STAFF BIOS
Jessica Bilsky
Boost! West Oakland Project Director
Jessica Bilsky, in her fourth year as Project Director for Boost!, is dedicated to embracing the project's mission and offering West Oakland children new opportunities and a brighter future. Born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jessica has spent her life working with children in different capacities including: teacher, coach, tutor, and nanny. She has taught in urban elementary schools in Brooklyn, New York and Oakland, California. In her free time Jessica enjoys running, hiking, swimming, and traveling.
Jessica received a BS in Education and Psychology from Skidmore College and holds a MA in Educational Leadership from Mills College.
Jessalyn DeLucchi
Boost! West Oakland Project Assistant
Boost! is excited to welcome Jessalyn DeLucchi on board as our new Project Assistant - welcome Jessa!
Jessalyn received her B.A. in Liberal Studies and Human Development from California State University East Bay. She is an avid volunteer in her community and is very excited to join the Boost! West Oakland team supporting this incredible mission. She hopes her creativity and love for learning will be a great addition to the program. In her spare time, Jessa enjoys teaching yoga, raising her chickens, volunteering, hiking, camping, and traveling the world as much as possible.
ADVISORY BOARD BIOS
Charles Chaloeicheep
Fundraising Chair
Charles has been tutoring with Boost! West Oakland since 2002. He has an engineering background and is passionate about building a sustainable future. By day he works as a sustainable design consultant, advising architects and developers on energy, water and indoor environmental quality strategies that can be integrated into their buildings. At night (at least once a week) he mentors his Lafayette School student and particularly enjoys teaching how to count by 3s and 7s. After being involved with numerous nonprofit organizations, he has found Boost! to be the most rewarding, well organized, and beneficial program for his hometown of Oakland.
Denise Cicala
James Freschi
Volunteer Recruitment Chair
Jim Freschi is a Public Information Specialist with the Contra Costa Water District in Concord. He has been a mentor at Boost! West Oakland since 2007 and joined the Advisory Board in 2010. Jim enjoys living in Oakland and the unique opportunity to help students through Boost! West Oakland. When not slowly working on restoring his very old house, Jim loves to slowly paddle his kayak throughout the Bay Area.
Jessica Baer
Teacher Liason
Joan Poulter
Founder
Judith McKoy
Rachel Reinhard
Advisory Board Chair
Rachel Reinhard taught kindergarten at Lafayette Elementary School as a Teach For America corps member. When she moved out of the classroom to pursue a Ph.D. in United States History at UC Berkeley she maintained ties to Boost!, then the Lafayette School Mentoring Project -- teaching enrichment classes, mentoring a student, and serving on the inaugural board of advisors. She left the Bay Area for five years, working as a professor in the SUNY system and as a Peace Corps volunteer at Guizhou University in China. Happy to be back in Oakland, she now works as a director of alumni affairs for Teach For America -- Bay Area.
Ricky Shin
Social Media Chair
Ricky Shin has been a long-time volunteer tutor and board member at Boost! West Oakland and is committed to working with the parents, teachers, tutors, and the immediate West Oakland community to ensure all referred students have a safe place to get excited about learning. Ricky grew up in Orange County and came up to the bay area to attend UC Berkeley, earning a political science degree and ultimately falling in love with the East Bay! He currently works at Lithium Technologies in Emeryville, CA as a Customer Success Manager, helping enterprise companies build online communities. In his free time he roots for the Lakers and Boost! West Oakland equally.