HFA’s membership consists of its hard-working Board members, its general members who often work collaboratively on Board projects, and its Business members who serve as sponsors of HFA.  Here, we present HFA’s Board members, what they do, including their day job along with their role as HFA’s unpaid Board member.

Joan Sieber, President 

Joan is Emerita Psychology Professor at Cal State East Bay, where she was Outstanding Professor of the Year in 1989.  She has published many articles, chapters and books, the best known of which is Planning Ethically Responsible Research (Sage Publications).  She has also been Senior Visiting Professor at the Kennedy Institute, Georgetown University; Board member of the Hobby Center for Public Policy, University of Houston; and Program Director at the National Science Foundation. She spent 12 years as an academic journal editor.  She is now a portrait artist and competitive swimmer.  In 2021, she received the Hayward Volunteer Recognition Award for her work in creating the VAPA program and HFA. Joan brought her art interests to HUSD in 2013 to found and fund a series of visual and performing arts programs that, in 2019, resulted in the founding of HFA. (See “How HFA Began” on this website for details.) As President, she coordinates HFA’s programs and is grateful for her board’s amazing talent and teamwork. 

Mina Mangewala, Vice President

Hayward Unified School District Visual and Performing Art Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA)

Mina Mangewala is a Visual and Performing Art Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA)  in the Hayward Unified School District.  Prior to working as a VAPA TOSA, Mina was an elementary classroom teacher for 19 years. Her primary focus as the Visual and Performing Arts TOSA for Hayward Unified is working towards creating more equitable arts opportunities for all of Hayward’s students. Mina also works with elementary school teachers on ways to integrate arts more deeply into their curriculum.  She has passion for all things dance, especially dances and music of the African Diaspora, and brings that into her work as an educator and leader for arts education.  Mina brings her outstanding leadership talents to HFA, where she writes successful grant proposals for arts-focused Professional Development workshops, and assists the President in a range of roles including fund-raising, volunteer training, and coordinating HFA activities.

Hector Garcia and Maria-Elena Villasenor Garcia co-Treasurers

Hector has served HUSD in a variety of administrative roles including Principal, Special Administrator of Hayward Promise Neighborhood programs, and now as Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Educational Services.  Maria-Elena is a Transition to Kindergarten (T-K) teacher.  Both bring a wealth of knowledge about HUSD, communication skills, and reputations for integrity and organization to their role as co-treasurers of HFA, where they keep the financial books and coordinate with other Bard members on many projects including fundraising and communication with donors.

Ronnie Cato, Director

Ronnie is the lead instrumental music teacher at Mt Eden High School.  He is a graduate from HUSD, hence knows the district from the ground up.  His drive to inspire students, and build outstanding orchestras and bands is legendary.  He brings a range of important skills to HFA,  and provides valuable guidance as HFA administers grants to teachers and music programs.

David Cerruti, Director

David has built a highly successful real estate business specializing in the acquisition of distressed properties throughout the Bay Area. During the first two years of HFA’s existence, when HFA’s intended treasurer dropped out, David graciously served as HFA’s Treasurer. (Thank you, David!)  His main role in HFA will be recruiting business sponsors of HFA.  He is looking forward to helping grow HFA to benefit the students of Hayward. David was born in Oakland, raised in Hayward and attended Hayward Schools. His family has roots in Hayward as his grandfather was an architect and designed buildings throughout Hayward.  His sister is a professional artist. In her free time. David loves spending time with his wife and daughter, playing tennis, and surfing.

Barbara Halliday, Director

Barbara Halliday is Mayor of the City of Hayward, and an ex-officio member of HFA.  Barbara’s professional background as a journalist makes her exceptionally capable of seeing all sides of an issue, hence an outstanding civic leader. a long-term supporter of the arts. HFA is delighted to have her support and guidance.  

Rick Hatcher, Director

Rick is a Director of the Board for the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District H.A.R.D.  A lifelong advocate of art and winner of the Bank of American scholarship for Photography, Rick brings his passion for community work and service to HFA.  He is an Insurance broker who specializes in commercial Insurance insuring muralists, musicians, art non-profits, photographers, and dance studios. Having spent much of his professional life serving non-profits in Hayward, Rick is a valuable resource for best practices in operating HFA.

Erin Kennedy, Director

Erin is Chief Compliance Officer for the Timelist Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing housing and supportive services for people returning from incarceration. Erin has previous experience in the nonprofit field working at a Community Health Center in East Oakland and a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Francisco. Erin obtained a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Kansas in 1999 and a Juris Doctorate in 2002. Erin is admitted to practice in the Kansas Bar. Erin is currently provisionally licensed to practice law in California and is working toward full licensure after completing 300 hours of supervised practice. Erin lives with her husband Earl and her two kids Izzy (17) and Oliver (14) in Hayward.. 

