Who we are – Bayha Group

Vision

To cultivate a thriving, globally-recognized, youth-centered community with a passion for creating a sustainable, kinder, and more just world.

Mission

Bayha Group provides core professional workplace skills development, co-designed with youth and industry partners, with livable wages, in a kind, ethical, and respectful environment to challenge the global talent shortage.

Our values

We collaborate with youth by asking and acting.
Too many programs intended for youth are designed without prioritizing their voices. What sets our programming apart is an equal commitment to seeking out youth feedback and applying it to what we create–treating youth as our partners and co-designers in the process.
We work with wonder, pursuing growth.
Our life’s work is ongoing–and we see that as a good thing. We find the joy in learning that makes the fun of proficiency and the ecstasy of mastery even more rewarding.
We build community on transparency and authenticity.
Our goal is to foster an environment where everyone feels safe and confident to give open and honest feedback. We see cultivating relationships with respectful candor as a shared responsibility.
We make informed decisions and own them.
We each have the agency to do what we think is best based on the best information we have, knowing there’s always room to improve. We instill in ourselves and each other the confidence to act without being afraid to fail.

We prioritize kindness.
As Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” We strive in our work to make people feel valued, respected, and that their voice matters.
We do good and have fun doing it.
It’s thrilling to see how giving people a boost can change their future trajectory. We delight in helping people reach beyond what they believed was possible and exploring what brings us joy makes us even better at what we do.
We’re driven by equity.
Bayha Group was created with the belief that education can and should be a force for equity. We work to level the playing field for youth not only by giving them internship opportunities, but by planting the seeds for their financial freedom. We approach this work with a mindset of abundance, knowing that when one of us succeeds, we all succeed.

Our Team

June Bayha

Founder, CEO

June Bayha is an education advocate with more than 20 years of experience working directly with educators to bring innovative, youth-focused programs to schools and communities through grant funding. She has spent most of her career leading evaluation studies and spearheading initiatives to give youth more voice in their learning. Her work offers teachers more strategies to engage students through project-based or hands-on learning relevant to their interests and provides funders with data outcomes on returns on their investments.

June’s passion for education started at a young age. While earning her Bachelor of Arts in History/Government at Claremont McKenna College, she wrote a thesis titled, “History of Public Education and the American Dream.” While earning her Master of Arts in Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University, her thesis was, “Certifying Transferable Workforce Skills: The Core Service Certificate.”

Harlen Bayha

CFO/CTO

Since 2019, Harlen Bayha has managed the finance and technology teams at Bayha Group, an educational consulting and grant support firm based in San Diego, California. Prior to this, he designed reporting, compensation, incentive, compliance, and retail sales systems applications in his 20-year career at Wells Fargo, a large financial institution with operations across the continental United States.

As a member of the board of directors of Pacific Arts Movement from 2010 to 2025, Harlen also helped produce the San Diego Asian Film Festival in the roles of President, Vice President, and Treasurer.

Cindy Wijma

Data Specialist

With more than 20 years of experience in educational research, Cindy Wijma is responsible for much of Bayha Group’s grant writing, evaluation design, data analysis and reporting efforts. She has extensive experience with grant proposals and has designed evaluations for both K-12 and community colleges funded by various agencies (including California Department of Education, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor and National Institute of Health).

Cindy helped secure more than $4 million in grants during her tenure at WestEd. Prior to Bayha Group and WestEd, Cindy worked at the San Diego Community College District as a research analyst and a grant writer/evaluator for the Merced County Office of Education. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Joanna Banks

Grants Specialist

As one of Bayha Group’s expert grant writers, Joanna Banks uses her experience as a journalist, publicist, and report writer to persuade funding agencies to finance educational programming throughout the U.S. Banks has broad expertise, most recently as a freelance writer working closely with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, California Department of Education, K-12 agencies and local workforce boards and other agencies.

Joanna previously worked in public relations/communications for a private women’s university in Los Angeles, and prior to that, reporter for many of the country’s largest newspapers. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master’s of Science in Journalism from Syracuse University.

Barbarella Fokos

Creative Director

Barb brings over a decade’s worth of award-winning story telling and filmmaking expertise to the team. Her background in journalism and television informs her ability to get at the crux of a story and communicate it in a way that will resonate. As head of video production, Barb is there from concept to creation of each compelling video that incorporates information and emotion to effectively convey the heart of a message.

The myriad writing and filmmaking awards Barb has earned include an Emmy Award for Best Program in Arts and Entertainment, several festival Best Short Documentary Film awards, and numerous Excellence in Journalism awards.

Co-Designers

Alani Bayha

I am an architecture major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and also a member of the Cal Poly Unicycle Club. Throughout my life, I’ve taken classes on illustration and graphic design. I contribute my artistic skills by developing visual communications, merch, and logo designs. I grew up in project-based learning schools from elementary to college. I believe creative and collaborative education develops versatile and compassionate people.

Rigel Bayha

I am a student of the 2027 class of New York University, and I have been working with the Bayha Group since 2020. I am interested in the visual arts and history, and I enjoy drawing, reading, and cooking in my free time. Being a part of the WorkWonder Summer Internship Program has given me the chance to learn from a wide range of different mentors, fellow codesigners and interns. This community thrives by giving one another the skills, tools, friendships, and experiences to take their goals to the next level, and it’s incredible to see what we can do with each step forward. I am happy to be a part of Bayha Group, and to have the chance to support young people in reaching their goals.

Bella Frost

Bella Frost is a recent graduate of Rider University’s BFA Acting program. In addition to her work with Bayha Group, she is a professional actor, writer, and freelance producer for live events and short films. Since the age of 16, Bella has been actively involved in fundraising and collaboration with non-profit organizations, most recently supporting The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. She also has extensive experience working with young minds, both as a youth paddleboard and kayak instructor and as a performer in educational programming for young audiences. Bella currently also serves as a spokesperson and project manager for ContractXR, a Bayha Group partner, and is based in Los Angeles while working on bi-coastal projects.

Alexis Tenorio

I am a Co-Designer specializing in Social Science and Research. In the past I have worked on gathering information from the surveys from our past summer interns to evaluate their feedback and how we might improve the WorkWonder experience. At this time, I am working with a creative team of individuals to organize an annual convention, WorkWonderCon, in which we hope to promote leadership and growth to our interns as well as give them a space to network. I want to be the change I want to see in the world, in the sense that I want to share knowledge and lift others up so that they may be able to accomplish their goals.

our Services

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Data Collection & Reporting

To ensure efficacy and compliance, regular data collection and analysis are key in grant-funded initiatives. As part of our full-service offering, the Bayha Group team can assist with this stage as well.

For each client we work with, we create customized data gathering tools that ensure the appropriate metrics are tracked, measured and reported. Our services include qualitative and quantitative data collection, analyses, and reporting to address funder expectations and meet regulatory requirements.

Learn More About Data Collection

Grants & Services

Bayha Group is a trusted resource for organizations seeking grant proposal writing assistance.

With decades of experience in grant funding at the local, state and federal level, our expert team has mastered the art of persuasive, compelling storytelling that results in successful, high-value grant awards.

Learn More About Grants

Management & Implementation

Getting an initiative funded is only the first step.

At Bayha Group, we can partner throughout the entire life cycle of the grant program—from initial funding to project management and implementation to the final compliance report.

Learn More About Grant Management