Leadership & Trustees

Head of School

Alexandra Lockett is Head of School at Cate School, a residential high school founded in 1910 in Carpinteria, California, where she leads 310 students and 150 employees as the institution’s first female and 8th head of school. Throughout her career, Alex has championed relational approaches that support high-achieving students in cultivating wellbeing as a foundation for sustaining excellence throughout their lives.

Driven by her conviction that adolescence is life’s most transformative period, Alex approaches school leadership with infectious joy and a pioneering spirit. Her genuine interest in every community member creates an environment where students and faculty are invited to question assumptions, trust their instincts, and embrace possibility.

Alex’s educational foundation was built during her 16 years at San Francisco University High School, where she began as Health Educator and advanced to Dean of Students in her early 20s, serving in that role for 15 years. At UHS, she launched a nationally recognized mentorship program that received accolades from CAIS, the Greater Good Science Center, NAIS, and Challenge Success. She also implemented the first-ever 10+ year longitudinal student study using the Stanford Challenge Success survey.

Prior to Cate, Alex served as Head of Upper School at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, California, where she oversaw 350 students and 77 faculty members from 2019 to 2023.

A graduate of Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Mills College with an MBA focused on educational leadership, Alex has been recognized as a thought leader in student wellbeing and purposeful education. She served on the Challenge Success Advisory Council at Stanford University for eight years and as a Senior Advisor for Project Wayfinder at Stanford’s d.School. Her expertise in creating climates of care and connection has made her a sought-after speaker at conferences including TABS, CATDC, and NAIS.

Assistant Head of School | Ex-Officio (Fac.)

BA, University of California, Santa Barbara

Appointed: 1991

Sandi Pierce has served Cate School for over three decades, beginning as Controller before transitioning to her current role as Assistant Head for Finance and Operations. With prior experience as Director of Dining Services at independent schools and universities, including Cate, Thacher, and Pepperdine, Sandi brings a wealth of expertise to her work.

A creative thinker and financial strategist, Sandi is dedicated to sustainable organizational growth and the well-being of the Cate community. She is passionate about exploring new experiences, whether through travel, music, or culinary adventures.

Sandi enjoys paddleboarding, kayaking, hiking, yoga, and spending time with family and friends. Her commitment to Cate reflects her belief in the importance of supporting people to achieve long-term success and stability. She lives off campus with her husband, former Cate Math instructor Gary Pierce, and their dog Finley.

Board Chair

Adam Horowitz is CEO of the Horowitz Group, a single-family office based in Newport Beach, California. The group invests opportunistically across a variety of industries and asset classes. Adam has led founding investments in Sprouts Farmer’s Market (SFM), Lemonade Restaurant Group, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (TARS), RAM Financial Group, and most recently, Osanni Bio. He also oversees a portfolio of residential and commercial real estate across the Western US, with a focus on workforce housing in secondary and tertiary markets. The Horowitz Group also invests with a stable of alternative managers and actively looks to partner with emerging sponsors.

Adam serves on the Board of Directors of the Orangewood Foundation, which serves foster and community youth in Orange County. He earned his BA from Stanford University and his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Adam lives in Corona del Mar with his two sons. Adam serves as Chair of the Board.

Vice Chair

Marianne Sprague received her B.A. in Sociology from UCLA in 1971 and a Master’s Degree in Special Education and Teaching Credential from California State University at Los Angeles in 1974. She and her late husband, Norm, have seen six children through Cate School. She served as CPO president in ’97-’98 and again in ’08 as well as serving concurrently on the board.

She takes her seat on the Cate Board of Trustees with experience serving on numerous school boards. She chaired the boards of Crane School in Santa Barbara and Park Century School in Los Angeles. Marianne currently serves on the board of The College of Wooster, Garden Club of Santa Barbara and volunteers as a vice-chair of the Garden History and Design national committee for the Garden Club of America. She has also served on the boards of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Lotusland, and St. Matthews School in Los Angeles.

Marianne continues to be one of the School’s most committed supporters and volunteers. She co-chaired the Centennial Committee of 100 Celebration Team; she has been a Mesa Association and Parent Fund volunteer as well as a Cate 2000 Capital Campaign volunteer. In 2009, she and her husband received The Servons Award for distinguished service.

