Board of Trustees

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Margaret Wilkerson Sexton is a novelist and non-practicing attorney who studied creative writing at Dartmouth College and law at UC Berkeley. Her most recent novel, The Revisioners, won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work and a 2020 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, and was a national bestseller as well as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her debut novel, A Kind of Freedom, was long-listed for the National Book Award. Her third novel, On the Rooftop, was published in September 2022. Her work has been published in Zyzzyva; The Paris Review; O, The Oprah Magazine; The New York Times Book Review; and other publications. 

She serves on the board of the Community of Writers, the oldest annual writers' conference on the West Coast of the United States, and is a distinguished visiting professor in Fiction in the MFA program at St. Mary’s College of California.  

She and her husband, Thomas, live in Oakland where they proudly parent three children.

Gene Wade

Gene is Co-founder and CEO of Honors Pathway, an organization that partners with private universities and public high schools to operate MicroCollege programs. MicroCollege is a unique college pathway program where first-generation, low-income high school graduates become college ready by completing a year or two of transferrable college courses at no cost along with hi receiving hundreds of hours of intensive, small group support.

Prior to Honors Pathway, Mr. Wade co-founded and led several education companies, including One University Network, which partnered with universities in emerging economies to offer college degrees via mobile devices;  UniversityNow, an affordable, self-paced university and online learning platform that currently serves over 100,000 students; Platform Learning, a K12 tutoring organization that served over 50,000 students and LearnNow, a charter school network that operated 11 schools serving 6,000 students.

Gene's work has been profiled by numerous news publications, including Forbes Magazine, The New York Times, Fast Company and the Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2011, he shared his personal story and vision for higher education at TEDx San Francisco.  

Gene holds a BA from Morehouse College, JD from Harvard Law School and MBA from The Wharton School. He is a Board Member of The Pahara Institute and Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area.

Jack Wills

Jack is a partner at Post Oak Creek Capital, an investment firm based in San Francisco. He has worked in the finance industry for 20 years, and he previously worked for four years as an attorney representing start up companies. Before attending law school, he worked as a press aide on Capitol Hill for a United States Senator. 

Jack received a B.A. in History from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. His three sons are members of the St. Paul’s classes of 2015, 2018, and 2021.

Alexandra Ament '82, Secretary

Alexandra works professionally as an actor, primarily in voice over. She lives in San Rafael with her husband, pets, and (when home from college) two young adults. Alexandra has been part of the St. Paul’s School community since the very beginning, in 1975, and is proud to see how the school has evolved over the years.

Cheryl Ting

Cheryl Ting is the Head of School at St. Paul’s Episcopal School and has over 25 years of experience in education. She currently sits on CAIS’s Elementary Board of Standards, CATDC's Board of Directors, and Maybeck High School's Board of Trustees, and presents extensive workshops on the topics of equity and inclusion, diversity and leadership. She is the mother of two amazing humans, Maia, a musical artist, and Dylan, an undergraduate in the architecture program at Pratt. Cheryl is rediscovering life without teenagers in the house, with her partner, Cameron.

Rev. Mauricio Wilson, Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Raised and educated in Costa Rica, Rev. Mauricio Wilson is the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Before and during his seminary years, he served in parishes in San Jose, Costa Rica, and in Astoria and Jackson Heights, New York. He has directed youth programs, Spanish and English language Cursillo, and a hurricane relief effort. Rev. Wilson joined St. Paul's Episcopal Church in the fall of 2009 from All Saint's Church in Great Neck, New York. He received his Master of Divinity degree from General Theological Seminary in New York in 2000. He is a parent of alumni in the Classes of 2019 and 2021.

Ynez Arce

Ynez has worked for 15 years in finance and operations management roles for single and multi-family offices. Currently, Ynez is the Chief Operating Officer for a single-family office. Ynez graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Biological Anthropology. 

Ynez also serves as board Vice President for the Friends of the Oakland Public Library.

