Our Team / Nuestro Equipo

School Faculty and Staff

Michelle Jasso, School Director
Michelle Jasso is an experienced public school educator with proven success in the classroom and as a leader. She began her career in education as a Teach for America corps member in the Baltimore City Public Schools System. Ms. Jasso earned her B.S. in Economics at Santa Clara University and her Masters in Education at Johns Hopkins University. She has also taught at two charter schools in Los Angeles, as a fourth grade teacher at View Park Preparatory Accelerated Charter School and as the founding English teacher KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory Charter School. During her year as KIPP L.A. Prep’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction, her intense focus on improving instruction led to a dramatic increase in the school’s test scores, from an API of 720 to 824 in a single year. Ms. Jasso has trained new teachers through the Los Angeles Teaching Fellows program and coached school leaders as part of the California Charter School Association’s California Charter Quality Institute. Most recently, she completed a year-long Fellowship with Building Excellent Schools, a national school leadership and charter development training program.

School Board Members

Jorge Cham, Academic Assessment Committee Chair
Founder and Director, Piled Higher and Deeper
Dr. Jorge Cham is the creator and artist of Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD) Comics, a comic strip that has appeared in the Stanford Daily for the last eight years, along with numerous other university publications and journals. In addition, Dr. Cham has published four compilations of his work, given more than a hundred guest lectures at universities worldwide, and receives over five million unique visitors to his website each year. Prior to committing full-time to PhD Comics, Dr. Cham was a full-time instructor and researcher at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Cham earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and his Masters and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Drew Furedi, Chair
Executive Director, Loyola Marymount University Family of Schools
Drew Furedi is the Executive Director of Loyola Marymount University’s Family of Schools. Dr. Furedi is working with LAUSD and other Westchester community stakeholders to create and implement a plan to improve student life and learning and lead to increased attendance and graduation rates for Westchester schools. Prior to joining LMU, Dr. Furedi served with several government and non-profit groups, first as a Teach For America corps member and most recently as a strategic partner with The New Teacher Project. In his work with TNTP, Dr. Furedi managed the recruitment, selection, training, and placement of teachers for hard-to-staff urban and rural schools. Dr. Furedi earned his B.A. in Political Science at UC Santa Barbara and his Masters in Public Administration from USC.

Isela Gracian, Secretary
Director of Community Organizing, East L.A. Community Corporation (ELACC)
Isela Gracian leads strategic planning for the department and oversees program implementation, researches trends and the impact of development in the community, and builds relationships with community members, community-based organizations, agencies, and local decision makers. Ms. Gracian also oversees the budget, prepares monthly financial reports, writes grants, and has secured over $500,000 in foundation funds. She has also served on the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council and was a California Women’s Foundation Women’s Policy Institute Fellow. Ms. Gracian earned a dual B.A. from the University of California at Davis in Chicano/a Studies and History.

Roberto Lara, Governance Committee Chair
Partner and co-founder, Davis & Lara LLP
Roberto Lara is a partner and co-founder of Davis & Lara LLP. He specializes in civil litigation and represents clients throughout California in both state and federal courts. In addition to an active trial schedule including significant pro bono work, Mr. Lara has served on the boards of several non-profits in LA. Before earning his law degree, Mr. Lara taught first grade in LAUSD as a Teach For America corps member. Mr. Lara earned his B.A. in International Relations with an emphasis in economics and trade from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.Roberto specializes in civil litigation and represents clients throughout California in both state and federal courts. In addition to an active trial schedule including significant pro bono work, Mr. Lara has served on the boards of several non-profits in LA. Before earning his law degree, Mr. Lara taught first grade in LAUSD as a Teach For America corps member. Mr. Lara earned his B.A. in International Relations with an emphasis in economics and trade from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Leticia Ochoa, Facilities Committee Chair
Associate and Senior Project Manager, Osborn Architects
Leticia Ochoa is an architect who has worked with school districts, private schools, and charter schools in the funding, planning, design, and construction of facilities. She has also earned a California Charter School Association and Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety certificate for completion of classes with an emphasis on charter schools. In addition to her professional responsibilities, she participates regularly in Career Day events for school-aged children and mentors high school seniors preparing for the transition to college. Ms. Ochoa earned her Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic University Pomona.

Christine Simmons, Vice-Chair
Vice-President of Strategic Alliances, Magic Johnson Enterprises
Christine Simmons is Vice President of Strategic Alliances for Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE). Prior to joining MJE, Christine was a Manager of Supplier Diversity and Sustainability for The Walt Disney Company. Christine also served as the Director of Marketing & Programs for the Southern California Minority Business Development Council and managed projects for United Technologies Corporation for the Global and Latin America Supplier Diversity Managers. Christine holds a seat on the board of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce and the UCLA Black Alumni Association. She is a member of the National Association of Female Executives and a Founding Board member of Endeavor College Prep Charter School. Simmons was recently named one of the Top 25 Women of Power Impacting Diversity by DiversityPlus magazine and named to the Who’s Who in Black Los Angeles. Simmons received her Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA.

Robert Wasserman, Board Member
Senior Vice President of Historic and New Markets Tax Credit Investments, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation
Robert Wasserman began his career acquiring, closing, and syndicating historic and low-income housing tax credit transactions for national tax credit syndicators. His experience includes originating, underwriting and structuring financial transactions, negotiating legal documents, investing equity into NMTC, LIHTC and HTC deals, development and mezzanine financing, underwriting tax-exempt debt, and asset managing the investments. Robert is also the President of Empower Now, a notfor- profit dedicated to promoting computer literacy in education centers for residents of affordable housing communities in Los Angeles. He holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and an M.B.A. from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA.