#TeamCM: Leadership

Lisa Miller | Co-Director

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Lisa was a popular and rigorous English and French teacher for six years at Berkeley High School. She received her BA in French Literature, with a minor in English, from the University of California at San Diego and spent her junior year in France studying at the Sorbonne. She is very interested in French language and culture and loves to travel. Additionally, Lisa spent several years working for an SAT preparation program and is well versed in test-taking techniques.

Since 2000, Lisa has played a major role in developing Classroom Matters’ philosophy and holistic approach to tutoring and mentoring. She designs study skills curriculum for Classroom Matters, travels to Bay Area schools offering workshops and trainings, and regularly appears as a guest speaker at educational events. Currently, as Director of Classroom Matters, Lisa draws on her experience as an educator and trainer to create an environment where every student can discover his or her own love of learning, both in and out of the classroom. In addition to training tutors at Classroom Matters, she has worked as a new teacher coach and mentor for Oakland Unified School District. In 2012, Lisa established AccessEd Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to close the access gap for academic support services.

Tatiana guerreiro Ramos | Co-Director

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As Co-Director of Classroom Matters, Tatiana works alongside Lisa Miller as an educational advocate and consultant. She also works with Bay Area schools to offer customized professional development to teachers and administrators to help them better support all students, especially those with learning differences. Tatiana also works closely with families to help them access supports and services for their students at school through the 504 plan and IEP processes. Since 2012, Tatiana has worked with Lisa to develop Classroom Matters’ executive function curriculum and to grow the parent-focused side of the business, which provides coaching and consulting to families navigating learning differences. Additionally, Tatiana regularly appears as a guest speaker at educational events as an educator with deep expertise in ADHD and how it shows up at home and at school. Her personal experience with ADHD informs Tatiana’s honest and compassionate approach to student and parent coaching. A polyglot (English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish) and a three-time National Memory Champion (the only woman to win the US Memoriad in its 25-year history), Tatiana enjoys crosswords, the New York Times Bee, keeping up with the news from her home country of Brazil, writing, and, most of all, spending time with her family.

Molly Gerstein Gales | Founder/Consultant

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Molly is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with a private psychotherapy practice in a lovely office on Regent street in Berkeley that focuses on teens, parents, families and young adults. Molly founded Classroom Matters in 1998 at the request of a parent. In addition to her MAed in English education, an extensive background in teaching, advocacy work and coaching, Molly also has an MA in psychology and counseling. Her therapeutic approach is integrative and unique. She draws upon her years of experience developing and working at Classroom Matters, where she helped teens harness their capabilities, navigate their way through a maze of academic stress, social anxiety and manage family communication challenges. Molly combines her years of experience with clinical psychotherapy skills to help teens find tools that help them become productive, even when they feel lost. Molly helps her clients focus on what might be getting in the way. Social life and family dynamics loom large; all parts of their lives need tending to. Therapy is a collaboration, where her clients find ways to help themselves and also find some harmony at home, even during turbulent times. Find out more: www.authentictherapy.net.