Our Team
Christopher Whitmore, Executive Director
Born in Alameda County and raised in Richmond, Christopher is proud to be a homegrown community leader. His aspirations to serve Richmond and the Bay Area through public service and his developing interest in a career in government began when he was in elementary school. With guidance and support from his community, Christopher went to Webster University in St. Louis where he earned a degree in political science. After graduating from Webster, Christopher moved to Washington, D.C., where he was accepted into a congressional fellowship and gained early work experience in the United States Senate. After an impactful experience in Washington, Christopher returned to Richmond in 2015 to start the public service career that he had spent years pursuing. Since returning home, Christopher has worked in the Office of Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and in the Mayor’s Office of the City of Richmond where he ultimately served as chief of staff. Though no longer in government, Christopher’s commitment to the Richmond community is stronger than ever. As Richmond Promise’s second executive director, Christopher is focused on growing and sustaining the organization’s impact, and ensuring that thousands more Richmond youth are supported on their educational and career journeys just as he was in his upbringing.
Salwa Alkaheli, Executive Assistant
Born in Berkeley and raised in Richmond, Salwa is a graduate of Richmond High School and was a Richmond Promise Scholar while completing her undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University. She graduated from SFSU in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and from there began working at the Center for Early Intervention of Deafness (CEID) where she got to work with children on developing their communication and motor skills. While at CEID, she also conducted research on different types of hearing aids and how they helped individuals who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. As RP’s executive assistant, Salwa will work on improving productivity, communicating with others, and organizing events for the team. Whether through her work at CEID, volunteering in her community, or now in her role at Richmond Promise, Salwa enjoys helping people and working with others to achieve their goals.
Anjanine Bonet, Chief Operating Officer
Born in Oakland and raised in San Pablo and Berkeley, Anjanine directs Richmond Promise’s day-to-day operations as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. As COO, Anjanine manages RP’s program teams and oversees all technical aspects of the Richmond Promise Scholarship, including the application and review process, award notifications, renewal and scholarship policy updates/enforcement. Anjanine is also responsible for managing RP’s financial operations, including the annual budget, expense and income reporting, annual audit and 990 filing process. She serves as the organization’s accounting liaison as well as its IT liaison, and is responsible for maintaining RP’s student database in Salesforce.
One of the longest-tenured employees at Richmond Promise, Anjanine began as an AmeriCorps Vista with the organization before being promoted to COO. She co-wrote a grant proposal to secure funding for a student portal that was implemented (with her supervision) for RP Scholars in 2023. She has also made a number of significant operational changes within the organization, including bringing the full-time scholarship appeals process in-house, adjusting the GPA policy to reflect student needs, and streamlining scholarship disbursement at campuses with the highest concentration of RP Scholars.
Prior to joining Richmond Promise, Anjanine earned her BA from Yale and worked as a violin teacher, gigging/recording instrumentalist and vocalist, and academic tutor in New Haven, CT. She has completed additional professional development in nonprofit accounting, strategic planning, and data collection and evaluation.
Hannah Dworkin, Director of Development
Hannah is a longtime (over 20 years) Richmond resident with two teenagers in local schools. She is an accomplished development professional specializing in individual giving, major donor campaigns, and grant writing. Passionate about community engagement and social impact, she has successfully led initiatives that drive growth and enhance programmatic reach throughout the Bay Area.
In addition to her work as a fundraiser, Hannah is a nationally recognized educator, performer, director and choreographer. She holds an MA in Music and Music Education from Columbia University, a CA Teaching Credential from UC Berkeley Extension, and a BA in Dance and Anthropology from UC Berkeley.
Hannah is deeply committed to the city of Richmond. As Development Director, she supports Richmond Promise programs by strategizing and implementing fundraising campaigns, cultivating donor relationships, and overseeing grant writing efforts.
Ben Enos, Director of Communications & Marketing
Ben Enos is a Richmond native who served most recently as Director of Media Relations at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga, Calif. Before joining the staff at Saint Mary’s, Ben served as Press Secretary for U.S. Congressman Mark DeSaulnier at a time when DeSaulnier’s district included Richmond. He also has an extensive background in college athletic communications and is a longtime Bay Area sports writer, serving as a contributor to SportStars Magazine after writing for the Bay Area News Group for nearly a decade. Ben is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in political science.
Ben comes from a family of West Contra Costa educators. His father, Randy, was a longtime high school teacher and administrator in the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) who was elected to the district’s school board. His mother, Tamea, served as an instructional aide at multiple district schools and his sister, Courtney, also taught at multiple district high schools.
