Diana Spatz, Executive Director

Diana Spatz is the founder of LIFETIME, Low-Income Families’ Empowerment through Education, a grassroots organization created by student mothers at the University of California Berkeley who completed college degrees while raising their families on welfare, and who are committed to helping other low-income parents do the same. A former welfare recipient, Ms. Spatz founded LIFETIME in 1996 upon graduating with honors from the University of California Berkeley with a BA in Political Economies of Industrialized Societies, and being awarded an echoing green Public Service Fellowship. An award- winning author and advocate for low-income families, Ms. Spatz won the 1996 I.F. Stone Award for Journalism by The Nation magazine for “ Welfare Reform Skips School,” an article on the role of higher education in welfare reform. Ms. Spatz, currently chairs the Education and Training Task Force for the statewide advocacy group, Californians for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency, and is a member of the California State Legislature Joint Committee to End Poverty in California (EPIC).  

PROGRAM STAFF

Dawn Love, Lead PEER Advocate

Dawn Love is a single mother formerly on welfare and currently raising one child. She is a part-time student, with a learning disability, attending Chabot College in Hayward, California. In 2002 she received her Administrative Assistant certificate; but decided to pursue a career that would help others in the community as well as lead to self-sufficiency for her family. So, she is currently pursuing an AS degree in Psychology-Counseling Human Services and plans to graduate in fall 2008. Her goal is continue to pursue her education with a BA in Human Service. Dawn is currently a PEER Advocate with LIFETIME, and has been with organization since 2002. She’s heavily involved with community organizations in social justice work, and has been since 2001. Concurrently Dawn is also on the Leadership Council with PLAN (Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network) in Oakland. Additionally, she is a member of the MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Coalition) and has been a representative for low-income families in Alameda County since 2004.

Deborha Velarde, PEER Intern

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Catt Olazabal, Operations Manager

Helda Moya , Administrative Intern

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sylvia Cabrales, Board Chair

Sylvia Cabrales is employed as a Placement Specialist for Oakland Unified School District, where she helps parents enroll their children in the school district. Sylvia graduated from Mills College in 2000 with a double BA in Sociology and Anthropology while receiving CalWORKs assistance. Sylvia has been an active volunteer in the Oakland community over 10 years. A single mother of four, Sylvia has been a member of the LIFETIME board since 2001, and began serving as Chairperson of the Board in 2004.

Leilani Luia, Vice Chair

Leilani Luia graduated from Cal State Hayward with a BA in Sociology/Social Services in 2001 after earning four associate's degrees from Peralta Community Colleges while raising her family on welfare. Leilani was appointed to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Advisory Council and served on the board for SAFER, a grassroots organization of communities of color working to end environmental racism in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In 2001, Leilani was awarded the Management Center Board Award for Leadership for her work on the LIFETIME board. A mother of three, Leilani served as Chairperson of the LIFETIME Board of Directors from 2000-2003, and is currently serving as Vice Chair.

Brenda Rogers, Secretary

Brenda Rogers is a mother who raised her son while a student receiving welfare and has gone from a high school drop out to a PhD candidate. As the parent of a special education student who had behavioral problems and learning disabilities, Brenda became an advocate for her son by applying her law and society educational background to the special education process and beat special education administrators at their own game. Today, Brenda's son is a successful teenager because of her advocacy and in 2004, Brenda founded the California non-profit Access Center for Education (ACE). ACE provides sliding scale and free special education advocacy to parents of disabled children in public schools.

PhD. Mark Toney, Treasurer

Mark Toney is Executive Director at The Utility Reform Network (TURN) a social justice organization focused on protecting affordable utility rates and access to renewable energy for consumers.  Toney was awarded his Doctorate in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 2007.  His leadership accomplishments have been recognized nationally by his selection as a Kellogg National Leadership Fellow, National Science Foundation Fellow, and Echoing Green Fellowship.  Mark is the former Executive Director of the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), and serves on the boards of Africa Action, and the National Whistleblower Center, both based in Washington, DC.

Rita Saenz, Board Member

Rita Saenz is the Executive Director, Western Region, Health and Human Services for Affiliated Computer Services. In that role she is responsible for consulting with the company on California needs and approaches. She was the chief executive officer of the Academy for Coaching Excellence, which offers consultation, organizational development, and training to develop coaching cultures in business and organizations, including health care providers. In 1999, Ms. Saenz was appointed by Governor Gray Davis as the director of the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and was responsible for a $21 billion budget, 4,700 employees and 51 offices across the state. CDSS managed the welfare-to work program, child welfare services, community care licensing (80,000 facilities), disability evaluation review, adult protective services and services for refugees. She has also been the CEO for several companies, including The Holiday Project which had 20,000 volunteers visit 200,000 people confined in institutions during the holidays. These institutions included hospitals, nursing homes, children’s homes, prisons and jails. Prior to her appointment with CDSS, Ms. Saenz worked with alcohol and drug abuse programs, serving as director of the Office of Alcoholism and later working with the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs for California. She also worked in the office of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., where she oversaw the executive recruitment for gubernatorial appointments.

During her years with community-based organizations, she worked for the International Institute of Los Angeles, the East Los Angeles Health Task Force, the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation and was an on-air moderator for the KCET program, AHORA!, which highlighted the ELA community and Hispanic culture. Ms. Saenz serves on the board of directors of the Plexus Institute, the international nonprofit, Children Uniting Nations, and the California Family Resources Association. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her work, including 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the Nation and the Hispanic Woman of the Year Award, 2001, and has been acknowledged for her support of tribal people in California.

Diana Spatz, Executive Director/Board Member

Diana Spatz is the founder of LIFETIME, Low-Income Families’ Empowerment through Education, a grassroots organization created by student mothers at the University of California Berkeley who completed college degrees while raising their families on welfare, and who are committed to helping other low-income parents do the same. A former welfare recipient, Ms. Spatz founded LIFETIME in 1996 upon graduating with honors from the University of California Berkeley with a BA in Political Economies of Industrialized Societies, and being awarded an echoing green Public Service Fellowship. An award- winning author and advocate for low-income families, Ms. Spatz won the 1996 I.F. Stone Award for Journalism by The Nation magazine for “ Welfare Reform Skips School,” an article on the role of higher education in welfare reform.

Ms. Spatz, currently chairs the Education and Training Task Force for the statewide advocacy group, Californians for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency, and is a member of the California State Legislature Joint Committee to End Poverty in California (EPIC).