Treasurer

Nic Steele is the Executive Director of Access Community Capital Inc., a community development financial institution providing affordable capital and private equity to small businesses. Prior to its founding, Nic was the Chief Financial Officer of a private investment company after spending almost a decade as an equity derivative trader at Citigroup.

Secretary

After graduating from Cate in 1990, Sheila Marmon Heuer received a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. As founder and CEO of Mirror Digital, an award-winning media and marketing company, she helps Fortune 500 companies grow their businesses by reaching diverse audiences on digital platforms. The company’s client roster includes Amazon, General Motors, McDonald’s, Universal Pictures, Verizon and more.

Sheila has focused her career on digital innovation in media. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she held leadership positions in operations, strategy, new ventures, and finance at TimeWarner and Morgan Stanley. Sheila serves on the Board of the American Advertising Federation, chairing the Digital Committee. She also serves as the Board Chair of A Better Chance, an organization that provides underserved scholars with educational opportunities. Sheila resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, Steven Heuer.

Life Trustee

After graduating from Cate, Rick majored in history at Stanford and then served as a social worker in New York City. He joined the National Teacher Corps and taught middle school in upstate New York while earning a Master of Education. Later he earned a law degree from George Washington University, graduating magna cum laude.

Rick became a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, and, several years later, senior vice president of administration for Amfac, Inc. He returned to public service in 1991 when he was appointed chief deputy insurance commissioner for the state of California. He later served as CEO of Care West Insurance Company, until he was re-appointed chief deputy insurance commissioner in 2003. In 2007, Rick was appointed Executive Director of the California Commission for Economic Development.

Rick recently retired as chairman of the board of directors of Redwood Trust, Inc. He has served as Cate’s Alumni Council president, president of the Board (1999-2004),and chairman of the Board (2010-2012). In 2005, Cate honored him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Life Trustee

Dan Emmett was born in Los Angeles, California and received his B.A. from Stanford and J.D. from Harvard. He served as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco from 1964-1965 before becoming a Local Courts Commissioner for the Republic of Malawi, Central Africa. Upon returning to the States he joined the law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker and worked there until 1970, when he co-founded Mochtar, Karuwin and Komar, a law firm in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In 1971 he co-founded Douglas, Emmett and Company and currently is chairman of Douglas Emmett, Inc. (DEI/NYSE), a real estate company based in Santa Monica. Dan is active in a variety of environmental activities and has served on the board of numerous local environmental organizations including Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Environment Now Foundation, and Sustainable Conservation, and has been involved in environmental programs at Harvard Law School, UCLA Law School and Stanford University. Dan and his wife Rae have four children, all of whom attended Cate.

Life Trustee

While at Cate, Greg Kubicek was student body president, prefect, and captain of the track and field team. He received the Biddle Cup and graduated as a member of the Cum Laude Society. Following his time at the School, he earned a B.A. in economics from Harvard College and made his mark in the manufacturing industry and in commercial and residential real estate, frequently partnering with other Cate alumni.

He became president of Santa Fe Partners, Inc., a private investment firm. He also served as chairman of the Cascade Corporation and as a director of Cadet Manufacturing Company. Greg served as president and CEO of The Holt Group, a developer and manager of commercial and residential real estate properties. Currently he is the CEO of GHK Enterprises, Inc and Chair of the Board of Redwood Trust, a New York stock exchange real estate investment trust. Greg joined the Cate Board of Trustees in 1985, and has since chaired numerous committees and played a critical role in many campaigns. He was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2010.

Trustee

After graduating from Cate School in 1993 and Georgetown University in 1997, Calgary moved to London in 2000, where she began her career at British Vogue. She advanced through several roles, including beauty editor and wellbeing editor, ultimately serving as executive fashion director and digital project director until 2014.

While remaining a contributing editor at Vogue until 2017, Calgary wrote a weekly column for The Sunday Times Style, launched her own health and wellbeing website (calgaryavansino.com), and published her book “Keep It Real: Create a Healthy, Balanced and Delicious Life.”

In 2017, Calgary relocated to San Francisco with her family. There, she took on the role of CEO at GlamCam, a startup that pioneered social commerce in the live beauty community and marketplace.

Calgary currently serves as Co-Vice Chair and President of the E.L. Wiegand Foundation, where she guides philanthropic initiatives focused on education, medical research, and community development. She also serves as a trustee of her alma mater, Cate School. During Calgary’s years at Cate, she was a varsity soccer player, Head Prefect, a Human Development Teaching Assistant, and recipient of the Biddle Cup.

