826 National Board

Joel Arquillos is the Executive Director of 826LA and the former 826 National Programs Director. He taught social studies in the San Francisco Unified School District for eight years.

Jennifer Bunshoft was a founding board member of 826 Valencia. She recently joined the civil division of California Attorney General’s Office in San Francisco. She serves as the attorney for both 826 Valencia and 826 National. In addition to serving on the 826 National Board of Directors, she serves on the San Francisco Urban Service Project Board.

Nínive Clements Calegari CEO of 826 National, is the co-founder of 826 Valencia, a veteran classroom teacher, and co-author of Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers.

Howard Cutler has worked at public television’s best-known affiliate, WGBH Boston, since 1996, first as Director of WGBH Interactive and currently as its Executive Producer. He studied painting for two summers at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Jonathan Dearman is the Executive Vice President of HSM, Inc. Prior to becoming the Lead Real Estate Consultant at HSM, Jonathan worked as a high school teacher and department coach for Leadership High School in San Francisco.

Dave Eggers is the co-founder of 826 Valencia and the founder of McSweeney’s Publishing, LLC. He is also an author whose writings include A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, You Shall Know Our Velocity, How We Are Hungry, What is the What, and Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers..

Teri Hein is the founding Executive Director of 826 Seattle. Previously, she helped transform the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Hutch School into an award-winning academic school. Teri has taught in Latin America and received a Fulbright Scholarship to complete her MA thesis in Ecuador. She speaks fluent Spanish and is the author of Atomic Farmgirl..

Helen Jacobson retired after over thirty years in education, where her work ranged from day care through high school as counselor, director, dean of the former Pilot School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Chief Academic Officer of The English High School in Boston. Helen is presently serving as President of 826 Boston.

Daniel Johnson is the founding Executive Director at 826 Boston. He has worked in arts programming and developed writing curricula. Daniel’s own work appeared in The Best American Poetry 2007.

Leigh Lehman is the Executive Director of 826 Valencia. Before becoming Executive Director, Leigh served as both Development Director and Programs Director at 826 Valencia. She has seven years of experience as a middle and high school English teacher in Louisiana and Massachusetts. She also taught EFL in Northern Thailand for two years.

Tynnetta McIntosh has more than fifteen years of financial management experience at JP Morgan Chase & Co. She has also worked extensively with nonprofits, focusing on the arts as a way to enhance communities and educate children.

Mara Fuller O’Brien is the Executive Director of 826CHI. Before 826, she volunteered in Bolivia for two years and then taught in Chicago for seven years. She has her MA in administration in education.

Scott Seeley is the founding Executive Director of 826NYC. He has worked in education and the arts for over fifteen years. He holds a BA in fine arts and a MA in arts education.

Amanda Uhle is Executive Director of 826michigan. Selected as one of Crain’s Detroit Business’ Twenty in their 20s for 2008, she has worked behind the scenes at arts organizations in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan and believes strongly in finding ways to support imaginative cultural opportunities in the Midwest.

826 National Advisory Board

Mac Barnett, formerly the Executive Director of 826LA, writes children’s books. His novel, The Brixton Brothers #1: The Case of Mistaken Identity, as well as two picture books, Billy Twitters & His Blue Whale Problem and Guess Again, are set to be published in 2009.

Barb Bersche is the President of McSweeney’s Publishing, LLC. Prior to joining McSweeney’s, Barb served as the Art Director for Universal Access, a telecommunications company. Barb also previously served as the manager of the production, marketing, and circulation departments for Aspen Magazine.

Michele Dunkerley is an 826 Seattle board member and publisher for a small press called Presse Verde.

Larry Feinberg is the former Chief of Staff to the UN Under-Secretary-General, a Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and serves on the boards of several organizations devoted to the education and welfare of disadvantaged children.

Jack Gilbertson is an attorney specializing in corporate, tax, and health care regulatory matters. He has more than twenty years of experience representing nonprofit entities. Jack works at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He is on the 826LA Board of Directors.

