Current SEF Board
Michelle Eugeni
President
Michelle is a Sunnyvale native with nearly twenty years experience in educational fields, including teaching, administration, research and program evaluation, educational publishing, and literacy tutoring. In her ten years as a parent volunteer at Cherry Chase and Sunnyvale Middle she has been involved in nearly every aspect of the parent and school volunteer community, including five years on Cherry Chase PTA’s Executive Board. Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling, playing games, scouting and being outdoors. In her role as President of SEF, Michelle acts as the spokesperson for the Sunnyvale Education Foundation, channeling resources and passion to support student enrichment across the Sunnyvale School District. She serves on the Executive and Fundraising Committees.
Katie Rowland
Vice President and Programs Chair
Katie Rowland is a San Miguel Juntos program parent and Vice President of SEF. She performs the duties of President in their absence and serves on the Executive Committee. Katie is a product marketing and research consultant, primarily in the ed tech/publishing sector. She has lived in Sunnyvale since 2013. Katie serves as the Chair of the Programs Committee.
Angela Hixson
Secretary and Governance and Board Development Chair
Angela Hixson is a former Sunnyvale Middle School parent and former Fairwood Explorer Elementary parent. While at Sunnyvale Middle School she was on the PTSA Board serving as 6th grade VP, 7th grade VP then Direct Appeal VP. At Fairwood she was Box Tops Coordinator, Family Math Night Coordinator and ran Math Olympiad for 3 years. Born in Arizona, she has lived in Sunnyvale for 10 years. Angela has a B.A. in Elementary Education and an M.A. in Gifted Education. She taught in Arizona for 10 years, primarily in 3rd and 5th grade. As the SEF Secretary, she is responsible for security and accuracy of all Board records, including agendas, meeting minutes, resolutions, reports, mission, and bylaws. Angela also serves as the Chair of the Governance and Board Development Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee.
Email: secretary@sunnyvaleeducationfoundation.org
Brenda Robbins
Treasurer
Brenda is a Columbia Middle School parent and has been a Sunnyvale resident for over 25 years. With over 30 years of experience in accounting and finance in Silicon Valley, she enjoys serving as a volunteer with various community, church and school groups. As Treasurer, Brenda oversees the management and reporting of the Foundation’s finances. In addition to chairing the Budget & Finance Committee, she also serves on the Executive Committee.
George McMullen
VP Communications
George is a former Vargas Elementary parent where he served as Vargas Lead for the YMCA Project Cornerstone ABC Reader program. When he’s not having fun while taking care of his kids, George is a product management consultant, helping startups achieve their product/market fit.
MG Bertrand
Bishop Elementary School Representative
An experienced elementary school teacher, most recently serving the Bishop community, MG came to Sunnyvale from Berkeley and Oakland where he first recognized the one of a kind in the joy present in many elementary school environments between the high levels of parent involvement and the community-oriented nature of the elementary school class. Seeking to support the big team in bridging the classroom, the home, the larger communities, and the world, MG sees immense value in supporting SEF to build upon SSD’s and other classroom teachers’ inspiring visions for enriching, dynamic learning spaces where there is new and ongoing access to new experiences as well as the opportunity for students to keep growing their own deep conceptual understanding within real-world, authentic learning opportunities. Always a learner, MG is thrilled to support the team.
Open
Cherry Chase Elementary School Representative
SEF has an opening for a member of the Cherry Chase School community to serve on the SEF Board as a liaison between SEF and the school. Interested parents, staff, or community members should contact Michelle Eugeni, SEF President.
Lauren Ledbetter
Columbia Middle School Representative
Lauren joined the SEF Board in September 2023. Her children attended Bishop Elementary and Columbia Middle. She joined the board after recognizing the role SEF has in bringing enrichment activities and field trips to schools throughout Sunnyvale and reducing disparities between school sites. She is passionate about ensuring our students have access to high quality arts, athletic, and academic programs, regardless of family income. She brings grantwriting and policy experience from her two decades working as a transportation planner in the public and private sector. She has lived in Sunnyvale since 2013 with her family and enjoys the city’s the vibrant, compassionate community. She is the Columbia site representative and serves on SEF’s fundraising committee.
