Who We Are

Don Solem

President of the Board

President, Solem & Associates

Since founding Solem & Associates in 1976, agency President Don Solem has led the firm to become one of the most respected independent public relations agencies in California with a solid reputation for delivering effective services to a broad range of clients in business, government, the nonprofit sector and politics throughout California and elsewhere in the country.

Don has primary responsibility for directing the agency's strategic development and business growth. He provides oversight, client consultation and strategic direction to the agency's major accounts and has final creative and management responsibility for all Solem & Associates client projects. Don also heads the agency's government relations and political campaign practice areas. During more than four decades in politics, he has been involved in more than 300 campaigns and has been the strategist behind the agency's successful track record of managing winning issue campaigns in California and elsewhere in the United States.

Under Don's direction, Solem & Associates has received two of the industry's coveted Silver Anvil Awards, the highest honor given by the Public Relations Society of America, for excellence in public affairs. The agency also has received more than 100 other national, regional and local awards and honors for its public relations and advertising programs.

Prior to establishing Solem & Associates, Don served as chief of staff for the California State Senate Democratic Floor Leader, the late George R. Moscone. He has extensive Sacramento-based state government experience and also served as Executive Director of the California Democratic Party in 1969 and 1970.

Don currently serves on the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies National Advisory Council. He also is a former national board member of the Coro Foundation, former chair of the Northern California Coro Foundation, past president of the San Francisco Advertising Club and former chair of the Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

Benito Delgado-Olson

Executive Director & Cofounder

Ex Officio Member of Board of Directors

Benito Delgado-Olson is the cofounder and Executive Director of K to College. A native of the East Bay and graduate of several East Bay public schools, Benito has a lifelong interest in the public benefit (nonprofit) sector and education.

Benito graduated with a double major from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007. During his senior year, he founded the student group that would eventually evolve into present day K to College. From its starting point, Benito has recruited a professional board of directors, designed, developed and implemented the proven K to College business model, secured both public and private partnerships at the state and local level and fundraised several million dollars for program operations. As the Executive Director, Benito is responsible for implementing K to College's strategic plan in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner. He is also responsible for the day-to-day operation of the organization, serves as the chief public information officer and works in collaboration with the board to shape the future goals of the organization.

Since its founding, Benito has received several awards on behalf of K to College and has been recognized as a Hometown Hero by Comcast and the Bay Area News Group. Benito was also awarded the New Leaders Council, "40 Under 40" award, a national award celebrating success in entrepreneurship, advocacy, media and politics.

Pastor Raymond Lankford

Founder/CEO, Healthy Communities Inc.

Pastor Raymond E. Lankford began his journey as a community servant and activist in 1991 when he became the youth pastor at House of God Church of God in Christ in Oakland. He remained there for 10 years, and then became the youth and young adult pastor at the Center of Hope Community Church in Oakland for the next 5 years. While pastoring at the Center of Hope, Pastor Lankford and Bishop Ernestine Cleveland Reems-Dickerson co-founded Healthy Oakland, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, in 2001.

Pastor Lankford is currently the Program Administrator for "A Pathway Home", a recruitment and adoption program for foster children with the Alameda County Department of Social Services. In 1996, Pastor Lankford graduated from the San Francisco State School of Social Work, receiving his Masters in Social Work and the Graduate Student Distinguished Achievement Award. In 2003, he was honored by KQED-TV (PBS affiliate in San Francisco) as a Black History Local Hero, received the "Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Community Service Award" from the University of Spirituality, the "Ambassador for Peace Award" from the American Clergy Association, the "African American Hero Award for Community Leadership" in 2005 from The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Oakland, inducted into the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 for basketball, and received the "Founders Achievement Award' on March 31, 2007 from the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition. He is an adjunct professor at University of California-Davis' extension program to provide faith-based consultation services with family focus practice in foster care and child welfare services. He is a member of the Pastors of Oakland and chairs the faith initiative for foster care, and co-chairs the Bay Area Action Council Network for Re-Entry through Regional Congregations and Neighborhood Organizations (RCNO).

As Executive Director of Healthy Oakland, Pastor Lankford has overseen this non-profit emerge from providing free health screenings throughout the Bay Area to locating at 2580 San Pablo Avenue, establishing a free-to-low cost clinic, the Save A Life Wellness Center; a Family Resource Center, Public Health Institute, Non-violence Institute, the Healthy Oakland "Ex-Offender Program, and all male programs were integrated under the Urban Male Health Center in 2005 at 2572 San Pablo Avenue in West Oakland.

A non-profit, parent organization, Healthy Communities, Inc., was started in 2003. The cities that are providing programming underneath the parent organization are: Healthy Oakland, Healthy San Francisco, Healthy Berkeley, Healthy Silicon Valley, Healthy Richmond, Healthy Vallejo, and Healthy Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Pastor Lankford founded VOICES of Hope Community Church in West Oakland in 2005.

