Our Team

TGR Foundation is a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about empowering students to thrive. We are deeply committed to every student who comes through our programs, and believe that the power of education, coupled with the right resources, will ensure lifelong success.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

COUNCIL OF ADVISORS

  • Avery Brown, Automobile Club of Southern California
  • Dennis Kuhl, Angels Baseball
  • Jason S. Mooneyham, AMD
  • Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D., California State University, Dominguez Hills
  • Sudhakar V. Shenoy, Alyx Technologies, Inc.
  • Executive Leadership

    Jin Thatcher

    Chief Operating Officer

    “Every cloud has a silver lining, find hope in every bad situation. Silver line it!” John Milton

    Michelle Bemis

    President of TGR Live

    “THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT YOUR FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT.” ABRAHAM LINCOLN

    Michelle S. Kim

    Senior Vice President, Advancement

    “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” Amelia Earhart

    Mike Antolini

    Senior Vice President, TGR Live

    “LIFE MOVES FAST. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN LEARN FROM YOUR HISTORY, YOU HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD. ” EDDIE VEDDER

    John Lee

    Senior Vice President, Programs & Education

    “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson 
  • TGR Learning Lab

    Gyla Bell

    Vice President, Programs, TGR Learning Lab

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

    Eric Moore

    Vice President, Programs

    “Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” Robert Bresson

    Holly Dennard

    Director, Professional Learning

    “Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson

    Doug Luong

    Director, Programs

    “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Confucius

    Hope Enyart

    Senior Manager, TGR Learning Lab

    “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Trinh Tran

    Senior Manager, TGR Learning Lab

    “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ” Viktor Frankl

    Orlando Medina

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “You have the power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius

    Maria Torres

    Learning Facilitator, Professional Learning

    “Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others for their sakes and for our own.” Cesar Chavez

    Shawna Snow

    Learning Facilitator, Professional Learning

    “I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude.” Brené Brown

    Man Luong

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” Joseph Campbell

    Crystal Tran

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop

    Asya Wilbon

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “Take a chance, because you never know how perfect something can turn out.” Jermaine L. Cole

    Susan Prendergast

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do.” Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

    Don Bell

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Lao Tzu

    Kristen Shiraki

    Learning Facilitator, TGR Learning Lab

    “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor Frankl

    Stefan Amzaroiu

    Facilities Manager

    “If you’re searching for that one person that will change your life, take a look in the mirror.” Roman Price

    Carmen Gonzalez

    Manager, Administrative

    “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky

    Noemi Franco

    Receptionist

    “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the COURAGE TO CONTINUE that counts.” WINSTON CHURCHCHILL

    Christine Perez

    Coordinator, Golf and Recreation

    “Having fun is the best way to learn." ” Albert Einstein

    Ashley Cortez

    Volunteer Coordinator

    “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” A.A. Milne

    Kevin Tran

    Academic & Front Desk Support

    “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Mahatma Gandhi

    Gabriela Ruiz

    Academic & Front Desk Support

    “Live with no excuses and love with no regrets. Laugh a lot and leave this life with nothing left unsaid.” Dan Dean

    Ethan Chen

    Academic & Front Desk Support

    “The secret to happiness is freedom... And the secret to freedom is courage.” Thucydides

    Andrick Sauno

    Academic & Front Desk Support

    “You’re suffering from self-doubt while others are intimidated by your full potential. If you’re past self could see where you’re at today think about how impressed they would be.” Anonymous

    Alexis Medina

    Receptionist

    “As long as you live keep smiling because it brightens everybody’s day.” Vin Scully
  • Earl Woods Scholar Program

    Cristina Fernández

    Vice President, Programs

    “In one soul, in your soul, there are resources for the world.” Emerson

    Alma Gutierrez

    Director, Programs

    “The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters.” Audrey Hepburn 

    Juan Carlos Villanueva

    Manager, Programs

    “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” Kobe Bryant

    Jess Salgado

    Manager, Career Development and Alumni Relations

    “Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of your life.” Unknown Author

    Andres Cuamani

    Program Coordinator

    “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” Gabriel García Márquez

    Kaitlyn Diaz

    Program Coordinator

    “The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.” Nelson Mandela

    Izabel Magaña

    Administrative Assistant

    “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” Mother Teresa
  • Finance & Administration

    Joe Hsu

    Senior Director, IT

    “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” Oscar Wilde

    Mike Stevens

    Senior Director, Financial Analyst

    “It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” John Wooden

    Yvonne Tello

    Director, Human Resources

    “It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up.” Vince Lombardi

    Logan Lamson

    Director, Executive Assistant

    “As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him...we need not wait to see what others do.” Mahatma Gandhi

    Vanessa Topete

    Business Administration Coordinator

    “The problems we face today eventually turn into blessings in the rearview mirror of life. In time, yesterday’s red light leads us to a greenlight.” Matthew McConaughey

    Norma Partida

    Administrative Assistant

    “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” Maya Angelou

    Brandon Medina

    IT Support Specialist

    “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” Tommy Lasorda

    Andrew Katnic

    Operations Manager

    “Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.” Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
  • Advancement

    Elizabeth Hopkins

    Director, Advancement Relations

    “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

    Katie Vazquez

    Advancement Manager

    “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
  • Marketing

    Dan Scali

    Senior Director, Marketing

    ““PAY IT FORWARD.” ” WOODY HAYES

    Dana Mariotti

    Director, Marketing

    “Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.” Brené Brown

    Amber Fuller

    Art Director

    “Design is so simple, that's why it's so complicated.” Paul Rand

    Jasmine C. Tate

    Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications

    “Work hard, pray hard and when the door opens walk through it.” Dr. John E. Forde

    Duy Mai

    Graphic Designer

    “I found that I could say things with color and shapes, that I couldn't say in any other way—things that I had no words for.” Georgia O'Keeffe

    Madeline Moreen

    Digital Marketing Coordinator

    “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.” Amelia Earhart

    Roget Geoffroy

    Website Developer

    “If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?” George Carlin

2021 Values