For over 25 years, I have supported students and families in the non-profit sector. A large majority of that time has been assisting people with disabilities. My personal goal for being in this field is to give people the opportunity to have a variety of different experiences, thereby giving them the ability to make an informed decision on their choices in life. I am honored to be part of the Ala Costa family. The children’s smiles along with the teachers’ caring attitude are what drew me to the organization; those are, by far, the best things about Ala Costa Centers.
In 2005, I had the distinct honor and privilege of serving as Head Teacher at the Oakland Ala Costa site for 2 years before heading off to Italy for one year to study Italian at Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci.
I’m thrilled to be back as the Program Director and ready for the gratifying challenge of ensuring Oakland Ala Costa is operating to the fullest potential of the program. Being an Oakland native gives me extra incentive to see the Oakland Ala Costa site succeed. I am delighted to be here to serve the students, parents, and faculty.
After 20 years in the corporate sector, I followed my heart and made the leap to non-profit world. For the last 5 years I have worked in development. The best part about working at Ala Costa Center is being part of a huge extended family. Everyone really cares about the children and families we serve. Ala Costa Center is about possibilities.
For the past 12 years I have worked as a School Administrator that served students with moderate to severe disabilities on the autism spectrum. Ala Costa Center’s strategic plan was an important match with my own philosophy to programming excellence and child development. The Center’s continual work in creating a program that fosters the individual growth of each child appealed to my interests as an administrator, educator and teacher. Most importantly, after working with your children, during my short tenure, has renewed my sense of service, commitment and humor.
My prior experiences include working with a diverse student population in higher education, non-profit and private programs. I have earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Western Washington University, Masters of Science Degree in Counseling from the University of Oregon and completion of doctoral course work in Educational Leadership at Seattle University.
Hi, I’ve been working at Ala Costa Centers for over 15 years, I started as a receptionist and now I’m the Program Administrator. I feel very happy working with all the students at Ala Costa. In the beginning, it was hard because I didn’t have the experience of working with students with developmental disabilities; it was a challenge. Now, I love working with all of our kids. I hope someday we will have a center for students over 23, so we will continue working for them.
I have worked at Ala Costa for over 2 years. I became the Recreation Supervisor this last winter after working as a teacher's aid in the Voyager's classroom at the Berkeley Site. Before coming to Ala Costa I worked with Oakland Unified School District in the Community Immersion Program teaching independent living skills. It was through my work in the community program that I came to see a real need to take the kinds of life skills we were teaching and extend them to the weekends; a time when most of our students had nothing to do. Ala Costa Centers' Recreation Programs offer opportunities for students to grow as individuals, make choices, gain self-confidence, and independence in a natural and appropriate environment.
I'm enthusiastic about Ala Costa's weekend programs and look forward to helping them grow in purpose and scope.
Ala Costa Board of Directors
Noeta Hester ~ Board President
Sharon O'Neil ~ Secretary
Sue Barnes ~ Booard Member
Ellen Cremin ~ Board Member
Ron Wislon ~ Board Member
Ala Costa Centers is governed by 5 volunteer Board of Directors, our workk is a an organized and strategic effort to ensure maximum quality and quantityof agency's services. The Board members are fiscally responsible for the agency, acting as trustees to ourfunding sources.
