Board of Trustees

The role of the Board of Trustees is to ensure the long-term health of the school, including strategic planning, hiring and evaluation of the head of school, and acting as the school’s fiduciary and financial stewards. The Board’s role is one of policy and not day-to-day administration. Trustees serve an initial three year term, and advocate on behalf of the school with their respective networks and communities.

EBI TRUSTEE BIOS

2011-12

Angela Alonso was born and raised in Seville, Spain. She majored in English and American Literature at the University of Seville and first came to the United States to begin graduate studies at Cornell University.  She has been engaged in teaching Spanish language and literature, as well as French language in Bay Area Independent schools for nearly 20 years. For 10 years, Angela led groups of teenagers for one-month language summer study trips to Spain through a company she co-founded. She has two children, Daniel (11) and Alexander (7), and keeps a bilingual household with her husband who is also an educator. Angela and her husband were instrumental in EBI’s founding.

Alejandro Caminos is President of IPFC Group LLC which provides finance consulting/advisory work for sovereign, sub-sovereign entities as well as financial institutions both in the United States and abroad. He has over 15 years experience in financial advisory, banking and investment banking services for the U.S. public finance sector and international development agencies (U.S. and E.U.); private asset management, trading of domestic and foreign bond and equity markets. He is fluent in Spanish (oral and written). Previously, Alejandro headed the representative offices of DEPFA Bank for the Western US. He also worked at KNN/Zions Bank and Lehman Brothers. Alejandro holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies & Computer Science from Brandeis University.

Christina Campobassospent 11 years practicing commercial and residential architectural lighting design and working for firms in Seattle, WA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Los Angeles and San Francisco. During her three years in Argentina she traveled throughout South America and solidified her love of the Spanish language. After having children she decided to change careers and formalize her long-time passion for welding and metalwork. In 2004 Christina formed her contemporary jewelry design company, Lucid Designs, and currently works from her home studio in Berkeley where she lives with her husband and two children.

Ashley Capra is a ninth generation New Orleanian who moved to San Francisco in 1992 and began working at the Bay Area’s premier catering company, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering, where she still works today as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Ashley has over 20 years of experience in special event production, catering, sales and management, and has worked on many of the most prestigious and important events in Northern California. She is a member and the former president of the Northern California International Special Events Society, as well as an active member of the following associations: Meeting Planners International, Les Dames d'Escoffier, International Caterers Association, National Association of Catering Executives, San Francisco Travel Association, Wedding Industry Professionals Association, Slow Food International and the James Beard Foundation. She currently lives in Berkeley with her husband and son.

Bart Carter was born and raised in Los Angeles and moved to Oakland in 2004 after living in Singapore for five years. He works in the private capital group of ProLogis Inc., a real estate company focused on industrial and logistics properties, and was previously a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins. Bart graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in psychology and received his J.D. from Georgetown University. Bart lives in Oakland with his wife and two children.

Erica Terry Derryck, Board Vice Chair, is a native New Yorker who first moved to the Bay Area to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at UC Berkeley. She went on to work in the national news divisions at ABC and MTV. Erica has also held senior-level communications positions with several major not-for-profit organizations, ranging from academic institutions to policy groups. She is currently the communications director in the Office of San Francisco District George Gascón. Erica holds an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and is a former board member and active alumna of her independent schools. She lives in Oakland with her husband and two children.

John Horsch is a founder and partner at Be Amazing, a startup firm that provides remote tutoring in foundational cognitive skills to students across the country. He was previously the Director of Customer Operations for Scientific Learning, an Oakland-based creator of educational software that accelerates learning by improving the brain's processing efficiency, and consulted to technology companies on operations and logistics. He has a BA in English from UC Berkeley, and is an avid sailor, having competed in the 1996 Olympic Sailing Team Trials. John lives in Oakland with his wife and two sons.

Jill Malko, Board Chair, a Berkeley native who spent most of her childhood in Philadelphia. She graduated with a BS degree in film from Boston University and also has a Masters in Education from St. Mary's College.  Jill currently works at UC Berkeley as a Development Officer. Prior to her career in fundraising, she served as the Head Lacrosse Coach at Cal for nearly 10 years. Jill lives in Alameda with her partner and two sons both born in Guatemala.

