Nínive Calegari ’93 (Political Science with Studio Art minor), Co-Founder and Former CEO of 826 National;
Founder and CEO, The Teacher Salary Project, and Paperclip Consultants
Nínive Calegari is the co-founder, along with Dave Eggers, of 826 National, which she grew from a local tutoring program (San Francisco’s 826 Valencia) into an influential education phenomenon that partners with schools, families, and community organizations to help inspire students to write and supports teachers. She and Dave opened seven sites in the country and now over thirty places worldwide have created programs modeling 826 programs and designs.
A former teacher herself, Nínive Calegari is the president of The Teacher Salary Project, an organization working to address the national policies of undervaluing and underpaying America’s most important job: public school teachers. She is the co-author of The NYT bestselling Teachers Have It Easy: the Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers; and a producer of American Teacher, a documentary directed by Oscar-winning Vanessa Roth, with narration by Matt Damon.
Nínive Calegari has dedicated her life to creating supportive and innovative learning environments for both teachers and students, and to raising awareness of the unheralded struggles that many teachers face in simply doing their job. Calegari holds a Master’s degree from the Harvard School of Education, and a political science degree from Middlebury College. She spent ten years as a teacher, at Cambridge Rindge and Latin in Cambridge,MA, Drake High School in San Anselmo, CA, and at San Francisco’s first charter school, Leadership High School. She lives in San Francisco, with her husband and two children (Nínive 11 and Jean-Paul 7).
YARA LUNA ’04
Assistant Principal, David Crockett Elementary School, San Antonio ISD, San Antonio, TX
Yara Luna is an Assistant Principal at David Crockett Elementary School in San Antonio ISD in San Antonio, Texas. She has been with SAISD for nine years; this is Yara’s second year in administration. Yara was awarded the SAISD Teacher of the Year, has been recognized as a Distinguished Educator from the Trinity University Prize for Excellence in Teaching, was a recipient of the KENS- 5 ExCel Golden Apple Award and served as the SAISD Go Public Campaign representative. Yara received her Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She graduated from Brackenridge HS, SAISD. At Middlebury, Yara was a Sociology/ Anthropology major with a minor in German.
Yara is the daughter of Lucia Garza, a classroom teacher for 44 years in SAISD and Santiago Luna, a retired Army Captain. When not working, Yara enjoys spending time with her nephew Luke ’31 and Sadie ’33.
SARAH ELKHAYAT ’10
Program Coordinator, Practice Makes Perfect
Sarah has held many roles in the education field. She interned in New York City with Teach for America and stayed on beyond her two-year commitment, teaching in both district and charter schools for five years. Sarah is gearing up for an exciting new role as Program Coordinator with Practice Makes Perfect, a fast growing start-up committed to closing the achievement gap by providing extended learning opportunities to high needs elementary and middle school students.