Jessica Van Tuyl
Program Manager

With over 6 years experience in the youth development field, Jessica joined Oasis for Girls as the Program Manager in January 2008 to coordinate the RISE program, support staff and programming, and engage in organizational development work. Prior to joining Oasis, Jessica worked primarily with LGBTQQ youth supporting youth organizing efforts, leading anti-homophobia trainings for school personnel, and providing case management services at the Richmond Village Beacon, GSA Network, and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. In addition, Jessica has worked in the youth employment field, coordinating city government internships at San Francisco YouthWorks. Jessica holds a Bachelors degree in Women’s and Gender Studies from Macalester College and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California. Jessica is honored to to be a part of Oasis’s team and is committed to increasing Oasis for Girls' capacity to provide empowerment programming for young women throughout San Francisco!

Jocyl Sacramento
Program Coordinator/RISE and Leadership Institute

A second-generation Pinay, Jocyl is the Program Coordinator for the RISE program and Leadership Institute. Deeply invested in social justice work, she joined Oasis in June 2008 and brings over 8 years of experience working in youth programming, curriculum development, and leadership skills training. Her service with the Youth and Community Outreach Program in Riverside, California, GABRIELA Network’s Women’s Youth Leadership Program in Los Angeles, and currently with Pin@y Educational Partnerships in San Francisco has provided her with the lens necessary to envision and hope for a world where young women can be critical of systems of oppression, learn to survive from their struggles, and become leaders in their communities.

Jocyl received her Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies and Sociology from the University of California, Riverside and earned her Masters degree in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University. She was recently honored as a 2008-2009 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholar.

Julia Ris
Program Coordinator/Arts and Girl 2 Girl

Julia joined Oasis for Girls as the Arts Program Coordinator in July. She is thrilled and honored to join a community of fierce women committed to a youth-led approach to young women’s empowerment. Julia is a white-identified queer artist who strives to continuously increase her abilities to act as an ally to people of color and other marginalized communities. She has a background in community organizing around racial justice and LBGT issues, political education and youth development. She is dedicated to using the arts to create social change and sustain community, and believes in the brilliance and creativity of all youth.

Julias is passionate about learning how to support the struggles of oppressed peoples throughout the world, the beach, building community, and her friends and family. Before working at Oasis, Julia taught art at Out of Site Youth Arts Center, Aim High for High School, the Prison Creative Arts Program, and interned with Californians For Justice. She has a BA in American Studies/Ethnic Studies from the University of Michigan and studied sculpture and video at the California College of the Arts. She is excited to build relationships with Oasis for Girls youth and their communities, learn from them and with them, and grow together to achieve social change.

Nedzada Handukic
Office Coordintor

Nedzada Handukic has lived in San Francisco since 1996. Originally from Bosnia and Croatia, she grew up in the Tenderloin and understands first-hand the importance of having a community for youth in San Francisco. She enjoys working within the community, and especially with youth to make sure that they have resources available to that that they need to become healthy and productive adults. A graduate of Galileo High School, Nedzada is currently a student at City College of San Francisco, with a focus of becoming a teacher one day. Nedzada feels that she has to be a positive role model for other young women, setting the example of eating healthy, being fit, staying on track and accomplishing different goals but at the same time remembering that life is beautiful and should be lived to the fullest each day.

Rebecca Brown, CFA
Development Consultant and Grantwriter

Rebecca joined Oasis for Girls in May 2007 as Development Consultant and Grantwriter and is the founder and president of RWB Writing Resources, providing writing, fundraising, and consulting services for nonprofit organizations serving disenfranchised communities. Her current or recent clients include Family Service Agency of San Francisco; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts;Young Musicians Program; Resource Development Associates (working on behalf of Clark County, Oregon); and John F. Kennedy University. Working on behalf of these clients, she has raised $5 million in the past three years, writing successful grant applications to an extensive array of leading private foundations and government agencies.

Rebecca’s life has been significantly shaped by the fact that, during her childhood, an arts-related program like Oasis for Girls offered her an extended opportunity to shape the quality and course of her own life. In her professional life now, she’s driven by her desire to support social-benefit organizations by applying the skills she’s learned through her experience in corporate communications, academia, financial management, and the performing arts. As a contract writer, grant writer, and development consultant, Rebecca devotes her professional energies to serving organizations that are making an important contribution to the quality of life and resources for under-served members of our communities.