Trustee

Geoffrey, originally from New York City, graduated from Kenyon College and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He spent much of his career in Asia and was the Founding Partner of GSB Capital, a Japan-focused investment management firm based in San Francisco. Geoff is currently the CFO of Episcopal High School, a boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, where he lives with his wife Cindy. They have four children, two of whom graduated from Cate School.

Trustee

Ryan MacDonnell Bracher grew up on the peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, she runs Round Pond Estate, her family’s Napa Valley winery, vineyard and farm. Round Pond specializes in fine wine, artisan foods and experiences at the estate. Ryan manages her family business with her brother Miles, also a Cate alumni. Ryan spent ten years working and studying outside the winery at Goldman Sachs and the Hewlett Foundation before joining her family at Round Pond Estate in 2003.

In addition to graduating from Cate in 1990, her educational background includes a JD from Stanford Law School and an undergraduate degree in Political Economics from University of California, Berkeley.

Ryan lives on the Round Pond property in Rutherford with her husband, Charles Bracher, and their children Ava ’23, Adeline ’25 and Genevieve ’27.

Trustee

After graduating from Cate, Mimi spent a gap year at the University of Grenoble in the French Alps. She then majored in music and comparative religion at Harvard where she and her co-creator were the first women to compose the score for the Hasty Pudding Show. After college, she was a music tutor in Rome for two years before returning to California, where she worked for Quincy Jones in his Listen Up Foundation on an educational program that brought Los Angeles youth to South Africa. She earned an MBA from Stanford with the goal of working in international development.

Mimi and her husband Alp moved to Hong Kong where they raised two Cate Rams, Jengus ’23 and Kay ’27, and hosted numerous Cate gatherings, including the 2016 Cate Asia Summit. In 2012, Mimi founded the experimental non-profit arts initiative Spring Workshop in collaboration with community creators and organizations to offer clear ground for alternative ideas and residencies, pluralist curiosity, and improvisation, commissioning dozens of new works and publications, hosting 200 public and private events, and welcoming 196 guests to its beds and air mattresses. With Spring Workshop now on hiatus, Mimi serves on the boards of Asia Art Archive, M+ Museum, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, the Signet Society, and supports Afield’s global fellowships for socially-engaged artists. In her free time, she takes online classes from Berklee School of Music and salsa dances.

Coming back full circle to the values that Cate instills around service and nature, Mimi is pursuing a masters at Schumacher College (UK) that centers regenerative economics, permaculture, and peace activism in reshaping our ecological narratives.

Trustee

Daniel is a proud Cate graduate, Class of 1996. While at Cate, Daniel ran track and led the Cate varsity boys basketball team on a magical run deep in the CIF Playoffs. With the help of some amazing Cate students and faculty (and a special guest appearance by the late great Mrs. Coretta Scott King and her daughter Yolanda King), Daniel spearheaded the annual Mesa celebration of diversity and inclusion, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s federal holiday.

After graduation, Daniel received his B.A. from The University of Pennsylvania. While in college, Daniel helped build the cult classic basketball brand AND 1.

Daniel is currently SVP & General on the Adidas Originals, Basketball, & Partnerships team, based in Los Angeles. Prior to joining adidas, Mr. Cherry served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of DC Comics global publishing businesses and multi-media brand – a division of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Daniel is an award-winning marketing executive and brand innovator. With an extensive career in advertising, marketing, and business development, Daniel’s work has impacted popular culture for more than 20 years.

Daniel has served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Activision Blizzard Esports, where he led global marketing, strategy, & communications duties for Activision Blizzard’s portfolio of esports franchises. He was the Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer for the 3-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils. He also served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Diageo, where he managed the largest alcohol beverage portfolio in the industry. Daniel’s extensive creative and brand innovation tenure includes serving as CMO of the legendary soccer club The New York Cosmos.

His love of music led to his appointment to the GRAMMY Foundation Board for several years and eventual Founding Executive Developer of the GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center, which opened in 2010. He also actively supports several social justice and educational causes in the local community and in his hometown of Alliance, Ohio.