John Giordano is a visual artist and assistant professor of art education at MassArt. John holds a BS in studio art and art history from Skidmore College and an MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania.

Brian Gray is a professor at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Berkeley Law Foundation and the Natural Heritage Institute, chaired the California State Bar Committee on the Environment, and served as a consultant to the California Law Revision Commission.

Keith Hood chairs the 826michigan Board of Directors. He’s the founder of Critical Connection Fiction Workshops and edits the Orchid Literary Review.

Reece Hirsch advises health care clients on corporate and regulatory matters as a partner in the San Francisco office of the law firm Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP. Reece has been working with 826 Valencia and 826 National on corporate and other matters since the organization’s inception in 2002.

Jay Jacobs founded the Boston chapter of Summer Search in 1995 and relocated to San Francisco in 2002, where he currently serves as CEO. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Macalester College and a master of theological studies degree from Harvard University.

Joan Kim is the Education Director at 826NYC. She has taught high school English and ESL in the US and abroad. Formerly a senior editor with Lightbulb Press, Joan holds a degree in English literature with certification in secondary school education.

Keith Knight is a cartoonist, rapper, and media activist. His two weekly comic strips, the “K Chronicles” and “(th)ink,” appear in various publications around the nation, including Salon.com, Africana.com, The Funny Times, and Boston’s Weekly Dig. He has also served on the Board of Directors for Southern Exposure and the Cartoon Arts Museum.

Angela Kujava is a Senior Financial Planner for Vintage Financial Services in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Besides serving as Treasurer for 826michigan, she is co-chair of Leadership Ann Arbor and a founder of YP Underground, a group dedicated to uniting young professionals.

Sandra Korison Lee is a founding teacher and the Director of Special Projects at Aim High. She began her career in education teaching students with learning disabilities in Phoenix, Arizona as a Teach for America corps member.

Verna Kuo is the Director of Real Estate and Natural Resource Investments at the Hewlett Foundation. She was a co-founder of AmeriCorps. She holds both a BA in public policy and an MBA from Stanford University.

Pam MacEwan is responsible for communications, public policy, and the governance services office at Group Health, a nonprofit health care system providing both medical coverage and care.

Matt Middlebrook has served as a political and communications strategist, working closely with United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, and as campaign manager for both District Attorney Gil Garcetti and Jim Hahn. He is currently the Vice President for Government Relations for Caruso Affiliated.

Abner Morales is a member of 826 Valencia’s Board of Directors. He graduated from Portland State University with a BA in English and is a Spanish/English interpreter and a long-time 826 volunteer.

Bita Nazarian is currently the principal at James Lick Middle School in the San Francisco Unified School District. Previously, Bita spent five years teaching language arts at Everett Middle School, where she then went on to serve as the Instructional Reform Facilitator. She has also worked for the San Francisco Conservation Corps.

Davy Rothbart is the creator and editor of FOUND Magazine, the FOUND book, and is a relentless road warrior. Davy is a regular contributor to National Public Radio's This American Life, and has published The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas.

Alexandra Quinn has fifteen years experience in nonprofit arts and education administration. She has been the Education Curator at the Sonoma County Museum, a founding staff member of the Oxbow School, and currently serves on the boards of the Transparent Theatre in Berkeley, the Tin Man Fund, and 826 Valencia.

Shawn B. Rediger is a senior attorney with the Seattle law firm of Williams, Kastner & Gibbs PLLC. She received her BA from the University of Nebraska and her JD from the University of Texas at Austin.

Matt Schrecengost is the 826CHI Board President and is a Partner and Risk Manager at Jump Trading.

Ruben Urbina runs the after-school program at Mission Beacon Center and teaches at Everett Middle School in San Francisco.

Vendela Vida is a founding board member at 826 Valencia and a long-time workshop teacher. She currently serves as the President of the 826 Valencia Board. She received her MFA in writing from Columbia University, and she is the author of Girls on the Verge, And Now You Can Go, and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name. Vendela also founded The Believer, an award-winning magazine.

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