Will Cowart, Vestry Representative, St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Will Cowart has called St. Pauls' his church home for 12 years. He is a current member of the Vestry of St Paul's Church and the former Jr Warden. He and his partner James are the proud parents of Bella, class of 2024 and Michael. Will’s commitment to St.  Paul's School is reflected in his service as a room parent and bay community service. Will received his  PhD. from University of California, San Francisco, and MBA from Stanford University. He looks forward to his role as the Vestry representative.

Jordan Edelstein

Jordan Edelstein is Chief Marketing Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, a blockchain network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. His career in marketing spans more than 25 years across a wide range of companies and brands – from Yoplait yogurt to EA SPORTS, The Sims and MARVEL video games. He has overseen all aspects of marketing and communications and looks forward to bringing his expertise to the SPES Board of Trustees and community.

Jordan holds a BA in German and European Studies from Amherst College and an MBA in Marketing, Finance & Organizational Behavior from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. He and his wife live in Oakland and are the proud parents of students in the Class of ’28 and Class of ’30. 

Stacey Manley

Stacey currently serves as Vice President of communications and marketing at Medicines360, a nonprofit pharmaceutical company focused on addressing critical gaps in access to medicines for women. In this role, Stacey brings deep experience in strategic communications, brand identity, organizational development and social impact analysis to advance the company’s efforts to close critical gaps in women’s healthcare.

Stacey is passionate about harnessing communications to take on the most pressing societal challenges and has a unique background in developing strategies and communications campaigns that challenge outmoded ways of thinking about longstanding social disparities. As part of his current role, he focuses on building Medicines360’s reputational equity, drawing from his 25 years of communications work spanning national nonprofits, regional community foundations, private philanthropic organizations and multinational advertising agencies.

Before rejoining Medicines360, Stacey led marketing and communications at Hopelab, a private operating foundation within the Omidyar group. At the East Bay Community Foundation, Stacey was instrumental in developing the Foundation’s equity framework and developed its narrative supporting social justice and racial equity, which Inside Philanthropy recognized as the “Boldest Community Foundation of 2019.”

Before transitioning to the social impact sector, Stacey spent the first part of his career in advertising, working with clients like Kraft Foods, The Walt Disney Company, LinkedIn and Buena Vista Home Entertainment. He also supported a host of medical device companies and helmed the consumer launch of the Essure birth control device.

Stacey holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and earned a master’s in public administration from Baruch College, NY. Born and raised on the East Coast, he currently lives in Oakland with his wife and their two children; SPES classes of ‘27 and ‘31.

Terri O'Brien

President, Parent Association

Terri O'Brien is the Associate Chancellor and Chief of Staff at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is an advisor to the Chancellor and leads initiatives in support of UCSF’s operational and strategic priorities. Terri is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology.  

Terri earned her PhD in biochemistry from UCSF and BA in biology from Williams College. She is a Bay Area native, growing up in Fremont, CA and attending Moreau Catholic High School.  Terri enjoys running and spending time with her husband and two children in the Classes of '28 and '30.

Virginia Paik

Virginia Paik is Head of School at Live Oak School in San Francisco.  Virginia has been at Live Oak since 2001, where she has held positions such as third grade teacher, Lower School Head, and Assistant Head of School. Virginia holds a B.A. in English Literature from Pomona College and an M.A. in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. She spent most of her nine years in the classroom as a kindergarten and preschool teacher. Virginia has served on the Board at several independent schools in the Bay Area. She has recently completed a term as the Board Secretary at the California Association of Independent Schools and as the Board Chair at the California Teacher Development Collaborative. Virginia lives in San Francisco with her husband and her high school aged daughter. 

Lewis Perkins

Sustainable systems pioneer Lewis Perkins is the president of Apparel Impact Institute (Aii), the nonprofit dedicated to identifying, funding, scaling, and measuring the apparel and footwear industry’s proven environmental impact solutions. Perkins is dedicated to building programs and systems designed to activate brands, manufacturers, financiers, and innovators to do their part to decarbonize the industry.

With over two decades of expertise in sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and philanthropy, Perkins formerly served as president of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) where he founded and led the Institute’s Fashion Positive initiative. Prior to joining the C2CPII, Perkins served as director of sustainable strategies for the commercial sector of Mohawk Industries, a leading carpet manufacturer. 

