Sage Mentorship Project
UC Berkeley's Largest One-on-One Elementary School Mentoring Program
Executive Board
Danielle Nieto
President
Major: MCB Neurobiology
Hometown: Danville, CA
Sage Experience: 3 semesters
Plans After College: Med School
Favorite Sage Memory: When I walked into the kindergarten classroom I was mentoring in and 3 kiddos dropped what they were doing and ran straight to me to give me the biggest hugs. Before I knew it the entire class had formed a line to hug me and say hello!
Fun Fact About You: My favorite food is potatoes:)
Kiely Bol
VP Membership
Major: Psychology with an Intended Child Development minor
Hometown: Danville, CA
Sage Experience: 3 semester, 2nd semester on leadership!
Plans After College: I plan on going to grad school to earn my doctorate in clinical psychology, eventually becoming a clinical neuropsycholgist!
Favorite Sage Memory: decorating Xmas cookies with my mentee and I was the messiest one :D
Fun Fact About You: I sing bass in acapella
Chloe Phely-Bobin
Co-VP of Alumni
Major: Political Science, Linguistics Minor
Sage Experience: 4 semesters!
Plans After College: Attend law school
Favorite Sage Memory: Getting schooled by third graders in island ball
Fun Fact About You: My roommate and I listened to a combined total of 14,000 minutes of Taylor Swift in 2021.
Jackson Gress
Co-VP of Alumni
Major: Economics
Sage Experience: 4 semester!
Plans After College: Not sure yet
Favorite Sage Memory: When my mentee wrote me a super sweet thank you card at the end of the semester
Fun Fact About You: I love fishing
Athene Yu
VP Finance
Hometown:
Major: Intended Business Administration
Sage Experience: 4 semesters!
Plans After College:
Favorite Sage Memory: When my mentee came running to me, screaming my name to show me the class pet
Fun Fact About You: I have never cried during a sad movie
Winnie Cheng
VP
Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Major: Psychology + Legal Studies
Sage Experience: 4 semesters!
Plans After College: I would love to work with undeserved communities by combining my passions in both law and psych!
Favorite Sage Memory: One time a girl asked me over Zoom if I wanted to see her blanket fort, and when she gave me a tour, her puppy was inside!
Fun Fact About You: I love bees, frogs, and mushrooms
Zucel Rodriguez
VP Outreach
Major: Integrative Biology
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Sage Experience: 4 semesters
Plans After College: Med School
Favorite Sage Memory: Making meme references with my mentee in their After school program
Fun Fact About You: I play the guitar every now and then
Nella Batah
VP Communications
Major: Nutritional Sciences: Physiology & Metabolism
Sage Experience: 3 semesters
Plans After College: medical school!
Favorite Sage Memory:
Working with my first grade class on their Halloween pumpkin drawings this past fall! I was able to make my own pumpkin and bond with the kids while cracking jokes!
Fun Fact About You: I am a black belt in karate!
Sophia Velilla
Managing Director
Major: Integrative Biology
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Sage Experience: 5 semesters
Plans After College: Attend medical School
Favorite Sage Memory: The first time I met my 1st grade mentee! Once we were introduced, she had the biggest smile on her face and gave me a hug. She was so excited to spend time with me and I knew from that moment, we would have a great time together!
Fun Fact About You: I went to an all girls highschool in Sacramento, CA that the movie Ladybird is based on!
School Directors
Allison Hersh
Acorn Woodland
Major: Psychology
Sage Experience: 2 semesters!
Plans After College:My plans after involve working to strengthen mental health programs in Title I schools.
Favorite Sage Memory: My favorite Sage memory is meeting my class for the first time. It was such a great and memorable experience!
Fun Fact About You: Fun fact is that my birthday is on New Years.
Juliana Hartley
Ruth Acty
Major: Integrative Biology
Sage Experience: 3 semesters!
Plans After College: Attend medical school
Favorite Sage Memory: My favorite Sage memory is when my mentee and I created a makeshift hopscotch court using potholes and leaves when all the recess toys were taken. We had such a good time!
Fun Fact About You:A fun fact about me is that I was born on New Year’s Day!
Angie Quintero
Emerson
Major: Sociology
Hometown: Los Angeles
Sage Experience: 4 semesters
Plans After College: work with children
Favorite Sage Memory: coloring with my mentee, Magda
Fun Fact About You: I am ambidextrous
Kayla Badie
Fairmont Elementary
Major: psych & education
Hometown: Santa Clarita
Sage Experience: 3 semesters
Plans After College: to teach elementary school
Favorite Sage Memory: butterfly visions with my mentee Akito
Fun Fact About You: I taught myself to juggle last semester
Berkeley Arts Magnet
Rosemary Su
Major: Integrative Biology
Sage Experience: 6 semesters!
