New Faces

Veronica Alexander

Director of External Relations

Prior to her role as Director of External Relations, Veronica Alexander served as Director of Development and Founding Director of Financial Aid at UC Irvine School of Law and the UCLA School of Law, respectively. Veronica developed and grew external fundraising and donor relations from the ground up for Irvine, the youngest public law school in California. Veronica holds a BA in Social Ecology from UC Irvine and just completed an MA in Criminology, Law and Society. In her spare time, she enjoys live theater and going to concerts with her husband, Cedric.

Cassandra Castillo

Student Services Advisor

Cassandra Castillo comes to the School of Social Welfare from Campus Shared Services, where she worked as an HR Generalist. A Berkeley Social Welfare alumna, she is excited to return to Haviland. She provides academic support to prospective graduate applicants and manages course scheduling, as well as ASE/ GSR appointments and award entry. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, taking Buzzfeed quizzes (because who doesn’t want to know what flavor potato chip they are?), puns, and long romantic walks to the fridge.

Rebecca Dorman

Integrated Behavioral Health Project Manager

Rebecca Dorman manages day-to-day activities for all Integrated Behavioral Health projects, including the MHSA Stipend Program, the San Francisco Bay Area Integrated Behavioral Health MSW Training Program, the Northern California Substance Use Disorder Treatment MSW Training Program, and evaluation activities for Berkeley Social Welfare’s Latinx Center of Excellence. Previously, she managed monitoring- and evaluation-related projects in the social sector. She earned both her BA in psychology and anthropology and her MPH at UCLA.

Gabriela Fischer

Program and Policy Analyst, Title IV-E Stipend Program

Gabriela Fischer researches local, state, and federal developments in public child welfare social work policy, education, and workforce development trends, and implements program improvements and updates accordingly. She works in collaboration with statewide child welfare social work partners to develop the CalSWEC Curriculum Competencies for Public Child Welfare and evaluates their implementation at participating CalSWEC Title IV-E schools. Prior to joining CalSWEC, she was Title IV-E Project Coordinator for the School of Social Work at SFSU. She earned an MSW, a BA in psychology, and a BA in Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley. When not at work, she loves to cook, knit, and travel.

Mary Fleger

Community and Events Associate

Mary hails from the Midwest and has the excessively solicitous mannerisms to prove it. A former teacher with an MS in Education and experience in community outreach, Mary considers classrooms of all kinds to be her natural habitat, and relishes her role in showcasing the School of Social Welfare’s exciting research to the broader public. Outside the office, she keeps a blog centered on mindfulness, fosters many sad-looking houseplants, makes tasty messes in the kitchen, and watches nature documentaries.

Athena Georganas

Database Analyst

Athena Georganas manages and maintains CalSWEC databases for both the Title IV-E Stipend and MHSA Stipend Programs. Using these databases, she provides data reports and analysis to support program operation and evaluation efforts. Athena earned a BA in studio art at Humboldt State University, where she was an administrative support coordinator in the Department of Social Work. She loves hiking and landscape photography.

Sheela Jhaveri

Research Administrator

Sheela Jhaveri supports and oversees post-award administration of some of CalSWEC’s grants. A UC Berkeley veteran, she has also worked at various nonprofits in the Bay Area, most recently Destiny Arts Center as Development Administrator. Sheela earned a Master of International Affairs degree at Columbia University and a BA in anthropology at UC Berkeley. Her creative side finds expression in concocting healing remedies from plant medicine for friends and family, creating jewelry for customers through her Etsy shop, and spending time in her garden.

Jennifer Monahan

Communications Manager

Jennifer Monahan joined the School of Social Welfare from UC Berkeley’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. She has 15 years’ experience in education communications, having overseen multiple website redesigns, numerous print publications, and countless email campaigns. Jennifer holds a PhD in French from UC Berkeley. In her spare time, you can find her spending time with family, riding a bicycle, or volunteering with the Berkeley Parents Network.

Karen Orlando

Field Education Support Coordinator

Karen Orlando’s extensive experience in the field of social work began with a field placement for her MSW degree at a labor union in Alameda County, where she utilized popular education and participatory research to support the empowerment of In-Home Supportive Services workers, seniors, and people with disabilities. She joins the Field Education team from UC Berkeley’s Labor Center where she ran a summer internship program for UC students. Most recently, she organized a retreat for women leaders in the labor movement employing language justice. Karen is an avid mahjong player and also a believer in the healing powers of non-violent (compassionate) communication.

Suhel Pathan

Salesforce Administrator/Developer

Suhel Pathan is involved in the ongoing build and maintenance of the CSIS (CalSWEC Student Information System) Salesforce platform. As a Salesforce Certified Administrator, Certified Advanced Administrator, and Certified Developer, he has been working in the Salesforce ecosystem for about eight years, including for such companies as Salesforce.com, Oracle, T-Mobile, and NetApp. Suhel earned a BS in business management and psychology at Palo Alto University. A spiritual person for whom his family always comes first, Suhel also enjoys an active lifestyle. He was a national-level cricket player and was drafted to play in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2001.

Michelle Perez-Robles

Office and Events Manager

Michelle Perez-Robles supports CalSWEC by managing office operations and events. Prior to joining CalSWEC, she was Events and Engagement Coordinator for CENIC in Berkeley and Office Manager and Project Coordinator for NC-SARA in Boulder, Colorado. Michelle earned an MA in strategic communication and a BA in organizational development at Regis University. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, exploring the Bay Area, and doing anything fitness-related.

Melissa Portal

Administrative Coordinator

Melissa has spent the past few years as the manager and business partner in her successful local business, where she oversaw all aspects of the business operations including customer service, marketing, finance, and HR. She has over 10 years of experience working in client services and previously worked for a direct service non-profit. When Melissa is not at work, she enjoys spending her time with her two daughters and husband and spends a great deal of it as a “synchronized swimming mom” at her youngest daughter’s competitions and club events. She is originally from Lima, Peru, is fluent in Spanish, and also enjoys hiking and traveling.

Chavon Rosenthal

Finance and Database Support Specialist

Chavon Rosenthal joins the School of Social Welfare from UC Berkeley’s Department of Physics and ChaMPS Region. She has 10 years’ experience in higher education administration including finance, research administration, and development. Chavon holds an MBA from Mills College. In her spare time, you can find Chavon training for endurance events, or in the kitchen cooking her way through a cookbook while trying to prevent her two cats from jumping onto the kitchen table.