Zareen Kasad joined the BGCP family when she started volunteering as a tutor at the Mervin G. Morris clubhouse in December, 2005. Passionate about helping youth develop the skills they need to succeed in school, she is now the Director of the CNG After School Program at Hoover School. While working closely with the school, she also collaborates with other organizations in various community youth development projects such as Youth in the Middle and Redwood City 2020. In addition to her work at the club, Zareen volunteers at Youth and Family Enrichment Services (YFES) as a Crisis Counselor, offering support in suicide prevention, drug & alcohol crisis and prevention, and parent & child relations. She also serves as a mentor for teenage girls in San Mateo County's Juvenile Court Girls Program.

After growing up in the Bay Area, Zareen moved to Vermont and received her B.A. in Neuroscience and a minor in Spanish from Middlebury College. She also spent five months in Segovia, Spain, to further her study of the Spanish language and culture at the Universidad S.E.K. With the hopes of pursuing a graduate degree in Counseling Psychology, Zareen remains very passionate about teaching today 's youth how to lead healthy lives and make the right decisions, especially when it comes to choices they make in school. Every single day she comes to work, her goal remains the same: to encourage each scholar to aim higher and to help them realize what they can do for themselves and the community.

Elizabeth Calderon (Liz) is currently a junior at San Jose State University and plans to graduate with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Mexican American Studies. Wanting to give back to her community and be a positive role model for the youth in Redwood City, Liz decided to work at the Center for a New Generation after school program at Hoover School.

She loves helping children understand the importance of education, and definitely encourages all the students in the program to make the most of the many educational opportunities they are given. In addition to providing academic enrichment for the 8th graders, Liz leads several discussions and activities that are meant to prepare our CNG 8th graders for high school and help them understand the differences between public and private schools. The children as well as the community are very important to her because she feels as though she can help change the future of both.

She lives by a quote from Aristotle, which states, “We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act but a habit.” Besides going to school and working, Liz loves to do outdoor activities such as walking, camping, and water rafting.

“Life, Love, & Music” has always been Monique Martinez's personal quote and what she lives for. Monique was born in Stockton, California, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with her family when she was 6 years old. She grew up in a musically talented family, where she was able to learn the art of being a singer. At just 8 years of age, Monique began attending singing lessons at Studio Z in Redwood City. Soon after, she started competing in many state competitions and festivals surrounding the Bay Area. As she continued to perform throughout high school, she slowly began to find herself through self-expression.

Monique graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School, already knowing the many sides of the music industry. As music continues to be her passion, she finds helping kids to be equally rewarding as it is to perform in front of thousands of people. She joined the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula to help youth follow their dreams and guide them through school to receive a good education. She has helped kids by supporting their passions and helping them build greater confidence and self esteem. By setting a good example for youth, Monique slowly helps the community encourage more kids to stay motivated in school. She wants to make a difference by showing the youth and young scholars that if they too believe in their passion, they can make it far.

Dennis Alaba was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He attended Archbishop Riordan High School, where he played basketball, baseball, and football for all four years. He continued his education at San Jose State University, pursuing his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology with a minor in Business. Dennis's passion for sports has led him to inspire young kids to be active throughout their daily lives. He decided to work for the Center for a New Generation after school program at Hoover School so that he could continue inspiring kids and teach them how to stay healthy. In addition to facilitating academic enrichment activities for our 7th graders, Dennis leads all of the program's exercises and sports classes. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and traveling around the world.

Kristine Tulio is currently the 5th grade Academic Mentor for the CNG program at Hoover. As a recent graduate from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and an emphasis in Pre-Med, she has creatively applied her background and passion for science by pioneering the science curriculum for the wonderful scholars at CNG. With the help of her site director, Zareen, and fellow mentors, she has led the successful delivery of science concepts to the students and helped spark their interests in science and ultimately, learning in an after-school program. With her strong passion for culture and nutrition as well, she has also led several culture and nutrition classes, exposing the students to different ethnic foods and traditions and healthy living. She enjoys pursuing her passion of education and reaching out to vulnerable youth at Hoover. As a fortunate product of a Jesuit collegiate education, she recognizes the importance of an excellent education and hopes to contribute to the closing of the educational opportunity gap by sharing her experience and knowledge. The most rewarding part of her position is witnessing her students succeed academically and socially. 

Kristine is currently in the Post-Baccalaureate Program for Health Professions at UC Berkeley Extension. She is also strenuously studying for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), which she will be taking this coming May. During her free time, she enjoys dancing, shopping, exploring the outdoors, and spending valuable time with family and friends.

Leila Asgari was born in San Diego, CA and moved to San Mateo, CA when she was eight years old.  She attended Hillsdale High School, where she took three years of Art, including Ceramics.  She then continued her education at College of San Mateo were she pursues a degree in Administration of Justice.

