Gateway Course Faculty

Laura Paxton Hassner - Strategic Advisor to the Chancellor | Professional Faculty, Management of Organizations at Berkeley Haas | Executive Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship | Executive Director, Berkeley Changemaker

Laura Hassner is the Strategic Advisor to the Chancellor of UC Berkeley. She is also the Executive Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Changemaker academic program. Hassner co-created and co-leads the Berkeley Changemaker® academic program. Berkeley Changemaker’s identity-making curriculum activates students’ passions and helps them develop a sharper sense of who they want to be and how to make that happen. In its first 5 years, over 8,500 students have become Berkeley Changemakers.

Janet L. Yellen - Professor Emeritus of Business Administration

Janet Yellen joined the faculty of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980 where she conducted research and taught macroeconomics at all levels, receiving numerous teaching awards. She was appointed Bernard T. Rocca, Jr. Professor of International Business and Trade in 1992 and Eugene E. and Catherine M. Trefethen Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Economics in 1999. She subsequently became professor emeritus at the Haas School of Business.

Linda M. Burton - Eugene and Rose Kleiner Chair for the Study of Processes, Practices and Policies in Aging

Prior to her arrival at Berkeley in 2019, Dr. Burton was the James B. Duke Professor of Sociology and director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. In her role as dean of Social Sciences at Duke University's Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, she was responsible for handling all matters relative to 239 faculty members in 14 departments and programs, including African/African American Studies, Economics, History, Political Science, and Women's Studies.

Catherine Koshland - Wood-Calvert Professor in the College of Engineering, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health, and Professor in the Energy and Resources Group

Catherine P. Koshland is the University of California Berkeley's former interim executive vice chancellor and provost (EVCP), Wood-Calvert Professor in the College of Engineering, professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health, and a professor in the Energy and Resources Group. Her research interests include air pollution; the health impacts of nanoparticles; energy, technology, and social and cultural impacts; and environmental health regulation and policy. From 2004 to 2014, Cathy served as UC Berkeley’s vice provost for academic planning and facilities, a role that was expanded in 2009 to include teaching and learning. In 2015, she became vice chancellor for undergraduate education and held that role through June 2021.

Mariana Somma - Lecturer, Innovation and Design

As a design thinking coach, facilitator, practitioner, and educator, Mariana Somma teaches organizations and individuals how to take a human-centered approach to solving problems. Mariana is passionate about helping students and entrepreneurs apply design thinking methodologies to solve problems, generate ideas and build a foundation that will help teams flourish. She currently co-facilitates Design Thinking and Innovation graduate and undergraduate courses for the Haas School of Business and coaches workshops for international corporations and higher education institutions.

Chelsea Gregory - Lecturer, Theater, Dance and Performance Studies

Chelsea Gregory (she/her) is a community-engaged artist, educator, cultural organizer, equity and restorative justice practitioner with over two decades of experience working at the intersections of arts and social change. She has collaborated with Urban Bush Women, Cornerstone Theater Company, Guillermo Gomez-Peña/ La Pocha Nostra, Working Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and many other dance and theater companies.

Brandi M. Pearce - Lecturer, Director, High Impact Teams & Research, Team@Haas, Management of Organizations

Brandi Pearce is on the faculty in Management of Organizations and the Faculty Director of Teams@Haas. Prior to earning her doctorate, Pearce worked in the Silicon Valley leading alliance teams for Oracle Corporation, one of the world’s most innovative global organizations in the management of strategic partnerships. She deeply values the intersection between evidence-based management and organizational practice. These principals spill over into her research where she works directly with teams, individual contributors, and executives in Global Fortune 500 organizations all over the world to explore how collaborative dynamics drive creativity, employee engagement, and innovation.

Christyna Serrano - Lecturer, Education

Christyna Serrano has over ten years of teaching, curriculum, and program design experience. Christyna has collaborated with, developed, and managed faculty, technical experts, thought leaders, and content partners to produce dynamic, interactive, and transformative learning experiences and educational solutions (in-person and online) -- most recently as Director, Faculty Engagement at Singularity University, and now as Strategic Content Partner Lead at Udacity

Alex Budak - Lecturer, Management of Organizations

Alex Budak is a social entrepreneur and professional faculty member at Berkeley Haas. Budak created and teaches a transformative course called “Becoming a Changemaker,” and is Executive Director of the Berkeley Haas Global Access Program. He co-founded and now advises the social enterprise StartSomeGood.com, which has helped over 1,000 changemakers in 50 countries raise over $10 Million USD.