Meet Our Team

Dontae Lartigue
CEO/Co-founder

Native of the Peninsula and was raised in East Palo Alto for the first few years of his life. He entered cared at a very early age and has lived most of his life in San Jose in shelters, group homes and various foster placements. Fortunately for Dontae, he had mentors that invested in him. After graduating from high school, Dontae went on to receive his Associates Degree in Liberal Arts/Social and Behavioral Sciences from DeAnza College. He then went on to receive his Bachelors Degree in Psychology from San Jose State University. Dontae plans to continue furthering his education by attending a local graduate school to pursue a Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management.

Molly Orsburn
Operations Manager

Molly is dedicated to supporting foster youth and other vulnerable populations, drawing on her own experiences aging out of the child welfare system. Her lived experience provides invaluable insight and empathy, allowing her to connect deeply with those she serves. With extensive expertise in mental health, child welfare, and nonprofit sectors, Molly focuses on boosting self-confidence and empowering individuals. She successfully navigated various community resources to complete her Associate’s Degree in Social & Behavioral Sciences from Gavilan College and her Bachelor’s in Child & Adolescent Development from San Jose State University, all while graduating debt-free. Beyond her role at Razing The Bar, she serves on the Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB), which addresses the housing crisis in Silicon Valley. Molly’s personal journey and professional dedication make her passionate about helping youth discover and pursue their dreams, emphasizing the transformative power of lived experience in her work.

Dominique Torres
Program Mentor

Dominique is set out to help those around her and is focused on supporting those in her community. She has always looked out for others and has wanted nothing but the best for them. She has a desire to make a difference, which is what pushed her to obtain her Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies from San Jose State University. She is eager to assist foster and disadvantaged youth and show them all that can be done when they have a positive support system behind them.

Viviana Arenas
Program Mentor

This is Viviana, one of the Program Mentors for Razing The Bar. Formerly Viviana worked as a Housing Specialist for Homefirst and a Senior Advocacy Fellow for Alliance for Girls where I helped lead the work of a successful and powerful initiative called When Young Moms Thrive. Viviana is also currently a Policy and Advocacy Program Associate for West Valley Community Services, she took on the role part-time until December. Viviana holds a seat on multiple advisory boards and committees including, but not limited to Invincible Mamas Pushing for Action and Change Together (IMPACT), The Youth Action Board in Santa Clara County, the Lived Experience Advisory Board in the Silicon Valley, CATY with Allcove, and Advocates for Youth. Viviana focuses her work and on helping people get access to valuable resources, knowledge, and information. She is passionate about breaking down young families’ barriers, such as unaffordable childcare costs, access to basic resources, and gender inequity.

Ty Thompson, M.A.Ed.
Board of Directors/Co-Founder

Over 20 years of experience working directly with under resourced youth populations. He has counseled youth in various settings, including, juvenile halls and ranches, homeless youth shelters, group homes, drop-in youth centers, and has also facilitated special education classes. Additionally, he’s been involved in creating collaborative betterment programs for current and former foster youth in Santa Clara County, and after doing in internship in 2002 while attending college, he became involved in mentoring young men as part of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. He looks forward to continuing to have an impact on the lives of youth impacted by public systems.

Stephanie Williams, Ph.D.
Board of Directors

Dr. Stephanie Williams is a licensed psychologist who received her Masters of Arts in Forensic Psychology and her Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology. She has worked in the government sector as a psychologist focusing on the evidenced based treatment of incarcerated persons. She specialized in suicide risk, forensic evaluations and personality assessment of ethnic minorities. She joined RTB in order to assist with the mission of helping displaced foster youth achieve their highest potential through relationships, with a unique focus on promoting positive psychological health

