Filipina sworn in among new, returning San Francisco education board members

Hydra Mendoza McDonnell

SAN FRANCISCO – New and returning members of the San Francisco Board of education, including Filipino-American Hydra Mendoza-McDonnell, were sworn into office January 6.dSAN FRANCISCO – New and returning members of the San Francisco Board of education, including Filipino-American Hydra Mendoza-McDonnell, were sworn into office January 6.

Dr. Emily Murase, Shamann Walton and Mendoza were sworn into office by San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Gail Dekreon and State Senator Isadore Hall, III at the Tenderloin Community School.

Hydra Mendoza-McDonnell 

Mendoza-McDonnell serves as a commissioner on the Board of Education and as the mayor’s Senior Advisor on Education and Family Services. In her first two terms as a school board member, she has championed improving academic standards, implemented policies that have increased parent engagement, and brought technology into the classroom.

Mendoza has built coalitions and collaborations between community and education leaders to advance services for students. She is an SFUSD graduate and parent.

Dr. Emily Murase

Dr. Emily Murase

Board of Education Vice President Murase also serves as Executive Director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women. In partnership with community-based service providers and law enforcement agencies, she has worked toward the elimination of domestic violence homicides in San Francisco.

She served in the first Clinton White House as Director for International Economic Affairs (1993-1994). A graduate of San Francisco public schools, Dr. Murase and husband Neal Taniguchi have two daughters who attended the district’s Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program (JBBP) at Rosa Parks Elementary School.

Shamann Walton 

New to the SF Board of Education, Walton serves as the Executive Director of Young Community Developers, Inc. (YCD), a workforce development agency located in the Bayview Hunters Point Community.

Shamann Walton

At YCD, he manages, develops and implements job readiness training, job placement and case management services for participants. Under Shamann’s leadership, YCD has worked directly with SFUSD, providing tutorial, credit recovery and job training programs in several SFUSD high schools.