Advisory Council
Sara Brown, Ph.D.
Sara Brown, Ph.D.
Sara E. Brown, Ph.D. is an educator, advocate, author, and former director of an education non-profit organization.
She serves as the Regional Director of American Jewish Committee, a 100-year-old advocacy organization, and oversees the organization’s San Diego office, where she advocates with government officials and educators and consults on K-12 and university-level education issues.
Dr. Brown is the former director of a Holocaust, human rights, and genocide education non-profit. She has worked and conducted research in Rwanda since 2004, served as a project coordinator in refugee camps in Tanzania, worked in refugee resettlement in Texas, researched conflict globalization and conflict in Israel, and managed post-secondary education programming for USC Shoah Foundation.
Dr. Brown has presented at an array of professional conferences around the world, published articles in a variety of academic journals, news outlets, and edited volumes, and has designed and taught courses on human rights, mass violence, and history.
She is the author of Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda: Women as Perpetrators and Rescuers and the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook on Religion, Mass Atrocity, and Genocide.
Dr. Brown holds the first Ph.D. in comparative genocide studies from Clark University's Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Callie Efron
Callie Efron
Callie is a strategic communications leader who is passionate about bridging the gap between technical complexity and business strategy. She excels at developing straightforward messaging for complex issues. With more than a decade of experience in strategic communications for multifaceted engineering organizations, Callie has a proven track record of driving impact. She is currently Director of Strategic Technology Communications for WalMart Global Tech, where she has been since 2016.
Outside of work, she enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and cheering for the Kentucky Wildcats. As the child of two educators, Callie is particularly passionate about mentoring students and advocating for meaningful change within the public school system. Above all, she is committed to raising her two children to thrive in a world that values inclusivity and equity.
Callie received a B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Kentucky.
Sarah Hernholm
Sarah Hernholm
A former teacher turned entrepreneur, Sarah Hernholm is the Founder/President of WIT – Whatever It Takes (WIT) and the host of the DO WIT podcast. Sarah’s focus is on creating platforms for teens to use their voices, launch businesses, and create sustainable impacts in their communities.
Sarah champions young entrepreneurs who are committed to innovation and to doing “whatever it takes to make the world a better place.” In addition, she’s a speaker with the Washington Speakers Bureau, a three-time TEDx speaker, contributor to FORBES, blogger on The Today Show, and is working on her book The 11 Tips for Doing WIT.
Sarah received a BA in Theatre Arts from Pepperdine University, teaching credentials from Point Loma Nazarene University, and an MA in Education from National University.
She is actively involved as a volunteer in her community, leading park clean-ups and advocating with elected officials on responsible homeless policy.
Josh Koppel
Josh Koppel
Josh Koppel is a thought leader and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in the convergence of digital media, content creation, and technology. He has been a pioneer in the evolution of digital content, from the early days of digital music (creating a digital liner note format which was adopted by iTunes) to the rise of mobile devices (presented at the Apple WWDC Keynote) to live streaming for Zappos and other online retailers.
Early in his career, Josh held leadership positions at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Oxygen Media. He also founded and led several successful companies, including Ingage.io, developing groundbreaking formats for app-based digital publishing (for People Magazine, Oprah Magazine, Harry Potter, and Sesame Street) and sales enablement technology (for Apple, Genentech, GE Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, PWC, and Verizon).
Josh has consulted with a wide range of media companies and brands, including National Geographic, Amazon Web Services, UBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and the Sundance Channel. He has consistently pushed the boundaries of digital content creation, developing and implementing innovative solutions for publishers, entertainment companies, and Fortune 500 brands. He is recognized for his production of games, books, apps, television shows, and products at the intersection of traditional and new media.
Josh received a BA in English from Amherst College.
Tabia Lee, Ed.D.
Tabia Lee, Ed.D.
Tabia Lee (known as "Lee") has contributed to the design, implementation, and evaluation of numerous educational and professional development programs.
In the late 1990s, she coined teacher ideology-in-practice and is devoted to raising awareness about the ways that race, gender, and other ideologies influence and inform teaching practice. Dr. Lee is the author of the Empowered Social Justice Resources and Standards for K-12 teaching and learning.
Dr. Lee’s commitment to teacher education and pedagogical design is grounded in her experience as a lifelong educator and a National Board Certified English, Civics, and Social Studies teacher in urban American public middle schools. Dr. Lee prepares K-12 and higher education faculty to work with diverse students by focusing on better understanding the pedagogical and curricular implications of ideology-in-practice.
