Team

Deborah has over thirty years of experience in educational publishing, including extensive work at high school and college textbook publishers, where she managed production processes. At Pearson, she oversaw large science programs for higher education, while at Key Curriculum Press, she managed editorial production for math content. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Deborah moved to the Bay Area to pursue her studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Deborah joined the team in May 2024 and will be serving as production manager for the Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program. She is excited to have the opportunity to support the development of this important program at Ten Strands.

Karen is an education-industry executive with over 30 years of experience in sales and fund development, marketing, program design, professional learning, business development, and operations. Prior to joining Ten Strands, she was president and chief executive officer of Key Curriculum Press, an innovative and award-winning K–12 STEM publisher. Before that, she was managing director of Burlington Books in Athens, Greece. In addition to her understanding of the complexities of the US education landscape, she has valuable insights into education in other nations, having built relationships in Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Karen holds a bachelor in business and a minor in education from Saint John’s College, York and a master of business administration from Saint Mary’s College, California. Read Karen’s Statement of Purpose.

Jeffrey is a credentialed public school science educator who has worked in California as a classroom teacher, curriculum writer, professional learning facilitator, and instructional coach. He also has over 15 years of experience in the development, refinement, and implementation of various educational STEM programs. Prior to joining Ten Strands, Jeffrey was a member of the science team in the San Francisco Unified School District where he contributed to the development of an NGSS-aligned, middle school science core curriculum that was published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation as an open educational resource. Before SFUSD, Jeffrey was a sponsoring editor in physical sciences at BFW High School Publishers and a development editor and science curriculum specialist at Key Curriculum Press. Jeffrey began his career in education as a high school chemistry and middle school physical science teacher in the Oakland Unified School District. Read Jeffrey’s Statement of Purpose.

Polina is a passionate advocate for environmental literacy and education. Growing up in the East Bay, she split her time between Oakland and Castro Valley, where her love for animals and nature blossomed through visits to the Oakland Zoo and explorations of local natural spaces. Polina’s dedication to fostering a connection with the environment inspired her to incorporate outdoor learning and sustainability into her work as a teacher. As a former special and general education teacher in Washington, D.C., she emphasized environmental literacy and outdoor education in the general education space, recognizing their benefits for Social and Emotional Learning and language acquisition for multilingual learners. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis from Pitzer College and a Master of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University. In her free time, Polina enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, reading, and spending time with family, friends, and her cats.

Judy is a data enthusiast who believes that the right data can make powerful changes in the world. Growing up in a coastal town in China and spending seven years living on the Hawaiian islands, she developed a deep appreciation for nature and all sustainability efforts aimed at preserving the beauty of our world. She holds a B.A. in Data Science and Cognitive Science from UC Berkeley. During her studies, she participated in the Ten Strands partnership with the Data Discovery Program. In this role, she performed data collection and analysis on a project aimed at spreading awareness and catalyzing sustainability action in every school in California. This experience gave her valuable insights into the situation and highlighted the work that remains to be done. Judy is excited to join the data initiative team to further these efforts and dive deeper into creating data-driven communications that support environmental and climate action scaling in California’s TK–12 schools. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, playing pickleball, and coffee hunting in her community. Read Judy’s Statement of Purpose.

Roni brings an extensive understanding of educational systems and a wide range of experiences at many levels including K-12 districts, institutions of higher education, and state and county educational agencies. Previously, Jones spent three years as the assistant director for the System of Support for the California Collaborative For Educational Excellence (CCEE). Her extensive experience also includes serving as organizational development specialist at WestEd, and network liaison for National Geographic Education where she supported the K–12 geography education Alliance Network to implement professional development programs. Additionally, Jones has served as adjunct faculty at California State University, Sacramento, teaching courses in pedagogy, educational foundations, and educational technology, and as professional development coordinator for the Placer County Office of Education. Read Roni’s Statement of Purpose.

Jilliann brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education to her role at Ten Strands where she leads fundraising, communications, and advocacy efforts. Her development career began at her alma mater Hofstra University, followed by 15 years at Columbia University in leadership roles in student affairs, research administration, constituent engagement, and events and programs. Jilliann received an MS in fundraising and nonprofit management and an EdM in higher and postsecondary education from Columbia University. She moved to the Bay Area in 2018 to join the UC Berkeley College of Letters & Science as the director of development for the natural sciences. Inspired by her son and the urgency of climate change, she made the transition to the K–12 public education sector by joining Ten Strands in early 2020. Read Jilliann’s Statement of Purpose.

