Meet the Team Link to this section
Crystal Hawkins (Shoestrings Program Administrator)
Crystal received her Masters in Clinical Social Work from Norfolk State Univ. Crystal is an active and vocal advocate, bringing youth, parents, caregivers, and educators' voices to local and state government in order to create change on a systemic level.
Marcus Bundy (Behavior Interventionist for Shoestrings Children’s Center)
Marcus has received his Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Old Dominion University. Marcus has been serving children and families in community mental health work for 12 years.
Colleen McNeil (Shoestrings Occupational Therapist)
Colleen received her masters in occupational therapy from San Jose State, Certificate for Sensory Integration Therapy from USC, and over 10 years of behavioral therapy experience.
Mikaela Flores (Behavior Interventionist for Shoestrings Children’s Center)
Mikaela Flores received her Bachelor's Degree in Child & Adolescent Development from San Francisco State University. Working with younger children has always been a passion of hers due to having taken care of her younger sibling and cousins.
Taron Smith (Behavior Interventionist for Shoestrings Children’s Center)
Taron holds a Master's degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis and boasts a decade of experience working with children on the autism spectrum. Taron is consistently honing his skills in teaching, analysis, building rapport, tailoring behavioral strategies.
Miho Byrns (Behavior Interventionist for Shoestrings Children’s Center)
Miho Byrns received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from San Francisco State Univ. She has over 6 years of experience in Applied Behavioral Analysis, specializing in Behavioral Sciences, SEL and dedicated to fostering individual development and well-being.
Charissa (Miss Rissa) Ferguson (Behavior Interventionist for Shoestrings Children’s Center)
Majoring in communication at Howard University she went on to secure her B.A. in K-12 education with dual major in Special Education holding mild/moderate specialization in 2020 from Grand Canyon University.
Tiara (Miss Tee) Thompson (Speech and Language Pathologist)
Tiara Thompson is a dedicated Speech-Language Pathologist at Shoestrings, where she helps students discover and refine their communication abilities. Tiara holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences from SF State
Jennifer Pon (Senior Clerk of Shoestrings and the Early Education Central Office)
Graduated with a Bachelor;s degree in Biological Sciences from University of California Irvine. Former CEO and Chairperson of Anime Expo. Former Intel Software Release Management Engineer and a SFUSD parent.
This page was last updated on November 5, 2024