Jah' Torri Bettis
Youth Staff

Jah' Torri Bettis was in the 2007 Leadership Institute and liked it because it was a very comfortable environment. This is not her first job, but this is her favorite job so far. Jah’Torri was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She loves working with Oasis for Girls and encourages every and any female to take a stand.

Madeleine Ing
Youth Staff

Madeleine Ing attends George Washington High School and got involved with Oasis for Girls in October 2006, when she participated in the Rise program. Maddy says that Rise boosted her confidence. She met many new girls who were both funny and enjoyable to be around and wanted to do it everyday. "Oasis has taught me many new life skills, which has helped me because, when I was a freshman, I had no clue about what was really out there. Without Oasis, I wouldn’t be who I am today." Maddy also serves on the San Francisco Department of the Status of Women's Girls Committee. She was also recently recognized as a Women Who Dare Awardee by Girls Inc. Island City in Alameda, CA.

Oasis for Girls Advisory Board of Directors

Heather Zona
Advisory Board Chair
Attorney

Heather Martinez Zona joined the Advisory Board in September 2007 and served as a member of the planning committee for the 2007 fundraiser, Moving Beyond Boundaries. Having grown up in a bicultural family, Heather is committed to empowering girls and young women to be confident in their abilities and proud of their heritage.

An attorney by training, Heather worked in large New York firms before returning to California a few years ago. Heather also owns a consulting company, Square Z Consulting LLC that provides support for economic research, and a real estate investment company, MAM River LLC.

Heather received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and her B.A. from Williams College. Previously Heather served as President of the New York Women's Bar Association and on the boards of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York, the New York Women's Bar Association Foundation, Inc. and the Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert.

Leila Jere
Advisory Board Treasurer
Director, Sales & Business Operations, Symyx Technologies, Inc.

Leila first began supporting Oasis for Girls in 2006 after learning about the organization through a co-worker, Danielle Tomkiel, who is also an Advisory Board Member. She joined the Oasis Advisory Board in 2007.
 
During the dot-com boom, Leila worked for a company located in the SOMA area and learned that beneath the superficial veneer of the night clubs, warehouse-loft conversions, trendy furniture shops and restaurants there was an actual neighborhood filled with children and young people playing the age old new immigrant role of mediating between old and new cultures on their families’ behalf. Leila was drawn to Oasis because of its’ focus on SOMA families and its mission to provide a safe space for young women in an area that can be hostile to girls and women.

Leila is the Director of Sales and Business Operations of a scientific software company and is contributing her operational expertise on the Fundraising and Organizational Committees, where she is working to improve Oasis' operational infrastructure for fundraising and development of its donor base and facilitating the development of the 2007-2010 Strategic Plan. A graduate in Political Science from Williams College, Leila also brings experience to Oasis from serving on the Executive Committee of the Williams College Society of Alumni.

With a father from Zambia and a Chinese-American mother with roots in Hawaii and the Bay Area, Leila has lived in many different parts of the world. While she considers herself fortunate for the many life experiences that this has afforded, growing up between several cultures can be difficult as well as rewarding. Along with her parents, she was helped along the way by other women, including her grandmother, teachers, and professors. She believes that joining Oasis’ in its mission to equip girls and young women with the tools to navigate life’s choices is an opportunity to give back to the people who mentored and supported her.

Carrie Chen
Advisory Board Secretary
Director of Education and Conservation, Aquarium of the Bay

Carrie Chen joined the Oasis for Girls Advisory Board in March 2005 and currently holds the role of Secretary. She brings a background in youth education to Oasis, stemming from her 10+ years involved with science education organizations around the country, and teaches the Public Speaking workshop for Oasis for Girls’ RISE program. Carrie earned her undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado and her masters’ degree in Environmental Education from CSU – Hayward, leading her to her current position as the Director of Education and Conservation at Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. In this role, Carrie coordinates the formal and informal programming that occurs for the Aquarium’s visitors, including over 10,000 local school children who visit the Aquarium each year free of admission. 

Carrie joined the Oasis for Girls Advisory Board because she desired to return to working more closely with youth in a setting that was different from science education. She has had many wonderful female role models in her life, including her grandmother, and recognizes the impact that a role model can have for a young woman.

Danielle Tomkiel
Advisory Board Member

Danielle Tomkiel has been an active volunteer at Oasis for Girls for nearly four years, serving as both a mentor and a tutor. An Advisory Board member since August 2006, she has a background in education as both a teacher and a tutor and currently teaches the Healthy Relationships Workshop for Oasis for Girls’ RISE program.

