Serving the Alpha Community, Expanding Alpha’s Impact

Peter is an executive in high tech and specializes in negotiating and managing corporate partnerships. He is currently head of strategic partnerships at Snowflake, a data analytics company. Prior to that he spent over 10 years at Microsoft and previously worked at Yahoo, Netscape, the Boston Consulting Group, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Peter has long had a passion for the education of underprivileged children. He tutored inner city youth in Washington, DC, after graduating from Dartmouth College. He later tutored students in East Palo Alto while a student at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, where he co-chaired the Public Management Initiative on Education.

Jen Wallner is an assurance director in the Bay Area market serving clients globally in the technology and consumer and industrial products sectors. She primarily focuses on audit services for Fortune 500, public companies and emerging growth companies.

Jen credits her continuous focus and strive for personal and professional growth to her supportive parents. She is the daughter of a Vietnamese immigrant who always emphasized the value of her education and the power it had to unlock life’s opportunities. As a child who benefited from the public-school system, Jen is passionate about paying it forward to others and giving back to the community. Jen currently serves as an assurance director and Chief Auditor in the PwC San Jose practice and is a Certified Public Accountant – CPA (Oregon).

Noreen Guevara appreciates Alpha’s approach to excellence and is a proud parent of a junior student at Cindy Avitia High School. She works as a Sr. Talent Development Specialist at a local credit union and is committed to helping youth prepare for their financial future.

Born in San Jose and raised in Morgan Hill, Noreen serves on Alpha’s board to support Alpha and enrich our students, faculty, and community.

Adam is a private equity investor at Symphony Technology Group (STG), focused on investing in software, technology-enabled services and data services businesses and transforming those companies by partnering with management to build customer-centric market leaders. Adam sits on the board of several STG portfolio companies.

Adam’s public school upbringing in the Midwest and prior experience working with Minds Matter of San Francisco serving low-income high achieving high school students have driven him to be passionate about ensuring that all students have access to quality education and the tools and opportunities for college success. Adam earned a B.S.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from Drake University and attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Rohit partners with organizations across the country to make healthcare more affordable and accessible via technology, clinical and operational transformations. He is currently a Partner at PwC Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company) and has previously worked in India and the UK.

Born and raised in India, Rohit’s personal experiences have shaped his belief that access to quality education is one of the most powerful drivers of societal transformation. He used to teach underprivileged children on weekends in India, introduced high school students to robotics during his undergraduate years at Delhi College of Engineering, and served on the board of a nonprofit that promotes education through sports while pursuing his MBA at Yale University. Outside of work and volunteering, Rohit enjoys spending time with his family and exploring the outdoors

Janine Ramirez is an education advocate with over a decade of experience and a track record of collaborating with community stakeholders to bring educational opportunities to underserved communities. She currently serves as the Regional Director for Rocketship Public Schools in the South Bay, where she is responsible for regional leadership, strategy and vision setting, navigating external politics and showcasing Rocketship’s impact externally while fostering collaboration with external stakeholders. Janine was identified as a 40 under 40 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2018 for her strategic partnership, vision setting, cross-functional initiatives and bridge-building which has led to an impact for thousands of students across the Bay Area.

Previously Janine served as Regional Director for the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) supporting statewide policy efforts and prior as Executive Director of Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) where her leadership directly impacted nearly 2,500 students annually.

Janine served on the board of directors for Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley (LCSV), serving as Board President in 2017. She is a proud alumni of the Latino Board Leadership Academy (LBLA), Latino Leadership Alliance (LLA) and SVO’s Leadership San Jose Class of 2020. Janine begins the Aspiring Latino Leaders Fellowship with Latinos for Education in the Fall of 2021.

Ines Valenzuela is an Investor Relations professional based in San Francisco. Originally from Mexico City, she began her career at Boston Consulting Group, where she worked on strategy projects across Latin America, and later joined Walton Street Capital in real estate private equity. Ines holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from ITAM. Passionate about education and social impact, she has been actively involved with nonprofits including Crea, which empowers women entrepreneurs in Mexico, and the Latin American Leadership Academy (LALA), which supports the development of future leaders across Latin America.

Cindy is a seasoned product and business leader who is passionate about building great consumer experiences, products, brands, and communities. She has a proven track record of delivering top-notch products, defining strategies, driving revenue and user growth, and building teams at companies such as Shutterfly, Disney, Gap, and Philz Coffee. In recent years, she has been an independent consultant for consumer-oriented start-ups providing marketing, product, and general management support.

Cindy has a keen interest in education and improving access to quality education for all children given her own experience in the public school system in Asia and the US. After graduating from Harvard Business School, she became involved with the HBS Community Partners in SF where she has worked on a number of projects for education-related non-profits such as the Bay Area Discovery Museum, YMCA Youth & Government, and Readworks.org. Cindy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Stanford University.