Brett van Zuiden

EBIA Board Chair - Chief Information Officer for Summit Public Schools

After over a decade working in the technology sector, Brett strives to empower Summit educators with insights and tools to better serve our students. Brett got his start in education at Clever where he built data products used by millions of teachers and tens of thousands of schools. He then joined Outschool, a provider of live online classes for kids, where he led the team responsible for the learner experience and online classroom. Now at Summit, he brings his background in technology leadership and product development to ensure Summit leaders and educators have the information and capabilities they need to improve student outcomes. Brett graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, with minors in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. He lives in Oakland with his wife and 18 month old son and enjoys lots of hobbies, including soccer, guitar, surfing, reading, and cooking.

Kelly Garcia

Associate Partner - Silicon Schools Fund

K2 is a 7th-12th grade program serving a diverse community from within the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Under her leadership, the school opened its doors to its first class of students in August 2014 and fully implemented Summit’s Next Generation Learning model. In addition to executing the academic program, Kelly has been successful in building a school community that embraces and inspires all relevant stakeholders. As the longest standing member of the Summit Public Schools Leadership team, she has also been instrumental in bringing restorative justice practices to the organization as well as mentoring new school leaders.

Prior to opening Summit K2, Kelly was the Executive Director of Everest Public High School, the second school in the Summit Public Schools network. Under her leadership, EPHS met all of its growth targets, developed a positive school culture, and graduated its first class of seniors. She developed the school leadership skills necessary to run a high performing charter school while serving in many different roles at the original Summit Public School, Summit Prep. While at Summit Prep, Kelly was the founding history teacher, Director of Admissions, Dean of Students, and Assistant Director.

Kelly received her B.A in History and a certificate in the Children and Society Curriculum from Stanford University. She also holds an Ed.M. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Bradley L. Edgar

EBIA Board Vice-Chair - Owner and Co-founder of Red Fox Resources and 44 Energy Technologies

Dr. Brad Edgar is owner and co-founder of Red Fox Resources and 44 Energy Technologies Incorporated, where he serves as the President and CEO of both businesses.

Brad has a proven track record as an inventor, technology developer, and entrepreneur. Prior to starting Red Fox Resources, Brad cofounded three companies most recently Cleaire Advanced Emission Controls, a developer of heavy-duty diesel emission control systems.

Brad has focused his career on engines, combustion, emissions, and air pollution. He is the author of numerous papers and presentations, and is the inventor or co-inventor listed on 11 United States Patents, primarily related to combustion and emission control technology.

In 2011 Brad received the prestigious Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award in the category of Science and Technology from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

Brad received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1997, and he currently serves on the UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering Department Advisory Board.

Erin Frederick

EBIA Board Secretary - Director of Advancement - College Preparatory School

Erin Fredrick is a community volunteer, parent of two, and neighbor to EBIA. Professionally, she is Director of Philanthropy at The Athenian School in Danville and previously worked in fundraising at The College Preparatory School (Oakland, CA), The Masters School (Dobbs Ferry, NY), and Barnard College (NY, NY). Early in her career, Erin worked on political campaigns and earned a Masters in political science from American University, where she concentrated on women and politics. She holds a BA from Barnard College. She previously served on the board of Democracy Prep Charter School Harlem and was on the founding team of P.S. 306Q, NYC Academy for Discovery.

Shyam Kumar

Founder and CEO of NorthStar Education Partners

Shyam Kumar is the Founder and CEO of NorthStar Education Partners, a national network of equity-centered education consultants. Over the past 8 years, NorthStar has had the privilege of supporting over 75 urban districts, charter networks, and non-profits to solve a wide range of strategic challenges in the areas of organizational, academic, and talent strategy. Prior to founding NorthStar, Shyam served as the head of talent and strategy for KIPP Metro Atlanta where he led a wide range of strategic initiatives, from developing career pathways to improving hiring processes and performance management.
 

Prior to working with KIPP, Shyam served as the Executive Director of Teach For America Atlanta. In this role, Shyam was responsible for expanding the impact of 400 Teach For America teachers and 600 Teach For America alumni placed across four Metro Atlanta School Districts. While at Teach For America, Shyam led initiatives to increase teacher observation and feedback, improve teacher selection and hiring practices, and broaden the impact of Teach For America's alumni in the Metro Atlanta community.
 

Before beginning his career in public education, Shyam worked as a management consultant at GE. Working in GE business units across India, Ireland, the UK, and United States, Shyam led global project teams to solve multiple strategic business challenges.
 

Shyam holds degrees in Management and Curriculum and Instruction. He lives with his wife, Gayathri, and daughter Dhevna in Oakland California.

Rochelle (Shelley) Benning - School Founder - Member Emeritus

EBIA Co-Founder, Chief of Staff and Executive Director, Office of the Chief Technology Risk Officer Kaiser Permanente

Rochelle (Shelley) Benning – Shelley is a co-founder and the board chair of East Bay Innovation Academy. A business leader with 20+ years of experience in Audit, Risk, Compliance, and Finance, Shelley currently serves as the Chief of Staff and Executive Director – Office of the Chief Technology Risk Officer for Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed healthcare organization in the United States. Previously she worked as a Director of Internal Audit for Charles Schwab & Co and the Operations Finance Director for Levi Strauss Europe Middle East and Africa. Shelley was a 2010 participant in the Aspen Institute – NewSchools Fellowship program, “The Aspen Seminar on Leadership, Values, and The Good Society”. In 2012 she completed Harvard Business School’s High Potential Leadership Program, and began coursework to attain Stanford University’s Advanced Project Management certification. She has an MBA and BS degrees from San Francisco State University, and holds Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Project Management Professional (PMP) professional certifications. Shelley lives in Oakland with her husband and two sons.

Laurie Jacobson Jones - School Founder - Member Emeritus

EBIA Co-Founder, Board Vice Chair and Treasurer, Vice President, Oracle Corporation - Co Founder of EBIA - Former Board Member

Laurie is a co-founder and board vice chair and treasurer of the East Bay Innovation Academy. A technology leader with 20+ years of experience, Laurie is currently a Vice President of Development at Oracle. Previously. Laurie founded Customer Zen, a consultancy practice supporting technology companies to build and scale customer delivery operations. She has also worked as the VP of Operations at Salesforce.com, VP of Professional Services Operations at SupportSoft, VP of Global Customer Support at Embarcadero Technologies, and as the VP of Customer Support at PeopleSoft. Laurie has a BA from San Jose State University and a certification in early childhood education. Early in her career, Laurie taught and was the assistant director of a preschool. Her work with children has continued since through volunteer roles at the Junior Center of Arts and Science, Girl Scouts, Girls Leadership Institute and Camp Reel Stories. Laurie lives in Oakland with her husband and two daughters.