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Board of Trustees

 

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Jennifer Bonvecchio

Development Committee

Committees: Audit, Finance. Trustee since 2020 

Jennifer is mom to Olivia Kane, a rising sophomore at TMS. She served on the board of St. Hillary’s School in Tiburon and is parent of a rising senior at Saint Ignatius High School in San Francisco.

 

With a BA and MBA from Notre Dame, Jen’s professional focus has been on asset management and personal financial services. She is Senior VP at Baker Street Advisors, a firm offering investment advice, financial planning, and tax planning.

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Ben
Griggs

Ex Officio Member

Committees: Audit, Development, Finance, Governance (all ex officio)

I grew up in Half Moon Bay, California, and have lived in the Bay Area for most of my life. I spent my college years in Massachusetts, graduating from Amherst College in 2003 with a BA in American Studies. After a stint in the newspaper business at the Washington Post in DC, I returned to the Bay Area to become a high school English and music teacher. I was originally drawn to working in education because of the many wonderful teachers who inspired me throughout my educational development—particularly in high school. I would not be the person that I am today without those great teachers, and I have deep gratitude for them. Though being an educator entails endless challenges, I have found no shortage of reward in it. In particular, the connections I’ve made with students through teaching, tutoring, mentoring, and counseling have given me so much. I also love to see young people succeed, particularly when the success has not come so naturally or easily.

Teaching at Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park was highly instructional, particularly in opening my eyes to the reality that fostering students’ social-emotional growth is essential for creating a fruitful learning environment. I also loved mentoring students in advisory, and enjoyed the kind of “counseling on the fly” that often happens in a small school.

So, after five years as a teacher, I decided that I wanted to shift to a more social-emotional and psychological domain, and I entered UC Berkeley’s School Psychology program in the Graduate School of Education. In graduate school, I studied human development, counseling, teacher consultation, psycho-educational testing, as well as academic theory and research in a variety of educational fields. After working at the SEL-focused Nueva School in San Mateo, I’m now very happy to put what I’ve learned to work at The Marin School!​

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keli honsberger

Development Coordinator

Committees: Development (ex officio)

I am thrilled to continue to be a part of the TMS community as Development Coordinator and to work for a school that values individualized educational experiences. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, I have lived in the Bay area since 1975.  I attended San Francisco State University and in 2011 became an ACE Certified Personal Trainer.

For 15 years I worked for a hedge fund handling trades and back office management. In 2009 I started working for an education foundation that I had previously volunteered with. Switching from a volunteer to employee gave me a unique perspective into the role of fundraising for schools; the importance of collaboration, flexibility, managing and supporting campaigns and events. The most rewarding part of my job was being able provide programs and services that would not have been available but for the efforts of our organization and volunteers. I’m happy to bring my experience to TMS and to work with the parents, families, alumni, Trustees and staff!

Outside of school, I live in San Rafael with my husband, two children (one in college and one in middle school) and our three cats. In the early pre-dawn hours you’ll find me teaching my outdoor boot-camp class and in my spare time I like to run, play Mah-jongg with a group of friends and spend time with my family. And my cats, of course.

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cAROLYN sasser

TMS Director of HR, Finance 

Committees: Audit, Development, Finance, Governance (ex officio)

I started my career in public accounting in San Francisco. After obtaining my CPA, I moved to RREEF, a commercial real estate investment company. I worked there for 17 years, eventually becoming Vice-President of Client Relations where I was responsible for reporting the performance returns on clients’ investments. In 1994, I had my son and began to rethink my career in the corporate world. I was interested in using my business and accounting skills in a way that gave back to the

community. In 1997, I started working at Children’s Day School, in San Francisco. I worked there for two years and realized that I enjoyed working in the school environment.

 

I became interested in working for a larger school, and in 1999 I became Director of Finance and Operations at San Francisco Day School, a school with 400 students in grades K-8. I worked for SFDS for 15 years. In June 2015, I retired and looked forward to no more commuting from Marin into the city.

 

In November 2015, I received a call from Head of School Barbara Brown to see if I might be interested in coming back to work at TMS. Having just retired, I was hesitant; however I also missed the sense of community that working in a school offers. I met Barb, the faculty and staff, and saw the campus (which was only a 15 minute commute from my home) and realized that this was a community I would like to be a part of.

 

I now work part-time at TMS, once again fulfilling my desire to bring my skills to an organization that gives back to the community. Yes, numbers are a significant part of

my work, however being able to work in this wonderful community is the best part of my job.

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Thesia

Bowo

Member 

Committees: Development, Finance. Trustee since 2020

Thesia is the mother of Jameela, a rising TMS sophomore. Jameela and her two sisters attended San Francisco’s Burke’s School, where the family was very actively engaged: husband Ambi served on the board of trustees, and Thesia spent five years co-chairing a very aggressive capital campaign.

 

Thesia served as TMS’s Annual Fund freshman and sophomore class rep, and is currently co-chair of the Gala. She and Ambi run a family company focused on investing in and developing commercial real estate in the US and abroad.

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Amy Jonak

Board Chair 

Committees: Finance (chair); Development, Audit, Governance (ex officio). Trustee since 2013

Parent of Sophie Jonak, Class of 2016, Amy spent 20+ years on the East Coast working in editorial development, management, marketing, and production for book publishers and book developers including McGraw-Hill, International Masters, Time Life, Roundtable Press, and her own company, LA Press.

 

Since moving to Marin in 2000, she has spent her time in a variety of volunteer and board positions focused on education. In the San Rafael City Schools, Amy served as PTA president of both Sun Valley School 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 as TMS board chair, Amy sits on the executive boards of HeadsUp, the San Rafael Public Education Foundation (past president), and the Marin Chinese Cultural Association. 


A graduate of a K-12 independent school in Virginia, Amy received her BA from the College of William and Mary. She lives in San Rafael with her partner, Mary Herald.

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Kendall Nash, MD

Member

Committees: Audit, Finance. Trustee since 2020

Kendall is the mother Jay Nash, Class of 2022. She’s also a pediatric neurologist with UCSF Health, where she is a teacher, researcher, and hospital practitioner. Kendall also oversees UCSF partnerships with pediatric practices throughout the Bay Area. Kendall currently serves as an advisor on TMS’s Covid-19 reopening committee.

 

Prior to entering medical school, Kendall studied Finance at Harvard Business School and spent time as an analyst with a venture capital firm.

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