DMA Welcomes New Faculty and Staff
This year, De Marillac Academy welcomed seven new faculty and staff members! We are excited to introduce our newest members: Sister Teresa Contreras, Shirmila Cooray, Lixaden Felix, Clare Wodja Kunst and Sofia Sanchez. We also welcomed back Colleen Kramer and Tanner Ortel in new roles as associate teachers. We are so happy to have them on our team. Get to know our newest Saints and check out their bios below.
Sister Teresa Contreras
Office Manager & Student Service Center Coordinator
Sister Teresa Contreras is a Daughter of Charity and joined the community two years ago out of San Francisco. Previously, she was a Spanish teacher in various Bay Area schools. In the summer of 2020, she was missioned to serve at De Marillac Academy. Sister Teresa is excited to share and learn the Vincentian charism. She is originally from a small town in Mexico and grew up partly in San Francisco, where she graduated from Mission High School and attended college in Oakland. She is thrilled to be back in the Bay Area. Within her new life as a Daughter of Charity, Sister Teresa enjoys the outdoors, reading, playing music and bicycle riding. She is glad that De Marillac Academy is part of her journey!
Shirmila Cooray
Director of Development
Shirmila Cooray joins us from the Center for Youth Wellness where she partnered with Founder and California's first Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, as the lead frontline fundraiser. With over ten years of experience and expertise in nonprofit operations, events, committee management and major gifts fundraising, she is passionate about creating strategies that develop solid and rewarding major gift programs. Shirmila believes in building lasting, authentic relationships with donors to acquire transformational gifts. Prior to Center for Youth Wellness, she held various fundraising positions at UNICEF USA, The Asia Foundation, the National Democratic Institute, the Brookings Institution and the U.S. Campaign for Burma. Shirmila holds a bachelor's degree from Colby College and a master's degree in nonprofit management from the University of San Francisco. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, she now lives in Bayview Hunters Point with her husband and daughter.
Lixsaden Felix
Lower-School Humanities & Associate Teacher
Lixsaden Felix is motivated by DMA’s holistic approach to learning, which she believes is important when learning about history and other cultures. She is excited to bring her knowledge of history to DMA and encourages students and others to ask questions and conduct their own research. She earned a bachelor’s degree in public and oral history from California State University, San Bernardino, and has worked at different museums and archives, both in California and Washington D.C., including March Field Air Museum and the Smithsonian. Lixsaden also spent time as the social media supervisor for the Buford A. Johnson Chapter of The Tuskegee Association in southern California. She grew up in Riverside where one of her favorite activities was to spend her nights running up a hill in downtown Riverside called Mt. Rubidoux.
Clare Wodja Kunst
Lower-School STEM & 5th Grade Lead Teacher
Clare Wojda Kunst’s passion for educational equity and social justice shapes her teaching. Through revealing to her students their individual brilliance and collective talents, she seeks to help them recognize their responsibility in creating a more just world. Originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota, Clare was formed through education by the Christian Brothers and Jesuits. She received a master’s in education from the University of Notre Dame and holds a graduate certificate in Culturally Responsive Teaching from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She finds joys in community building, curling up on the couch to read a good book and loving Jesus. Clare is excited and humbled to be part of the De Marillac family.
Sofia Sanchez
Middle-School Humanities & 7th Grade Lead Teacher
Sofia is proud to be a San Francisco native, born and raised in the Mission District. She brings a long-standing passion for educating youth, which she discovered at the age of fourteen when she started working at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center. Prior to joining DMA, she worked in the Bayview community at One Purpose School. Additionally, she worked at Up On Top, an after-school and summer program that creates engaging and educational activities for students in the Tenderloin. She graduated from Sacramento State University with two bachelor’s degrees in recreation, parks and tourism administration and women's studies. Sofia is currently enrolled as a graduate student at San Francisco State University, pursuing a master’s degree in special education focused on students with mild-moderate support needs. Her mission in life is to empower BIPOC youth from low-income communities and create social change.
Colleen Kramer
Middle-School religion & 6th Grade Lead
Colleen Kramer strongly believes in the core values of De Marillac Academy and strives to always live out those values in her classroom. Previously, she worked as a member for BAYAC- Americorps, through this she had the opportunity to work closely with the students at De Marillac as an academic advisor, prefect, and teacher. Colleen earned her bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where she studied criminal justice and sociology. She currently resides in Oakland, loves listening to music and making people laugh. Excited to be part of the De Marillac community, Colleen is committed to building strong relationships with DMA students in every way possible.
Tanner Ortel
Teacher Associate
Tanner Oertel is excited to bring his creative arts background and passion for learning to De Marillac Academy. Over the past few years, he has worked as a substitute teacher for school districts in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland. While substitute teaching, he also worked backstage for several professional theater companies including Berkeley Repertory Theater and The Curran. Tanner has earned bachelor's and master's degrees in theater arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz where he worked for a touring educational program, Shakespeare-to-Go. He is proud to be a part of the De Marillac community and help DMA students to do their best.