HeadsUp Board Bios
Michelene Moayedi, Executive Director
Michelene has served as HeadsUp Executive Director since 2016, bringing to the role her years of executive experience and community service in education. After studying speech and rhetoric at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Michelene’s first career stint, lasting eight years, was in Silicon Valley and the UK as a high-tech sales engineer. Seeking change, Michelene completed culinary training and worked as a chef for two years before realizing she was in a career not compatible with family life. She then pivoted to serve as Director of Finance for a culinary team-building company. Michelene served as vice president of fundraising at Coleman elementary for three years and as PTO president for an additional three years. Since 2013, Michelene has been a mentor for cancer caregivers through the nonprofit Imerman Angels. Michelene’s two children are now the fortunate beneficiaries of their mother’s culinary training and are students in San Rafael City Schools district.
Executive Committee
Alicia Malet Klein, President
Alicia has served on the HeadsUp board since 2007, acting as president since 2013. Following a brief advertising career in Los Angeles, she returned to Marin County in the 1990s to raise her sons and begin her committed work for public education and education equity. Alicia served as trustee on the Bay Area Discovery Museum’s Board and for 16 years was a teacher for gifted and talented fourth- and fifth-graders at Coleman elementary. For many years, Alicia worked weekly in classrooms to directly support students and their teachers. She has also held a variety of parent leadership positions. Alicia serves on the San Rafael City Schools district’s budget advisory committees and the Parcel Tax Citizens Oversight Committee. She is president of Making Waves Academy, a charter school in Richmond and sits on the Board of Directors of the foundation that supports its facilities and college success program. Her two adult sons attended Coleman, Davidson, San Rafael High and Stanford and she is grateful they both now reside in the Bay Area. Alicia and her husband, Tom, love to hike, read, kayak and travel.
Amy Jonak, Vice President
Amy joined the HeadsUp board in 2008, serving as president from 2010 to 2013. Amy spent over 20 years in editorial development, management, marketing and production for book publishers and book developers including McGraw-Hill, International Masters, Roundtable Press and her own company, LA Press. For more than fifteen years, she has served in a variety of volunteer and board positions focused on education. In the San Rafael City Schools, Amy served many years as PTA president of both Sun Valley elementary and Davidson middle school. She also served on the SRCS Superintendent’s Parents Council and Roadmap to the Future Committee. In addition to her role with HeadsUp, Amy is chair of The Marin School, an independent high school in San Rafael, and sits on the executive board of the Marin Chinese Cultural Association. A graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, Amy lives in San Rafael with her partner, Mary. Their daughter, Sophie, attends CSU Fullerton.
Mariana Lopez Quintanilla, Vice President
With a demonstrated commitment to public education and education equity, Mariana joined the HeadsUp Board in 2012 to advocate on behalf of the Latinx community. Mariana has worked in San Rafael City Schools since 2008. She was instrumental in coordinating multiple programs and agencies to provide enrichment to district schools and now manages the seven after-school programs operating at Bahia Vista, Coleman, Davidson, Laurel Dell, San Pedro, Short and Venetia Valley. Mariana is a recipient of a 2016 Golden Bell Award for her leadership as Program Director of the Learning Enrichment After-School Program (LEAP) at San Pedro elementary and for creating and operating an engaging blend of academic and enrichment programming. Under Mariana’s leadership, San Pedro LEAP was also recognized by the After‐School Industry for its “outstanding curriculum and use of STEM Activities” and has been designated as a Region 4 Model STEM Program. Mariana also received the 2014 Best Practices in After-School Program Award from Bay Area Community Resources (BACR), which oversees over 70 after-school programs. Mariana is a native of Venezuela and the mother of two adult children.
Tanya Burdick, Vice President
Tanya joined HeadsUp in 2013 and has co-chaired the annual HeadsUp Carnival (formerly Summerfest), the foundation’s community-wide and largest fundraiser, since joining the board. Tanya is an active supporter and fundraiser for athletics and enrichment in the community and school district, serving on the SwimMarin Board for eight years and Music Boosters at San Rafael High for three years. Tanya is team parent coordinator for her two sons’ water polo and swim teams. She is also a physical therapist at Kaiser Permanente and a member of the ALS Clinic team. Her two sons attend San Rafael City Schools.
Whitney O'Neill, Secretary
Whitney has supported the annual HeadsUp Carnival (formerly Summerfest), a community-wide fundraiser, for over a decade. She joined the HeadsUp Board in 2016 and is a former Davidson middle school PTO President. Having been a vocal and active bond measure advocate, Whitney is pleased to see the fruition of this community work with new school buildings and upgrades throughout the district. Whitney has worked at Informa, a leading international events, intelligence and scholarly research firm, for nearly thirty years and is currently a project manager. Her two children attend San Rafael City Schools and are active in sports, art and music.
Sue Murphy, Treasurer
A longtime San Rafael resident and San Rafael City School alum, Sue is deeply rooted in the community and dedicated to working toward education equity. Serving first on the Sun Valley PTA/PTO Executive Board, Sue joined the HeadsUp Board in 2008. She has worked as a staff accountant for the Mill Valley School district for over a decade and contributes valuable school finance expertise to HeadsUp. As treasurer, Sue ensures HeadsUp maintains fiscal responsibility and transparency so that the foundation mission can be realized. She has also been an active fundraiser for school and club athletics. Her two adult sons graduated from San Rafael City Schools and her daughter is a student in the district.
