Meet the OCCUR Team

Dr. David B. Franklin - President & CEO

Dr. David B. Franklin, Ph.D., is an accomplished non-profit strategist and minister who has devoted his life to creating, developing, and fostering the growth of community-based organizations.

As a respected leader in community engagement and impact, Dr. Franklin specializes in nurturing health in organizations through strategic development. His extensive experience, combined with his inspirational leadership style, has been instrumental in establishing initiatives that empower communities and secure funds to enhance programmatic impact for those in need of support. His steadfast dedication to transformation has not only positively impacted lives worldwide but also successfully raised millions of dollars for grassroots safety-net organizations.

Dr. Franklin holds a B.A. in Business Administration, a Master of Divinity in Theological Studies, and a Ph.D. in Organization Development. 


Jayaranjan "J" Anthonypillai - Vice President of Operations

J has over 15 years of experience enhancing the Bay Area's entrepreneurial ecosystem. He co-founded Berkeley Biolabs, the first coworking incubator for bio/chemistry startups, and Focus Academy, a global accelerator supporting international startups expansion efforts. Throughout his career, J has mentored over 100 startups and founded The Berkeley Program, equipping underrepresented students with entrepreneurial skills in STEAM fields.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, J co-founded renegade.bio, a diagnostics company, employing over 100 people and serving thousands in our local community. Since joining OCCUR, he launched The Founders Academy, an accelerator for Black-owned businesses, and the Career Development Program on Applied AI, helping businesses adopt advanced technologies for growth.

J's commitment to empowering underserved communities aligns with OCCUR's mission to foster community vitality and economic development.


Denise Deluca - Consumer Education Specialist

Denise provides essential expertise in community outreach, organizing and program promotions. Denise utilizes her keen ability to identify community challenges as well as determine the applicable programs/services that meet the needs of the communities we serve. 


Charla Montgomery - Program Consultant

Charla Montgomery brings over 20 years of corporate business operations and management experience. Her extensive and varied business background includes program administration, process improvement, operations infrastructure design, and implementation, employee training and development and event management.

She successfully applies her passion and experience to assist in the management and development of the organization’s administration, programming, personnel, and fiscal well being. While her primary business skills and endeavors have been in the “for-profit” industry, over the years she has continued to stay connected to community enrichment programs supporting adult education as well as cultural and artistic awareness projects.

Charla is an effective project thought partner who enjoys serving as a reliable ‘sounding board’ during idea discovery, a supporter of viewing situations from various perspectives and a promoter of innovative thinking. She also supports the Oakland-based nonprofit organization "Leaders Are Readers" as a member of the Board of Directors.

THE DAVID E. GLOVER EMERGING TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Olivia Cueva - Design Justice Fellow

Olivia Cueva is a radical dreamer, inventor, and creative technologist designing for our world where we center care for people and the planet. 

She loves peoples’ stories and for many years was a radio journalist and traveled the U.S. interviewing, recording, and archiving the dynamic life stories of all kinds of people. She grew up in Berkeley, CA, and is an alumni of YR Media (fka Youth Radio)! She received her bachelors in Broadcast Journalism from Brooklyn College, her masters in Interactive Design and Computational Media from ITP @ NYU. Some of her inventions include fashion technology and assistive technology for elder care. She leads our innovative community tech center and designs free, cutting edge programing for youth, adults, and seniors.