Perkins has been tapped as an advisor and consultant to innovative environmental initiatives and programs such as the Earthshot Prize, Google’s Circular Economy Accelerator Program, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Fibres Initiative, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana’s Sustainable Fashion Awards, the Global Change Award at the H&M Foundation, and CFDA Sustainability Design Mentorship, among others. He has also participated on the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Consumption and lent expertise as a keynote speaker at esteemed events including Aspen Ideas: Climate, Reuters, Global Fashion Summit, Economist Impact, COP27, Vogue Forces of Fashion, and more.

Perkins holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing and strategy with a focus on social responsibility from Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington & Lee University, from which he received the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Heidi Quan

Heidi C. Quan is an attorney with nearly 25 years of experience advising clients in risk management issues and representation in lawsuits involving general litigation and employment matters.  She is a Senior Investigating Attorney conducting workplace investigations throughout California. 

After being born and raised in Oakland, Heidi sought out sunny San Diego to obtain her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice with a minor in minority relations. Thereafter, she returned to the Bay Area to obtain her law degree. Heidi has been deeply involved in local volunteer activities throughout the Bay Area and has been an active volunteer and board member for the Junior League of San Francisco. Heidi's dedication to youth education is also demonstrated through her work as a Board Trustee and Board President for the Junior Center of Art and Science in Oakland. Heidi continues to make her home in Oakland and she can be found on the weekends at the local farmers markets and rooting for her sports teams.  She also enjoys hiking, traveling, photography, and scuba diving.

Elana Roston

A native of Southern California, Elana Roston earned a B.A. in English from Yale University and an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU before returning to Los Angeles to spend a decade working as a radio and print journalist. At Santa Monica-based NPR station KCRW, she helped to launch “Which Way, L.A.?”, an award-winning program which focused on local public affairs in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King verdict riots, then expanded to include national and international news. She served as a film critic and wrote a weekly column on cultural events for the alternative newsweekly New Times Los Angeles (a sister paper to the SF Weekly) and wrote freelance articles for publications including The Los Angeles Times and Premiere Magazine. 

Since moving to the Bay Area with her husband, Scott Saul, a UC Berkeley professor, she has worked as an independent writer-editor and marveled over her son Max (St. Paul’s Class of 2022)’s development, which accelerated when he joined St. Paul’s in Fourth Grade. In her spare time, she participates in grassroots political action groups working to advance social justice and human dignity, and enjoys baking and solving crossword puzzles and other word games. 

Emily Schlesinger

VICE PRESIDENT, PARENT ASSOCIATION

Emily is an Oakland native with deep ties to the community. She is passionate about children’s health equity and advancing research for pediatric diseases, and after graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, has spent her career in the pediatric healthcare fundraising area.  Emily currently serves as the Northern California Philanthropic Advisor for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she has the privilege of working with donors to realize their philanthropic goals though current and legacy giving.  Emily loves to be a connector of friends, acquaintances, businesses, and opportunities within the Bay Area.  Emily and her husband Mike are the parents to two current St. Paul’s student (classes of ‘28 and ‘30) and one future St. Paul’s student.

Mona Shah

Mona Shah is a seasoned non-profit leader with over 20 years of leadership experience in the fields of public health, social work, youth development and community based arts and culture. 

Currently, Mona is a Program Specialist for the Alameda County Public Health Department. She is also an independent consultant supporting social justice focused non-profit organizations and foundations through her broad experience and knowledge in community engagement and partnership development, program development, project management and employment recruitment.  

Mona has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from UCLA and a Masters of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  She is a parent of a St. Paul’s student in the Class of 2024.

Nate Stevenson '06

Nate Stevenson is a St. Paul’s alum (Class of 2006) with strong connections to the community since 1997. Nate is an experienced music marketing executive, having established his career working with notable artists such as Wale, Andra Day, Dua Lipa, Chloe x Halle, Lil Nas X, and OVO Sound. An Oakland native, he has been very active in the community, serving as an Education Lead for the Vanguard Conference and a Youth Advisor for Jack and Jill of America in addition to serving as an Advocacy Committee member for the Los Angeles Chapter of The Recording Academy, and the Communications & Community Outreach Director for The Hamba Group. He received a Bachelors of Arts in Business Studies from Drew University, and a Masters degree in Music Industry Administration from California State University Northridge. He's thrilled to be back at St. Paul’s in a more integral role this year.