His work has been recognized with numerous awards and recognition including a Grammy nomination, a Cannes Gold Lion, Sports Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, an Adweek Vanguard Award, an EBONY Power 100 List nomination, and several Effie Awards for advertising effectiveness.

Most importantly, Daniel is a lucky husband to Melanie Cherry and father of two amazing daughters, Sidney and Sienna.

Trustee Emeritus

During his years at Cate, Wyatt was a varsity water-polo player, a teaching assistant in the Human Development program, co-business manager of the yearbook, and treasurer for the Student-Faculty Senate. He graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in economics and completed an M.B.A. at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

He was a partner at Arience Capital Management in New York for five years before moving to San Francisco in 2009 to launch the hedge fund Ross Creek Capital Management, of which he currently serves as president. Wyatt lives with his wife and three children. He serves as chair of the leadership council of Tipping Point Community, a Bay Area-based non-profit focused on eradicating poverty in the Bay Area through education, housing, healthcare, and employment. His mother Linda Gruber was a member of the Cate Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2002.

Trustee

Ben Goldhirsh is the chairman and co-founder of Matter Neuroscience. An entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, Goldhirsh has held leadership roles at GOOD, Upworthy, and Collaborative Fund. At Goldhirsh Foundation, Ben supports social entrepreneurs pushing the world forward across key areas of societal health. Ben graduated from Brown University and now lives in California with his family.

Trustee

Lynn Wood Harwell is an experienced leader with broad management expertise across multiple sectors. Her well-honed operations and people management skills, along with her insight and deep knowledge, help drive effective performance and positive transformation.

Lynn and her family (husband and two daughters—Cate 2024 and Cate 2028) live in San Francisco, California, after spending several years in Boston, Massachusetts. She works bicoastally in a senior leadership role at the Barr Foundation, a Boston-based organization committed to advancing human, natural, and creative potential. Lynn also serves as a Corporator and former Trustee at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Lynn earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Trustee

Athena Jones is a journalist with more than two decades of experience working in wire services and in print and broadcast media. She is a skilled writer, moderator and public speaker.

Athena began her career at Bloomberg News in Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she reported on the economy, politics and culture. As a campaign reporter for NBC and the National Journal, she covered the 2008 campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and worked as an NBC White House producer before joining CNN as a correspondent in 2011. At CNN, she covered general news and Congress and served as a White House correspondent during the first nine months of the Trump administration, after filling in for the final year of the Obama administration. She returned to NYC in 2017 and served as a national correspondent until 2024, covering a wide range of stories, including politics, the Covid pandemic, education and immigration trends and the impact of the war in Gaza on teens’ mental health.

Athena is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed twice in her 30s, and is co-directing/co-producing a feature documentary on Black women, breast cancer and health equity.

She graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in Government and has a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Trustee

Alumni Leadership Council President

John Kearney was born and raised in Ventura, Calif. After graduating from Cate in 2000, John attended Bucknell University where he played water polo. After two winters in central Pennsylvania, John transferred to Pepperdine University where he graduated in 2004 with a bachelors in business administration. John moved to Palm Desert, Calif., and worked for Pulte Homes after Pepperdine. In 2005, John moved to Laguna Beach, and began working at Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor. He successfully completed the trainee program and graduated a year early and decided to move back to his hometown of Ventura and join his dad’s team. John continues to work at Merrill Lynch as a Managing Director.

John is active in the local community sitting on boards at Casa Pacifica, Ventura County Community Foundation, and Ventura County Fair Foundation. He is excited to serve as President of Cate’s Alumni Leadership Council and looks forward to reconnecting with fellow alumni and being an ambassador for Cate. John lives in Ventura with his wife Patty, and two wonderful daughters, Aida (4), and Lamia (2).

Trustee

Kristen graduated from Yale with a degree in American Studies and from UCLA with an MBA. She has spent her career in real estate finance, first at Salomon Brothers in New York and since 1990 with Klingbeil Capital Management.

She has a deep affiliation with Cate, having arrived on the Mesa as a faculty spouse in 1990 and has lived in both Long House and on the faculty shelf. She and her husband, Karl, have four daughters, proud graduates of both the ELC and Cate – Julia ’08, Evelyn ’09, Annie ’12, and Charlotte ’22.

Kristen has served as a trustee of Crane School and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood California Central Coast.

