Board of Trustees

List of 10 members.

• 

  Chanelle A Bell 

  2006

  Bio

  Chanelle Bell, JMSG Alum '06, is a dynamic and fierce advocate for educational equity. Her exuberant personality enables her to make meaningful relationships across lines of difference. Chanelle is the Vice President, External Affairs at Teach For America Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana. Her team leads three distinct functions: Community Partnerships, Public Funding & Policy, and Marketing & Communications to ensure that Teach For America can continue to recruit and develop culturally responsive and dedicated leaders in education. She is a 2014 Teach For America alumna and was profiled by the organization for her innovative classroom culture and high results in an article titled, "How a Theatre Major Found Her Role of a Lifetime in the Classroom." Her passion to end educational inequity began when at 20 she became the Assistant Editor of The Post News Group, the largest Black published newspaper in Northern California. Her articles highlighted Black Excellence and analyzed the education landscape in Oakland.
  
  Chanelle’s education journey led her to move from New York, where she completed a B.A. in Theatre at Fordham University to the South Side of Chicago. While completing her M.S. in Education at Dominican University, Chanelle was able to teach preschool in the same neighborhood that she attended preschool. Her work in civic engagement manifested when she was able to empower and provide resources for the parents of her students as the Manager of Government and Community Affairs at Noble Network of Charter Schools, the largest high school charter school network in the city of Chicago. Chanelle’s work in the South Side communities of Chicago has been featured in The Chicago Citizen, The Chicago Defender, The Chicago Tribune, and WBBN.
  
  In 2018 Chanelle was selected to join the inaugural Obama Foundation Community Leadership Cohort where she has launched an organization called Positively Melanin, which provides community workshops designed to equip Black youth with the necessary guidance to navigate their success and an online space that highlights Black excellence in various industries in efforts to empower and inform their career aspirations. Positively Melanin was featured in an NPR segment titled, “In Chicago, The Obamas’ Civic Engagement Programs Are In Action”. Chanelle hosted the 2nd ever Obama Foundation Summit that was streamed worldwide to thousands of people. This past November, Chanelle spoke at the TEDxNaperville convening about how she uses her theatre training to reclaim her power everyday. She is also an alumna of the Surge Institute, which educates, empowers, and energizes educational leaders of color who will create transformative change in the communities that they serve. In addition to her work in the education field, Chanelle is a published writer and actress. She uses those mediums to produce art that highlights inequity and charges the audience to take action against injustices.
• 

  Laura Blankenship 

  Bio

  Laura Blankenship, Ph.D, has been a strong advocate for women in STEM for most of her career in education. Most recently, she served as the Founding Head of School for San Francisco Girls' School, a high school whose vision was to close the gender gap in STEM and leadership. Prior to that, she was the Assistant Head of School at The Baldwin School, a PreK-12 girls' school outside of Philadelphia, where she oversaw the entire academic program, and co-led the strategic plan development and implementation. At Baldwin, Dr. Blankenship previously served as the Dean of Academic Affairs and Computer Science Department Chair, a department she founded and developed into a full PreK-12 program. Prior to her time at Baldwin, Dr. Blankenship spent seven years at Bryn Mawr College working as an Instructional Technologist where she ran a summer program for young women to learn web development and other technical skills while building projects for the school. Dr. Blankenship served for two years as a board member of the Computer Science Teachers' Association and won the National Conference of Women in Technology Educator award. She now lives in East Tennessee with her husband, Doug, and dog, Louie. Both her adult children live in the Bay Area.
• 

  Yvonne Faisal 

  Bio

  Yvonne Faisal is an experienced educator, systems thinker, and leader. She is currently the Interim Principal at ICA Cristo Rey, a Dominican All-Girls' High School in San Francisco. Previously she was the Assistant Head of School for the San Francisco Girls’ School, a start-up school focused on using STEM to address the challenges facing humanity.  

  
  Over her educational career, Yvonne has been a Mathematics and Engineering teacher, a Department Chair, the Senior Class Dean, the Director of Systems and Innovation, and the Director of Academics. In her various roles, she built an academic program from scratch, led task forces to facilitate full-school change initiatives, coordinated multi-divisional projects, and conducted professional development workshops on innovative teaching practices, building change capacity, and exploring balance within the educational paradigm.  She was awarded the St. Stephan medal by her peers at Woodside Priory for teaching excellence and her work for incorporating hands-on learning and real-life applications into the classroom, as well as her commitment to teaching independent strategic thinking and self-advocacy.

