduate courses in business strategy, market research, statistics, and healthcare consumer trends.
Diana is privileged to be the mother of nine amazing young people. As her family grew through unconventional means, she has become an outspoken advocate for the needs of the vulnerable, including immigrants, foster youth, and unaccompanied refugee minors.