Our Team
Dr. Irina S. Okhremtchouk
Dr. Irina S. Okhremtchouk is an Associate Professor of Educational Administration in Equity, Leadership Studies, and Instructional Technologies (ELSIT) Department at SFSU’s Graduate College of Education. Her expertise is in the area of school organization and policy, and school finance with a focus on language different/emergent bilingual students and marginalized populations. Dr. Okhremtchouk directs research projects and oversees ReRighting Education team.
(415) 338-3462
Jenny Levine-Smith
Jenny Levine-Smith is an MA Candidate in Equity and Social Justice in Education at San Francisco State University. She received her BA in Human Development and Education from Brown University in 2001 and her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Sonoma State in 2005. Her research as well as her work in the community and in schools focuses on working alongside marginalized and minoritized students and families to disrupt the systems of dispossession impacting them. Specifically, she studies the Discourse surrounding students of color, and in particular Latinx and bilingual students, through a Critical Race Theory and LatCRT lens, and the power of Discourse to both produce and perpetuate inequitable outcomes and to disrupt and transform them.
(415) 338-3462
Cassandra Lane
Cassandra Lane is an MA Candidate in Educational Administration at San Francisco State University. She received her BA in Economics from Boston University in 2010 and her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from UC Davis in 2011. She worked as a third-grade teacher in Connecticut before moving home to the Bay Area. She currently teaches fifth grade in San Rafael, California and is interested in the ways educational policies affect individuals, supporting or hindering equitable outcomes for learners.
Jimmy Merino-Cruz
Jimmy Merino-Cruz is an MA Candidate in Equity and Social Justice in Education at San Francisco State University. He received his Bachelor of Arts in American Ethnic Studies with a minor in Education, Learning and Societies at the University of Washington in Seattle. Jimmy’s upbringing of being raised in the rough socioeconomic conditions of Tacoma Washington has led him to find his passion in education. His current research interest in is Social Justice/Critical Pedagogy and the effects that it has on the development of academic and social identities of low-income and marginalized youth. He hopes to one day, return to his community and push for systematic and policy changes that will level the playing field for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds.
(415) 338-3462
Jalen Sharp, M.S.
Jalen Sharp, M.S., is an MA Candidate in Equity and Social Justice in Education at San Francisco State University. She received her B.S. in Biology from Saint Mary of-the-Woods College and an M.S. in Global Health from the University of Notre Dame. While gaining her M.S., Jalen took keen interest in the United Nations fourth Global Goal for Sustainable Development: Quality Education. It was after learning the integral role quality education played in the overall health of the individual that Jalen decided to pursue studies in social justice and education equity. Jalen’s current research interests include teacher education, curriculum reform based on a critical pedagogy with a social justice lens. She hopes to become an education policy researcher and professor in the field of teacher education.
(415) 338-3462
Aisha Davis
Aisha Davis is a video journalist with an interest in reporting about health and education issues impacting communities of color. She is a filmmaker and aspiring educator. Aisha currently attends SFSU pursuing her Masters degree in Social Justice & Equity in Education. Her thesis work is on Afro-futuristic media impacting the learning and behavior of Black students.
Benjamin Hernandez
Benjamin Hernandez is an MA Candidate in Educational Administration in the ELSIT Department at San Francisco State University.
Cassie Jones
Cassie Jones is an MA Candidate in Educational Administration in the ELSIT Department at San Francisco State University.