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 Ana Ponce
Executive Director/CEO
Ms. Ponce is the Chief Executive Officer of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy (CNCA). CNCA is a neighborhood network of 5 elementary and secondary schools serving over 2000 students within the greater MacArthur Park neighborhood near Downtown Los Angeles. Under her supervision, the CNCA schools have won the Title 1 Academic Achievement Award, the California Association of Bilingual Education Seal of Excellence, and the California Distinguished Schools award. Originally from Mexico, Ana grew up in the neighborhood where her schools are located. An alumni of Teach for America and a veteran of the California charter school movement, she spent 3 years in the classroom before becoming one of the founding teachers and administrators at The Accelerated School in South Los Angeles. Under her instructional leadership, The Accelerated School was named elementary school of the year by Time Magazine in 2001. Ms. Ponce has a master's degree in Bilingual-Bicultural Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned her administrative Tier 1 credential and second master’s degree from UCLA through the Principal's Leadership Institute (PLI) and is pursuing a Doctorate in Education from Loyola Marymount University.
Hoa Truong
Chief Operating Officer
Hoa Truong is Chief Operating Officer for Camino Nuevo Charter Academy. He has a business background, having graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS degree in Business Administration. Hoa began his career as a strategy and business consultant at Arthur Andersen, working with various Fortune 500 clients. One significant experience was consulting at the Los Angeles Unified School District for 15 months, where his interest in public education was piqued. After four years at Arthur Andersen, Hoa attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management and earned his MBA. Upon graduating, he worked in Strategic Marketing for an audio visual services firm in Long Beach, and also joined KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory School as a Founding Board Member, where he served as the school’s Board Chair. Hoa then spent five years at Green Dot Public Schools as the Vice President of Operations, and is also a graduate of The Broad Residency in Urban Education.
Mary Funaoka, Ed.D.
Director of Academic Affairs
Dr. Funaoka's current role is to support each school site with day to day operations and act as the LAUSD liaison in the development and partnership of new schools. Her recent role as Director of Knowledge Management at Camino was to manage the quarterly benchmark assessment system, oversee student information systems, and conduct system-wide data collection and analysis to address performance gaps. She began her career with Teach For America teaching high school English and AVID in Lynwood where she also served as an AVID coordinator, department chair, summer intervention coordinator, and teacher on special assignment. Dr. Funaoka continued her work in education as a literacy coach for Urban Education Partnership where she supported middle school teachers in LAUSD’s District 7. Dr. Funaoka received her B.A. in English from UCLA, earned a M.A. in Education from Loyola Marymount University and recently completed her doctorate in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Teacher Education in Multicultural Societies at USC.
 Atyani Howard
Principal, Burlington K-8 Campus
Ms. Howard came to Camino Nuevo in 2001 during the second year of the middle school's operation and has served as a sixth grade humanities teacher, humanities department chairperson and dean of middle school instruction. Starting in 1997, she taught fourth and seventh grade in the Chicago public school system and middle school humanities in a Chicago charter school. Ms. Howard also taught college level English and methods in critical reasoning courses as an adjunct faculty member at Roosevelt University and Harold Washington College in Chicago. As a result of her teaching experiences, she is uniquely suited to teach students, both children and adults, from a wide variety of ethnic, economic and educational backgrounds. Ms. Howard earned a B.A. with honors in Multicultural studies and English and an M.A. with honors in English Literature from Northwestern University. Since relocating to California, she has also earned a Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching credential.
 Heather McManus
Principal, Harvard K-8 Campus
Ms. McManus is currently in her fourth year as a leader at the Harvard Site. Prior to becoming principal, she spent three years as assistant principal of Harvard. She originally moved to Los Angeles as a Teach for America Corps Member in 2005 and has been deeply involved in the education landscape of the city since moving here. She has taught grades 6-12 English, creative writing, psychology, and Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) at the Foshay Learning Center and at a high school in Michigan prior to moving to Los Angeles. While at Foshay, Ms. McManus served as track-leader, assistant athletic director, eighth grade advisor, and as a peer coach. She was the founding coach of the varsity swimming team for the high school and coached students to district finals in the team’s first year. In addition, Ms. McManus has served as a school director at Markham Middle School and a professional learning team facilitator through Teach For America. Ms. McManus was born and raised in Michigan and earned degrees in English, Psychology, and Secondary Education from the University of Michigan. She received her Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from California State University at Northridge.