  
  Yvonne’s commitment to mentoring and building capacity in others is a hallmark of her work. Before her career in the educational field, Yvonne was an electrical engineer and she holds a BA in Mathematics and Physics from Drury University, a BS in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a MA in Ed. & H.D. for Organization Leadership and Learning from The George Washington University.
• 

  Zoe T Leonard Monrad 

  2007

  Bio

  Zoe Leonard Monrad (JMSG Alum '07) graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Macalester College with a BA in Economics, International Development, and Human Rights. Her work has always been rooted in economic opportunity and financial inclusion. She is currently a Partner Success Manager with the Mission Asset Fund, a nonprofit organization offering zero-percent interest credit-building loans. In her role, she supports MAF’s vibrant nationwide network of nonprofit Lending Circle providers. Prior to joining MAF, she worked in Minnesota’s Twin Cities as a Volunteer and Recruitment Coordinator at Rise and a Financial Manager at Prepare + Prosper’s VITA clinics. This commitment also led to roles in the Bay Area with La Cocina and the International Rescue Committee and internationally with the Asante Africa Foundation. 
• 

  Stephanie Mendelsohn 

  Bio

  Stephanie Mendelsohn is a proud parent of JMSG ‘14 and ‘17 alums. She is Associate General Counsel and Senior Director of Records and eDiscovery at Genentech in South San Francisco where she focuses on law and technology. Her teams are responsible for Genentech's information management program and for Roche’s global eDiscovery program. Within Genentech’s Legal Department, Stephanie is a member of the Corporate Law Leadership team. Prior to joining Genentech, Stephanie was a litigation partner at a global law firm where she focused on the defense of product liability actions involving pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.  She graduated with a BA with honors from the University of Michigan and a JD from The George Washington University Law School.
• 

  Mr. Jermaine Pierre 

  Bio

  Jermaine Pierre is a proud parent of a JMSG ’23 alum. He is a Director and member of the North America Core Portfolio Management (Core PM) team at BlackRock in San Francisco where he focuses on Global Fixed Income. His teams have managed over 100 Billion in AUM in US and Canada and are responsible for various iShares, Index, and Active funds. Outside of BlackRock, he is on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Bond Investors Association (CBIA). Prior to joining BlackRock, he was an investment officer managing and trading interest rates and mortgage backed securities (MBS) portfolios at Mellon Capital and California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPers). Previously, he worked in the Alternative Investment Group at Merrill Lynch, responsible for marketing and structuring cash collateralized default obligation (CDO) and structured products. He began his career at Citigroup on the emerging markets and equity derivatives desk. Mr. Pierre earned a BBA degree in Finance from Howard University and an MBA degree in Finance from Columbia University.
• 

  Colleen Schilly 

  Bio

  Colleen Schilly is the Associate Head of School at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, California. She has more than 20 years of experience in education as a teacher, coach, and leader. In addition to her work in education, Colleen is a trained graphic recorder and facilitator who leverages the power of visual images to capture the thinking of a group and move complex processes forward. Colleen has a BS in Environmental Science from Duke University and an M.S. in General & Special Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education. She lives in San Jose with her husband, Morgan, and two young children Beckett and Ryder. 
• 

  Rebecca Silbert 

  Bio

  Rebecca Silbert is a Senior Fellow at the Opportunity Institute in Berkeley and the Director of Corrections to College, an independent statewide initiative to increase high-quality higher education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Californians. Corrections to College is co-directed by the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. Previously, Rebecca was the Executive Director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at UC Berkeley School of Law. Prior to her five years at the Warren Institute, Rebecca tried cases for nine years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Northern District of California. She earlier worked as an associate at the law firm of Keker, VanNest, & Peters LLP in San Francisco as well as with the Harvard Project on Schooling and Children. Rebecca has a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from UC Berkeley. Rebecca's daughter Eliana graduated in JMSG Class of 2017 and Sarah graduated in the Class of 2021.
• 

  Amy Urban 

  Bio

  Amy Urban is mom to daughters Abbie, JMSG Class of 2018, and Violet, Class of 2021. She grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in International Relations and Political Science.  After moving to the Bay Area, Amy earned her California Teaching Credential at JFK University in Orinda. She briefly taught in public schools in Alameda and Berkeley before teaching second grade at Camelot School in Castro Valley, where she also acted as Interim Head of School. She was President of the Montessori Family School Parents’ Association in El Cerrito from April 2008-June 2011 and enjoyed volunteering in the classrooms while her daughters were students there.  Amy served as a trustee on the Board of Directors at Montessori Family School from January 2010-June 2015, and as Board Chair from July 2015-June 2018. Amy lives in Berkeley with her husband, Ian, daughters, Abbie and Violet, and her dog, Suki. 
• 

  Trinity N Wilson 

  2008

  Bio

  Trinity Wilson (JMSG Alum '08) is a Bay Area native from Oakland, CA. She is the Assistant Program Director for Boost@BerkeleyHaas, a 4-year high school college readiness program, at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Trinity leads all recruiting efforts, manages school partnerships, creates community engagement opportunities, and prioritizes the evolving needs of students.
  
  Prior to her time at UC Berkeley she worked at UCLA’s Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Office supporting the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff. In her role she managed the UCLA Global Citizens Fellowship, enhanced departmental relationships, supported the Student Fee Advisory Committee, organized university campus events, and connected students with the UCLA Student Affairs Leadership team. She also worked at the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Center for Media, Entertainment, & Sports supporting the Executive and Faculty Directors, leading and managing UCLA Summer Sessions and Summer Discovery, as well as managing events. She also brought in the first HBCU cohort of students for the Center’s Howard University Initiative.
  
  Trinity earned an MBA & MA in Educational Leadership from Mills College. She also has a bachelor's degree from UCLA in Sociology, a minor in Gender Studies, and was a track and field scholarship student-athlete.