Our Story
Young Scholars Institute of the Bay Area (YSIBA) was founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in 2017 by Marcel Baker and Kahlilah Guyah to address the under performance of African American students in the San Francisco East Bay Tri-Valley cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and surrounding areas.
Our Team
Marcel Baker
Marcel Baker is the Co-Founder Executive Director of Young Scholars Institute Bay Area. With over a decade of experience in education, he currently serves as a Vice Principal at Foothill High School, in Pleasanton, CA. Marcel has always had a passion for mentoring and pursuing equitable outcomes for youth, particularly underserved youth in our school systems. As a member of the 100 Black Men of America in both Las Vegas and the Bay Area, Marcel has led in school mentoring programs and been a member of the design teams and original board of directors for the successful openings of two charter schools serving inner-city students. Marcel earned the Mentor of the Year Award in 2006 from the Las Vegas chapter for his dedication and work. Marcel was recognized as the Urban Educator of the Year in the Bay Area by Loyola Marymount University in 2010. Marcel earned his Master’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in Urban Education. His post-graduate research focused on the effectiveness of in-school mentoring programs for black and brown boys in inner city school settings. Marcel is the proud father of two children, one at the University of Virginia and the other at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Kahlilah Guyah
Kahlilah Guyah, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of YSIBA, is the daughter of two educators, Alfonso and Gwendolyn Jennings who worked in public education a combined total of 80 years in the city of Trenton, New Jersey where she was raised. They instilled in her a passion for education and the possibilities it provides. It was this passion that fueled the desire to co-found YSIBA and impact the lives of African-American students who are underserved by the schools and, as a result, are not receiving the full benefit of their educational experience.
She has been an Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Consultant for over 15 years and has managed a boutique consulting firm that is based in the Tri-Valley for the last seven years. Kahlilah graduated from Pennsylvania State University with an MS degree in Chemistry and received her BS degree in Chemistry from Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
She and her husband Radeen live in the Tri-Valley area of San Francisco and are proud parents of Justin and Sarai.
