Value Schools' Leadership

Ms. Riley holds a bachelor's degree in History from California State University, Fullerton, and a master's in Educational Leadership from Loyola Marymount University with a specific focus on Charter School Leadership. She has over 15 years of experience as a teacher, principal, and administrator, and has been a major contributor to student success in primary and secondary educational environments. With a long history of understanding and implementing best practices on an instructional level, Ms. Riley fundamentally grasps the importance of our values. She understands that student potential, respect for oneself and others, developing caring communities and giving back all require a strong focus on academic excellence.

Rhonda Hoffarth has been a senior executive with broad business acumen and multi-discipline experience in small- to mid-size ($10M to $500M) companies for many years. Blending strategic focus with management execution, Ms. Hoffarth helped companies maintain their competitive advantage, mitigate corporate risk and grow four-fold. Ms. Hoffarth capitalized on learning agility which has allowed her to take on new, never-before-experienced challenges and successfully manage Value Schools' success.

Ms. Chavez brings a lifetime of experience to the role of Chief of Operations and Compliance at Value Schools. Ms. Chavez began working with Value Schools In 2005 as a 7th grade Math and Science teacher. She was promoted to Assistant Principal in 2007 and took the role of Principal in 2012. In those roles, Ms. Chavez worked collaboratively with teachers, staff, administrators and parents to ensure that students at Downtown Value School were academic achievers, goal seekers, respectful scholars, and global citizens. From 2017-2019, Ms. Chavez held the role of Attendance Specialist and helped raise ADA considerably and secure over $100,000 in additional educational funding for our schools each year. With a BS in Psychology from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), an MA in Education and Administrative Credential from the California State University, Sacramento, Ms. Chavez has supported students throughout her career. Her work with children in inner-city schools has been and continues to be her passion as she strives to remain knowledgeable about current community and education issues that impact students and their families.

Mr. David Doyle began his teaching career as a journalism teacher in 1984 when he joined Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. He took the role of Vice Principal at Notre Dame in 1989, and Principal in 1991. During his Principalship, Mr. Doyle implemented a student-centered curriculum based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and Fr. Basil Moreau’s philosophy of educating the “hearts and minds” of students, and earned the school an Excellence in Education Award from the U.S. Department of Education. In 1997 Mr. Doyle left Notre Dame High School for an academic counseling position at Crespi High School in Encino, California, changing the educational approach there as he did at Notre Dame. In 2003, Dr. Jerome Porath, Value Schools founder and former Superintendent of Catholic Schools in Los Angeles, hired Mr. Doyle as Values Schools’ first high school Principal. In 2014, Mr. Doyle left Central City Value to lead Value Schools’ second and newly-chartered University Prep Value High School. In 2017, Mr. Doyle was hired by the Board of Directors of Value Schools as the President and CEO of Value Schools and President of the Value Schools Foundation. In 2022, The Board of Directors expanded the role of the Value Schools Foundation, and asked Mr. Doyle to continue as its President. Mr. Doyle received his B.A. in American Studies from University of Notre Dame in 1984, and a M.A. of Education from University of San Francisco in 1995.

Joshua Julian has over 25 years of experience in nonprofit education, curriculum development and technical training. He focuses currently on fundraising, communications, event planning, and material production.

Jose Esquivel came to the United States when he was 17 years old. Jose joined the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA) as a day laborer and became aware of the root causes of poverty. In 1995, he began teaching Spanish literacy, and later, taught English as a Second Language and US Citizenship classes. In 1997, he started teaching basic computer literacy to day laborers, domestic workers, ESL, and literacy volunteers. He became a self-taught computer specialist and provided technical support to staff, members, volunteers, and other organizations, continuing at IDEPSCA in the role of Director of the Technology Project. He also developed training programs and related materials for IDEPSCA's different projects. His involvement with IDEPSCA helped him learn to plan and facilitate workshops on popular education. Mr. Esquivel had a personal commitment to helping the poor, Latino immigrant and the disenfranchised. His bilingual and biliterate skills help to ensure the democratization of institutions as society come to grip with our current political reality.

Veronica is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who received her Bachelor's in Science from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA. She received her Master's in Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration from Dominican University in River Forest, IL. Dominican University was also where Veronica completed her dietetic internship, providing nutritional services to communities in the inner cities and suburbs of Chicago. Since then Veronica has been utilizing her dietetic skills to help individuals, families and communities re-define their relationship with food. In addition, her specialization in nutrition informatics, weight management, disordered eating, adolescent and pediatric nutrition, mindful eating, and food service management, has allowed her to be successful in her previous role at Cedars-Sinai. Her leadership skills have contributed to developing sustainable healthy choices for consumers in both the English and Spanish speaking communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Veronica enjoys sharing her passion of cooking and "fun facts" with others about nutrition. She also enjoys the outdoors, playing soccer and sharing her yoga practice with friends and family. She is an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the California Dietetic Association.

Jennifer Lopez grew up in the Koreatown Downtown Los Angeles Community since childhood. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B. A in Anthropology in 2015 with an emphasis on culture and graduated with an M.Ed in School Counseling and Pupil Personnel Services credential in 2020 from the University of Southern California. Her commitment and passion for her community comes from her academic influence that considers history of culture, meaning making, and narrative to frame her understanding of other individuals’ lived experiences as an emergence of realities. These narratives provide a framework in which Ms. Lopez evaluates and analyzes the proximal and distal factors and the interconnected web of power dynamics that directly and indirectly impact the lives of individuals and how we as educators respond to their concerns and needs. Ms. Lopez had previously worked with Value Schools as a substitute Academic Counselor for Central City Value High School to support our students matriculate through the expectations and requirements for high school graduation, college applications, and social emotional support. After her departure, her husband and Ms. Lopez accepted a business opportunity and became the new owners of Castillo’s Burgers, formerly known as Burger Factory. After some time, Ms. Lopez decided to return to her true passion in Education with Value Schools. In her position, Ms. Lopez intends to collaborate with school leadership and the overall community to encourage systemic change and provide resources to families to promote self-advocacy.

Rudy DeSantiago worked over fifteen years for Sodexo a French based food services and facilities management company as an operations manager and accountant. During his years with Sodexo he worked for Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, Toyota’s North American Corporate Headquarters, California Science Center, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Kaiser Permanente and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. His experience with a diverse pool of industries and management of staffs large and small have proven to be an asset with employee and vendor relations. Rudy was born in Los Angeles and raised in nearby Sunland, CA. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Colorado Tech University.