Events

Lisa Blackwell

Lisa volunteered with the San Ramon Valley School District for over twenty years. She was very involved with PTA serving as President at Greenbrook Elementary and San Ramon Valley High School. She also was the founder and President of the Eagle Fund at Greenbrook, The Charger Fund at Charlotte Wood, and the Wolf Fund at San Ramon High School. Lisa has a passion for education and served as a mentor for ten years for an organization called “College is Real” which helps underserved youth at Richmond High School get into college. For the past eight years, Lisa has served on the Town of Danville’s Parks and Leisure Services Commission and the Town Council where she served as liaison to Street Smarts and the San Ramon Valley Unified School District among other committees. Lisa has an Economics Degree from the University of Notre Dame and completed graduate studies at the University of Colorado-Denver. Lisa and her husband Brad raised their three daughters in Danville and they all attended San Ramon Valley schools.
Today, they have three grandchildren who live in Danville and are beginning their journey through San Ramon Valley schools as well. Their middle daughter, Katie Cummings, is a third-grade teacher at Greenbrook Elementary School. In her leisure time, Lisa loves to travel with her husband in their new Sprinter van, hike, walk around town with their two dogs, and play with their grandchildren!

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Sherry Pratt

A Danville resident since 1988, Sherry has experienced first-hand the changing dynamics of the SRVUSD, as a parent of two children who attended John Baldwin, Charlotte Wood and San Ramon Valley High School, a PTA Leader and school volunteer, a Para Professional and an Elementary School Teacher. She has seen how the curriculum and expectations of students have evolved to meet the ever-changing requirements that lead to a successful future. She brings a unique perspective on how the SRVEF can make a significant contribution to the learning environment.

To pursue her passion for education, Sherry received her teaching credential after her youngest child began middle school, and taught first, third and fourth grades at Tassajara Hills Elementary School, retiring after 17 years. She served on the Tassajara Hills School Foundation for seven years as a teacher representative and experienced the targeted impact Foundations can make on local school needs. She also pursued her love of art, by offering after school art enrichment programs for Tassajara Hills students.

Sherry is married to her husband, Bill, and has two children and 4 grandchildren. She enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering to support local organizations. She is an accomplished mosaic artist and has traveled throughout the world. Some of her best memories are visiting schools in the Kruger area of South Africa, the Peruvian highlands, and on the Amazon River. She found that children and their educational needs are the same the world over.
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Alec Hurd

Alec grew up in Berkeley and earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from UC Davis. Alec has 37 years of heavy industrial experience, primarily in the Pulp and Paper sector. Over his career he has held many positions in the industry; process engineer, sales, technical manager, superintendent, customer service manager, and plant manager. Alec is now semi-retired and consults. The Hurds bought their home in San Ramon in 1997 and all three of their children went K-12 in SRVUSD… Country Club, Pine Valley, and California High. Even though his children are grown Alec continues as an Assistant Scoutmaster; he enjoys mentoring our youth and watching them grow into capable and ethical adults.
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Christine Williams

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. One of her grandsons attends an SRVUSD school.

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Rob Stockberger

Rob Stockberger was born and raised in Danville, attending Green Valley, Vista Grande, Los Cerros and Monte Vista. Rob earned a Bachelor’s Degree from San Jose State University and a Master’s Degree from the University of San Francisco. Rob taught and coached at California and Monte Vista High Schools and served as Assistant Principal at San Ramon Valley High before serving as Principal of California High. He then went to the SRVUSD District Office where he worked as Director of Secondary Education for fourteen years. In 2013 Rob was selected to serve as Superintendent of the John Swett Unified School District. Rob retired from JSUSD in 2017. Rob still resides in Danville and joined the SRVEF Board as an opportunity to give back to his community and his school district.

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Michel Masuda-Nash

Michel has enjoyed a fulfilling career in education and social work for 35+ years and continues this journey today. Over the years as a professional, she has worked with schools, communities, nonprofits and donor groups, including at the Dublin Unified School District, HTA Consulting, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles. These experiences have enriched her perspectives about people, organizations, and what is possible through genuine collaboration. Michel has earned her teaching credential at St. Mary’s College of California, Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration at UCLA, and Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology and Social Work at CSU Long Beach.

Currently as an educator at Murray Elementary School, Michel spends her day in a classroom of inspired 4th-graders. She also serves in leadership roles on-site and within the district. In these capacities, Michel is actively engaged with current commitments to improving excellence and equity in education for all students.

Michel has lived with her beautiful family in San Ramon for 21 years. One of her daughters is a graduate of San Ramon Schools and the other attends California High School at present. Michel reads, gardens, and travels to places near and far for fun.

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Winton Jew

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). 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. In his professional career, Winton is a 25+ year high-tech sales veteran, working in various Sales and Sales Management positions in Silicon Valley companies, including Palo Alto Networks, Abuba/HPE, EMC, and Symantec.
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Jenny Jensen

Jenny is a California native; she and her husband Dave moved to San Ramon in 1999 from San Francisco. Her two daughters graduated from California High School. One graduated from Loyola Marymount University and the other is attending UC Davis. Jenny graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Finance/Marketing and currently works in Danville at Regalia & Associates, CPAs. She works on audits and taxes for non-profit organizations. Jenny has been involved in SRVUSD schools since her girls started at Country Club Elementary School. She has served on PTA Boards as the Treasurer or Auditor for 12 years at all school levels, for the San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs and the 32nd District PTA, which oversees all of the PTAs in the County. In addition to serving on the PTA, Jenny worked as a substitute teacher for several years in the school district. For fun, Jenny enjoys playing volleyball in the San Ramon Adult League, biking, hiking and spending time with her family.

