Office Manager, Center for California Studies

Sandra Bernard is the office manager at the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State and has been with the Center for 22 years. She began her career in higher education at Stanford University in 1987. In both positions, Sandra’s focus is on finance including budgets, reconciliations, purchasing and procurement, etc. Sandra enjoys live music, gardening, and football in her spare time.

Administrative Analyst, CA EPFP

Lada Thao joined the California Education Policy Fellowship Program team in September 2024 as an administrative analyst. Lada earned her BA in International Relations with a minor in Psychology from California State University, Chico. As a first-generation college graduate herself, Lada is passionate about helping students have access to educational opportunities and support to succeed in higher education. As an undergrad, Lada served as the president of the Upward Bound Alumni Association, a student organization whose focus is to help high school seniors transition from high school to college, and to provide them support and resources to pursue and complete their college degree program. Lada organized multiple fundraisers to fund college scholarship awards for the Upward Bound Alumni Association, and in an effort to support freshmen retention, organized mentorship programs to help students acclimate to university life. She organized and planned workshops to help high school seniors with college applications, as well as financial aid workshops to help them in their college admission journey. Lada also served as a member of the Hmong Student Association at Chico State where she helped coordinate a higher education conference for Hmong students and parents in the local community to learn more about higher education opportunities.