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Welcome New Faculty 2020-2021

Cynthia Brannvall

Fine Arts & Communication — Art History

Cynthia Brannvall is a California native of African American and Swedish descent. She is a multi-media artist and art historian. Her academic journey began at Foothill College, where she excelled as an honors scholar, receiving an A.A. in Humanities and the Excellence in Art History award. Cynthia has undergraduate degrees in Art Practice and Art History from UC Berkeley, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa and a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and was awarded the Departmental Citation for her research in Art History. She has an M.A. in Art History from San Francisco State University with an emphasis on Modern and Contemporary art. Cynthia's artwork explores identity formation envisioned in an imagined deep time terrain of memory, reclamation, and the geographies of forced and voluntary migrations. Her artwork has selected for juried group exhibitions in Berkeley, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Rafael, Palo Alto, San Luis Obispo, and Los Angeles. She teaches Art History in the San Francisco bay area.

 

Steve Clemmons 

Fine Arts & Communication — Communication

Steve Clemmons has over twenty years of teaching experience in the field of Communications as an academic debate educator of both high school and college students.  Currently, he coaches in the Coast Forensic League as the Director of Debate at Saratoga High School.  Steve brings to Foothill a diverse teaching career as former Associate Director of Debate and instructor at the University of Oregon, Director of Debate and teacher at Skyline High School in Oakland, Director of Debate and teacher at The Bentley School and a member of the Department of Communications and Director of Debate at Santa Clara University, Macalester College and Loyola Marymount.  Steve has also attended Foothill to finish his undergraduate degree. He has a B.S. in Interpersonal and Small Group Communication from Weber State University, his teaching certification and a certificate in Online Teaching and Learning from Cal State Hayward (Social Studies and English), an M.S. in Education and Leadership from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in Strategic Communication from the University of Iowa. Besides debate, he has been the Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Hopkins HS in Minnetonka, MN, and a Destination Trainer for Classic Vacations, a subsidiary of Expedia. He has a love of sports, having served as a coach for high school football, baseball, and basketball. 

 

Julie Jenkins

Business & Social Science – Anthropology

Julie is a socio-cultural anthropologist and passionate about working with students to interrogate systems of inequality and explore perspectives that they might not otherwise encounter. She has worked for the past nine years at a variety of institutions, including the University of Virginia, Skidmore College, Washington & Lee University, Ball State University, Ivy Tech Community College, and Rutgers University. As a part of her position at Ball State University, she taught anthropology courses to 220 male students in medium and maximum-security prisons, in addition to teaching on campus. Her research examines the intersection between West African indigenous religions and transnational flows of ideas and resources centered on human rights and contemporary forms of slavery. Julie received a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex in Social Anthropology, an MSC from the London School of Economics in Social Anthropology & Development, and a B.A. from DePauw University in Anthropology & Sociology.

 

Ana Maravilla

Disability Resource Center — Counselor

Ana earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Fresno State and a Master's degree in Psychology from Humboldt State University. Before becoming a DRC Counselor, she worked as a school psychologist in Northern California. She has a passion for counseling and is dedicated to supporting students to achieve their goals. Outside of work, she enjoys playing music and traveling.

 

 

Frank Niccoli

Biology & Health Sciences — Horticulture

Frank has taught at Foothill as a part time instructor in Horticulture since 1999, and also taught at Merritt College from 2014 to 2017.

Frank has served as the Chairman for the Environmental Sustainability Task Force for the City of Foster City offering 59 recommendations to the City of Foster City to establish a sustainability policy. In 2012 he was named Water Champion of the Year by Sustainable Silicon Valley for his work in water conservation

The Oprah Winfrey Network selected him as one of the five across the United States whose small acts have a big impact on the sustainable health of the environment. He appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and his appearance resulted in calls for work from Maine to California. Frank is the State Chairman of the California Landscape Contractors Association Education Committee

He built a 25-module Certified Landscape Technician course to teach students skills that will transfer directly to industry. It was nationally recognized in Lawn and Landscape Magazine. He is currently consulting with Deputy Sector Navigators for the Community Colleges across California to teach this curriculum to them.  He is a published poet and a black hat chef.

 

Mayra Palmerin-Aguilera

Disability Resource Center — Counselor

Mayra has worked in various positions at the DRC, most recently, she served as the Interim Dean of DRC & VRC. Before that, she was the Accommodations Instructional Technology Coordinator for the DRC. Her other roles included Accommodations Coordinator and Academic Coach at Foothill. She also has experience as a Mental Health Counselor at Adriana San Millan Psychology and Special Education Services in San Jose and as a teacher for San Juan Unified School District. Mayra's official start date is August 10th.

 

Amy Sarver

Language Arts — English for Second Language Learners

Amy Sarver has taught and developed English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum at Foothill College for many years. She has also taught English composition at San Jose State University. In addition to holding a master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), she also has a master's in Linguistics from San Jose State University and certificates in teaching post-secondary reading and composition from San Francisco State University. Her goals are to make access to community college more equitable and inspire English learners to explore opportunities for advancement beyond ESL. When she isn't teaching, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and making music.