Board of Trustees
Our Design Team is a talented group of experienced Sonoma County educators who are passionate about progessive and equitable education. Our design team is actively involved in designing all aspects of MGAL, including our pedagogy and programming, our assessment and exhibition structures.
We are actively recruiting new members to join our Board of Trustees. We are especially looking for individuals with historically marginalized identities, including females and female identified people, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals. To express interest, please email info@magnoliaglobalacademy.org.
Beth Fox, MNA, has a strong background in helping educational institutions and nonprofits organizations find ways to increase revenue, build community partnerships and connect to their stakeholders. She works at the Sonoma Community Center as the Director of Development and Marketing. With 30 years of experience in private, public and residential schools, as well as family foundations and nonprofit organizations, Beth has been successful in helping organizations achieve more with less by focusing on development strategies and processes. Her background includes fundraising, marketing, finance, and strategic planning. Beth’s dedication to working in nonprofit organizations is reflected by her professional and personal commitments. Beth serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, is a founding member of Impact 100 of Sonoma, serves on the Development Committee of Transcendence Theater, and is an active Sonoma Valley Rotary Board Member representing youth services.
Lotasha Thomas began her public accounting career as an intern at Dillwood Burkel & Millar, LLP in 2006. During her tenure at Dillwood Burkel & Millar, LLP, she was responsible for providing tax and audit services to a myriad of clients and industries. During this time, Lotasha fell in love with the nonprofit industry. After 6+ years in public accounting, she transitioned to private accounting and became the Controller for a local non-profit private school, Anova, serving children with autism and learning differences. Lotasha then went to work for our local Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin as their Controller managing the day-to-day financial operations. After 8+ years, Lotasha returned to public accounting as a Manager at Dillwood Burkel & Millar, LLP assisting our clients with their accounting needs.
Lotasha holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration, both from Sonoma State University. She is a Certified Public Accountant. She also serves as the Treasurer for the SSU MBA Alumni Forum. In her free time, Lotasha loves teaching financial literacy to teens and young adults. She enjoys reading and training in the gym. She also loves to spend time with my family. On the weekends, you can find Lotasha exploring hiking trails in Sonoma County, tending to her garden, or planning her next vacation.
Kinyatta Reynolds is a long time resident of Petaluma, California. She briefly moved away from Petaluma when she attended the University of Washington on both an academic and athletic scholarship. She married her husband, also a lifelong resident of this amazing community. They have 3 wonderful kids (11, 9, 5) attending three different schools. She has taught physical education for 5 years, coached at the local high school, and has been a member of the board for the local competitive soccer club for several years. Kenyatta is an advocate for building a stronger and more inclusive community through academics, athletics and play.
Rod Harris is a seasoned leader in global education. His assignments include both strategic as well as tactical leadership & management roles. Creative and dedicated with more than 21 years of experience, he is a senior academic leader and member of the SAI executive team. He has earned the reputation of someone who serves as a vital resource in outreach with university partners and other stakeholders in the ever-changing international education landscape. While based in the US, his work has provided for extensive international travel. His message to young people is to explore and embrace those nations beyond their own, as future leaders will require more intercultural currency than any period from our past.
Kesa Labanowski is a second generation San Franciscan and earned her master degree in social work in 2000 from San Jose State University. She then went on to work with the San Francisco Veterans Administration where she ran a pilot program for homeless women veterans. She then moved with her family to Petaluma, California where she has continued to work with the community. She has always had a passion to work with kids which began by working for the Waugh School District. She is now a school site coordinator for Mentor Me which is part of Petaluma People Services Center. She works with over 6 schools to help maintain positive relationships between mentors and students in Petaluma.
Jennifer Gray Thompson is a lifelong resident of Sonoma Valley. She attended Santa Rosa Junior College and graduated from Dominican University with dual degrees in English and History, and earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy. Prior to graduate school, Jennifer spent a decade teaching AP Language and Composition at Ursuline High School, a college prep single gender institution. Post-graduate school, Jennifer worked for the County of Sonoma for the Board of Supervisors. After the devastating fires of October 2017, she accepted her current position as Executive Director of Rebuild NorthBay Foundation (RNBF), a long-term post-disaster organization dedicated to helping our region rebuild better, greener, safer, and faster. In this capacity, Jennifer has traveled across the country to share the innovative model of RNBF with colleagues and helping newly disaster affected communities. She is the host of the podcast “How to Disaster: Recover, Rebuild, Reimagine.” Jennifer resides in Sonoma Valley with her husband, Douglas, children, and two rescue dogs.
