Closing the Gap

Board of Directors

Dr. Vanessa Sheared
President
Dr. BJ Snowden
Vice President
Marielle Tsukamoto
Secretary
Larry Brooks
Treasurer
Christina Bria
Marketing Director/Communications
Sheri Hofer
Grants/Donor Relations
Kais Menoufy
Founding Member/Mentorship

Closing the Gap Supporters

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is highlighting the impact of Closing the Gap, an organization that expands educational opportunities for underserved students in the Sacramento region. Faber emphasizes the alarming number of students who are unable to apply to college due to unmet academic requirements.
Drawing from his own experience as a first-generation college graduate, Faber underscores the importance of access to education and the life-changing opportunities it creates. He points to Closing the Gap’s role in raising funds and supporting vetted nonprofit organizations that directly benefit students.
The organization also prioritizes accountability, ensuring donations are directed to legitimate programs that make a measurable difference. Faber encourages the community to support Closing the Gap, noting its mission to give students the resources and opportunities needed to achieve greater success.
Sacramento Police Chief Sam Somers shares why the work Closing the Gap is doing makes such a positive impact. The Sacramento Police Foundation’s Criminal Justice Academy is one of the local programs helping local students that receives funds from Closing the Gap. The organization identifies, screens, and then funds local programs focused on closing the academic achievement gap in the Sacramento region. Closing the Gap’s annual fundraiser, The Great Cake Walk, brings the top bakeries together for an evening of tasting amazing cakes, old-fashioned cake walks, and compelling stories of how Closing the Gap is helping hundreds of students set and achieve goals to attend college. Chief Somers is even offering to buy lunch for the highest bidder during the auction at The Great Cake Walk.
More Supporters
  • Congressman Ami Bera, California 7th Congressional District U.S. House of Representatives
  • Christina Bria, Delegata Corporation
  • Aubrey Currington, 100 Black Men
  • Curtis Dao, CTG student graduate, CTG Advisory Council
  • Kirk Dowdell, President, Sacramento Police Foundation
  • Urijah Faber, MMA Champion
  • Jon Fish, President, Sacramento Area Interfaith Service Bureau
  • Danny Glover, American actor, film director and political activist
  • Chief Daniel Hahn, Chief Roseville Police Department
  • Helen Haig, HAH Consulting
  • Linda P.B. Katehi, Chancellor UC Davis
  • William B. Lacey, Vice Provost and Professor, University of California, Davis
  • Wazhma Mojaddidi, Attorney at Law
  • Rev. Michael Moran, Oneness Ministries
  • U.S. Marshal Albert Najera, CTG Advisory Council
  • Honorable Gary E. Ransom, Sacramento County Superior Court
  • Vice Mayor Jay Schenirer, Sacramento City Council
  • Mahmoud Sharif, Sharif’s Jewelers
  • Dr.  Vanessa Sheared, Education Consultant
  • Chief Sam Somers, Chief Sacramento Police Department
  • Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Mayor of Sacramento 
  • Councilmember Allen Wayne Warren, Sacramento City Council, CTG Advisory Council
  • Former Assemblymember Mariko Yamada, California State Assembly