Rhona Taylor

Rhona Taylor is an attorney and currently works in the Title IX Office at UC Berkeley.  Prior to joining her office, she was an assistant federal public defender at the Office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of California, as well as the Western District of Michigan, where she litigated complex financial fraud, internet crimes, drug trafficking and firearm offenses, among other things.  Rhona also served as a directing attorney for the Institutions Project at Columbia Legal Services in Seattle where she represented people confined in Washington's jails, prisons, juvenile detention facilities, mental health facilities, and facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities. In addition, Rhona served as a public defender at the King County Department of Public Defense - The Defender Association Division representing people who were involuntarily committed into mental health institutions. Rhona finds it a privilege to work in the realm of  civil rights, diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Outside of her profession, Rhona enjoys curating events and experiences for family and friends, interior design, yoga, hiking, and traveling with her wonderful husband and three daughters. Rhona earned her JD from the University of Maryland School of Law and her BA in Political Science from Spelman College.  Rhona is a parent of St. Paul's students in the Class of 2027 and Class of 2030. 

Julie Tinker Ward

Julie Tinker Ward leads Equity Innovation at Hopelab, a social innovation lab and impact investor working to support the mental well-being of adolescents ages 10-25, with a focus on Black, brown and queer young people. 

As a Principal at Hopelab, Julie champions new programs working on initial fundraising to program and partner development, engaging entrepreneurs, funders, researchers, and young change-makers to create systems level change. Currently, Julie leads a translational science fellowship for HBCU researchers creating new solutions that support Black youth mental health and well being. 

Julie holds a BA in Communication and MA in Sociology from Stanford University and an MFA in Design from SVA in New York. She began her career working at The Girls Middle School in Mountain View, CA and has been in social impact design for over 15 years. A former professional athlete, Julie has made health and wellness the center of her family’s life through exercise, time outdoors, music, and dancing like nobody’s watching.

Julayne Virgil

Julayne Austin Virgil is the CEO of Girls Inc. of Alameda County – an organization headquartered in Oakland and affiliated with the national Girls Inc. network whose mission is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. She leads the 62-year old organization toward a vision of sustainability and continued impact for girls from historically under-resourced communities, while modernizing operations and building partnerships. 

Julayne has a track record of growing national organizations and scaling innovative initiatives in key roles at Education Pioneers and The Ad Council. A recipient of the 2017 Nonprofit & Community Leader Award from the Oakland Chamber of Commerce’s East Bay Women in Business, Julayne joined a 2019 delegation to Kenya to visit and learn from Kakenya Centres for Excellence, a transformative program for low-income girls in rural Kenya. 

Julayne holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. She is a parent of St. Paul's students in the Classes of '27 and '29.

Andrew F. Williams '96

Andrew Williams is a St. Paul's alum with long and deep connections to the school and its alumni network. His nephew is a 4th grader and his niece is an incoming kindergartener. He is the Executive Director of East Bay United Soccer and has extensive experience in education, youth development, non-profit management, and community engagement. In 2017 he founded the 2020 Conference, a week-long empowerment and capacity-building experience for Bay Area High School students. His life has been committed to service, both nationally and internationally, including projects in South Africa and Guam, Peace Corps service in Cape Verde and Colombia, and, more recently, as Director of Community Engagement at SF University High School. Drew served on the committee to revise the SPES Mission and Values statement and has been involved in fundraising efforts. He wants to activate alumni engagement and support Community Engaged Learning.

Akins Van Horne

Akins works as a technology executive in the health and insurance technology space - working on issues of access and administrative costs at places like ThreeFlow, Gusto, Collective Health, and Covered California/GetInsured.  

Before moving to California, Akins worked in Strategy Consulting in New York City.  

He received his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and his BA (honors) from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada.

Akins was born in Canada and now lives in Oakland with his wife and three young children.