Trustee

Patrick Ko grew up in Taipei, Taiwan, and graduated from Cate School in 1997. He went on to earn dual degrees from the University of Pennsylvania: a Bachelor of Applied Science in Systems Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He later received a Master’s in Education Leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Patrick is the founder of Paradigm Education, a social enterprise dedicated to partnering with schools to improve education across Taiwan. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he spent twelve years as an educator, most recently serving as Director of the Center for Innovative Learning at the Junyi School of Innovation in Taitung, Taiwan. His diverse teaching background includes mathematics instruction at the Fay School and leadership of the bilingual division at Taipei Fuhsing Private School, where he was Director of Curriculum and Teaching.

With a global perspective shaped by experiences as both a student and an educator, Patrick is passionate about developing people’s potential and enabling greatness. He also serves on the boards of several charitable and educational nonprofit organizations in Taiwan.

Cate’s Servons motto and its outdoor program deeply shaped Patrick’s values and interests. He has volunteered in rural communities in Taiwan, Thailand, and Nepal—where he helped fundraise and oversee the construction of a new campus for a boarding school in the Himalayas. A lifelong lover of the outdoors, Patrick especially cherishes time spent in the wilderness.

He lives in Taipei with his wife, Lesley Hu Ko, and their two daughters, Mira and Skylar.

Trustee

Casey McCann worked in the financial services industry for ten years—first as an analyst for Beacon Hill Financial in Boston and then for the Private Bank at Wells Fargo in San Francisco—before returning to Santa Barbara where he is president and owner of Hazelwood Allied Van Lines and McCann Mini Storage.

After graduating from Cate, he attended Middlebury College and the Kellogg School of Management. Casey lives in Santa Barbara with his wife, Melissa, and their three children, Charlie, Grace, and Ella.

Trustee

After graduating from Cate in 1984, Jay went on to earn his B.A. from Brown University, his M.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design, and his Ph.D. from Illinois Tech. In his professional career, he has worked to bridge the arts and engineering, lecturing in sociology, design, and product development in the U.S., Italy, and Denmark. He was a founding member on the board of directors at the Institute of Play and currently serves on the board of Maker Education Initiative.

Born outside Detroit, Jay lived for significant periods of time in California, New England, and the Midwest before settling in wine country outside Portland, Oregon. He currently manages a small company that produces educational technologies – including Makey Makey – and the associated R&D laboratory.

Trustee

Originally from the Toronto area, Vineet moved to Hong Kong 27 years ago two years post-graduating Queens University with a Bachelor’s in Commerce Honours. He now calls Hong Kong home, where he and his wife have two children, one of whom attends Cate in the class of 2028.

Vineet is Chief Investment Officer at WFM Asia. In his role, Vineet invests in companies across Asia for institutional clients and family offices with a unique lens that connects India, East Asia, and South East Asia. Prior to joining WFM Asia in 2005, Vineet spent his career in private equity and management consulting in Asia and North America. Vineet enjoys tennis, skiing, mountain biking, music, and the arts. Vineet is also on the board of Asia Art Archive.

Trustee

Rosalind (Roz) received her B.A. from Dartmouth in Education and Psychology, and M.Ed. from Columbia University. Roz is a stalwart Cate School donor and volunteer and has attended dozens of Cate alumni events since graduating in 1989. She has volunteered for several years for the Cate Fund phonathon, was a panelist at the 2000 Entrepreneurship and Technology Event in Silicon Valley, served as a Class Agent from 2004-2009, participated as a member of the Technology committee, and chaired her reunion committee in 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024.

Roz is a founding member of the Cate Alumnae Network (CAN) and hosted events for the group at her home. She participated in the naming of the Early Learning Center on the Mesa. Her involvement at Cate represents a broad and deep commitment to the School. Roz has three sons who attended Cate as well as her siblings: Dan ’87, Morgan ’99, and Tyler ’01. Her father, Dan Emmett, is a Life Trustee, and mother, Rae, was an involved alumni parent. Roz lives in Pacific Palisades with her husband and four children – Frankie ‘21, Wade ‘23, Mack ‘25, and Ruby.

Trustee

Elizabeth is a graduate of Boston University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in History, and later earned her MBA from Pepperdine University, and a Master of Arts from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Her professional background includes work in non-profit management (with an emphasis in fund development) and private foundation management. She currently serves as a trustee of Lotusland in Montecito. Additionally, she has served on the boards of Flintridge Preparatory School and St. Matthew’s Parish School and several other non-profit boards in Los Angeles.