Plans After College: I plan to pursue a career in the medical field
Favorite Sage Memory:
My favorite SAGE memory is when my mentee and her friends wrote a story of themselves with magical powers and included me in it (my power was I could grow plants)!
Fun Fact About You: I am a plant mom and I have growing collection of 28+ plants in my apartment!
John Muir
Mia Heavin
Major: Public Health
Hometown: Long Beach, CA
Sage Experience: 2 semesters!
Plans after college: I plan on going to school to be a Physicians Assistant
Favorite Sage memory: going to John Muir on my first day and one of the girls making me an origami flower
Fun fact: I am on the Cal Cheerleading team!
Oxford
Arim Hong
Major: Molecular and Cell Biology
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Sage Experience: 2 semesters
Plans After College: Going to grad school and medical school
Favorite Sage Memory: One of my mentees suddenly running towards me and asking me to hold him for a bit.
Fun Fact About You: I love food and my original plans were to become a chef!
Thousand Oaks
Melissa Gonzalez
Major: Business Administration & Economics
Hometown: Calexico, CA
Sage Experience: since fall 2019
Plans After College: work as an auditor in Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP in Los Angeles
Favorite Sage Memory: I went to BAM with my three mentees, Indigo, Sara, and Maya, and they noticed I didn’t have my hair done that day. They decided it would be fun to play beauty salonand they made me a flower crown out of the school’s plants and grass. They were super excited that I was letting them play with my hair and their laughs were contagious. I was expecting a whole mess in my hair but they actually did a decent job. We had so much fun that day and I left my flower crown in my hair all day.
Fun Fact About You: I read 26 books last year!
Finance, Marketing, & Social Team
Natalie Grover
Finance Chair
Major: Cognitive Science
Hometown: Santa Barbara
Sage Experience: Three Semesters
Plans After College: take a gap year and travel before going to grad school
Favorite Sage Memory: having a Halloween party with my kindergarten mentees
Fun Fact About You: I won a lemon meringue pie eating contest
CJ Cabanero
Finance Chair
Major: Business Administration, Data Science Minor
Hometown: Daly City, CA
Sage Experience: 2 semesters!
Plans After College: I plan to go to graduate school to obtain my MBA
Favorite Sage Memory: Playing basketball with my mentee and teaching him some new movies to practice on. Then the week after I showed him the moves, he used it when we were playing 2v2 against his classmates and alley- ooped it to me to to dunk the ball! That was a fun experience for the both of us and I loved seeing the smile and joy my mentee had on their face
Fun Fact About You: I co- founded a non- profit organization that combines the fun sport of basketball aspect and the professional development aspect together!
fundraising2@sagementorship.org
Chimkasimna Mbakwe
VP Social
Major: Bioengineering
Hometown: Abuja, Nigeria
Plans After College: medical school, hopefully!
Favorite Sage Memory: helping the kids open their meals during lunch and listening to their crazy funny stories
Fun Fact About You: I played the saxophone
Summer Shams
Decal Facilitator
Major: English
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Sage Experience: mentor at John Muir since fall '22
Favorite Sage Memory: the day I met my mentee and all day he couldn't stop calling me mama it was so adorable!
Fun Fact About You: I have a french bulldog named Toast!
Founder
Alejandro Velez
With the realization that there was a great need for a mentorship program that grounded itself in forging powerful, long-lasting relationships with the youth in the greater Berkeley and Oakland community, Alejandro founded Sage in 2008. Alejandro began Sage with a vision of creating a program in which UC Berkeley mentors could be paired up with an elementary student and serve not only as teachers but also as friends and role models. To this day Alejandro is very close to his mentee, Cleveland.
Since his graduation, he has gone on to have a very successful career driven by the same entrepreneurial spirit to find ways to better the world around him. Alejandro now serves as the co-founder of Back to the Roots, an Oakland-based business that sells mushroom kits and AquaFarm fish tanks to retailers nationwide. Since co-founding BTTR, Alejandro has even been named as one of Inc.’s 30 Under 30, Poder's 2010 Influential Hispanics Under 40, Forbes’ 30 Under 30, CNN’s 10 Next Entrepreneur’s to Watch, and been recognized by President Obama!