He and his wife of 19 years, Ronna, have 11 children, 5 grandchildren, and were foster parents for 14 years.

Tim Sbranti

Mayor, City of Dublin

PIC Chair, CA Teachers Association

Tim Sbranti has devoted his life to public service in Dublin as both a teacher and elected official. Sbranti was first elected to City Council in 2002, and was elected Mayor in 2008 and re-elected in 2010. Tim helped to guide the City through some of its most transformative years.

Tim stepped into the Mayor’s office during the worst economic downturn to ever face the City of Dublin since its incorporation. He worked closely with the City Council and staff to develop several new economic incentive programs intended to encourage and stimulate new business activity. In addition to his leadership on the issue of economic development, Mayor Sbranti is fiercely passionate about improving the City’s environmental programs, increasing the City’s communication with the public, maintaining Dublin’s image as a safe community, improving the City’s infrastructure, and enhancing Dublin’s Parks and Recreational programs and facilities.

Building community has also been at the forefront of Tim’s tenure as Mayor, with projects such as the rebuilding of the spectacular new Shannon Community Center, the construction and development of the new Heritage Park and Museums project, as well as the building of the first phase of Fallon Sports Park and the renovation of the Dublin Sports Grounds. Several major public works projects have occurred, including streetscape improvements and enhancements along Dublin Boulevard, as well as the opening of the I-580 Fallon/El Charro Interchange.

Mayor Sbranti grew up in Dublin and teaches at his alma mater Dublin High School, where he also serves as the school’s Student Activities Director, Varsity Boys Tennis Coach, and Assistant Varsity Boys Basketball Coach. Outside of his professional roles with the City and the School District, Tim is extremely active in the community. He is a Past President of the Dublin Lions Club, and has served on the Board of Directors of other active organizations in the City such as the Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE), Dublin Historical Preservation Association (DHPA), St. Raymond’s Parish Council, and the Knights of Columbus among others.

Mayor Sbranti is married to Stephanie, a teacher at Valley Continuation High School in Dublin.

An early supporter of K to College, Mayor Sbranti was instrumental in helping K to College expand into the Tri-Valley region of the San Francisco Bay Area and other Bay Area surburban communities. K to College's mission of equal access to education reflects Mayor Sbranti's life-long committment to a free quality education for all children.

Jonathan Poullard

Dean of Students & Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, University of California, Berkeley

A founding Boardmember of K to College, Jonathan Poullard is the Dean of Students at UC Berkeley and heads Campus Life and Leadership serving as the chief architect in providing the campus vision for co-curricular student development and involvement programs that support 30,000+ students. He serves as a senior administrator in the Division of Student Affairs and is instrumental in guiding collaborative efforts to support a diverse student body, promote academic and personal development, and provide direction for enriching the quality of student life.

Jonathan supervises the professional staff of the Center for Student Leadership (includes student organizations and Fraternity and Sorority Life), Cal Corps Public Service Center, Gender Equity Resource Center, the Office of Student Conduct and the Student Attorney. He is also a consultant with the Equity Consulting Group, a multicultural, national agency providing leadership on the eradication of all forms of oppression.

Former leadership positions include service at the Associate Vice-President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at California State University San Marcos, Associate Dean of Students at Occidental College, Director of Multicultural Affairs at Susquehanna University and Residence Life Coordinator at the Pennsylvania State University.

Jonathan has been specializing in the education of others on diversity issues for the past sixteen years, and has conducted hundreds of workshops/seminars or facilitated discussions on community leadership, multiculturalism and human relations. He is very active in his professional life currently serving as the Chair of the 2009 ACPA Convention. He recently served as Chair for Special Events for the 2007 Joint Meeting of ACPA and NASPA. He also completed two terms on the Executive Council of the American College Personnel Association as the Director of the Member Services and Interests Core Council, and the Chair for the Standing Committee for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Awareness.

As of Summer 2010, Jonathan is on leave from the K to College Board of Directors.

Kathleen Manis

Education Policy Analyst, The Advancement Project

Kathleen Manis received her Master's of Public Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Mass Communications from the University of California, Berkeley. Kathleen is an Education Policy Analyst with The Advancement Project, a civil rights research, policy and advocacy organization. She focuses on state and local policy initiatives and reform for low-income children with a particular emphasis on access to early education services for vulnerable children. Kathleen has also previously worked for the international child welfare nonprofit Whole Child International in a policy research capacity, focusing on early childhood and child welfare issues in orphanages in the developing world. Kathleen received her Master's of Public Policy concentrating in education policy from the University of California, Los Angeles and her Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and mass communications from the University of California, Berkeley. Kathleen is committed to effective education and child welfare policy initiatives and reform.