Danielle received a BS in Microbiology from the University of California – Santa Barbara and a Masters degree in Biomedical Laboratory Science from San Francisco State University. After working for several years as a Research Associate in Molecular Biology and Infectious Disease, she now works in Medical Device Sales and continues to volunteer as a mentor and Board member at Oasis for Girls.

Tracy Wood
Advisory Board Member
Marketing Director, Architectural Resources Group

Tracy Wood started volunteering with Oasis for Girls as an Executive Volunteer (Director of Marketing) in August 2006, and joined the Advisory Board in March 2007. She learned about Oasis for Girls while researching volunteer opportunities with organizations whose mission is to support young women as a way to fulfill her desire to channel energy towards mentoring young women and empowering them to find their professional and personal path. As an abandoned baby girl born in Seoul, Korea who was eventually adopted by parents in the United States, Tracy shares the experience of many of the girls at Oasis in being intimately familiar with the struggle of a discovering an identity within a cultural crossroads and translating that into strong self-esteem.

In her corporate life, Tracy is the marketing manager for a 60-person architecture office in San Francisco. She is part designer, strategist, writer, and public persona. With this background, Tracy brings writing, fundraising, and strategic marketing experience to Oasis for Girls. She is committed to broadening community awareness about Oasis for Girls and to assisting the organization through its next development phase.

Tracy graduated with a degree in Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. Her lifelong search for cultural identity inspired her to research adoption and its impacts on women related to leadership and self-esteem, and she is currently writing a book about her adoption experience. Tracy also serves on the Board of Directors of Women in Real Estate and previously served on the Board of Directors for Commercial Real Estate Women (2003) and for the Society for Marketing Professional Services (2001 – 2006).

Oasis for Girls Emeritus Advisory Board Members

Lupe C. Garcia
Advisory Board Emeritus Member
Associate General Counsel, Gap, Inc.

Lupe Cecilia Garcia is a graduate of Occidental College with a B.A. in Public Policy. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1995. Since obtaining her J.D., she has been associated with Lafayette & Kumagai, where she practiced in the areas of labor and employment and civil rights. Lupe is currently Associate General Counsel, Compliance for Gap, Inc., leading the compliance function and international labor and employment law matters. Lupe joined the Advisory Board member in 2002 and served as Advisory Board Chair during her five year term.

Nicole Lambrou
Advisory Board Emeritus Member
Owner, NL Consulting Inc.

Nicole Lambrou first became involved with Oasis in September 2004 as a volunteer seeking out a way to give back to the community of young women in San Francisco.  She also served as the Advisory Board Chair.

The vision and mission of Oasis for Girls holds a special place in Nicole’s life. The daughter of immigrant parents, Nicole struggled to find her authentic "voice" in a world of varying cultural values. The challenge of integrating into American life, while her Greek Cypriot immigrant parents fought to maintain the values of their culture, was a tremendous challenge throughout her youth. She fully understands the value of a "safe space" where girls feel comfortable sharing themselves while having the opportunity to build their own skills to be healthy, strong, and creative leaders in their community. 

Nicole’s own personal journey to inspire leadership in the world is integrated in her work with Oasis as well as in her current professional role as a Leadership and Organization Development consultant and coach. Nicole started her career as a human resources management consultant and later held various internal roles with consumer product, retail, and apparel companies, including PepsiCo, Williams-Sonoma Inc., and Levi Strauss & Co.

Today, as a consultant and coach, Nicole partners with organizations, teams, and individuals to help them realize their potential and drive growth through self awareness, understanding, and dedication. With expertise in executive coaching and leadership development, Nicole serves a client base that is diverse in size, industry, and location. She has coached across all levels of organizations, from executive level leaders through 360-degree feedback, strategic planning sessions, and cultural change efforts to building high-performance organizations and team effectiveness. Nicole has designed, developed, and delivered a broad range of initiatives including new employee integration, leadership development, competency modeling, succession planning, and retention solutions. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology from Hofstra University in New York, and is affiliated with Lominger International and Jackson Hole Group. 

Ly Nguyen
Advisory Board Emeritus Member and Oasis for Girls Co-founder
Owner, Entice Boutique

As one of the co-founders of Oasis for Girls, Ly Nguyen has been involved with Oasis for Girls since its beginning. From 1998-2003, Ly was the Program Director for Oasis and developed many of theprograms that still exist today.

A daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Ly grew up in San Francisco's Richmond District where her days were spent learning at public schools and playing at neighborhood recreation centers. Back in those days, Ly wished that there were a place like Oasis. After graduating from University of California – Santa Cruz, Ly returned to the city of San Francisco. After working at the SOMA Teen Center in 1997, she was inspired to give back to the girls of San Francisco.

In 2006, Ly re-joined Oasis as an Advisory Board member, lending her knowledge of the organization's history and founding values. Having supported Oasis through the hiring of a new executive director and program staff and the growth the Advisory Board over the course of 2006-2007, Ly now serves as an Emeritus Advisory Board member. She is a published writer who teaches creative writing in the Art Studio at University of California – Berkeley and is the new owner of enticeboutique.com, a women's online boutique for vintage and modern clothes.

Jill Pfeiffer
Advisory Board Emeritus Member and Oasis for Girls Co-founder
Development Director, Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center

Jill W. Pfeiffer co-founded Oasis for Girls with Ly Nguyen in 1998 and acted as the Organizational Director until 2003. During this time, she helped to build Oasis' infrastructure and developed its fundraising plan. Jill looks very fondly at her time at Oasis and still considers it her favorite professional position to date. "The young women of Oasis For Girls made every minute of every day worthwhile. I think of them often, with a smile on my face."

After Oasis for Girls, Jill went on to help create a branch of Excelsior Family Connections, a family resource center in San Francisco. In 2005, she (and her husband) collaborated on their best creation to date, their beautiful daughter, Aviva. With the arrival of Aviva came the difficult decision to leave the Bay Area and head back to the Midwest, where her extended family lives. She and her family relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, where Jill attended the University of Wisconsin many years before.

Jill took some time off to raise her daughter, do consultant work, and spend time creating sculptures in clay (her other passion). In September 2007, she returned to work full time as the Development Director of Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center, the site of her first job in the nonprofit sector, 12 years earlier. As the Development Director, she is again working to build the organization's capacity as it transforms into a Community Education Center serving all of Madison's West Side. The new center will be located in a brand new 12,000 square foot green building called the Lussier Community Education Center. In fact, all of the agencies Jill has worked at over the past decade will find new spaces in 2008, including Oasis for Girls!

Jill often says that she "left her heart in San Francisco" and that it will forever beat in Oasis for Girls...where it all began.

Oasis for Girls Executive Volunteers

Elizabeth Misner
Director of Special Projects/Technical Assistance
Consultant

Elizabeth Misner has served as Advisory Board of Oasis for Girls and now serves as an executive volunteer. Her background in advocating for equity in educational opportunities for girls on an international scale combined with her desire to contribute to girls’ development at the local level in her community led her to Oasis for Girls. She is committed to supporting Oasis’ work to develop a network of women mentors and role models for the young women of Oasis, and recently led the Career Development and Interview Preparation session for Oasis for Girls’ RISE program.

With a background in relationship management, communications, and project management in the public, corporate, and nonprofit sectors, Elizabeth brings varied professional experience to Oasis for Girls. She is currently a copy editor and project manager and also works with artisan groups throughout Southeast Asia to market their handcrafted jewelry and accessories.

Elizabeth earned her B.A. in Geography from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in 1998 and also completed the CIEE Program in Rural Development at Khon Kaen University in northeastern Thailand. In addition to her work with Oasis for Girls, Elizabeth serves as an advisor to ENGAGE in its efforts to translate the energy of study abroad students into cross-cultural, cooperative action, and participates as a member of the Greenbelt Alliance's Compact Development Team, which promotes transit-oriented, affordable infill development throughout the Bay Area.

Oasis for Girls Volunteers and Special Guests

Mariel Zambrano
Sara Woo
Women from Spark for Rise Networking Nite
Laura Mohaupt
Anh-Hoa Thi Nguyen and volunteers of VBN Architects
Janelle Dahlgren
Diane de pineres
Author e-fierce
Mauricio (the G2G choreographer)
Robert Mangrobang for technical assistance
Amanda Dierdorff
Vanessa Soto
Jocelyn Surla Banaria
Rachel Lande
Rebecca
Jennifer Masto from Jillian's
Carin
Sarah Campbell
Miriam Warren
Tracy Wood + colleagues
Carrie Robertson
Radhika Fox
Maylene Briones
Alice Joy Cruzat
Mariza Rocha