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Breakthrough Executive Director Faith Galati has more than 22 years of experience serving youth in the Sacramento community as a board member for Stanford Home for Children, advocate for CASA of Sacramento, fundraiser for Shriner’s Hospital, Save Vernazza, International Bridges to Justice, Global Medical Foundation, and more. Faith is also an operations and development professional with 16 years of experience as an executive in the financial industry.

Faith attended the University of Nevada Reno, obtaining a BA in Journalism, and later attended California State University, Sacramento to obtain an MBA.

Faith is deeply committed to Sacramento’s youth's success and to delivering educational equity. This is evidenced in her active role in reviving Breakthrough Sacramento and continuing its legacy of serving area youth and inspiring future educators.  

Javier is a proud Latinx college access professional and serves as the Programs Manager for Breakthrough Sacramento. After working with Solano County Cal-SOAP, he joined Breakthrough and has dedicated the last 17 years to supporting low-income, first-generation, and marginalized students and their families. He firmly believes that college should be accessible to all students pursuing higher education.

Javier is also enthusiastic about engaging parents and guardians in post-secondary planning to help inspire and support their children. As the second oldest of seven siblings from Oakland, California, he made history as the first person in his family to attend and graduate from college. Javier earned his Associate's degree in Psychology from Solano Community College, a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from California State University, East Bay (Go Pioneers!). 

He is committed to providing resources and opportunities for students interested in Trades, Vocational, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, particularly for hands-on learners. Advocating for equity and student success is his top priority.

Marina leads Breakthrough Sacramento’s high school programs. Marina focuses on improving academic achievement, through critical identification of gaps in learning and linking students with trained near-peer tutors and mentors, as well as coordinating advising and monthly enrichment field trips. On top of this, she also leads Breakthrough Sacramento’s social justice internship. This internship allows high school students to research the effects of substance abuse on youth in Sacramento by applying the designed thinking method to their research. She has also worked as a teaching intern in the science department during BSAC’s summer academy since 2022. 

Before becoming BSAC’s high school manager, Marina volunteered as a classroom assistant in different math classes in Davis as a student. In 2023, she received her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a concentration on pure mathematics, secondary teaching, and economics.

She is passionate about amending the education gap between first-generation, low-income students and their peers. Having been a student in that demographic in Sacramento schools, she is familiar with possible disparities. She wants to support students who may have similar experiences she had.