Geoff Landreau, Director

Geoff is the Art Lead for Hayward Unified School District.  Currently he is teaching 3D Design, Advanced 3D Design and AP 3D Design at Mt. Eden High School, where he has taught since 1994.  Geoff received his BA in Fine Arts from U.C. Berkeley in 1994 and  MA in Secondary Education from San Francisco State in 1997. He worked with Joan, Marisol, and Matt on the original design of the Art Integration Workshops in 2013. With Marisol and Mina, he currently runs Art Integration workshops, Art leads program for elementary schools in HUSD, and the Art is Education shows at city hall.  Geoff has worked extensively on other programs such as “Build a Better Bird House” at Sun Gallery and also “Sheltered in the Arts” art contests through HFA. As one of the dedicated, long-term arts leaders in the School District, he is one of Joan’s major go-to sources of ideas, and criticism of hare-brained notions, and hardest working HFA member in the trenches. 

Yolanda Pulido-Lopez, Director

Yolanda Pulido-Lopez is a licensed clinical social worker who has done social work for the last 25 years.   Her degrees are in social work with an emphasis in child development and community mental health.  Yolanda’s professional life includes a commitment to serving medically and developmentally fragile children and at-risk youth.  Yolanda has integrated healing modalities in her practice that are demonstrated to help families de-escalate their stressors.   Yolanda is currently a medical social worker at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland providing comprehensive clinical social work services for children and their families.  She assists patients and their families in coping with acute or chronic health conditions.  As a member of the hospital’s interdisciplinary healthcare team, Yolanda assists the hospital in creating an environment and attitude responsive to patient and family needs through attention to psychological, socioeconomic, cultural, emotional, and spiritual factors influencing health.  Yolanda works closely with the hospital’s Center for Child Protection team which is led by a pediatrician with expertise in child abuse.  Yolanda is a first responder in alleged child abuse cases responding to the immediate physical, psychological, emotional, and legal needs of children and non-offending family members.  She has intensive experience collaborating with providers from Children and Family Services (CPS) from surrounding counties. 

Amy Lindahl, Director

Amy is an elementary teacher for the Hayward Unified School District. She worked in software and technology as a product manager for IBM, SurveyMonkey, and Visually. After 20 years in software and technology, she received her elementary teaching credential from Cal State Teach and began her second career as an elementary teacher. She specializes in project-based learning, art integration, STEAM, and the design-thinking framework. She graduated with a BA in Mass Communication from Cal State East Bay. She is pursuing her MA in Art of Education with a focus on art integration and literacy. She is an artist, educator, photographer, and surface pattern designer living in Hayward, Ca.

Winda Shimizu, Director

Winda is the Executive Director of the Hayward Arts Council and an ex-officio member of the Hayward Foundation for the Arts.  She is also the Curator of Sunset Gallery at Hayward Center/Adult School. In March 2018 Winda was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame for Culture and Art. Winda volunteers many hours on boards and committees devoted to bringing art to local classrooms, exhibiting the work of young artists, and providing scholarship opportunities in the arts.  She is bilingual and bicultural in Spanish and English with a Master’s degree in Public Relations and Public Affairs. Winda is the former President of A.R.T., Inc. (Artists Relaxing Together), a non-profit art organization based at the Adobe Art Gallery in Castro Valley. She chaired the Creative Writing Workshop and the Poetry and Art Show for middle and high school students at the Castro Valley Library. Winda is an ex-officio member of HFA and is always a valuable resource for effective problem-solving within HFA.

Earl Simms, Director

Earl is the Bay Area Regional Director of the Timelist Group, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides rehabilitation courses for those currently incarcerated, and housing and supportive services upon release. Earl was raised in Los Angeles and paroled to Oakland after serving 22 years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for a gang-related homicide. Now here in the Bay Area, he is battling the disease of violence.  Earl has worked tirelessly in the area of violence reduction and community healing since his release.  Earl has experience as an intensive case manager for Oakland Unite, a violence reduction program focused on supporting Transitional Aged Youth who have been impacted by gun violence or who are at risk of committing gun violence. Earl is a member of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), sits on the Formerly Incarcerated Advisory Board (FIA) for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, and recently graduated as fellow in the Safety and Justice Challenge with that office, which was sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation.  Earl is a certified Community Care Coach, and has certifications as an Advanced Peer Specialist and an Advanced Facilitator with Applied Mindfulness.  Earl is dedicated to lifting up the voices of those who are impacted by poverty, systemic racism, and mass incarceration.