Scott Weatherford
Principal, High School
He began his teaching career at Crenshaw High school where he taught history, government, and economics and worked in the New Media Academy. In 2002 he was a founding teacher of TechBoston Academy, a new technology focused Pilot School in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Two years later he moved back to Los Angeles and was the founding assistant principal at Camino Nuevo High School. Mr. Weatherford helped open a new middle school in LAUSD, serving as an instructional coach before returning to CNHS as the principal in 2009. During his career Scott has worked as department chair, coach, mentor teacher, coordinator, and professional development leader. Scott graduated from UCLA with degrees in history and economics, earned his Master’s in Education from UCLA’s Center X, and is currently working towards his Doctorate in Education from UCLA in their Educational Leadership Program.
Alicia Garcia
Site Supervisor, Camino Nuevo Early Childhood Education Program
Ms. Garcia has been in the Early Childhood field for 15 years now. She graduated from Mount St. Mary’s College and received her AA in Early Childhood Education and her BA in Child Development. Ms. Garcia's professional experience began as a student worker at Mount St. Mary’s College Child Development Center; she was there for three years. She did her student teaching at USC ECE Head Start Preschool for one year and then worked at USC Anna Bing Arnold Child Care Center for one year. She then returned to USC ECE Head Start Preschool where she worked for seven years.
Sean Holiday
Assistant Principal, Burlington K-8 Campus
Mr. Holiday joined the CNCA Burlington team in 2006 as a Teach for America corps member. He taught 7th grade humanities for three years, and served as the humanities department chair from 2007-2009, where he worked to strengthen the middle school’s reading and English language development programs. Mr. Holiday participated in the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs from 2009-2010, where he developed his leadership abilities and critical thinking skills through a series of internships in the government, business, labor, and nonprofit worlds. He returned to CNCA Burlington in 2010 as an assistant principal, where he hopes to apply what he’s learned through his teaching and leadership experiences. Mr. Holiday graduated summa cum laude from the George Washington University in 2006 with a BA in international affairs. He also holds an MA in elementary education from Loyola Marymount University, and is a master of public administration candidate at the University of Southern California.
Yvonne Carillo
Assistant Principal, Burlington K-8 Campus
Ms Carillo came to Camino Nuevo- Burlington in 2005 after completing her BA from Washington University in St. Louis. As a 4-year Ramierez Scholarship recipient, she double majored in International Studies and Political Science while minoring in Psychology. While at Washington University in St. Louis, Ms. Carrillo worked as an Applied Behavior Analysis therapist through the Special School District of St. Louis and as a first and second grade teacher’s assistant in the University City School District. Ms. Carrillo came to Camino Nuevo as a 2005 Corps Member of the Teach for America organization and served as a 4thgrade teacher for 4 years. As a corps member she completed the TeachLA program through the University of California, Los Angeles, earning her Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential.Through her work, Ms. Carrillo has developed skills that enable her to tailor specific learning programs in order to reach learners in a variety of settings.
Jonathan López
Assistant Principal, Harvard K-8 Campus
Mr. López began his career in education in 2004 as a middle school teacher at John Adams Middle School in downtown Los Angeles where he chaired the 6th grade department and taught English Language Development courses before taking a position with the Teach For America organization. While with Teach For America Mr. López was in charge of teacher recruitment efforts in Florida and Puerto Rico. In 2007, he returned to Los Angeles and took a position as a 4th grade teacher at CNCA’s Harvard campus. In addition to teaching, he served as a curriculum specialist and professional learning team facilitator through Teach For America. While at Camino, he has been the head coach of the Students Run LA marathon team. Prior to taking the role of Assistant Principal, Mr. Lopez was the Director of Student and Family Services where he worked closely with students and parents to ensure academic success for all. He earned his B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA and his M.A. in Elementary Education from Loyola Marymount University.
