Ben Gurewitz, Co Founder
Ben is an advocate, policy analyst, public speaker, and mentor, for people with learning disabilities. Ben is passionate about policies that can make education more accessible to all learners. He has extensive experience working on campaigns in California, and for Political Strategists. Ben most recently served as the Field Director for Myrna Melgar's successful campaign for District & supervisor in San Francisco. Ben is passionate about the intersection of politics, public policy, and education to explore how students with diverse learning profiles can be ready to conquer the world’s most pressing challenges. Ben is excited to empower young people to get involved in public policy and to enable them to make a difference in their community. Ben is a recent graduate from the University of California at Davis
Patrick Brennan, Mentor
Patrick is working to ensure the classroom is the most equitable and accessible public resource available to our children. Patrick is working with the Governor Newsom, the California State Board of Education and legislative leaders to design and launch the California Dyslexia Initiative. As a part of this initiative, he secured funding of $3.5 million from the California Governor’s office to develop and pilot a dyslexia screening and early intervention program at the UCSF Dyslexia Center.
He currently serves as the Vice President of Government Relations at Learning Ally, a non profit organized to help struggling readers. He is a founding board member of Breaking-Barriers-by-8, a new Public-Private partnership coalition with corporations, philanthropy and government working together toward literacy for all in California by 2035. Patrick is the a member of the Board of Advisors of the UC San Francisco Dyslexia Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Strategic Education Research Partnership in Washington, DC.
Patrick previously worked in the U.S. Senate for Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina.
Julia Hagleberg, Director of Programing
Julia is a recent graduate of UC Davis, she served as a mentor and chapter leader for Eye to Eye, advocating for students with LD’s and destigmatizing LD’s within public schools. She also worked in the UC Davis International Center working with and providing English tutoring to international students studying abroad at UC Davis. There she found her passion for creating out of the box, non-traditional teaching methods for neurotypical and neurodiverse learners with the hopes of reducing educational anxiety for struggling students. Since graduating she has started a volunteer position with VISTA Americorps as a Co-op Home Care Communications Associate.
Frances, Chief Barketing Officer
Frances has dedicated her life to bringing joy to all. Her hobbies include sleeping on chairs, sleeping under desks and barking during conference calls. Having one of the best noises for trouble, Frances offers a unique insider perspective on the world of politics and the life of an Australian labradoodle office dog on her personal Instagram, @sanfranciscofrances.