Board of Directors
The Friends of Lowell Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded by five Lowell High School graduates in 2021 after the San Francisco Board of Education voted to abolish merit-based admissions for Lowell High School. The Board of the Friends of Lowell Foundation advocates locally and nationally for the preservation and advancement of merit-based admissions, as well as STEM and AP course offerings. The Board of Directors are accomplished leaders from a variety of backgrounds and affiliations.
David Chan
Lowell Parent
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Lee Cheng
Class of 1989
Mr. Cheng is an attorney and community activist who has fought discrimination against Asian Americans for almost three decades. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the UC Berkeley Law School, a co-founder of the Asian American Legal Foundation, which organized the Ho v. San Francisco Unified School District lawsuit, a co-founder of the Asian American Coalition for Education, and a director of the Lowell Alumni Association. He has been fighting for the civil rights of Asian Americans and all Americans for nearly 30 years.
Alisa Farenzena
Class of 2002
Ms. Farenzena holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.S. in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. She brings to the table experience in writing and editing. She started working in journalism during high school, writing for local San Francisco newspapers, ultimately running a magazine at UC Berkeley. Upon graduation, she worked in investment management for several years. She also served as an elected member of the San Francisco Republican County Central Committee and has worked in local politics, including several Republican races, but also Democratic and nonpartisan campaigns. She currently owns rental property in San Francisco.
Christine Linnenbach
Class of 1989
Ms. Linnenbach graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with honors and holds dual B.A. degrees in Political Science and Interdisciplinary Field Studies. She authored an honors thesis focusing on the failures of entitlement policies and U.S. government housing policy. Ms. Linnenbach graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law and served as a Judicial Intern to Superior Court Judge Raymond D. Williamson and externed for Justice William Stein of the First District, Court of Appeal. Ms. Linnenbach honed her litigation skills for many years at the Office of the Sacramento County Public Defender, enforcing the constitutional rights of all. In private practice, Ms. Linnenbach represented clients in both federal and state court, worked on many high-profile cases, and was recognized as a San Francisco Bay Area Local Hero for her public interest work. Additionally, Ms. Linnenbach has significant political campaign experience and ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2004 as an independent. Most recently, Ms. Linnenbach spearheaded the successful litigation that challenged the San Francisco Board of Education’s 2021 decision to implement lottery admissions at Lowell High School. As lead counsel, Ms. Linnenbach devised the legal strategy to overturn the school board’s decision and thereby restored merit-based admissions through a novel legal challenge filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of the FOLF.
