Meet the Team

Prior to joining the Schwab Learning Center at CHC as Director, Nancy was the manager of marketing, user experience and outreach for the Schwab Learning Center (SLC) at Stanford. Her focus for the past 4 years has been to increase awareness and market the SLC to campus groups that interact directly with undergraduate and graduate students and to measure and analyze student feedback on SLC services.

Nancy loves helping young adults with learner variability to maximize their potential in school, the workplace and beyond. Before joining Stanford, Nancy held positions in marketing, logistics and strategic planning for Sun Microsystems, Inc. (now Oracle Corp.) and leadership positions in the community at the Menlo School, Common Ground speaker series, and as a member of the Duke University Northern California alumni board and Peninsula Women's Forum. During her free time, Nancy loves to play tennis, cook, read and spend time with family and friends.

Dr. Polina Nazarov is a licensed clinical psychologist. She received her doctorate in clinical-community psychology from the University of La Verne in 2016. Prior to joining the Schwab Learning Center team, she worked in psychiatric hospital, non-profit, and university counseling settings. Dr. Nazarov specializes in working with adolescents and adults, with particular expertise in providing mental health services within higher education systems. Dr. Nazarov completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of San Francisco, Counseling and Psychological Services. She worked as a supervising psychologist at several Bay Area university counseling centers, which included coordinating the ADHD assessment program at University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Nazarov strives to make the evaluation process collaborative and empowering for SLC clients. Her goal is to ensure that each client finishes an evaluation having gained a better understanding of themselves and a plan to support them in academic, work, and home environments. Outside of work, Dr. Nazarov enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with loved ones (especially her dog!).

Dr. Mayra Quezada is a clinical psychologist who received her degree in clinical-community psychology from the University of La Verne. Her education and training has focused on using a multicultural approach that emphasizes keeping an individual's various identities in mind when working alongside them. She has extensive experience providing psychotherapy and assessment services at various institutions, including community mental health, forensic, and hospital settings. Prior to joining the Schwab Learning Center team, Dr. Quezada was providing psychotherapy services to adolescents, adults and couples at her private practice. In her work at the SLC, Dr. Quezada works collaboratively with clients to ensure their evaluations provide them with a deeper understanding of themselves as well as an additional voice of advocacy in helping them achieve their goals. She is bilingual and provides services in both English and Spanish. Originally hailing from Los Angeles, Dr. Quezada is a proud Chicana who enjoys spending her free time backpacking, rock climbing, playing video games, and spending time with her loved ones.

Rosinel is excited to be a Senior Learning Specialist at the Schwab Learning Center at CHC. She draws from her experience as a Learning Specialist at the SLC at Stanford University and as Accommodations Coordinator at the Disability Resource Center (now known as the Accessible Education Center) at San José State University.

Rosinel understands the challenges and strengths of individuals with learning disabilities and believes learner variability and cognitive diversity enrich our communities with innovation, creativity, originality, and empathy. She embraces the opportunity to engage individuals and their strengths, understand their needs and challenges, and empower them with effective and creative tools and individualized strategies to help them reach their goals across the lifespan. Rosinel realizes that each person has unique preferences and experiences; she uses a collaborative yet self-reflective approach to foster self-awareness and agency and to determine optimal and workable solutions.

Anissa was born in San Francisco and grew up in South San Francisco. She is a second-generation Mexican-American who values community and is family-oriented. Within South San Francisco alone she has about 30 family members! Her tias (aunts) pursued careers in Social Welfare as well as Education, which motivated her to pursue her major in Social Welfare and double minors in Education and African American Studies from UC Berkeley (go bears!) Anissa believes all students deserve to feel a sense of belonging within the school setting. As Whitney Houston once said, “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.” Anissa is a proud queer, latina, woman who embraces her intersecting identities. As someone who was diagnosed with anxiety in sixth grade she understands the importance of providing mental health and other wellness resources to those with mental health challenges. Anissa looks forward to supporting students and young adults in reaching for their goals.

Stacey Soderquist is a Learning Specialist with the Schwab Learning Center at CHC. She has over 20 years of experience working with neurodiverse clients, their families and the community. Prior to joining the SLC@CHC Stacey served as a developmental behaviorist working with the twice exceptional, learning differences and autism populations. Stacey uses client centered positive behavioral approach to help clients develop successful daily living, social, and executive functioning skills across environments. Stacey also works with parents, teachers and other community supports to ensure a team approach to building success with her clients not only during her sessions but throughout life. As a mother of two teenagers, Stacey knows the challenges that come with parenting as well as the challenges many students face in the home, school and community settings. During her free time, Stacey enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, watching soccer and reading.

Manasa is an Educational Specialist at the Schwab Learning Center (SLC) at CHC. With over seven years of experience in the public school system, Manasa has hands-on experience with learning differences, and sees learner variability as a source of diversity and richness in the community. Embracing a holistic approach, Manasa prioritizes strategies that support executive functioning, academic confidence, and mental health. She believes in empowering individuals as their own advocates, utilizing self-reflective processes as the cornerstone for crafting personalized learning strategies.

Beyond her role at the SLC, Manasa is a musician who dedicates her spare time to performing and teaching. She enjoys listening to various genres of music, spending quality time with family, and reading.

The SLC@CHC is proud to serve as an internship site for the UCSC, Silicon Valley Extension Program’s Educational Therapy Certificate Program.

Each year the SLC trains 3-5 Educational Therapy interns according to the guidelines of the Association of Educational Therapists (AET). All of the interns hold graduate degrees in fields such as Special Education, Counseling, Education and Psychology. Many of our Educational Therapy interns are experienced and credentialed special education teachers or therapists in the field of special education. The training program offers a robust experience in learning disabilities and ADHD individualized intervention and assessment.

Lea was born and raised on the Peninsula. She has worked in a variety of nonprofits and educational settings as office and administrative help. Lea has two adult children who live in the Bay Area and her youngest child is a freshman in college. Lea is an artist who paints, draws and designs jewelry. She also enjoys crocheting, reading, and singing. Lea is a life-long learner who is passionate about exploring other cultures, customs and beliefs.