Gabriel Clark

Chairman

Gabriel has worked on reforestation efforts in South Africa and Australia, helped build a free medical clinic and school for poor villagers of rural India, volunteered his time as a naturopathic medical practitioner in Mexico, and created a higher education scholarship fund for an orphanage in India. He now is community director/liaison for the Romero Institute and the Lakota People’s Law Project, and also directs the Santa Madre Center in Santa Cruz, where youth come for camping, horseback riding, and organic farming.

Kermit Cuff

Vice Chair

Kermit is a transit planning supervisor and former Employee of the Year for the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). He is also an ultramarathon runner and a team captain for the 500 Mile American Indian Spiritual Marathon team. Many Sunrise students have participated in the team training runs, and he is passionate about helping the students believe in themselves and search for greatness. His greatest satisfaction comes from being a mentor to young people.Kermit was recently honored for his nomination for a youth service award from Project Cornerstone./p>

Marilyn Pimentel

Secretary

Marilyn is an energy healer, massage therapist and artist. She is a product of alternative education. She likes to help youth and volunteers as a part-time art instructor at Sunrise Middle.

Deisy Flores

Board Member

Ms. Flores is the Parent Representative of the Sunrise School Board. She is a graduate of San Jose High School and received education and training at San Jose City College for Early Childhood Education. Unfortunately, she never received her diploma due to her previous status, but she has pushed her children to take advantage of any opportunities that come their way. She says, “I want my children to have everything I couldn’t have as an immigrant child and student growing up. I want them to push themselves to their fullest potential because I know they will be super successful in their lives.” Her eldest daughter, Liliana, now attends San Jose State University with a full scholarship and is on track to graduate with a Bachelors in Communication Studies and a minor in Business. Ivan Vital, a previous student of Sunrise Middle School, was promoted with a Valedictorian title to San Jose High. Elias Vital is an honor student in 8th grade at Sunrise. Ms. Flores previously worked for a daycare center but has since taken the opportunity to work at a dental office. While holding this job, she cherishes her role as a mother, wife, and daughter.

Lex Lauron

Treasurer

Lex became aware of the importance of providing alternatives to youth when he was not “fitting inside the box” and succeeding in high school. He found success at Pegasus High School and now is an artist and musician. He is passionate about finding new educational alternatives for youth.

Advisory Board

John Matthew Sobrato

John Matthew Sobrato part of the fourth generation of Sobrato family members living and working within the Silicon Valley. He is currently focused on the non-profit sector, serving as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the SEAL Organization, and also serving as Vice Chair for Sobrato Philanthropies. Prior to his focus on non-profit work, he worked for six years at the Latino College Preparatory Academy, which serves the community in east San Jose, as a classroom teacher. He then spent several more years working as an administrator for the Foundation for Hispanic Education as the Director of Assessment and Learning, helping teachers to see the connections between data and implications for teaching practice. John is a 2010 graduate of Santa Clara University, earning a double major in both History and Political Science. He is deeply committed to advancing equity and closing the opportunity gap, in particular, for students of color.

Dr. David Johnson

David Johnson is a social psychologist who holds a Ph.D. from Stanford. His research had to do with how girls and members of minority groups are affected in their academic performance by adverse factors not under their control. He served as chief of staff to Congressman Mervyn M. Dymally (D-CA) for six years and worked on public policy in science and education. During his time on Capitol Hill, he was responsible for developing the legislation that paid reparations to Japanese Americans and Aleutian Islanders for their time in concentration camps during World War II, for revisions to the Higher Education Act that defined minority-serving institutions in a way that provided funds to colleges in the West and Southwest serving large number of Latino students, and for working with other legislative aides to allow previously classified satellite photos to be made available to the public, a change that eventually led to public access to satellite imagery. He went on to direct for 14 years a nonprofit called the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences which represented the public policy interests of 20 scientific societies and 150 graduate departments of psychology, cognitive science and education. While director, he was one of a group of scientists and educators asked by President Clinton and Vice President Gore to develop their administration’s policy on the use of scientific research to enhance economic development. He returned to the Bay Area in 2003 to become development director for science initiatives at National Hispanic University. While there, he founded and chaired the Department of Mathematics, Science and Computer Science. In retirement, he writes grants for several nonprofit organizations including Sunrise. He also manages Sunrise’s academic performance assessment called Measures of Academic Progress.