Our Board
BCS Founder and Executive Director Elizabeth Shaughnessy is a former president of the Berkeley School Board and the 1970 Irish Women’s Chess Champion. She has participated in six international chess Olympiads and is active in chess tournaments around the world.
For her leadership and outstanding service to the community, Shaughnessy has been named a 2009 Bank of America "Local Hero", was a 2004 Rotary Club "Hometown Hero", and received a 2000 Avant! Magic award for her commitment to improving the lives of Bay Area children.
In 2007 she received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congresswoman Barbara Lee for her dedication to Alameda County's youth.
Board Member Christine Dover is Vice President of Professional Services for Perquest, Inc. a SaaS company providing workforce solutions for companies throughout the US. Her 20-year career as a software executive includes 13 years at Oracle Corporation managing the partner program, education and professional services. Chris has a BA from St Mary's College of California and a MLIS from San Jose State University. Her husband, Robert Hamm, is a Chess Master and instructor for BCS. Chris is also a volunteer librarian and genealogist at the Family History Center in Oakland and President of TheatreFIRST, a professional theatre company performing at the newly restored Fox in Oakland's Uptown district. When not working or volunteering, Chris can be found reading too many books, gardening, and training for the Oakland Marathon.
Chairman of the Board Queen Graham has in a past life been Executive Assistant to the Berkeley Unified School District’s Board of Education and seven Superintendents,Church Clerk, President of the Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council, Director of the West Oakland Senior Center. Currently she serves as Chairperson of the Berkeley Chess School Board of Directors
President, on the Board of Directors of In Dulci Jubilo, Inc., as Director of Vacation Bible School, and is a Sunday School Teacher.
Treasurer Neil Levy is a visiting Professor of Law at University of California, Berkeley and also a Professor of Law Emeritus at Golden Gate University. He is a published writer of prose and poetry. He has served on non-profit boards in the past, including Bonita House. He served as vice president of Congregation Beth El. Neil has lived in Berkeley for 35 years. He is married to Jane Levy and they have three adult children.
Board Member Michael J. Novogradac, CPA is the managing partner in the San Francisco, California office of Novogradac & Company LLP. He has more than 25 years experience specializing in affordable housing and community development. Mr. Novogradac’s focus is in real estate taxation and syndication. He is the author of numerous real estate-related articles and books, including the New Markets Tax Credit Handbook and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Handbook. He serves on the executive committee of the Housing Advisory Group, and the boards of directors of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, the NMTC Coalition, A Hand Up, Berkeley Chess School, the NH&RA NMTC Steering Committee and the National Trust for Historic Preservation Tax Policy Council. He previously served on the board of governors of the California Housing Consortium, as an advisory board member of the National Leased Housing Association, the Federal Housing Policy Council and the Housing and Development Reporter, and was a member of the California State Treasurer's Housing Finance Advisory Board, as well as a board member and CFO of the Housing Industry Foundation. Mr. Novogradac graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received an M.B.A. with highest honors from the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Novogradac is licensed in California, Oregon and Texas as a certified public accountant.
Board Member Cathy Scharf is the Manager of Women's Health at Kaiser Permanente's Regional headquarters in Oakland, CA. She holds degrees from UC Davis and USC, and has worked in health care administration for over 25 years. Much of her current work involves creating and promoting women's health services via community and employee events. A native of Southern California, she is a 20 year resident of Berkeley, where she lives with her 12 year old son, an avid chess player, husband and energetic golden retriever.
Board Member Joseph A. Scherer is a partner in the Cooley Godward Kronish Business department and heads the Firm's Credit Finance practice group and the Firm's Debt Securities practice group. Mr. Scherer received a J.D. in 1982 from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. Mr. Scherer concurrently earned an M.B.A. from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Davis, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Scherer is a member of the California bar; the Corporation, Banking and Business law section of the American Bar Association; the San Francisco Bank Attorneys Association; the Equipment Leasing Association; the Turnaround Management Association; and the Association for Corporate Growth.
Board Member Erich Tupper is a Berkeley native. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences. During his studies at Cal he successfully balanced quality academics with a varsity gymnastics career. After graduating, and while still competing for the USGF, he became an assistant coach to the Cal men's team. Upon retiring from his athletic career, Erich spent more than 20 years in the technology industry as an IBM Premier Partner and an IBM Executive Technology & Sales Specialist. He recently returned to his athletic roots by way of becoming head coach for several local high schools as well as coaching a girl's youth soccer program. He is currently a special assistant coach for his daughter's middle school soccer team and serves on the Heads-Up Advisory Board. He is an ongoing member of the Head Royce School (HRS) Annual Fund Council and several other committees for HRS. He is pursing his interest in sustainable energy technology, products and research and forging a next-career move into that arena. In his extra-curricular time he enjoys snowboarding and surfing, playing soccer & lacrosse with his children, feasting on delectable gastronomic concoctions with his lovely wife — and getting buried in a good novel or two.
Board Member Fong Wong is a neurologist and works on the clinical development of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease. After graduating from Harvard College and Yale Medical School, he completed his residency in adult and child neurology at Stanford University. Fong earned a doctorate in epidemiology at the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley and has a special interest in BCS's work on generating rigorous evidence of the value of chess instruction in inner city school settings as a means of improving school performance and test scores. He is married to Dr. Caroline Wang, a public health educator, and they live with their two children.