At the Teachers’ Retirement Board meeting on Thursday, May 2, the trustees of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System elected Denise Bradford chair and Karen Yamamoto vice chair.

The 12-member board nominates and elects its chair and vice chair annually. The chair and vice chair provide board leadership, direction and policy development for CalSTRS, the largest educator-only pension fund in the world.

Bradford served as vice chair last year and was nominated by former chair and vice chair Sharon Hendricks. Bradford succeeds Harry Keiley, who was chair the past four years.

An elementary school teacher with the Saddleback Valley Unified School District in Southern California, Bradford was first elected to the board in 2019. She has served as the president of the Saddleback Valley Educators Association and chair of the California Teachers' Association Retirement Committee. Bradford also serves on the CTA Board of Directors.

Yamamoto, who joined the board in 2017, is a retired elementary school teacher from Sacramento. Yamamoto taught second grade for 15 years in West Sacramento before retiring in 2007. She was a member of the California Department of Education’s Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission from 1999–2003, acting as chair in 2003. Yamamoto also served as a legislative assistant to several Assembly members in the California Legislature from 1978–1991.