Board Of Directors

Gary joined the SRVEF Board in 2016 after retiring from AT&T in 2015. During his 35 year career with AT&T, Gary held various management positions in Information Technology, Customer Care, Home Solutions, Call Center Operations and Network Operations. Gary and his wife, Cindy, moved to San Ramon in 1986 from Southern California. They have two children who attended San Ramon schools and both graduated from UC Davis. While his children were at California High School, Gary served as Vice President for one year and President for five years of Cal High’s Academic Boosters prior to Cal High becoming an affiliate of the SRVEF. Gary has volunteered on the Run for Education committee for two years. In addition to his service to the SRVEF, he currently is the Chair of City of San Ramon’s Economic Development Advisory Committee and is on the Board of Directors of the San Ramon Arts Foundation. Gary has a BA in Economics from the University of California San Diego, an MBA from Cal State Fullerton, an MS in Telecommunications Management from Golden Gate University and is a certified Project Management

Leslie is a product of the San Ramon Valley USD and grew up in the Alamo area. She has been a teacher, a principal, and district office administrator serving five districts in the bay area throughout her 40 years in education. Twenty (20) of those years were spent in the San Ramon Valley USD as principal and Senior Director of Educational Services. She retired from Castro Valley USD as Assistant Superintendent in 2014. She joined the SRVEF board in August 2017and is dedicated to supporting the education of students, the staff that provides that education and the parents who are partners in the educational process. In her tenure in San Ramon she helped lead the initiatives in curriculum, assessment and the redesign of special education communication and protocols. Leslie graduated from UC Santa Barbara in English and Social Sciences , received her teaching credential from St. Mary’s College and her Masters (B.S.) in School Leadership from Cal State University Hayward (Cal State East Bay). She currently is an Education Consultant who does statewide Professional Development for School Leadership Coaches and she is a Senior Associate with Lead Learner Associates. Leslie resides with her husband, who also attended San Ramon schools, in Alamo.

Vanessa has called San Ramon home since 1992 when she moved to the USA from her native Peru. She is a longtime local volunteer and education advocate. Vanessa has served as president of the San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs (Parent Teacher Association) — the largest PTA in Northern California. When her two-year presidency ended in 2015, she took a position on the council's Inclusion and Diversity Committee. Her work in the community includes supporting the City of San Ramon by hosting a Multicultural Festival during the 15th annual Art in the Park, and most recently as chair of the city-wide Culture in the Community Celebration for the City of San Ramon 150th anniversary. She is a graduate of the Leadership San Ramon Valley program, class of 2016. Vanessa has more than two decades of managerial experience in the private sector and has held fundraising positions at all school levels. As an immigrant, she has a special affinity for outreach and inclusion of families from diverse cultures and backgrounds in the San Ramon Valley community. She and her husband have a daughter who attends California High School and a son who is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara. Vanessa graduated from the Instituto San Ignacio de Loyola in San Isidro, Peru with a degree in Computer Analysis and Programming. She joined the SRVEF board in August of 2017.

Cliff is a Bay Area native born in Oakland and has lived in Danville for the past 20 years with his wife and two children. Both children enjoyed the benefit of 12 years of SRVUSD education and are currently in college. Cliff’s background is in aerospace and started in Los Angeles where he attended Northrop University. During his employment with Rolls Royce Engine Services he managed facilities across the US serving a wide customer base including both the US and foreign military, local municipalities, law enforcement and civilian. Cliff left the field of aviation in 2000 and decided to assume a much more active role in his children’s lives by becoming a stay at home dad. He became active in the schools serving on the PTSA at Sycamore Valley Elementary and Diablo Vista Middle School, site council at Diablo Vista Middle School and the Academic Boosters at Monte Vista High School. He also served four years on the SRVUSD Measure “A” Facilities Oversight Committee and was a district employee working at three schools performing campus supervision for over 10 years. Cliff is also quite active in community emergency preparedness.