Jennifer Kelleher Cloyd, JD
Board of Directors

Chief Program Officer at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, the largest legal services organization in Santa Clara County. She helped establish Advocates for Young Adults, a collaborative program in Sacramento County to assist youth transitioning out of the foster care system. In 2006, Jennifer became a Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist as recognized by the National Association of Counsel for Children. Jennifer has presented at international, national, state, and local conferences and has served as faculty for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy in multiple trainings around the country. In 2014, she was selected as one of Silicon Valley’s most influential women by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Chad Bojorquez
Board of Directors

Chad is a mission-driven change agent dedicated to ending homelessness. As a volunteer, he was awarded the Silver Bowl Award from the Junior League of San Jose, the Community Quarterback Award from the San Francisco 49ers, and Bank of America’s Local Hero Award in 2011. As a case manager at InnVision, he crafted his approach helping women and families toward self-sufficiency through homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing. Chad also played a critical role in the growth of Downtown Streets Team in terms of size, scope, impact and geography. Over five years, he helped craft a whatever-it-takes approach to case management and employment services, co-founded a social enterprise as a living-wage job creation platform, and launched an East Bay branch of the organization. The Golden State Warriors and the San Jose mayor’s office named Chad as their 2015 Champion in the Community. Chad is a senior fellow of American Leadership Forum, a graduate of Leadership San Jose, a two-time Most Valuable Player in the international sport power soccer, and holds a bachelor’s degree in business psychology from Palo Alto University.

Steve Winchell
Board of Directors

Steve Winchell has over 20 years of leadership positions in Research and Development (R&D) with large multi-national Consumer Packaged Goods companies such as Clorox and the Honest Company. Currently, Steve is the Executive Vice President, Operations and R&D for the Honest Company since June 2022 where he is responsible for further integrating their supply chain and R&D processes. Steve has a B.S. in Chemistry and a M.S. in Chemical Engineering that he utilizes to further his passion for addressing consumer problems and advocating for plant-based solutions. Steve has been on Razing The Bar’s Board of Directors since 2021, where he continues to provide a further positive impact in his community by advocating for stability, success, and resources for underserved populations.

Nick Pham
Board of Directors

As a real estate professional with over 20 Years of experience, Nick Pham is effective with his skills in serving his clients with all their real estate related transactions. He has helped many Bay Area families achieved their American Dreams. He is also a valuable resource to his clients and organizations that he serves with his broaden knowledge in zoning, land use, site planning, development project and property management skills.

Nick has successfully managed several residential to multi-unit housing renovation projects from planning to permit, to construction. He has represented property owners in residential development, provided feasibility studies, and managed tasks with architects, engineers, and general contractors. He has accomplished several feasibility reports related to Supportive Housing and Community Care development projects.

He is a former Planning Commissioner at the City of San Jose, the 10th largest US City. He had served as Executive Board Members on several Local, State and National Real Estate Trade Organizations including the California Association of Realtor and the Asian Real Estate Association of America. He has led and attended several States and Federal Housing Policy days in discussing housing related issues with our lawmakers.

Delrisha White
Board of Directors

Delrisha White is a dynamic social impact leader who confronts educational inequity, racial, and socioeconomic injustice through education and storytelling.

Her life’s work is a culmination of her experience growing up in a family impacted by poverty, as well as the criminal justice and child welfare systems. 

Leveraging her multimedia platforms, Delrisha uses storytelling to facilitate critical conversations that promote healing, as well as personal and community growth. 

“[Delrisha is] a powerful, intellectual, moral and spiritual force for good.” — Dr. Cornel West

Delrisha has consulted and worked with a range of national and local organizations. She leads  keynotes and workshops for diverse audiences in higher education and the private sector including HBCUs, Ivy League institutions, and large public research universities. Her work is published domestically and internationally and can be found in publications at Harvard University, New York University, The Huffington Post, and Bennett College’s award-winning Belle Magazine. Her work has been featured on local and national media including UNCF, Black BET, CSPAN, and NBC. 

Delrisha holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Media Studies with a minor in Global Studies from Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. In 2019, she earned her master’s in Education Policy & Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was awarded the Intellectual Contribution award.