Board of Directors
Board of Directors
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Lauren Webster is an Investment Banker with Piper Sandler, focused on technology mergers and acquisitions and capital raising advisory services, with specific expertise in cybersecurity, defense technology, and commercial space markets. Lauren’s career spans roles in finance across equity research, investment banking, and strategic planning, as well as serving in multiple product leadership roles at cybersecurity technology companies. Lauren holds a dual BA in Mathematics and Women’s & Gender Studies from Dartmouth College, and an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Lauren is the proud parent of two BlueSkies graduates, and a former chair of parent fundraising committees at BlueSkies. She lives with her husband, Matt, and two daughters, Sally and Maddie, in Oakland. Lauren and her husband are also former Navy Reservists, serving as Intelligence and Supply Corps officers, respectively.
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Ranjana Zunino has an extensive professional background providing strategic consulting to senior executives in the financial services industry. She spent 26+ years at Wells Fargo Bank in a career inclusive of systems, finance, and compensation. During her time at the bank, she led teams focused on improving efficiencies and enabling the company’s strategic vision by delivering critical technology solutions, providing trusted financial planning and analysis support, and designing programs to attract, retain, and reward high performing talent. She has always been interested in education and after graduate school, while working at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, she moonlighted as an economics instructor at Contra Costa College. Ranjana holds an MS in Applied Economics and a BA in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Oakland with her husband and two teenage daughters who are BlueSkies alumni.
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Cindy Green is a civil engineer in wastewater resource recovery at the East Bay Municipal Utility District. She holds a BA in Environmental Sciences from UC Berkeley, and an MS in Civil Engineering/ MPAff in Public Affairs from UT Austin. She lives in Oakland just a few blocks away from BlueSkies where she walks to school daily with her daughter, Iris, currently in the Schoolroom.
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Alicia Gould-Bailey is a Senior Counsel in the Legal Department at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. Her practice focuses on managing employment litigation matters and providing advice and counseling to operational and regional executives on a wide variety of labor and employment law issues. Alicia holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She lives in Alameda with her husband, Jelani, her son, Ellison, and her daughter, Avery, who currently attends BlueSkies' Nursery School.
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Morgan Fiddler currently works on the Strategic Partnerships team for Salesforce. Before working in tech, Morgan worked in the maritime industry where he taught boat building in NYC schools through the Brooklyn Boatworks. Additionally, he provides pro bono consulting to nonprofits through PennPac, an organization of University of Pennsylvania alumni working with nonprofits to solve their business challenges. Morgan holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory, and a B.A. from Guilford College. His youngest child is a Blue Skies alum.
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Christa is the current Executive Director at BlueSkies for Children. She has been at the school since 2009, when she started as a volunteer in the Baby House, and has worked in all of the classrooms at the school at some point in her career. She served on the Board for seven years before moving into the Interim Director role. Her daughter, Naomi, attended BlueSkies from 6 months old until she was 5.5 years old, as she was part of the one-year-long Kindergarten pop-up class during the peak of the COVID pandemic. She lives with her husband in Richmond, CA, and is thrilled to be supporting the school’s development in a new way.
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Dr. Jennifer Myers Harrison is a Board Certified Licensed Psychologist and a Board Certified Registered Art Therapist. She holds standing as a Diplomat for the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She holds a Doctor of Psychology in clinical psychology from Adler University, studied clinical psychology at Columbia University, and holds a Master of Arts in Art Therapy from New York University. Dr. Harrison specializes in the area of Trauma. Dr. Harrison currently has a private practice in Burlingame, is Training Director and Clinical Supervisor at Fremont Hospital, conducts forensic evaluations for Alameda County, is Adjunct professor at New York University and provides consultation for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI). Over the last 20 years Dr. Harrison has worked in a variety of settings including, hospitals, community mental health clinics, and school-based settings with children, families and individuals with complex presenting problems.
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Leisel Whitlock Petersen is the founder of PenseTu a consulting firm that provides start-up and established non-profit organizations with the tools and resources they need to make a lasting impact and the co-founder of Embodied Algorithms, a dynamic partnership focused on creating visual pattern-play decision games and workshops that allow participants to delve into the fascinating realm of interaction and communication patterns, gaining valuable insights into their team’s ability to create, collaborate, and innovate. With over 25 years’ experience in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, Leisel’s versatility as an artist, strategist, and lifelong learner has shaped her unique perspective. She studied at the Welch School of Art & Design, Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She has an M.A. in Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Currently, Leisel lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner, children, Jack The Dog, and one outspoken garden.
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Rosalia Arteaga-Romo joined BlueSkies in 2012. She graduated from San Francisco State with a B.A. in Child & Adolescent Development. She is bilingual (Spanish) and previously worked in the child care center at San Francisco State. She was the Wobbly Walkers’ Head Teacher before joining the Schoolroom.
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Scott Farrar consults with edtech companies. He works to build products for PK-12 teachers and students that blend pedagogy and technology. His previous experience includes Product at Great Minds / Eureka Math, Long Term Research at Khan Academy and seven years of teaching high school math at OUSD’s Oakland High and Skyline High. He holds a Masters of Education from San Francisco State University and a B.S. in Math from UC Santa Barbara. His children will have each begun Blue Skies at age 5 months. His eldest is now in first grade, his middle in the Schoolroom, and his youngest just starting the Todds.
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Born and raised in Oakland, Mike is the Deputy Director at Destiny Arts Center and believes that investing in young people is one of the most valuable things a society can do; and is committed to ensuring that Oakland maintains safe spaces for creative expression and youth development. Mike has over 15 years of experience developing and managing programs in social services and youth development, including international experience working with systems-engaged young people in Germany. In addition to his work, Mike provides training through A Better Way and Fred Finch Youth Center on best practices for working with transitional-aged youth. Mike founded a local charitable group, Give Oakland, which supports Oakland Head Start programs during the holidays. He also served on the Advisory Board for the Equitable Futures Project through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University. Mike and his wife Simone have two daughters, Gianna, a Blueskies alum, and Olivia, a current Homeroom student.
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Matt Bush is a People and Culture Consultant from Oakland, CA. Matt's academic background is in Economics, Sociology, and International Development with a focus on Child Protection. Additionally, Matt is an alumnus of Blue Skies for Children.
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Stacy Owens is the president of S.E. Owens & Company, a compliance and accounting firm that focuses on political campaigns, non-profit organizations, mission driven businesses, and animal rights organizations. She has taken her lifelong interest in causes that support a more equitable world for women, children, and animals, and has made it the focus of her career. Stacy spends significant time and resources working to move the needle forward for these causes. When not working or volunteering you can find Stacy reading, traveling, or hanging out with her dogs.