Chris represents the third generation in the Gayler Construction family business. Chris and his wife, Natalie, move to San Ramon in 2003 and are the parents of two spirited and good-natured boys; Ethan and Zachary. Both boys are in the SRVUSD. The couple is active in sports and community events throughout the Bay Area. Chris belongs to the San Ramon Rotary and has served on the board for several years. He is a graduate of the invitation only year-long 2014 Leadership San Ramon program.

Elizabeth Graswich is a communications expert with over 15 years of experience in public education leadership, public policy, media relations, crisis management, project management, community outreach, journalism and event planning. In September 2014, Liz was named Director of Communications and Community Relations for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. In that role, she directs communications for one of California's top-performing school districts. She serves as a liaison with the community, and has the pleasure of serving on multiple community boards and committees. Prior to joining San Ramon Valley Unified, Liz served eight years as Director of Communications for the largest school district in Northern California, Elk Grove Unified, in Sacramento County. She was a Board Member for the Elk Grove Regional Scholarship Foundation. Previously, she worked five years as a reporter on the Sacramento Bee newspaper, covering education and public safety. Liz grew up across the continental U.S., Hawaii and Australia, finally selecting California as home. She and her husband have two sons.

Tim joined the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation board of directors in 2014. He is currently Senior Director of Business Development at DocuSign. Tim came to DocuSign from NetSuite where he led their strategic technology partners group and NetSuite’s emerging global systems integrator program. Prior to NetSuite, Tim held business development roles at the NASDAQ Stock Market and an e-commerce startup and finance positions at a publicly traded health care company and private investment bank. Tim's track record is evidenced by meaningful relationships at fortune 500 companies and fast-growing startups and continuously driving channel revenue. Prior to joining the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation board of directors, Tim served on the board of the East Bay Leadership Foundation. He also is a board member of the Furst-McNess Company. Tim received a BA from the University of Washington and an MBA from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Gayle is Chief of Staff to Contra Costa County District II Supervisor Candace Andersen. She has lived in San Ramon since 1996 and has two grown daughters who attended San Ramon Valley schools. She has served in many community leadership roles over the years, including; PTA school site Vice President, Dougherty Valley High School Site Council and Athletic Boosters Vice President, District wide Diverse Reading Curriculum committee, and San Ramon Soccer Club Board of Directors. Gayle graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Journalism, Public Relations and a minor in Marketing.

Winton joined the SRVEF Board in 2017 after getting involved with the Run for Education committee, where he is currently serving as the Race Course Director. He is a Bay Area native, and his wife Trang and him moved to San Ramon in 2005, where they reside with their two daughters, Kayla and Kassy. Winton’s affiliation with the Run for Education stemmed from his passion for running with dozens of marathons and half marathons to his resume, including accomplishing in 2017 the exclusive Abbott Six-Star World Marathon Majors (Boston, New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Berlin, and London). In his professional career Winton is a 20+ year high-tech veteran, working for several startups to mainstream large Fortune 500 companies. He has held many sales VP and Director positions, and also roles as a Global Account Manager for Symantec managing Visa, EMC managing VMWare and Cisco, and currently with Aruba managing Google. Winton has a BA in Political Economies of Industrial Societies from the University of California Berkeley and an MBA from Golden Gate University, where he also served on the Alumni Board.

Robin joined the SRVEF Board in 2018. She and her husband Rick moved to San Ramon in 2007 and are raising three children.  For over a decade, Robin has been a parent leader in our local community; serving in a variety of capacities at her children's SRVUSD schools, sports teams, scouts, at the school district and county office of education levels. Today she is serving a two-year term as a member of the California State PTA Board of Managers, where she sits on the Family Engagement Commission and Legislative Action Committee. Robin also serves as the VP of Communications for the 32nd District PTA District in Contra Costa County, and leads communications and community outreach for Ed100, a non-profit focused on California education policy. Prior work experience includes leading a 40-person customer support team for a direct fulfillment company, and a communications manager for a medical device company. A Virginia native, Robin received a BS in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Jerald N. Marrs (Jerry) joined the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation in 2018.  Jerry has a law practice in San Ramon where he focuses on estate planning, elder law issue, employment law, and workplace investigations.  He is also a mediator and enjoys helping individuals resolve disputes in an amicable and respectful manner.  Jerry is very active in the San Ramon valley.  He is a 2018 graduate of Leadership San Ramon Valley, a member of the Rotary Club of San Ramon, involved in both the San Ramon and Danville Chambers of Commerce, has been active in the San Ramon schools since 2005, and spent the last thirteen years coaching for Canyon Creek Little League. Jerry has a diverse and interesting background.  He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and attended law school at the University of Colorado.  He served in the US Air Force as a Vietnamese linguist, was a federal investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, worked as a business analyst, and has experience in the insurance industry.  Jerry is married to Dana and has 2 children, Scott and Isaac.  Scott is a 2018 graduate of California High and Isaac attends Iron Horse Middle School.  In his free time Jerry enjoys coaching, playing tennis, hiking and cooking.     