Jeanne Kearns is a Sonoma County native with nearly two decades of development experience. In August of 2019, she joined the American Heart Association as Executive Director of the organization’s North Bay operations. Signature throughout Jeanne’s career is a commitment to building high quality, impactful relationships. She believes passionately in a culture of health for the North Bay where healthy choices are equitable, accessible, and easy to make and where everyone in North Bay can live their best life, without worrying they are one heartbeat away from heart disease or stroke. Before joining the AHA, Jeanne was the Vice President of Resource Development with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin where she led her staff team and volunteers to raise $1.7M annually in support of the community’s youth. Prior to that, she served in development roles with Bay Area arts and education non-profits including California Film Institute, San Francisco Film Society and Stanford Jazz Workshop, as well as with the University of California, Santa Barbara where she was responsible for diversifying revenue streams for sustainable and strategic growth. Her personal passion for women’s health brought her to Go Red for Women where she first became involved with the AHA.
As an alumnus of Ursuline High School, Jeanne benefitted from a girls-only high school experience providing a strong foundation for future educational and professional accomplishments and valuable leadership skills. She is a major proponent of study abroad having experienced a transformative education abroad experience as an undergraduate at UC Santa Barbara where she obtained her BA in Film Studies followed by several years abroad studying in Belfast, Northern Ireland where she received her master’s degree in politics from Queen’s University. She knows firsthand the potential of the Global School for Girls to empower our community’s young women and create global citizens right here at home.
Jeanne serves on the Boards of Soroptimist International Santa Rosa, Global School for Girls and Sonoma Family Meal. When she is not creating powerful partnerships for longer healthier lives in the North Bay, Jeanne enjoys swimming, hiking, and spending time with her husband and two small children.
Yensi Jacobo is passionate about ensuring young people have the resources, support systems, and spaces they need in order to succeed and feel seen. Yensi experienced first-hand the power of mentorship and a highly supportive environment as a student in TRiO Upward Bound, a program dedicated to accompanying students in their journey to be the first in their family to attend college. In 2007, Yensi became the first in her family to graduate high school and in 2011 she earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Philosophy with a minor in Gender Studies from the University of San Diego.
She has worked, both at home and abroad, to facilitate experiences of academic and personal growth for young people while providing a holistic approach to support and wellness. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, she worked with a group of middle school girls to explore identity, acquire life skills, and set goals for the future. As Academic Coordinator for TRiO Upward Bound, she worked with students from underrepresented backgrounds to support them in being the first in their family to attend college. As a Mentor for TRiO Student Support Services, she worked with a cohort of incoming first-year, first-generation college students to provide an affinity space and strengthen their social network as they navigated university life. As a Writing Tutor, Yensi supported undergraduate and graduate students through the writing process, enabling them to clearly and effectively present their ideas while providing strategies for future use. As International Director with Global Leadership Adventures, Yensi led service learning trips abroad (Costa Rica, Ghana, and Peru), providing a safe space for students to step out of their comfort zone as they learned about the world around them. Yensi’s work with students is based on a collaborative approach and rooted in the belief that quality, holistic support can empower young people to achieve their full potential.
Upon returning from 5 years abroad and working with young people in various capacities, Yensi earned her master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Societal Change from Soka University of America. In May 2020, she joined Petaluma People Services Center as Director of Youth Programs, where she is committed to serve and uplift as many young people as possible. Yensi believes that when we acknowledge and center those who are not being adequately served by existing systems we are able to move forward to create opportunities anchored in equitable access to resources and capital. In her free time, Yensi enjoys traveling abroad, trying new foods, playing tennis, reading novels, volunteering in the community, and hanging out with her 8-year-old nephew.
Vanessa Luna Shannon is a second generation Mexican-American who was born and raised in the Napa Valley and East Bay, and has been serving and supporting marginalized students for over 20 years. She is committed to preparing historically underrepresented students to complete their college education and advance into positions of leadership in the community.
With an education in Clinical Psychology and training in mental health care, she has experience working in several community based organizations and schools as a substance abuse counselor, youth case manager, and multi-disciplinary program manager for families affected by the criminal justice system. In 2010, Vanessa began counseling and teaching at Napa Valley College, coordinating the Puente mentor program and Umoja learning community, to support first-generation students of color.
In March of 2013, Vanessa was hired by Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) to be the Director of the Gateway to College Academy, a Petaluma City Schools charter high school located at SRJC Petaluma. This charter high school was a uniquely designed Middle College High School to support students who were motivated to go to college, but needed equity-driven resources to help them complete high school. During her tenure in this position, Vanessa led a blended team of college and high school faculty & staff to launch an innovative, dynamic, and trauma-informed dual enrollment high school where over 100 students earned their high school diploma with an average one-year of college credit completed upon graduation. The Gateway to College Academy sunsetted in spring 2020 and since then, SRJC has committed to grow early college credit pathways, including dual enrollment, and placed Vanessa at the helm.
In addition to her work at SRJC, Vanessa is a board member for Petaluma Health Center, a committee member on the City of Petaluma Transit Advisory Committee, and contributes to equity initiatives for vulnerable communities. As a mother of three, everyday she strives to raise compassionate, courageous, and socially conscious agents of change.