Civicorps | Board of Directors

Rita Isaacs, President

Rita Isaacs spent eight years in international film sales, followed by four years of consultancy in corporate systems design and administration for international film, television and video start-up companies in Los Angeles. Following the birth of her second child, Rita retired to spend the next 20 years homemaking and volunteering. She has served on the on the parent boards of preschool, elementary, middle and high schools as well as for various parent organizations in the city of Piedmont. She also served as Vice President of the Board of Directors at Temple Sinai in Oakland, assisted on their capital campaign, and chaired their 2000-2002 Endowment Campaign.

Eric Premack, Vice President

Eric Premack is the founder and Executive Director of the Charter Schools Development Center (CSDC), a leading provider of policy expertise and technical assistance to charter schools, charter-granting agencies, and policy makers. Premack has played a leading role in the development of the chartered school concept since its inception in his native Minnesota in the 1980s and has helped to draft and implement chartered school legislation in over 25 states, at the federal level, and overseas. He is known for his broad and deep expertise in all aspects of charter school matters and his in-depth grasp of education policy. Prior to founding CSDC, Premack provided consulting services to hundreds of California school districts and previously was a non-partisan education policy analyst for the California Legislature. He is a graduate of both the College and the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy of the University of Chicago.

Craig Bloom, Secretary

Dr. Bloom is currently in private practice in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) in Berkeley, California and serves as Chief of OMS at Alta Bates- Summit Medical Center. He is currently an associate professor of OMS at the University of the Pacific and Highland Hospital Alameda Medical Center in Oakland, CA. Previously he has served as Chairperson of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, Irvine. He lives with his wife in Lafayette and they have two daughters.

Robbie Yohai, Treasurer

Mr. Yohai is a licensed real estate broker and developer. Currently, he is the Managing General Partner for Linden Associates and President of Schaefer Heights, Inc. in Oakland, California.

Dennis Huie

Dennis Huie is a shareholder in the law firm of Roger Joseph O’Donnell where he co-chairs the Employment Practice Group. He represents both public and private employers in employment-related litigation and regularly counsels clients in all aspects of the employment relationship. Mr. Huie also serves as counsel to the risk management department of a large public school district on employment matters including complex disability and leave issues under the ADA, FEHA, FMLA, CFRA and the California Education Code.

Brenda Laribee

Brenda Laribee has been helping to raise money for several nonprofit organizations since 1989, including St. Anthony Foundation, UCSF Children’s Hospital, Sierra Club and Harvard University. Currently she has her own fund development consultancy, working with organizations such as SFJAZZ and Access Institute. Past clients include Friends of the SF Public Library/Hormel Center, Project Inform, Save the Redwoods League, National AIDS Memorial Grove, Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic and San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Brenda holds an MBA from the Simmons School of Management and a BS from the University of New Hampshire. She has served on the Board of Bread & Roses and continues to volunteer with them as well as various other nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area.

Anne Scheer

Anne Scheer is the Chief of Maintenance and Skilled Trades at the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) in Oakland, California. She oversees the Maintenance and Skilled Trades Department, including a staff of 65 regular full-time employees and a $12.4 million budget. She is responsible for all major maintenance of the District’s 68 parks encompassing 98,000 acres of open space. Ms. Scheer has worked her way up at EBRPD, starting in fire services in 1978; working as a Park Ranger until 1983, then shifting to office work as an Administrative Analyst II for 11 years before her promotion to Trades Manager in 1994. Ms. Scheer has been in her present position since 2002. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Amy Slater

Amy Slater was an attorney specializing in intellectual property and other business matters for more than 20 years and was the general counsel of Ask Jeeves, Inc. (now Ask.com) from 1997 to 2000. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law and at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley. In addition to serving on the board of Civicorps Schools, she is also on the boards of the East Bay Community Foundation and International House at UC Berkeley.

Bruce Stoffmacher

Bruce serves as a Policy Analyst and Community Liaison for Oakland City Councilmember Libby Schaaf, District 4. He works on a variety of urban policy, government effectiveness, and public works issues. He holds a Masters in Public Policy and a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology, both from UCLA. Prior to working for the City of Oakland, Bruce worked for an economic development consulting firm and previously worked for twelve years as an educator in South Central Los Angeles, earning National Board and bilingual credentials. Bruce lives in Oakland with his wife Camille and sons Benjamin and Joshua.

Elmo Wedderburn

Elmo Wedderburn is the Senior Manager of Ops Control at Charles Schwab , He was born in Central America Panama, graduated from Medgar Evers College in NYC with a BS. Elmo chaired the 2012 BART Earthquake Safety Citizens’ Oversight Committee which was responsible overseeing the $980 million Measure AA bond passed by the voters was spent correctly in the retrofit of BART. Elmo serves on several Schwab diversity groups. He holds the San Francisco seat as Chairperson of Black Association of Charles Schwab. Elmo is an advocate of reducing dropout rate and an increase college minority enrollment.

Executive Committee:

Rita Isaacs, Chair, Eric Premack, Robbie Yohai, and Craig Bloom.

Finance Committee:

Robbie Yohai, Chair, Rita Isaacs, and Eric Premack

Program Committee:

Anne Scheer, Amy Slater