Team
Dr. Raquel Pinderhughes s the Founder and Executive Director of the Roots of Success Environmental Literacy and Job Training Apprenticeship Program and a Professor of Urban Studies and Planning at San Francisco State University. Raquel is an internationally recognized expert on green jobs and workforce development. She conducted the landmark study “Green Collar Jobs for Individuals with Barriers to Employment.” She co-authored the Federal Department of Corrections report “The Greening of Corrections: Creating a Sustainable System.” Her work informed the Obama Administration’s ARRA “Pathways Out of Poverty” program. She was the Director of the Delancy Street Foundations College Program for over a decade. She is currently the city of Ithaca’s workforce development consultant.
Douglas Pentland is the Program Manager with Roots of Success and is responsible for supervising program partners throughout the United States that offer the Roots of Success Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship program in community and carceral settings. Douglas earned his BA from Occidental College where he majored in Critical Theory and Social Justice and minored in Spanish. Before working with Roots of Success he taught horticulture at Rikers Island jail in NYC, worked as a community organizer and facilitated reentry creative writing classes with the LA based organization Inside Out Writers, and worked as a public school bilingual / dual language classroom teacher.
Stevie Gaynor is Operations Manager with Roots of Success. Prior, she worked as a programmatic advisor to grassroots environmental initiatives across the country. She is also a co-founder of a mutual aid organization that serves unhoused people in Portland, Oregon. She holds a B.A. in Urban Studies and Planning from San Francisco State University.
Shruti Sreenath is Product Manager and Project Lead for Course Migration at Roots of Success where her work focuses on researching learning management systems, content migration, and improving user experience. She has a wide range of experience in Technology Management and Consulting with multiple industries. Shruti holds an MBA degree from Indian Institute of Management, Indore and a B.E degree from BITS Pilani. She is passionate about learning new technologies and their application in product management.
Board of Directors
Kay O’Neill, Board President Kay joined Roots of Success Advisory Board in 2010 while directing five Green Job Academies in California’s San Mateo county. Inspired by the enduring and transformative power of the Roots of Success teaching method, she continued to support Roots of Success as a Community College Workforce Director and Consultant to non-profit workforce and apprenticeship training programs. Kay became President of the Board of Directors in 2022 and is committed to expanding the reach of our 600+ programs across the country through fundraising and community-based partnerships.
An Bui, Vice President and Secretary An has worked in the nonprofit sector for close to 10 years, and has been involved with Roots since 2017. Currently, he is the Community Needs Assessment Coordinator for the nonprofit Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) in Portland, OR. He is passionate about equity, community empowerment, and data-informed decision making, and is immensely proud to be serving on the board.
Maurice Hampton, Directorbegan working with the Roots of Success Program in 2013, while serving a 4 year prison term in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections (ODRC) at the Pickaway Correctional Institution (PCI). Since 2016 he has been employed by Quality Control Inspection (QCI) as a Civil Engineering Inspector. He earned a Bachelor of Science Engineering Technology (BSET) in Civil Engineering from the Ohio State University (OSU). Maurice is also the President of Hampton Properties Reformed, LLC a Commercial and Residential Construction Company providing living wage employment for previously incarcerated men and women.
Chad Flores, Treasurer Chad is Director of Product Management at Cohesion. His expertise is in nonprofit organizational management and environmental policy. Previous to his work with Roots of Success, he worked for the online fundraising nonprofit Network for Good and the social innovation incubator Hub Bay Area. Chad holds a M.S. in Public Service Management from DePaul University’s School of Public Service and a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Marquette University. He is passionate about issues at the intersection of public health, economy, policy, and innovation.
Cyril Walrond, Director Cyril was a Roots of Success Instructor and Master Trainer in Washington state prisons, where his immense talents, passion, wisdom, and leadership have changed the lives of countless men during his incarceration. After being incarcerated for nearly two decades, with two more on the books, Cyril was resentenced in June 2022 and was able to return home to his family and community. He is a dedicated community organizer, advocate, and ambassador for social change, transformative justice, and community empowerment.
Advisors
Van Jones – CNN political contributor, The Van Jones Show, The Redemption Project
Lisbeth Shepard – Independent Consultant
Job opportunities
We may be hiring! Look for our postings on Idealist, or send an email to info@rootsofsuccess.org for more information. We also have a Handshake profile for student internships.
Volunteer and Internship Opportunities
If you are interested in interning or volunteering with Roots of Success please send your resume and a cover letter to info@rootsofsuccess.org.