Celeste is a veteran administrator with 40 years of experience in environmental and outdoor education. As director of environmental and outdoor education at the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, she directed Rancho El Chorro Outdoor School’s residential, field, and classroom programs. As director of the California Regional Environmental Education Community Network, she built regional and statewide partnerships to support environmental education programs and initiatives. She also provided 30 years of leadership and support to the California Outdoor School Association. A strong advocate of environmental literacy for all, Celeste serves on boards, advisory committees, and volunteers for organizations that promote equity and justice in environmental education, including Justice Outside, Land Conservancy of SLO County, Latino Outdoors, and UC Berkeley’s BEETLES Project. Celeste holds degrees from UCLA, SFSU, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Read Celeste’s Statement of Purpose.

Sofia is a Santa Cruz based nonprofit professional bringing over five years of experience helping organizations advance their missions. In her previous role as Communications. Coordinator at the Responsible Hospitality Institute, Sofia played a crucial role in advocating for positive citywide policy changes, focusing on creating environments that enable downtown areas to thrive. In addition, she has successfully implemented and managed Customer Relationship Management systems for nonprofits, helping them to operate more efficiently. She is passionate about fostering equitable communities that meet the needs of its most vulnerable members, and volunteers as a tenant’s rights counselor. Sofia is a UC Santa Cruz alumna, where she received Bachelor’s degrees with highest honors in Anthropology and Psychology. Read Sofia’s Statement of Purpose.

Camille is an advocate for inclusive education, where she focuses on supporting and advocating for the next generation of leaders. Her expertise in higher education, education policy and strategic communications led her to join Ten Strand’s mission, dedicated to offering environmental-based learning opportunities for the upcoming generation. Camille earned a Master of Education from Texas State University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Ethnic Studies from California State University, San Bernardino. Before joining Ten Strands, Camille contributed her expertise to various non-profit organizations across California, Texas and Washington D.C. She aspires to be a catalyst for positive change, contributing to the ongoing elevation of Ten Strand’s mission of environmental education. Read Camille’s Statement of Purpose.

Rachel is based in San Diego and has over five years of experience focused on sustainability, environmental education, and climate action. Through her prior experience as communications coordinator at Genomatica, she led the company’s initiative to achieve the My Green Lab certification, a global gold standard in lab sustainability. She began her career at the nonprofit EarthDay.Org, where she advanced its climate education campaign, created educational resources, and developed communications. Rachel received a BA in environmental studies from Binghamton University. She’s deeply passionate about climate solutions, and knows that environmental education is the first step to changing the world. Read Rachel’s Statement of Purpose.

Sarah has harbored a deep love for learning and a passion for the environment since childhood. Her journey into education began after college when she provided early intervention tutoring for autistic children. Having personally experienced unconventional learning, Sarah has dedicated her career to establishing supportive and nurturing environments for students. Over eleven years, she taught elementary and middle school science, served as a district-level STEM TOSA for three years, and held the role of a county-level K12 Strong Workforce Pathway and STEM coordinator before joining the team at Ten Strands. As an advocate for developing systems thinking and creativity, she is driven to create an educational system where students are empowered to become solutionaries capable of making a positive impact on the world. Read Sarah’s Statement of Purpose.

Andra brings more than 15 years of experience in education across public and private school systems, nationally and internationally. She currently provides visionary leadership for a California-wide whole systems approach to integrating environmental and climate literacy, and sustainable and climate resilient school efforts, across a school community’s campus, curriculum, community and culture. Andra is also the California Environmental Literacy Initiative Project Director. She holds a B.A. and education credentials from UC Davis, and an MBA from Presidio Graduate School. Under her leadership, she has supported school sites, districts, and county offices in achieving honors such as the U.S. Department of Education and California Green Ribbon Award, Bay Area Green Business Certification, and LEED Platinum Certification for New Buildings. Read Andra’s Statement of Purpose.