Celina Espinoza, College Access Coordinator
Born and raised in Berkeley, Calif., Celina is a proud daughter of two Mexican immigrants from Michoacan. Celina began her undergraduate career at Contra Costa College, where she found her community in the Puente Project and which helped guide her through her collegiate journey as a first gen student. She transferred to UC Davis and received her Bachelor’s in Sociology with a minor in Education. While at Davis, she continued her involvement in the Puente Project and had the amazing opportunity to be a part of Hermanas Unidas, Inc.
Celina is enthused about supporting RP with creating equitable pathways to post-secondary education for Scholars in Richmond. She is passionate about giving back to the community that supported her by empowering Scholars to help them attain their educational goals.
Faith Flores, Operations Coordinator
Born and raised in Hamilton, New Zealand, Faith has been a resident of Richmond since January 2023. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies with a major in Marketing from The University of Waikato, and brings with her more than a decade of administrative experience. Faith has actively volunteered and worked with various non-profit organizations, and has also worked in the healthcare, sports, and education sectors. Most recently, she served as an administrative officer at a Charter dual-medium school, and she now applies her unique skill set, experience, and qualifications as the Operations Coordinator at Richmond Promise.
Faith’s journey is a living testament to the immigrant experience, trying to establish a career in a new country. Her story exemplifies the resilience and determination that many immigrants bring to their pursuit of success in their adopted homes. Faith’s upbringing in New Zealand provided her with invaluable insights into the disparities and divisions within the education system, especially in low socio-economic communities. She understands the challenges that students face when seeking higher education in Richmond, and is dedicated to sharing her experiences to assist students in navigating the educational landscape on their journey to success. Her mission revolves around inspiring and advocating for Richmond’s students, firmly believing that education has the power to transform their career aspirations into reality.
Miguel Molina, Director of Programs & Partnerships
Born in San Pablo, California and raised in Richmond, Miguel leads Richmond Promise’s programmatic work. Miguel attended public schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, graduating from Richmond High School as a cohort student of UC Berkeley’s Early Academic Outreach Program. He then pursued his Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Chicanx Studies from UC Davis, where he got involved with student organizations within the Latinx student population. Miguel identifies as a first-generation college graduate, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from high school and a four-year university.
Miguel began his journey with Richmond Promise as an AmeriCorps VISTA College Access Coordinator, helping to run the Near-Peer Ambassador program at Lovonya DeJean Middle and John F. Kennedy High School. As a coordinator, he helped recruit and train Richmond Promise college students to lead in-class college awareness workshops for students in our public school district. Miguel also developed RP’s in-class financial aid completion programming that has supported WCCUSD 12th graders at Kennedy and De Anza High School in completing their financial aid applications and community college enrollment process. Miguel has overseen RP’s scholarship recruitment cycles since 2018.
After serving as a College Access Manager, Miguel eventually transitioned to a Director role in which he now oversees RP’s Scholar Success programming as well. As Director of Programs and Partnerships, he has strengthened Richmond Promise’s partnership with its community of public schools to expand college awareness, financial aid completion, and scholarship outreach work. Miguel has also worked to expand partnership agreements with local institutions of higher education to create student retention programming for our college scholars. Miguel’s work includes expanding services offered to Scholars at schools like Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College, Berkeley City College, San Francisco State, San Jose State, UC Berkeley, and UC Merced.
Leo Visscher, Career Services Manager
Born and raised in Northern California, Leo comes from a family of educators. He has experience working in small businesses during his youth before returning to higher education later in life. After graduating from UCLA, he began his professional career in talent acquisition at Robert Half International where he was a technical recruiter for a variety of Fortune 500 firms including Salesforce, BlueShield California, and Levi’s. He moved on to work in higher education as an Associate Director of Career Services for a Master’s degree program at UC Berkeley before transitioning to a role at Adobe Systems Inc. where he recruited for a variety of technical positions within software development and product management.
Leo is excited to be a part of Richmond Promise’s next chapter. He will be heavily involved with the launch of RP Leads, where applicants will receive a wealth of resources including tailored career counseling, interview prep, and career readiness training. He will also be active in engaging alumni with programming relevant to them including networking events and sessions on how alumni can level up their careers.
Dariana Zermeño, Associate Director of Programs & Partnerships
Raised in Richmond, Dariana’s passion lies in empowering and advocating for educational accessibility and equity for those who come from marginalized communities. She is passionate about providing support, tools, and resources to the youth in her own neighborhood. As a first-generation college student, she attended UC Merced, where she obtained a BA in Psychology and had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in both Italy and Spain. Since graduating, Dariana served and taught newly immigrated students as an English Language Development Graduate Tutor with WCCUSD’s Hercules High School. She’s worked as an EdTech Advising Fellow, and then a College and Career Advisor at Students Rising Above, where she served a caseload of over 1,000+ scholars with anything college-related and hosted informational webinars and workshops. Dariana brings a plethora of experience and excitement to serve and work with the youth of her beloved community of Richmond.
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