Monique Colón, Board Chair
Monique joined the Mission Kids board as the Admissions Chair in August 2023, after serving on the Admissions team for 2 years, and was recently elected to serve as Board Chair for the current school year. Professionally, Monique is the Contracts Manager for the City and County of San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing where she oversees a contracts portfolio with over 60 different non-profit organizations and an annual budget totaling over $500 million. She graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of California Santa Cruz and a Master in Public Administration from Golden Gate University. Monique and her husband are the proud parents of two children, one current Mission Kid and one alumnus.
Christina Maluenda, Co President
Christina Maluenda (she/her) is one of the founding Co-Director/Teachers of Mission Kids and has been working in early childhood education for over 25 years. She was the Founder and Director of Imagine Preschool, which merged with Mission Kids to become a licensed child care facility in 2009.
Prior to her time at Imagine, Christina served as the Director of Partners in Autism Treatment, a non-profit agency serving young children on the autism spectrum. As Director, she focused on integrating children with autism into preschool settings. Christina has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Neuroscience from Duke University and a Master of Science in Child Development from University of California Davis. Christina is a Spanish bilingual educator, a certified CLASS observer and a trained member of San Francisco’s NERT program. Christina also holds a Child Development Program Director Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She has served on the Mission Kids board since 2011 and is the mother of two Mission Kids alumni.
Heather Lubeck, Co President
Heather Lubeck (she/her) has worked at Mission Kids as a founding Co-
Director/Teacher since the school was licensed in 2009. She has over 25 years of teaching, research, and administrative experience in a variety of educational settings and with students from a wide diversity of backgrounds.
Before working at Mission Kids, she worked for 4 years as an elementary reading specialist with the Georgia State University Department of Psychology and taught elementary special education in a public school district in the Atlanta area. In 2001, she received the Atlanta Journal & Constitution’s annual award for teaching excellence in the state of Georgia. She holds a Masters in Special Education from Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Science in Educational Psychology from the University of Georgia. Heather holds a Child Development Program Director Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She is the proud mom of three Mission Kids alumni.
Emily Villaseñor Woodard, Vice President
Emily is a Clinical Lab Scientist at SF General Hospital. An avid backpacker and camper, Emily grew up in both Mexico and the SF Bay Area. She has a B.S. from UC Santa Cruz and is a parent to two current Mission Kids.
Ryland Hale, Treasurer
Ryland Hale is the proud parent of one current Mission Kid and one future Mission Kid. Originally from LA, Ryland studied music at UC Santa Cruz, spent a few years in New York, and now lives in the Mission District. Professionally, Ryland is a product manager with extensive experience in the music and entertainment industries, focusing on global legal compliance and product development. He co-founded a music licensing and royalty processing company, which was sold to Spotify where he then worked for six years. Ryland frequently volunteers to clean the city of San Francisco and loves exploring the Mission and its playgrounds with his children and wife.
Tracy Avila, Secretary
Tracy serves as the Secretary for the Mission Kids Board of Directors. In her professional career, she has over 21 years of federal and private sector experience ranging from Health Communications to Public Health and Disaster Response assistance. She also serves as a Public Health Consultant for a boutique consulting firm. She holds a Bachelors in Communications, and a Masters in Public Health and Social Work. She moved to San Francisco from the Washington, DC region over 9 years ago and has since made the Bay Area home. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her family, reading, and going to the spa. She is the proud parent of two Mission Kids alumni and one current Mission Kids student.
Naima Ahmad
Naima Ahmad is a product designer with a broad background including nonprofit and community-management roles that emphasized inclusion and thoughtful call to action design. A Bay Area native, Naima studied Business Management at San Francisco State University, and recently completed a UX Design certification program in 2024. She was previously part of a bodybuilding community and actually competed! She is a proud parent of a current Mission Kid.
Sandra Cabrera-Galván
Sandra Cabrera-Galván is a dedicated high school teacher with over 10 years of experience in education. She currently teaches health and wellness at Gateway High School—an especially meaningful role, as she is also an alumna of the school. Sandra has previously worked with incarcerated parents and students through Five Keys and Community Works West, offering support and education to some of the most system-impacted individuals and families. A proud daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college graduate, Sandra holds a Master of Education. She was born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District and is the proud parent of a current Mission Kid.
Bianca Gonzalez, Family Engagement Chair
Bianca Gonzalez joined the board of Mission Kinds in 2023, serving as the Family Engagement Chair. She was born and raised in San Francisco and is proud to be raising her four kids, including one Mission Kids alumnus and two current Mission Kids, in the Mission District. An active community volunteer, Bianca is also involved with San Francisco’s Carnaval celebration, as well as serving on the Advisory Committees for both the SF Police Department and the San Francisco District Attorney’s office. Bianca loves spending time with her family and connecting with her community.
Angela Lathrop
Angela currently works in Guest Relations for the Giants and the Warriors, which keeps things fun and exciting! Using her degree in Child Development, she ran a daycare and preschool for seventeen years. She was born and raised in San Francisco and never left! In her past life, she was a Local 104 sheet metal worker, and at home, she’s got a lively pack of seven dogs that keep her on her toes. She is also a proud grandma to four wonderful grandkids—one of whom is a current Mission Kid.
Lucy Nagle, Admissions Chair
Lucy is a 3rd generation San Franciscan. She attended NYU where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in history and has worked in various jobs ranging from retail to a mosaic tile studio. Currently, she is enjoying being a parent full time to one Mission Kid alumna and one future Mission Kid. Lucy and her family enjoy cooking, going on local adventures, and making up stories together.
Ruth Reynaga-Sengo – Staff Engagement Chair
Ruth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion/Apparel Design from the Academy of Art University and has 15 years of experience in the restaurant industry here in San Francisco. She joined the Mission Kids Board in 2022 and has since contributed to new landscaping designs to enhance the school’s environment, as well as implemented a monthly staff appreciation event to strengthen the school community. Ruth is the proud parent of one Mission Kids alumna and one current Mission Kid.
Adneisha White-Gunabalasingam
Adneisha is currently a stay-at-home mother. Previously, she worked as an early childhood educator with infants and toddlers for Bright Horizons and Kindercare for approximately 10 years. She has also worked in fashion allocations at the corporate level and as a member of the inbound team for a non-profit that paired international students with U.S. families to allow them to attend school in the U.S. In graduate school ,she was secretary of the Black Student Union and created and hosted a radio show on the Academy of Art University’s nationwide radio channel. She has a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development, with a minor in psychology from CSUN as well as an M.A. in Fashion Journalism, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship from the Academy of Art University. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she has lived in San Francisco for nine years. Adneisha is the parent of one Mission Kid alumna and one current student.