Scott joined the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation in 2017 as a proud alum of the SRVUSD school district. Scott is currently a Managing Director for the Bay Area offices of WestPac Wealth Partners. Scott brings over 17 years of relevant leadership experience to the SRVEF board of directors including: business development for Arthur Andersen LLP's Transaction Advisory Services (M&A); procuring debt financing for Silicon Valley technology companies while at Morgan Stanley; and portfolio management while at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management. While a former software startup executive, Scott structured and completed millions in private placement financing, which led to business expansion across the US and internationally into Dubai, UAE, and other parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Scott is a San Francisco Bay Area native where he earned his BS degree from the University of San Francisco. Scott currently serves on the board of directors for the De La Salle High School Alumni Association, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), and the Alvarado Home Owners Association as Treasurer. Scott's hobbies include playing ice hockey, soccer and chess, writing music, and international travel. Born in Petaluma, CA and raised in San Ramon, supporting youth in the SRVUSD is like coming home. He's happy to be able to give back to the community in which he grew up.

Jeneen joined the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation board of directors in 2017. She relocated to the Bay Area in 1998 and proudly calls San Ramon home. She lives with her husband Eric, their two Yorkies, and three kids who are students in the SRVUSD. Jeneen is passionate about promoting financial awareness through educational events, and is a benefactor of several notable non-profit organizations in the Bay Area. She is a Certified Financial Planner™ with Summit Financial Group, one of SRVEF's proud supporters. For more than a decade her practice has focused on helping families develop plans and implement strategies that best accomplish their long-term financial goals. Jeneen is a financial professional accredited by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards as having demonstrated financial planning technical knowledge, experience, and adherence to a client-centered code of ethics.

Ryan joined the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation board of directors in 2018.  Ryan is an audit partner at Armanino LLP.  He serves private, SEC and nonprofit clients and specializes in the technology, manufacturing and distribution and employee benefit plans niches.  Ryan is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.  Ryan is also on the board of directors for the Greenbrook HOA.  Ryan received a BS in business administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  He grew up in Danville, attending Greenbrook, Charlotte Wood and SRV High School.  Ryan lives in Danville with his family.

Christine spent 40 years in education serving her last 15 years as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Service in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. During her tenure in the district she was an active participant and supporter of SRVEF and the Endowment Committee. She retired from the district in December 2013 and joined the SRVEF Board in fall 2016. Being on the board of SRVEF gives her the opportunity to give back to the school community that she worked in for so many years. Working closely with SRVUSD’s dedicated principals and staff, she helped introduce and support many innovative district programs such as the Reading Writing Project, 1:1 Computer Initiative, AVID, Science Initiative, School Loop, and BTSA. She is proud that during her leadership, student achievement results rose every year and nearly all schools were recognized as State Distinguished Schools and/or National Blue Ribbon Schools. Christine is a native of California and a graduate of Cupertino High School. She earned her BS in Elementary Education from University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Masters in Educational Administration from Colorado State University, Ft Collins. She continues to maintain her California teaching and administrative credentials. Christine and her husband Mike reside in Walnut Creek. They have two married daughters and four grandchildren. Their youngest daughter is a teacher in SRVUSD and one of her grandson’s attends Montair Elementary.