Dr. Lee has been a guest on many popular TV shows and podcasts and her articles have been published in the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Daily Mail UK, COMPACT Magazine, and Journal of Free Black Thought.
Ginny Merrifield
Ginny Merrifield
Ginny Merrifield is a founding member of the Board of Directors and current Chair of e3 Civic High, a free public high school in San Diego, CA. Ginny is passionate about improving access to high quality academic instruction and engaging educational experiences for K-12 students.
Ginny is also the Executive Director of the Parent Association Inc., a California nonprofit organization dedicated to helping parents take a leadership role in advocating for the best interests of all children in public schools. The organization was founded in January 2021 to support the full reopening of California K-12 schools during the Covid pandemic. The organization continues to advocate for putting the needs of students first and empowering parents to have a meaningful voice in school policies.
Ginny was previously the Chief Operating Officer of CONNECT, the first non-profit business accelerator in San Diego, focused on growing life science and technology companies, and the Executive Director of the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the second largest private foundation in San Diego County. As Executive Director, Ginny oversaw a $20 million annual grant portfolio comprised of approximately 50 nonprofit organizations in San Diego, CA and Omaha, NE.
In 2002, Ginny co-founded the Pacific Ridge School, an independent middle and high school in San Diego, focused on academic excellence, ethical responsibility, and global engagement. She was selected as California Woman of the Year, representing California’s 38th Senate District in recognition of her achievements and commitment to quality education in San Diego. She also served on the Board of Governors, chairs the Strategic Planning Committee and serves on the Policy Committee of The San Diego Foundation, a 50-year-old foundation which has granted more than $1.8 billion.
Ginny holds a BA degree in Geological Sciences from Princeton University.
Maya Phillips
Maya Phillips
Maya Phillips grew up in Saint Petersburg, Russia in the former Soviet Union. Maya immigrated to the U.S. in 1999 and became an American citizen in 2006. She works in translation and property management.
Maya serves on the Ramona (California) Unified School District Board of Trustees. She was appointed to a vacant board seat in March 2022 and elected for a full term in November 2022, with her current term running through 2026.
She is a strong advocate for academics, local control, and parental rights. She has written extensively about the parallels between Liberated Ethnic Studies in K-12 education and political ideology in education she experienced in the former Soviet Union.
Maya graduated from Saint Petersburg State University with a degree in German Language and Linguistics.
Mudita Tiwary
Mudita Tiwary
Mudita Tiwary is the Founder and Principal Director of the Hindi Language Program (HLP) and Hindu American of San Diego. She is a specialist in Hindu language, culture, and traditions and knows four Bhartiya Heritage languages: Hindi, Bengali, Avadhi, and Angika.
The HLP is a Hindi immersion school; students who complete their three-year program can attain high school foreign language credit. HLP is a WASC-accredited and University of California Off-Campus, credit-approved program. HLP also provides a seal of biliteracy to its students.
Three San Diego school districts (San Diego Unified, Poway Unified and San Diego Union High School Districts) have approved the HLP. HLP has students from outside San Diego school districts as well.
Prior to her work in education, Ms. Tiwary worked for 15 years in information technology in the hospital industry. She is fully versed in Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Agile/SCRUM methodologies, has quantitative experience in project management, business and data analysis, and software development and considerable experience working with state and federal regulators.
Mudita received a B.S. in Zoology from Ranchi Women’s College and an MBA from University of Phoenix.
Yukong Mike Zhao
Yukong Mike Zhao
Yukong Mike Zhao, the founding president of the Asian American Coalition for Education, is a nationally recognized Asian community leader advocating for equal education rights and meritocracy.
Zhao, who grew up in China, immigrated to the U.S. in 1992. He received his International MBA from the University of South Carolina in 1996, then joined Westinghouse and later became the Director of Global Planning at Siemens Energy.
Since achieving his American Dream, Zhao has been a staunch advocate against anti-Asian discrimination in college admissions. Starting in 2014, under his leadership, the Asian American Coalition for Education galvanized communities to support Students for Fair Admissions’ legal battles against Harvard and University of North Carolina. Their collective efforts culminated in the landmark Supreme Court ruling in June 2023, which banned the use of Affirmative Action policies.
As a survivor of China’s Cultural Revolution, Zhao has published a book, Critical Race Theory and Woke Culture, America’s Dangerous Repeat of China’s Cultural Revolution, and many opinion pieces advocating for educational excellence and meritocracy, and against Socialism and extreme manifestations of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies.
