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.

Naomi Ayala is the Founding Executive Director of 826DC. Naomi has been deeply invested in educational and community-based programs for over twenty years. Most recently she was the Development Director for Fiesta DC, where she worked tirelessly collaborating with local funders to provide the DC community with a variety of cultural resources and creative outlets. She has worked as an independent consultant, designing and translating projects for clients such as the American Diabetes Association, National Council of La Raza, and Fight for Children. She was the Program Director for Celebra la Ciencia: National Hispanic Science Festivals Project, Self Reliance Foundation, where she created and managed programs in Albuquerque, Chicago, LA, and DC. She also served as Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator for the Center for Community Educational Excellence, National Council of La Raza, where she forged a partnership with NASA creating a training model to help teachers develop rigorous science curriculum.

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, Zeitoun, The Wild Things, and Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Carol Greenwald is a multiple National Emmy and Peabody Award winner who launched, and for its first eight seasons, had overall creative responsibility for PBS's most successful animated children's series ever, Arthur (based on Marc Brown's books series). Carol executively produced the mixed live/animation Arthur spin-off, Buster's Post Cards, the Curious George series, as well as the Martha Speaks series. She also executively produced The Time Warp Trio for the Discovery Channel, based on John Scieszka's popular series of books for pre-teen boys who hate to read. Carol serves on the board of The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance.

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..

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.

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.

Holly Jones is the president of the Board and co-founder of 826 DC/Capitol Letters Writing Center. When not working with 826DC executive director Naomi Ayala and the Board, Holly divides her time between real estate work for Jones Lang LaSalle and writing. She wrote about DC's inner-city youth in the McSweeney's dispatch series, "Dispatches from Anacostia," for over a year, and now writes about various odd and not-so-odd things around the District in "Dispatches from the Capital."

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.

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.

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.

Christopher Taylor is the President of 826Michigan. He is a lawyer and partner at Butzel Long, a 200+ lawyer firm with offices in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and New York. Christopher’s practice focuses on the representation of businesses and individuals with intellectual property interests. He serves on Ann Arbor City Council and holds a B.M.A., B.A., M.A. and J.D. from the University of Michigan.

Alex Tenorio is the relationship manager at Credit Suisse, a financial services company founded in 1856. Prior to this, he served as a private bank summer associate at JPMorgan and as an associate director at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Alex attended the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and Stanford University. He is a former 826 Valencia tutor and volunteer.

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.

Oscar Villalon is the former book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle and a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. His reviews appear on NPR.org and KQED’s “The California Report.”

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