Our Board

Tyler Hensley

Tyler Hensley is the founder of The Finance Lab and a practicing math teacher at Ocean View High School, a Title I school in Huntington Beach, CA. Tyler is the author of The College Project, a curriculum to help every student access and afford college. Tyler graduated from USC with a bachelor's degree in Business Management: Corporate Finance and began his career in private wealth management in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. After resigning to teach as a volunteer with WorldTeach in Kosrae, Micronesia, Tyler discovered a passion for teaching and earned his Teaching Credential and M.A. Ed: Digital Teaching and Learning from Azusa Pacific University. Tyler has been involved with extensive financial literacy professional development with the Wharton School of Business and completed the Hollyhock Fellowship at Stanford University.

Michelle SADRENA Pledger

Michelle Sadrena Pledger, Ed.D. is the Project Co-director of the Deeper Learning Hub and co-leads the Share Your Learning Campaign which aims to spread student-centered practices to 5 million students by 2020. She also works for the Center for Research on Equity and Innovation at High Tech High’s Graduate School of Education. Michelle earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in social justice at the University of California, San Diego and California State University, San Marcos. She earned her Master’s in Pacific International Affairs, with a career concentration in International Development at University of California, San Diego, and her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Irvine, with a major in International Studies and a minor in Clinical Psychology. 

Roberto Duran

Roberto Duran is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner with Odyssey Wealth Design, a comprehensive financial planning firm. Roberto began growing his own practice as a personal financial planner nearly 20 years ago, working primarily with business professionals, and educators in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. In 2001, Roberto transferred his practice to Orange County, where he has since established himself as a financial planner of choice among healthcare professionals, business owners, executives, and retirees. Roberto graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Finance from the University of San Francisco and holds the professional designations of Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Chartered Financial Consultant, and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.

Alissa Fong

Alissa Fong serves as a Professional Development Associate and an Instructional Math Coach for the Hollyhock Fellowship Program.  She is also on the Stanford Problem Solving Cycle project, which is a collaboration between CSET and San Francisco Unified School District that focuses on developing professional learning communities, deepening mathematical content knowledge, and exploring new pedagogical practices. Prior to her work at CSET, Fong taught mathematics for eleven years in California public high schools.  She is a National Board certified teacher and a graduate of the Stanford Teacher Education Program.

Peter Callaghan

Peter works at Shea Ventures, a family office, where he is a member of the investment committee and helps manage the venture capital and private equity portfolio for the family. In addition, he works with individual family members to construct their investment allocation, as well as consult on various investment decisions they make. Peter has been with Shea Ventures since he graduated from USC in 2007, where he earned a degree in Business Administration and a minor in International Relations. 

Sarah Ahmed

Sarah Ahmed is a high school mathematics teacher in New York City, teaching Algebra 2/Trigonometry at a project-based public school in the DOE.  She has taught high school math for 6 years, formerly teaching in Oakland, California before moving to NYC.  Sarah was a former Stanford Hollyhock Fellow (Math 2014)  and is currently a founding Mentor Fellow with Trellis Education.  In New York City, Sarah is a Master Teacher with the Math for America Fellowship, and is actively involved in racial equity projects and professional development in her school community.