Sara Grassman
Cumberland Elementary School Representative
Sara has been a Sunnyvale School District elementary teacher since 2006. She taught for nine years at San Miguel Elementary, where she loved working with the students and families of that Sunnyvale neighborhood. Recently, she has been equally passionate teaching students at Cumberland Elementary in Sunnyvale. Sara joined SEF because she believes in the mission to reach and serve all children in our community. She is incredibly proud to be a teacher and is deeply dedicated to supporting public education. Sara serves on the Communications Committee.
Nora Beamon
Ellis Elementary Representative
Nora is an Ellis Elementary parent and a former middle and high school math teacher (including 3 years teaching in FUHSD). She grew up on the east coast and has lived in Sunnyvale for almost 10 years. She is excited to support SEF’s goal of enriching education for every SSD student as the Ellis rep and a member of the governance committee.
OPEN
Fairwood Explorer Representative
SEF has an opening for a member of the Fairwood School community to serve on the SEF Board as a liaison between SEF and the school. Interested parents, staff, or community members should contact Michelle Eugeni, SEF President.
Email: fairwood@sunnyvaleeducationfoundation.org
Tammy Michels
Lakewood Tech EQ Representative
Tammy is a former Lakewood parent and has been an active part of the Lakewood Community for 14 years. She is an Instructional Aide and Library Specialist at Lakewood supporting students, teachers and parents. She also serves on the Programs Committee. Over the past few years, Tammy has served as Treasurer for Lakewood PTA and Columbia Middle School PTSA.
Cortney Jansen
San Miguel Elementary Representative
Ambrosia Studley
Sunnyvale Middle School Representative
Ambrosia is a Sunnyvale Middle School and Fairwood Explorer parent. Originally from the North Bay, she has called Sunnyvale home for 13 years. Ambrosia’s professional work experience is in the nonprofit sector, but as a stay at home Mom for the past 10 years has focused on completing her Master’s Degree in Public Administration (2013) and volunteering. She served on the Fariwood Alliance Board for three years, including one term as president, and continues working on their Walkathon Team and Garden Team. For SEF Ambrosia serves as the Sunnyvale Middle School Representative and is on the Fundraising Committee.
Lisa McRae
Vargas Elementary School Representative
Lisa is originally from the UK and moved to Sunnyvale with her husband in 2012. She is the SEF representative for Vargas Elementary, the school her two children attend. Lisa strongly supports public education and has been involved with the community at Vargas by volunteering with students, serving as Treasurer and Vice President on the PTA board, and as a parent representative on School Site Council. Her professional background is in biology research in academia and biotech. She was always interested in science outreach and education and now works for a local science education non-profit bringing hands-on science to 3rd through 8th grade students in the Bay Area.
Isabel Jubes-Flamerich
SSD Board Representative
Isabel is the mother of two bright, fun, active and inquisitive teens. Her kids went to the SSD, and are now at the FUHSD. She immigrated with her husband about 25 years ago as co-founder of a start-up tech company. With a master’s degree in architecture and environmental design, as well as other post graduate studies and certifications, she continues to build her love for education, community service, and climate awareness through design and social involvement. She is in her second year as board president for the Sunnyvale School District, and is part of many local and statewide boards for public education.
Peggy Shen Brewster
Grants Administrator
Peggy is a Bishop Elementary School parent and has been a Sunnyvale resident for over 10 years. She worked in medical research compliance before she began a second career as a teacher and has taught primarily 2nd and 8th grades. Peggy joined SEF because she is passionate about equity and working to close opportunity, language, and learning gaps in socioeconomically disadvantaged families within Sunnyvale. She serves as the Grants Administrator for SEF.
Melinda Hamilton
Fundraising Chair
Melinda Hamilton is a former district parent (Fairwood Explorer/Sunnyvale Middle School) and a Sunnyvale native. She spent eight years on the city council, including two as mayor. Before becoming a politician and community volunteer, Melinda worked for a newspaper overseas and spent 10 years working in high tech and nonprofits, doing marketing and communications. Melinda serves as the Chair of the Fundraising Committee.
Eileen Le
Board Member At Large
Eileen is a Lakewood parent and a Trustee on the Sunnyvale School District Board of Trustees.