Leila has a really big family, and is close to everyone, especially her younger cousins, nieces and nephews.  Having such a big family has inspired Leila to work with kids and be the older sister or mentor figure to them. She finds it very rewarding and inspiring to work with youth, and she believes the best part is feeling that she is changing a scholar's life in a positive way. “It is one of the most rewarding things anyone can go through,” she says. She joined Center for a New Generation to help the students at Hoover School by inspiring them to further their education and show them the importance of never giving up and always trying their best.  Leila also leads the Art program at CNG Hoover. 

In her own time, besides school and working, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends by doing outdoor activities such as sky diving, camping, traveling and swimming.

Having been a member of the Mervin G. Morris Clubhouse since he was six years old, Alex's involvement in the club has been deeply rooted in athletics. However, he has and continues to make contributions to the club across the board. Perez currently serves as the President of the teen leadership group, Keystone Club, where he has volunteered several hours organizing and leading several community service projects, recycling initiatives, community discussions, fundraisers, and clubhouse events. As a selected member of the Steering Committee, he collaborated with other teens to organize a successful and empowering Pacific Region Keystone Conference for over 350 teens in 2009.

After working as a teen staff for 3 consecutive summers, Alex now mentors middle school students in the Center for a New Generation after school program at Hoover Community School. There, Alex tutors in Math and English and facilitates Smart Moves life skills classes for 5 th grade boys as well as a creative art class and video making class to various middle school students.

Alex's passion for graphic design and media art has allowed him to produce various promotional flyers and videos for the club and has also led him to pursue a career in Marketing. In 2009, he received the “Video of the Year” award for a beautiful film he directed and edited about homeless youth as part of the Adobe Youth Voices Film Festival. With hopes of attending a four-year university, Alex hopes to acquire additional skills he will need to give back to his community in bigger ways.

Brenden Cavlan
5th Grade CNG Mentor
Since 2010

At a young age Brenden Cavlan was encouraged to volunteer his time and energy to help those in need, including Sundays at St. Anthony Padua's in Redwood City (Menlo Park) with his grandparents. He attended Homestead High School, De Anza College and graduated from San Jose State with a double major in Anthropology and Behavioral Science and a minor in Spanish. Brenden moved to Ireland for two years where he earned his Masters degree in Ethnic and Racial Studies. His interests lie in music, language, history and culture, and he is passionate about social justice.

Brenden has worked in many different areas, including retail, hi-tech, and advertising. However, working with kids has inspired him most; both as an adult ESL instructor and as volunteer working with refugees and asylum-seekers. As a volunteer, he witnessed what a big difference that a little extra help can make in the lives of young people that might otherwise get left behind. Brenden believes that BCGP is a place where he can continue to make a difference. He whole-heartedly believes in CNG's mission of developing the attitudes and life skills that our scholars need to thrive in the busy Bay Area. The more equipped our kids are to graduate high school and pursue further training and education, the more it will benefit all of our community.

Rosita Mancilla
6th Grade CNG Mentor
Since 2010

Rosie was born and raised in the bay area and is currently a liberal arts student at National Hispanic University.  She graduated from Los Altos High School, where she discovered her passion for working with the Latin community.  During her years at Los Altos High School, Rosie was the Latin Student Union President for 3 years, an Ambassador Officer, and had many roles in student government, including Vice President and Outreach Director.  In each of her roles, she was a spokesperson for her fellow peers and represented the Latin community.  But she didn’t stop there.  She wanted to make a difference at her school but also in her larger community.  Her goal was to change the negative stereotype that existed for Latinos and be a positive role model to those around her. 

Rosie has had years of experience mentoring and tutoring students at local elementary schools, where she spent much time working with several at-risk students and helping them turn their lives around.  She has always been involved with the Latin community and has focused her time trying to address the various social and educational issues that they face.  At CNG, she has the pleasure of working with both.  She loves working with the 6th graders and helping them progress with their school work.

In addition to working with youth, Rosie likes spending time with her family, dancing, and photography.

Christine Williams was born and raised in the bay area. She graduated from Menlo-Atherton high school in 2005. During high school she began volunteering with students at Belle Haven elementary school and discovered her passion for working with kids. Christine continued this interest at UC Santa Barbara where she attended college. At UCSB she studied Global Studies and spent much of her time outside of the classroom mentoring and tutoring elementary school aged children. She was also lucky enough to spend a semester learning Spanish in Cordoba, Spain and traveling throughout Europe.

Last summer Christine volunteered as a camp counselor for Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times and discovered that even though adults are supposed to be the ones teaching the children, we end up learning the most. Christine graduated from UCSB last September and is still trying to figure out what to do with her life, but is grateful for the opportunity CNG has given her to interact with such amazing kids everyday.

In addition to working with kids, Christine enjoys photography and traveling.