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Dinesh Govindarao

Dinesh moved to San Ramon in 1979, graduated from Cal High in 1988, and stayed local for college at U.C. Berkeley. He then became a physician and came back to San Ramon to raise a family. Dinesh and his wife, Alna, have four children. Two of their girls graduated from Dougherty Valley High School and are currently attending college. Their other 2 children are attending DVHS (one is a freshman and the other is a senior).

Dinesh has coached boys and girls youth sports in San Ramon for 12 consecutive years. This includes softball, soccer, baseball, and basketball. One year he coached 3 teams at the same time for the City of San Ramon Youth Hoops. He has also been involved with the PTA at Live Oak Elementary as the Financial Secretary and the Reflections Art Program Chair for 2 years each. Dinesh has also volunteered in numerous field trips, classroom activities, as well as the Bay Area Children’s Theater. He believes that investing in our youth programs is fundamental to ensuring the success of our community.

Dinesh is the Chief Medical Officer for a large state agency. He is involved in the strategic planning, development, and administration/oversight of the medical management programs. In addition, he has been invited to give presentations and participate as an expert panelist on a multitude of medical and worker’s compensation topics.

Currently, Dinesh is serving as a committee member on the Library Advisory Committee for the City of San Ramon and recently served on the SRVUSD Superintendent’s Task Force. Dinesh is also a member of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine and the Western Occupational & Environmental Medical Association where he served as the Treasurer for 3 years.

Dinesh enjoys spending time with family and friends. He loves to be very active and spend as much time as he can outdoors. Dinesh’s new outdoor passions are kayaking and pickleball.

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Denise Clemetson-Stephens

Denise grew up in Danville and is a proud alumnus of San Ramon Valley Unified Schools, having attended K-12 within the district. Denise moved back to the valley with her husband, Chad, in 2002, and they currently live in San Ramon with their two sons, Zachary and Tyler. Both boys currently attend California High School.

Denise and her husband have been actively involved in the community and SRVUSD since their sons’ started at Walt Disney Elementary School, having volunteered in classrooms, on the PTA, for the school education funds, on the sports fields, and for the Boy Scouts of America.

Professionally, Denise has more than 20 years of experience working for media, data, and technology companies. She has excelled in, everything from early-stage start-ups to Fortune 500 companies where she has held a variety of sales and management roles. Denise graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. In her free time, Denise enjoys hiking, traveling, playing the ukulele, karaoke, and spending time with her family.

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Cliff Buxton

Cliff is an East Bay native having first moved to San Ramon in 1982. He’s lived with his wife and two kids in Danville for the past 24 years. His children enjoyed and benefited from their 13 years in the SRVUSD; both having gone on to enjoy equal success in higher education, and beyond.

Cliff began his professional career in aerospace after graduating from Northrop University in Los Angeles. He had the opportunity to work for Rolls Royce Engine Services managing support for a wide spectrum of customers, including US and foreign militaries, local municipalities, law enforcement agencies and general aviation. In 2000, after several years at California Shock/Trauma Air Rescue, he changed professions and began a second exciting new career as a stay-at-home dad.

He became active in supporting schools by serving on the PTSA at both Sycamore Elementary School and Diablo Vista Middle School, the Site Council at Diablo Vista Middle School and the Foundation/Academic Boosters at Monte Vista High School. He also volunteered for four years on the SRVUSD Bond Measure “A” Facilities Oversight Committee and was employed by SRVUSD for over 10 years performing campus supervision at both Sycamore Elementary School and Diablo Vista Middle School.

Cliff is active and engaged in emergency preparedness, volunteering and instructing with our local Community Emergency Response Team, Bay Area American Red Cross and Cal OES. He’s currently working in the Office of Emergency Management for the City of San Ramon.

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Vanessa Berastain

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 the University of Redlands 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.

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Leslie Anderson

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.

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Gary Alpert

Gary joined the SRVEF Board in 2016 and is currently President of the Board of Directors.
Gary and his wife, Cindy, moved to San Ramon in 1986 from Southern California. They have two children who attended Bollinger Canyon Elementary, Iron Horse Middle, and California High School. Both then attended UC Davis. His daughter is currently a teacher in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and his son works for Deloitte Consulting. 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 been a long-time supporter, participant, and volunteer for the Run for Education and is currently chairing the registration committee. In addition to his service to the SRVEF, he serves on the San Ramon Planning Commission and is Vice-President of the San Ramon Arts Foundation. He previously chaired San Ramon’s Economic Development Advisory Committee and co-chaired San Ramon’s 150th Anniversary Celebration in 2017.

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 Manager. Gary is a 2015 graduate of Leadership San Ramon Valley. Gary worked for AT&T for 35 years, holding various management positions in Information Technology, Call Center Operations, Network and Customer Care.

Gary and Cindy both consider San Diego home, but now consider themselves Northern California transplants and have no desire to leave San Ramon. In their spare time, they enjoy spending time with family, including their grandson, Auggie.
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