Who We Are: Staff and Consultants

Laura Talmus, Executive Director and Co-founder

Laura Talmus founded Beyond Differences along with her husband, Averell “Ace” Smith, following the unexpected death of their daughter Lili Rachel Smith in October 2009. Laura has run the day-to-day operations of Beyond Differences as a volunteer since its founding and was hired by the Board of Directors as its first Executive Director in August 2015. With over thirty-five years experience in running and consulting to non- profit organizations, she is passionate about bringing awareness to the issue of adolescent social isolation. Ace and Laura have a 25-year old son, Abram. They live in Marin County. Contact Laura at [email protected]

Laurel Druke, Operations and Development Manager

Laurel Druke comes to Beyond Differences with over six years in international education where she specialized in serving students learning English and creating a sense of belonging for those new to the American culture. As a student and professional at Dominican University of CA, she worked to extend the student community to include the ELS international students. With her dynamic personality and background, Laurel brings a new energy to the team. With a double degree in Business/Accounting and Political Science from Dominican University of CA and a Masters in Public Administration from University of San Francisco, she hopes her work through Beyond Differences will make diverse changes in social justice in the world. Contact Laurel at [email protected]

Sally Kuhlman, Director of National Programs

Sally Kuhlman comes to Beyond Differences with over 20 years of leadership and communications expertise. For many years, she ran her own consulting business providing support to small businesses, nonprofits and entrepreneurs in online marketing, business development, and project management. Sally is passionate about the mission of Beyond Differences to end adolescent social isolation. She, along with her wife, Celia Graterol, raised three children in Marin County. Through her children, she witnessed what social isolation felt like prompting her to join the middle school’s diversity board to help problem solve around the issues some of the students were facing, social isolation being one of the big issues. Sally majored in Social Ecology at UC Irvine and studied Project Management at UC Berkeley. In her free time, Sally enjoys roller skating, reading, social media, blogging, taking photos and hiking on the beautiful trails in Marin County. Contact Sally at [email protected]

Sheri Louis, Regional Program Manager, Portland, OR

Sheri Louis has worked with hundreds of parents and children through Mindful Parenting PDX, a business which she created to teach parenting and social skills in order to transform the culture of classrooms and student social dynamics. Prior to that she taught Special Education and Elementary Education in Quito, Ecuador and in Maine for 13 years. She received a Bachelor of Arts in both Elementary Education and in Special Education from Lesley University as well as a Masters in Science in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama. She lives in Portland, OR with her husband and two children.

Sheri feels privileged to be working for Beyond Differences to help bring attention to social isolation in middle schools in Portland, OR. Having worked with children for over 20 years and now having a high school student and a middle school student of her own, she is passionate about empowering students to create a community where they feel acknowledged and accepted. Contact Sheri at [email protected]

Dr. Louise Malandra, Regional Program Manager, Oakland

Dr. Malandra brings over 30 years of experience in the field of education as a teacher, school and program administrator. She is nationally recognized as a consultant with a reputation for inspiring educators to foster the potential of children and young adults. She has spent most of her career working with parents, teachers, school and district administrators to promote and support rigorous, and transformational learning environments that recognize the negative effects of student isolation incorporates the diversity of student learning styles, promotes cultural competency, student advocacy, and collaborative learning communities. Dr. Malandra has both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and an EdD degree specializing in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of San Francisco. She lives in Oakland with her husband Lewis and son Darian. She is honored to be a part of the Beyond Differences community and will focus her work with the Oakland Unified School District. Contact Louise at [email protected]

Dr. Lisette Ostrander, Director of Education Programs

Karina Parada , Administrative and Event Coordinator, Marin

Karina Parada comes to Beyond Differences with 8 years of administrative experience. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2015 with a BA in History. The focus of her education was the analysis of the development of the working-class women during the first Industrial Revolution, through the eyes of literary writers during that time. Karina believes that historically underrepresented groups are still struggling for equality and educational equity, but through study and good-works, every act of kindness builds to close those social gaps. In 2017, Karina and a small group of individuals started their own budding nonprofit, Love Is…, that helps connect low-income and isolated senior citizens to community members for companionship and get-togethers during the holiday season. Karina is very passionate about the betterment of her community and is excited to pass Beyond Differences’ message to end social isolation to schools, parents, and local leaders in Solano County. Contact Karina at [email protected]

David Tarpinian, Regional Program Manager, Marin

David Tarpinian comes to Beyond Differences after a successful career as a high school English teacher. Hired in 1993 at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, CA, David was initially brought on to create programs to engage and support marginalized students. He went on to create several award-winning and sustainable programs including AIM ( The Academy of Integrated Humanities and Media Studies ), Peer Resource, Academic Workshop, and The Summer School Transition Program. Originally from Maine, David moved to CA in 1990, leaving residential real estate development behind to become an educator. He and his wife, Debra, live in Petaluma, CA and when not gardening both are competitive equestrians. Contact David at [email protected]

Laura Congdon, Grant Writing Consultant

Laura started her career in Bay Area non-profits 24 years ago at Juma Ventures, a San Francisco non-profit serving at-risk youth where she could merge her management experience and desire to make a difference in the lives of low-income, at-risk youth. Her roles at Juma Ventures included; General Manager of social purpose business enterprises, Training Director and Ballpark Co-Director.

Laura was hooked on non-profit work after that and went on to have leadership roles at other youth development and social enterprise focused organizations in San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond and for a short time in Minneapolis. Over the years Laura has worked at Community Vocational Enterprises (Business Director), the International Institute of San Francisco’s - Youth Cares (Director of Youth Programs), BUILD Oakland (Site Director), Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco (Outcome Measurement Director & Interim Area Director), EmergeWORKS (General Manager), Pogo Park (Deputy Director & Director of Strategic Partnerships). Due to her many roles she has experience working in all aspects of non-profits from grant writing, human resources and program development to outcome measurement, strategic planning, curriculum development, and training/staff professional development. Laura has a track record of building and leading happy, high functioning teams both small and large. She especially loves to coach and mentor young emerging leaders.

Laura currently lives in El Cerrito with her partner Kelly and their 15-year-old son.

Barbara Zamost, Zamost Public Relations

Barbara Zamost has developed regional and national publicity programs for a wide range of clients including 7-Eleven, Sutter Home Winery, Ghirardelli Square, The San Francisco Recording Academy, The Clorox Company, Rainforest Café, Warren Miller Entertainment, Stanford University Hospital, and Beyond Differences. Through her work with Brazer Communications, Zamost is currently part of the public relations team on The Bay Lights, the monumental art sculpture on The Bay Bridge.

Zamost has placed clients on national news programs including The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, NPR, CNBC, and more. Print placements have included USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, Redbook, LA Times, Associated Press, InStyle, Real Simple, Businessweek, Woman’s World, Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle.

Zamost is the author of Handstands in the Sand, a children's book that was published in 1992. She studied literature and contemporary British theatre at University College, Oxford University in England, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Emory University in Atlanta.