At-Large Board Members
Courtney Budesa
Courtney joined the HeadsUp Board in 2016 when her children entered Sun Valley elementary. A San Rafael native and alum of Sun Valley, Davidson and San Rafael High, Courtney looks forward to watching her two daughters follow in her footsteps. Courtney’s passion for education and steadfast belief that all students deserve access to high-quality education is demonstrated in her previous experience as an elementary teacher, as a manager of nonprofit employment programs for San Francisco high schoolers and in her current position as the Director of Internships and Professional Development for the business school at Dominican University. Courtney is a HeadsUp school site liaison and our social media coordinator
Emily Busch
Emily has been committed to SRCS students since she began working for the district in 1997 as a Classified Account Clerk at San Rafael High School. As a dedicated advocate for students, Emily also stepped up as administrative advisor for HeadsUP Link Crew, a school-wide student mentoring program. Emily was an Administrative Assistant at Davidson Middle School until 2016 when she became Executive Assistant in Business Services in the SRCS District Office. Emily says she loves SRCS and has dedicated years of hard work and advocacy to support SRCS students. She joined the HeadsUp board in 2018, where her experience and knowledge about the diverse SRCS community will continue to benefit all students.
Amy Fogliani
Joining the HeadsUp Board in 2022 Amy has worked in higher education for nearly twenty years. Most recently
Amy served as the Director of Admission and Outreach for the University of San Francisco School of Education and currently serves as the Director of Admission for the University of San Francisco College of Arts and Science. In addition to professional work, Amy has been an active volunteer at the Marin Food Bank for the last several years. She holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Humanities from San Francisco State University. Amy grew up in Nevada but has called the bay area home for the last thirty years and San Rafael home for the last thirteen. She has two children at SRCS - Davidson Middle School (Go Cougars!) and San Rafael High School (Go Bulldogs!)
Tory Harter
Tory Harter joined the HeadsUp Board in 2021 to support equity in action — appreciating the many ways HeadsUp benefits all students in San Rafael, and creates a more cohesive community. Tory has worked in Marin as a public health nurse since 2002, is passionate about breaking down barriers and problem solving so that everyone living in Marin can access its many resources. In a previous life, she traveled and lived in Ecuador — her current life is in Marin, raising two children (well teens now, albeit she is in a bit of denial) and a menagerie of pets. Having worked on the front lines of the Covid 19 pandemic, she is more committed than ever to creating change in our local systems, especially our schools and believes HeadsUp is a great way to do so. Her children thrived at Davidson Middle School, now attend San Rafael High School and are involved in athletics and student leadership. She learns so much from them and their friends, and is grateful to all the SRCS teachers, staff and administrators who have helped along the way.
Tracey Hessel
Tracey is deeply connected to the health and wellness of her community through her roles as Associate Medical Director, Pediatrics, at Marin Community Clinics and also as Co-chair of the Marin County HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Lifestyles) Steering Committee and member of the Marin County Oral Health Advisory Committee. Joining the HeadsUp board in 2014, Tracey is a fierce advocate for equity and ensuring that all students in the district have academic opportunities and enrichment programming. She earned her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and completed medical school and residency at UCSF. Both her son and daughter attended SRCS.
Kris Jackson
Joining the HeadsUp board in 2021, Kris contributes over three decades of finance and accounting experience across several industry sectors and a demonstrated passion for education equity. She has held several formal and informal parent-volunteer roles in SRCS, including Treasurer of Davidson Middle School PTO. Currently, Kris serves as Director of Finance for Buck Institute for Education dba PBLWorks, a nonprofit advancing education equity and empowering youth furthest from opportunity through project-based learning. Throughout her career, her favorite clients have included The Boys & Girls Clubs of both San Francisco and North Lake Tahoe as well as Bay Area Discovery Museum. Kris grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with degrees in Accounting and Marketing. She enjoys her life in California through adventures skiing, mountain biking and hiking with her family and black lab, Rufus.
Gina Kossler
Gina joined the HeadsUp Board in 2018 and oversees the annual Consistent Achiever awards ceremony. She has also been an active member of the PTOs at Sun Valley elementary and Davidson middle school. Since 2002, Gina has been a medical social worker at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Her two daughters attend San Rafael City Schools.
Stacey Laumann
Coming Soon
Melinda MacKaben
Coming Soon
Kristin Maguire
Kristin is mom to two boys in 4th and 7th grades – this will be her 7th year as an SRCS parent! In a previous life, she worked for a global accounting firm in various marketing, communications, change management, and process improvement roles for their US operations, followed by a few years of independent consulting for professional service businesses during the napping hours of her children. Currently, she is the President of the Glenwood School Foundation. A graduate of Santa Rosa City Schools and UC Berkeley, she is passionate about public education and believes enrichment opportunities are essential to nurturing the whole child. As a lifelong musician and recreational songwriter, she hopes all students get to experience the joy and therapeutic aspects of spending time in the arts. Previously, she has served as a Commissioner of San Rafael Little League, President of the Redeemer Preschool Advisory Board, and served on the Boards of the Southern Marin Mothers’ Club and Marin Advocates for Children (now Marin CASA and Foster Care.) In her free time, she rows with Marin Rowing Association and is working toward her MFA in poetry.
Melissa Tervet-da Cunha
Coming Soon.
School Principal Liaisons
Jason Richardson
Jason started out as a teacher in SRCS at Coleman Elementary in 2001. He then taught at Davidson Middle School prior to becoming a principal in another district. In 2018 Jason returned to SRCS as the principal at Glenwood Elementary School. He has been a voice for expanding enrichment programs equitably across the district during his time at Glenwood. When he is not supporting the Glenwood Eagle community, he enjoys kayaking and hiking.