Joe Meylor was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota and grew up in South Dakota. At the age of 15, he took a family trip to San Francisco and knew that this was where he wanted to live. After graduating from the University of South Dakota with a B.S in Business Administration and after a five year stint in Denver, Joe moved to the Bay Area in 1987. He spent 20 years with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. in a number of leadership roles. Joe has an MBA from Golden Gate University and currently works as a consultant. Joe is an avid world traveler and believes that one of the best ways to understand culture is to see it!  He has been to six Olympics beginning with Barcelona in 1992. Joe lives in Alameda with his wife and family.

Markos Moulitsas Zúnigais founder and publisher of Daily Kos, the largest progressive community blog in the United States founded in 2002, author of three books, and a weekly columnist at The Hill newspaper. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the world by People en Español, clocked in at third in Forbe's Web Celeb 25 rankings, and was listed 26th in PC World's list of the "Most Important People on the Web." He is the son of a Salvadoran mother and Greek father and spent his formative years in El Salvador (1976-1980) before his family resettled in the Chicago area. After high school, Markos served in the U.S. Army (1989-92). He went on to earn two bachelor degrees at Northern Illinois University (1992-96), with majors in Philosophy, Journalism, and Political Science and a minor in German. Markos subsequently earned a J.D. at Boston University School of Law (1996-99). 

Libby Palomeque was born in Mérida, Mexico and raised in Cajun Country, Louisiana. She firmly believes that her exposure to multiple languages and cultures in childhood has added immeasurably to her quality of life. Libby has worked in the financial services industry for 18 years, and is currently a Managing Director for First Republic Private Wealth Management where she specializes in working with clients who are undergoing times of emotional transition. Libby holds the designations of Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Grief Recovery Specialist, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley.  Libby lives in Alameda, California with her husband Richard, their daughter Kalin, and a menagerie of bizarre animals.

Rich Parsons, Board Secretary, has been teaching Mathematics at The Branson School in Marin County since 1994. In addition to teaching all levels of high school Mathematics and advising a variety of extra-curricular activities over the years, Rich has worked on projects that range from revising the daily schedule to developing a comprehensive employee evaluation program. Rich has also been a long-standing member of the Branson’s Faculty/Staff Diversity Committee, and he is currently working to expose young people to other cultures through international service learning trips. Born and raised in Connecticut, Rich graduated from Brown University with BA degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science.  Rich also taught Computer Science and Mathematics at the Collegiate School in New York City from 1991 to 1994, and he spent several years as a computer programmer at Cemax-Icon, a medical imaging subsidiary of Kodak, and PeopleSoft.  Fluent in Spanish, Rich has traveled extensively throughout Latin America as well as parts of Europe, Asia and Oceania. Rich currently lives in San Francisco.

Greg Schafer, Board Treasurer,was born and raised in upstate New York and moved to the Bay Area in 1988. He has spent the majority of his career in the life sciences industry and for the last 10 years has served in senior financial positions for biotechnology companies. He is currently chief financial officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. an Emeryville, CA based biotechnology company dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients. He holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA and a BSE in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Oakland with his wife Suzanne and son, Beckett.

Nicole Silverman was born and raised in New Jersey and after pioneering her way west settled in the Bay Area in 1997. She has spent the last 11 years as the Human Resources Director for Geomatrix Consultants, a national engineering consulting firm headquartered in Oakland. Nicole received her BA in Sociology and Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. She spent many years in the adventure travel industry including sailing in the Virgin Islands and a stint as a Park Ranger in Zion National Park in Utah. Nicole and her husband, Gary, live in Oakland with their two children, Rachel and Sam.

Suzanne Taylor is a civil rights attorney. Her current work for the U.S. Department of Education is focused on enforcement of the federal civil rights laws that prohibit race, gender and disability discrimination in public education. She also writes antidiscrimination educational material for use in the employment context, and volunteers as a community mediator. Previously, she worked as a corporate attorney for a large international law firm. Suzanne currently lives in Oakland, California with her partner, Michael, and her son, Tate.

Paige Wheeler Fleury is a California native, and is currently the Senior Creative Strategist for a New York-based advertising and marketing agency. A former executive creative director and writer, Paige has over 23 years of experience in marketing and advertising for some of the world's top brands. She currently lives in Oakland, California with her husband and two children, both born in Guatemala.