Staff

Sylvia Alfonso, Finance and Administration Assistant
sylviaa-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200 ext. 116
Sylvia brings over 25 years of experience in accounting and management to Team-Up for Youth. For fifteen years, she served as Finance Officer of the Philippine Consulates General in Vancouver, B.C.,Canada and San Francisco. As a member of the Philippine Foreign Service team, she assisted in developing programs that promote and protect the rights and welfare of Filipino immigrants. Prior to joining Team-Up for Youth she served as a Controller at ACG Global, LLC.

Ed Center, Director of Programs
edc-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 111
In his 6 years at Team-Up for Youth, Ed Center has worked passionately to help low-income communities develop great sports programs and great sports coaches.  In the process, he has developed best practices for sports programs to use that help kids have fun, get fit and learn life lessons.  Ed has helped Team-Up for Youth grow from its San Francisco Bay focus into an intermediary leading the field of community-based youth sports.  Ed started his career when he began coaching soccer as a teenager. More recently, he taught at Balboa High School in San Francisco for five years and then moved to the Community Network for Youth Development where he honed his experience in training and technical assistance. Ed is an active soccer player and distance runner, and his favorite hours of the week are spent in San Francisco's Glen Park coaching the Mighty Wildcats, a twelve year old girls' soccer team.

Chris Fajardo, Training and Coaching Corps Specialist
chrisf-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 107
Chris comes to Team-Up for Youth with a unique background in education and coaching. Chris built a foundation in education through 5 years of teaching marine mammal conservation, physiology and science. Chris coached youth soccer for 8 years at Kidz Love Soccer and helped manage and expand club soccer at UC Santa Cruz before graduating. When he is not chasing his dog Koa, Chris chases down opponents on the soccer field.

Gladys Garcia, Development Coordinator
gladysg-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 122
Gladys comes to Team-Up for Youth with a strong background in communications and social services. During the last several years Gladys worked in the family support, sexual assault victim, and job search/retention arenas of social services. Prior, she worked in public relations with a focus on local and national media outreach. Having recently moved to the Bay Area, she plans on riding her bike to work and learning to kayak.

Victoria Gevlin, Manager of Special Projects
victoriag-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 101
Victoria comes to Team-Up for Youth with a strong background in research and grants administration. Most recently, she worked for an Oakland-based school reform group where she coordinated a $14 million school grants program. While working toward her Bachelor's degree at Stanford University, she co-directed Women and Youth Supporting Each Other (WYSE), a mentoring program for middle school girls in East Palo Alto. Since joining Team-Up for Youth, Victoria has found that it's increasingly difficult to find excuses to skip her Pilates class.

Susan Kleinman Wallis, Program Director
susankw-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 112
Susan joined Team-Up for Youth in 2006 after five years coordinating The San Francisco Foundation's Koshland Program, where she worked with neighborhood leaders to promote civic unity. With a Master's Degree in Social Welfare, she has also been a child welfare worker in Marin County and San Francisco.

Lynne Lee, Associate Director
lynnel-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 107
Lynne came to Team-Up for Youth with extensive experience in advertising and communications. She is an expert at social norm change, public education strategy and advertising development. Previously, Lynne served as Senior Vice President at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, where she created the "Coaching Boys into Men" campaign. Before that, Lynne worked at Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising and developed public service campaigns for the Ad Council in New York. Lynne enjoys cycling with her husband and two daughters, Sophie and Naomi.

Ngoc Ly, Butler Koshland Fellow
ngocl-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 110
Ngoc comes to Team-Up for Youth with over four years of experience in project management serving the nonprofit sector.  As the Community Relations Coordinator for McKesson Corp and the McKesson Foundation she was responsible for organizing, managing and implementing volunteer programs for over 500 employees at corporate headquarters in San Francisco, CA.  Ngoc attended San Jose State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science.  She is a die hard SF Giants fan, enjoys camping, hiking and fishing.

Annie McShane, Coaching Corps Manager
anniem-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 114
Annie comes to Team-Up for Youth with a diverse background in, and strong commitment to, youth development. After teaching junior high school history for several years, Annie began working with young people outside of the classroom in the non-profit sector. She was able to sharpen her theoretical skills working in the Youth Development Initiative in San Mateo County and more recently, put those skills into practice at the Boys & Girls Club in Daly City. Annie is an avid camper and with the help of her 25-pound mutt has mastered outdoor activities ranging from hiking to Frisbee.

Aliza Parpia, Coaching Corps Regional Coordinator
alizap-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 109
Aliza comes to Team-Up for Youth with extensive coaching and coach mentoring. In her time at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco's Youth Athletics Department and the San Francisco Police Activities League she developed a strong passion for getting kids as active as possible in a structured and nurturing environment. A Seattle native, she loves the Seahawks, hiking and running. She is an enthusiastic ultimate frisbee player and soccer coach.

Monica Santos, Coaching Corps Director
monicas-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 118
Monica brings 10 years of prior youth development experience to her role at Team-Up for Youth. Through UC Berkeley, she conducted outreach presentations in underserved communities about success in higher education. She has also run an after-school tutoring program and a school-based mentoring program. Recently she earned a Masters in Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco. In her spare time, Monica plays tennis, flag football and softball.

Suzanne Sillett, Training and Girls Sports Manager 
suzannes-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 104
With 15 years experience in the youth development field, Suzanne joined Team-Up for Youth from Community Bridges Beacon where she coordinated after-school sports and health and wellness programs. She is an avid soccer coach and is currently leading the girls' squad at Berkeley High School and another youth club team. Suzanne earned a Masters in Recreation from San Francisco State where her thesis focused on girls' participation in sports. Besides her passion for soccer, she also enjoys trail running and backpacking.

Lisa Wanzor, Director of Finance and Administration
lisaw-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510-663-9200, ext. 103
Lisa has worked in non-profit organizations for over 20 years. Prior to joining Team-Up for Youth, Lisa was the Associate Director at Breast Cancer Action for eight years. Before that, she coordinated the employment programs at Chinese for Affirmative Action. She has also done community organizing with low-income youth and diverse communities. A native of New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton University, basketball is her favorite sport. She also enjoys hiking and swimming with her ten-year-old daughter Shaniya and her partner Sarah.

Cory Wechsler, Education and Training Director
coryw-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 113
Cory worked for six years with Sports4Kids to bring sports and youth development workshops to Bay Area schools and neighborhoods. Previously, she was involved in violence prevention work at Destiny Arts Center. Cory is also a certified self-defense instructor and has a black belt in Kajukenbo Kung-fu. She holds a Masters degree in education with an emphasis on school-based and community restorative justice.

Jen Weiss, Director of Resource Development
jenw-at-teamupforyouth.org; 510/663-9200, ext. 125
Jen Weiss, Ph.D. is the founder and former director of Urban Word NYC, co-author of Brave New Voices: Guide to Teaching Spoken Word Poetry (Heinemann, 2001) and Theory and Educational Research: Toward Critical Social Explanation (Routledge, 2008). She received her doctorate in 2008 from the Urban Education Doctoral program at the City University of New York. Her graduate research was on the topic of high school surveillance policies and is the author of forthcoming publications on the topic, including how youth poetry and spoken word serves as a vehicle of resistance for urban teens. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in writing, journalism, and education, and, spends any free time she has enjoying yoga and hiking outdoors with her family.