Theme: Walls

How can walls, either literal or figurative, serve as obstacles or platforms of expression?

Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center
10550 Albion Rd
San Ramon, California, 94582
United States

Andy Madeira

Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development

As Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development of Eden Housing, Andy Madeira leads Eden’s Real Estate Development team, and is responsible for heading Eden's strategic growth in affordable rental development, operating property acquisitions, and portfolio recapitalization/preservation. Andy has worked in affordable housing and community development for over 25 years, and has an extensive background in affordable housing development and project financing. Prior to joining Eden Housing in February of 2014, he was a Senior Banker for JP Morgan Chase Community Development Banking. He also served as Vice President, Real Estate Development for Citizens Housing Corporation, and as a Director of Real Estate Development at BRIDGE Housing Corporation, and as a Vice President at Community Preservation and Development Corporation in Washington, DC.

April Rovero

Executive Director

April is the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse, a non-profit organization formed in 2010 and based in San Ramon, CA. April leads NCAPDA’s efforts to prevent prescription drug related addiction and overdose deaths through community education, policy change and legislation advocacy at the local, state and federal levels. She also leads the Contra Costa County MEDS Coalition and is an active member of other coalitions and work groups in California. At the federal level, April is an Executive Committee Member of the Fed Up! Coalition that actively works to drive federal action that can help end our nation's opioid addiction and overdose crisis. April has been the recipient of multiple recognition awards over the past 5 years for her efforts in reducing prescription drug abuse nationwide and was most recently chosen by the California Narcotics Officers Association as their statewide Community Service awardee.

Azine Davoudzadeh

Computer Science Teacher/Founder of XR EDU

Azine Davoudzadeh is an educator, speaker and thought leader in the XR Education space. She has been teaching and creating curriculum for over a decade and has experience implementing innovative ways of learning. She received her Masters in Education, where she researched how Virtual Reality effects middle school girls future career choices. She is the founder of XR EDU, which has produced dozens of successful Ed-Tech events including a recent Hackathon, XR EDU Challenge, sponsored by Microsoft. Currently, she teaches Computer Science at Dougherty Valley High School.

Michelle Gachelin

Student at DVHS

A junior at DVHS, Michelle is a coffee lover and expert procrastinator. Though she was born in the U.S., Michelle has lived in countries including France, Indonesia, and South Africa, and hopes to use her talk to focus on the divisive ways people perceive foreigners. Besides the occasional packing tip, Michelle enjoys learning about art and some chemistry concepts.

Namrata Keskar

Student at DVHS

Namrata Keskar, a freshman at Dougherty Valley High School, loves dancing and hanging out with her friends. She is an avid reader and writes poetry and short stories in her free time. She also enjoys learning about new technologies and the field of computer science, and aspires to pursue a career in this field.

Ruhika Nandy

Student at DVHS

Ruhika Nandy, a current senior in High School has been involved in the visual arts her whole life. Her mediums include paint, pencil and pen sketching, digital, in addition to photography and videography. With an artist's eye, she has gained an appreciation for traditional and modern art alike. She enjoys seeing how people interpret her and other's artwork and also understanding the science behind their thought process. Ruhika has received recognition for her artwork and aims to continue pursuing this passion as a hobby in the future.

Tristan Shaughnessy

Student at DVHS

I am currently a senior at Dougherty Valley High School. With my last year here at DV I decided that it was of upmost importance for me to start searching for things I am interested and passionate about. This has meant for me a renewed emphasis on reading and trying new things, and I hope that the culmination of these two activities will make for a interesting and well thought out presentation.