Mary Cheryl B. Gloner, MBA, MPH
Chief Executive Officer, Project Safety Net

Project Safety Net is a collaborative community network held together by a common interest of fostering youth well-being in Palo Alto. Our mission is to mobilize community support and resources in Palo Alto for youth suicide prevention and mental wellness.  We are a coalition working on community education, outreach, and training; access to quality youth mental health services; and policy advocacy.

Jenna Salinas
Collaborative Counseling Program Psychotherapist

Jenna is a passionate psychotherapist who holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University. She is bilingual in English and Spanish and has an extensive background in providing trauma-informed counseling services to children and adolescents. Jenna brings her expertise, compassion, and humility to provide quality services to her clients. 

Jenna truly loves listening to and being present to others and has a particular passion for holding this space for teens and adolescents. She views this development stage as a precious phase in which being seen and heard in a safe, non-judgemental space can have a profound impact on long term well-being. Jenna feels grateful and privileged to have the opportunity to provide a warm and inviting environment for her clients. 

Christina King
Collaborative Counseling Program Psychotherapist

Christina is an Associate Clinical Social Worker who joined the Acknowledge Alliance team in 2023. She has experience working in residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient programs throughout the Bay Area. Christina earned her Bachelor of Social Work from Capital University in 2015 and her Master of Social Work from Smith College in 2022. She especially enjoys working with young people and their families and is very excited to support high school students in the Sequoia Union High School District this year.

Vernorris Taylor, M.A. 
Principal

Vernorris (Vern) Taylor has worked in Mountain View-Whisman School District (MVWSD) for 16 years in a variety of roles, including Principal at Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School for the last five years. He earned his Bachelor’s in Psychology and Master’s in Education from Stanford University.  After participating in the Stanford University Teacher Education Program at Landels Elementary as a student teacher in 2007, he taught fourth and fifth grade at Castro Elementary. Mr. Taylor became an instructional coach in 2014-15 and served as a coach for teachers at Theuerkauf, as well as a new teacher support provider and district instructional coach. He also served as Assistant Principal at Graham Middle School for two years.

As the founding principal of Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary, Vern has been able to see the school grow and develop over the last five years. He was fortunate to work with such a wonderful community to build a school culture that they could all be proud of. Each day that he comes to work, Vern gets to see students and families feel comfortable enough to bring their authentic selves to school and work. Vern is honored to receive the Forget-Me-Not award alongside his three colleagues. The work that they (and the rest of our community) put in each day helps to foster the school environment that allows each of our students and families to feel seen, valued, and celebrated. 

Luis Ernesto Rivas Salinas
Day Custodian

Luis Salinas was born in San Salvador, El Salvador to Ana Clara Salinas and Dulio Ernesto Rivas. Growing up, he always knew he wanted to make a difference for those around him. Driven by a thirst for knowledge, Luis graduated high school with a certification in accounting and later pursued a career in civil engineering at Universidad Tecnologica de El Salvador. However, the country’s gang situation at the time and a bit of luck led to Luis receiving a green card, allowing him to move to the US in search of a better future.

Throughout his career, Luis has achieved remarkable milestones like learning a new language and quickly adapting to a new culture, while also being able to keep up with his studies. He has earned his AA in Business Administration and is considering pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education with a focus on science. Beyond his professional endeavors, Luis enjoys fishing with his son, Sebastian, as well as camping, taking trips to the beach, watching movies and just driving around with family and friends.

At Jose Antonio Vargas, Luis enjoys spending time with the kids - participating in most school activities as well as sharing a laugh, playing games, or just making friends with students. Luis has a special interest in the new-comer students. He identifies deeply with them because he remembers being a new-comer in the US himself and how those who welcomed him positively impacted his life. He would like to have that same kind of impact on kids who need it. After seeing the negative effect gangs had on Salvadoran youth, Luis believes that with proper guidance and attention, we can positively impact our youth and help them pave a brighter future as productive members of society. Luis' journey is a testament to the power of resilience, hard work, and determination. Luis hopes to inspire his family and others to pursue their dreams relentlessly, reminding us all that everything can be achieved with passion, perseverance, purpose, and hard work.

Beatriz Claas 
School & Community Engagement Facilitator 

Beatriz Claas has been working in the Mountain View Whisman School District for over 13 years, the last 12 of which have been as a School & Community Engagement Facilitator. She was born and raised in Santiago, Chile, where she received her bachelor’s degree in translating and interpreting. She is currently married with two wonderful daughters and lives in Santa Clara, California.

Beatriz began as a School & Community Engagement Facilitator at Edith Landels Elementary School, but her role now includes serving her community at both Landels and Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School. In this role, she has organized events to support both the Landels’ and Vargas’ communities, including clothing giveaways, book giveaways, and field trips for socio-economically disadvantaged families. She most enjoys opportunities to meaningfully impact all families in her community, but she is particularly proud of the trusting connections she has fostered with Hispanic families. Earlier this year, Beatriz was named as her school district’s Classified Employee of the Year for the outstanding work she has done to connect families to a multitude of resources and to further support the students in her school district.

Beatriz is honored to be receiving the Forget-Me-Not award alongside her Vargas colleagues for the passionate effort and successful initiatives they have contributed to within the Vargas community. She is thankful to be recognized by and welcomed by this incredible group who so strongly values quality, accessible education for all.

Damion Richard-Valencia
At Risk Interventions Supervisor

Damion Richard-Valencia is an at-risk intervention supervisor at Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School. After coaching high school football for several years, he decided he wanted to continue to work with kids. Growing up, there was not too much guidance at a young age, and he thinks it’s important to give the youth a hand as early as possible. As a local from East Palo Alto, he knows it isn’t the easiest to make something out of nothing. Growing up with little guidance, he believes it’s important to give students what we were missing as kids and to allow them to be heard. Damion also believes in trying to build a better community where everyone can be open and helpful to each other. We want to see a brighter future for our youth, so it is important we give them as much guidance as we can and hopefully watch them grow into amazing leaders. Then maybe one day, they can fill our shoes and continue the positive cycle.

Nancy Sproull
Acknowledge Alliance Board Member

Nancy Sproull grew up in a college town, the daughter of a college professor and subsequent administrator, so an interest in education seems to be in her blood. She began her 20-year legal career at a law firm in Washington, DC and then moved to California to serve as in-house counsel for Amdahl Corporation. She retired to be full-time mom to her two adopted children, volunteering extensively in their schools, serving twice on the board of Mulberry School, and bringing parent education programs to the Los Gatos public schools. Social emotional learning was a touchpoint in each of these experiences.

Nancy has an AB from Harvard University and a JD from Boston University. She lives in Woodinville, Washington

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