 Julie Jhun
Assistant Principal, Camino Nuevo High School
A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Jhun brings to CNCA a breadth of expertise across the educational spectrum with her Tier I Administrative credential, multiple-subject teaching credential, and G.A.T.E. certification. As a member of Teach For America, Ms. Jhun taught in the Lynwood Unified School District as a G.A.T.E. teacher from grades 1-4 where she also served as the fourth grade level chair. Ms. Jhun has been a passionate educator throughout her life, teaching college students and local youth at Oberlin College, creating and implementing a curriculum for high school ESL students in the Exploration Summer Program at Yale University, and teaching English and music at a middle school in Vienna, Austria. As a high school student, she was the founding conductor of the Opera California Youth Choir which enjoyed its 13th anniversary this year. Ms. Jhun graduated from Oberlin College and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a double degree in psychology and piano performance. She also holds a master’s degree in elementary education from Loyola Marymount University.
Antonio Garcia
Assistant Principal, High School
Mr. Garcia began his tenure with CNCA in the Spring of 2009. He has worked with youth and communities in Los Angeles and New York City for more than fourteen years. While a college student in New York City, he taught life skills, community organizing and photography workshops to youth in Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Upon graduating from his undergraduate studies, Mr. Garcia worked as a Youth Development Specialist in Boyle Heights and Watts supporting at-risk youth return to school and to follow their career aspirations. He taught middle school and high school History and Special Education for five years in Los Angeles, Cambridge and New York City. Before coming to CNCA he worked as a Literacy Coach for two years and as a Professional Learning Community Coach for one at John Muir Middle School in South Los Angeles. Mr. Garcia is a trained Cognitive Coach. He earned his B.A. in Political Science and Latino Studies from Columbia University and his M.A. in Teaching and Curriculum from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Margaret Domingo
Director of Human Resources
Ms. Domingo came to CNCA in 2004. She is responsible for the HR management at all CNCA sites and works closely with the school’s leadership and employees to ensure that policies and procedures are met. Ms. Domingo is passionate about ensuring that inner-city youth are provided with a high quality education and has previously worked as a peer counselor and mentor for high school and middle school students in the Los Angeles and Crenshaw districts. She was also active in grassroots organizations, including the Service Employees International Union where she campaigned for the rights of Latino and Korean immigrant workers. Prior to joining the CNCA team Ms. Domingo worked in the Human Resources and Accounting Department for Warner Bros Entertainment. She graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and minor in Chicano/a Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her certificate in Human Resources from Loyola Marymount University and also has a Professional Human Resources certification.
 Corey Podell
Special Education Coordinator
Ms. Podell works at all three CNCA sites facilitating Individual Education Plans (IEPs), working with special education and general education teachers, and coordinating with related service providers to ensure that all students receive the special education services they need. From 2000-2003, Ms. Podell worked in Senator Edward Kennedy's office in Boston and then for the Boston Public School system for a year before continuing her work with special needs students in Los Angeles. She taught special day classes for students with learning disabilities at John Muir Middle School, Union Elementary, and Marvin Elementary before traveling the state to train teachers and consult for Pearson Scott Foresman publishing company. She graduated with her B.A. in American History with a minor in Social Justice from Boston College and received her master’s degree and California Teaching Credential in Special Education from Loyola Marymount University.
 Laura Montenegro
Director of Bilingual Education, Burlington K-8 Campus
Ms. Montenegro works to monitor and support the Bilingual Program (English/Spanish) and provide teacher professional development and coaching. She is thrilled to be a part of the unique educational community at CNCA that is committed to valuing and serving students and their families. Originally from New Jersey, she began her teaching career through Teach For America in 1994. She taught kindergarten, first, and second grade in Watts (Los Angeles Unified School District) for eight years. She has taught in both bilingual English/Spanish and structured English immersion settings and holds a BCLAD (bilingual cross-cultural language acquisition and development) certification. She has also completed her National Board Certification in Education (Early Childhood Generalist). Ms. Montenegro recently completed her master's degree in Education and Administrative Credential from University of California, Los Angeles with an emphasis in social justice and urban education.
Sherre Vernon
Intervention Coordinator, High School
Ms. Vernonhas a BA in Interdisciplinary and Cultural Studies from Le Tourneau University. She also earned a BA in History and a teaching credential from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her MA in Literature and Writing Studies is from California State University, San Marcos.Ms. Vernonhas taught for 12 years and holds a Professional Clear Credentials in Literature, Mathematics, and Social Studies.
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About CNCA 
