Deanna is an educator and school administrator, practitioner, community organizer, and policy advocate. She started her career as a teacher and the education director at a group home and nonpublic school that used a comprehensive, developmental approach that rested on community building and an early version of restorative justice. Later as the policy analyst for the Alameda County Department of Social Services, she participated in early local and state level efforts to change the approach, and assumptions in the field to focus on leveraging family strengths and better provide early support. For over fifteen years, she supported and coached districts, local government agencies, and potential partners in cross-sector approaches to supporting students and their families. She leveraged this on the ground experience to work on systems and policy change at the state level, in areas including: school meals, nutrition education, family engagement, social emotional learning, school climate and mental health services. In 2021 as a special consultant through the CDE Foundation, Deanna was part of the team in the California Department of Education to design and launch the CA Community Schools Partnership Program – grant application and technical assistance system. She holds a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley, and a Masters of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.