Our People
Facilitator, See It
Lead Coach, OUSD New Teacher Support & Development
What is your facilitator strength? One of my facilitation strengths is taking something that could be abstract/complex and making it concrete through stories, songs, analogies, etc. to make the learning goal both accessible and memorable. A type of multi-literacy.
What is one big thing/element/value you consider when you are facilitating? Acknowledging and understanding who is in the room and being flexible enough to pivot to make the experience tailored to their needs. Sorta like a good DJ who knows how to read and move any crowd.
Abdul-Haqq (Hawk) Khalifah
lead Facilitator
Programs Director
Full-time graduate student in library school.
Alia Ghabra is a queer and transmasculine white Syrian person working, living, and loving on Huichin, occupied Ohlone land. Before becoming the Program Fellowship Director for Agency by Design Oakland, they were a middle school humanities teacher for over a decade. In addition to imagining and designing for more liberatory public schools, Alia is a passionate farmer and aspiring homesteader, an artist, gamer, and avid book lover. They live with their wife, dog, two cats, 4 chickens, 7 quails, and many plants, in East Oakland, CA.
What is your facilitator strength? One of my facilitator strengths is learning in public and acknowledging when I don't know something.
What brings you joy as a facilitator? Hearing feedback from participants that they felt human, or loved, or just that they could be themselves. Being a part of creating that space makes everyone feel joy.
Alia Suad al-Ghabra
Fellowship Programs Director*
See It Co-facilitator
Former middle school science teacher, currently doing teacher professional development at California Academy of Sciences.
What brings you joy as a facilitator? I feel a lot of joy and satisfaction when there gets to be some degree of iteration, whether that be on an idea, activity, and theme. I think we can take away important things from one pass on something, but spiraling around again can create a lot of richness and a deeper relationship with your learning whether that iteration happens right away or years later.
What is something you are working on/thinking about as a facilitator? I've only been doing facilitation for a little over a year, so there's a lot that I'm working and thinking on! I think one theme is finding a balance between structure and open-endedness. Too much open-endedness and ambiguity might feel overwhelming, while too much structure might feel limiting and close you in. I'm lately trying to find the right mix of structure that invites you in, but open enough to express yourself creatively and authentically.
Julia Cheng
Co-facilitator
Co-Facilitator Engage & Explore
AbDO graphic designer, website, and social media campaigns. Lead Teacher at Mills College Children’s Lab School
What is one big thing/element/value you consider when you are facilitating? How can we design our time together in a way that is USEFUL for teachers, that offers actionable ideas, that reminds US as educators of our agency, that lets our creativity lose and creates space for excitement, inspiration, and hope?
What brings you joy as a facilitator? I love connecting with other teachers out here keeping beauty and creativity and care alive in their school communities. It makes me so happy to see resources and ideas and empathy be shared between educators, and to be a part of a collective experience of feeling seen, heard, and ultimately, not alone.
Kara Fleshman
Communications Manager*
Director of Strategic Operations
Jane is a former AbDO teacher fellow, OUSD teacher and instructional coach, ACOE program director and consultant focused on systems, social justice and joy. Jane is excited to raise folx awareness in the Bay and beyond of AbDO’s special sauce. Her core values are freedom, community and joy. Some of her joys include the Golden State Warriors, hot cheetos and her dog Gogumah.
What is one big thing/element/value you consider when you are facilitating? One element I consider when I facilitate is how I’m designing and considering opportunities for deep, honest and transformative connection amongst the humans in the space.
What brings you joy as a facilitator? What brings me joy as a facilitator is watching people discover their inherent and unique superpower over time.
Jane Lee
Director of strategic operations*
Executive Director
Recognizing the importance of working with the hands, mind, and body to increase engagement and understanding, Paula has incorporated experiential learning practices from the beginning of her 25+ year career in education. From her time as an elementary school classroom teacher to her current role as ED, Paula has kept steady in her belief in the power of collaboration, creativity, and joy to cultivate empowering learning spaces.
Paula finds personal joy in dance, laughing, and the giant Redwoods.
What is your facilitator strength? Creating warm welcoming space for participants. When folx feel welcomed in, that’s the first step to belonging and helps open the heart & mind to new possibilities.
What is something you are working on/thinking about as a facilitator? I’m always working on finding the balance between when to allow participants to figure things out for themselves, i.e engage in productive struggle, and when to step in to offer support. It’s a nuanced dance that requires constant attention.
Paula mitchell
Executive director*
*At AbDO, as we believe in continuous growth, everyone in leadership positions also serve as practicing lead facilitators
2024-2025 collaborating Facilitators:
Aaron Vanderwerff
Cicely Day
2022-2024 Collaborating Facilitators + Program Leads: Quinn Ranahan, Dora Ramos-Medrano