Currently, Elizabeth works as a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice. She and her husband, Tom, live in Santa Barbara. Together, they have four adult children.

Trustee

Gweneth Rehnborg is a small business owner, active volunteer, and dedicated advocate for community and sustainability. She divides her time between Southern California, Colorado, and a family farm project in Oregon, where she is focused on soil health, vineyard management, and the launch of a new wine label, Burl, in the Willamette Valley.
With a strong background in strategic thinking and logistics, Gwen has spent the past two decades navigating the complexities of school admissions, parenting, and family logistics across Los Angeles, London, and Hong Kong. During her time in Hong Kong, Gwen served on the board of Bring Me A Book, wrote a monthly column for the South China Morning Post on adolescent literacy, and founded a women’s hiking group.

Her professional experience spans a diverse range of sectors, including humanitarian relief in Africa for international NGOs, USAID, and UNICEF, as well as public relations strategy for BSMG Worldwide in both New York City and Los Angeles. She also served as Director of the Nutrilite Health Institute Center for Optimal Health in Los Angeles.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Gwen holds a BA in International Relations from Bucknell University and a Master’s in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Trustee

Bryan Schreier is a graduate of Princeton University, where he earned his degree in computer science and currently serves in the President’s Circle. Bryan began his career at Morgan Stanley in the Technology Investment Banking Group before joining Google, where he held leadership roles across sales, operations, and engineering. In 2008, Bryan joined Sequoia Capital, where he is a Partner focused on working with technology companies serving both businesses and consumers — Dropbox, Front, Listen, Qualtrics, Retool, Thumbtack, and Zūm, among others.

Bryan also manages his family’s diversified holding company, which includes hospitality businesses, investments, and real estate. He spends his spare time surfing and playing music with his family and friends.

Bryan lives in Montecito with his wife and his two daughters, both of whom currently attend Cate.

Trustee

Ted Simpson ’86 received his undergraduate degree in politics and economics from Princeton and his M.B.A. in marketing and strategy from the Kellogg School at Northwestern.

For the last 23 years, he has been working in institutional sales and client services for Dimensional Fund Advisors, a $750B investment management firm. Ted’s older brothers, Irv ’79 and Ken ’81, are also Cate alumni. His daughter, Kennedy, is Cate class of 2022 and his son, Palmer, is Andover ’23.

Ted has been a class agent for twenty years and has served as reunion chair a number of times. Ted lives in West Los Angeles with his wife Kandus and their youngest son Beckett.

Trustee

Jiwon Choi Song ’00 is the Managing Director of Axle Companies. After graduating from Cate, Jiwon studied Hospitality Management at Cornell University and spent a year abroad at Waseda University in Japan. Jiwon began her career at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, working both at its corporate headquarters and at W Hotels in New York City, before joining Axle Companies, her family office. Jiwon now leads acquisitions and asset management of the company’s hospitality properties. Beyond her professional work, she has been an active supporter of animal rights and investor of plant-based companies.

Originally from South Korea, Jiwon and her husband Steven, recently relocated to Texas from Los Angeles. They have two daughers, Josie and Elena. Josie is Cate Class of 2028. Jiwon and Steven serve on the board of the Hammer Museum, SCI-Arc, and Musical Bridges Around the World.

Chair Emerita

After graduating from Cate in 1992, Lisa went on to Colgate University, where she majored in international relations and interned at numerous international-policy think tanks.

As community relations director and marketing manager at Montgomery Securities, she was part of a branding team that carried the firm through two mergers with NationsBank and Bank of America. Lisa served as President of the Cate Alumni Council, chaired both the Education and Student Life and the Community Care and Accountability committees, and then served as Chair of the Board from 2021 to 2025.

Lisa lives in Newport Beach, but spends as much time as possible traveling and meeting up with her Cate friends along the way.

Trustee

Eric was born in Sacramento, California, and grew up in Los Angeles. He came to Cate as a sophomore in 1977 as an A Better Chance Scholar, and graduated in 1980. He went on to receive his B.A. from Dartmouth College in Spanish Literature and Mathematics, then worked for a year serving as a Spanish translator in the 1984 Olympic games, then as a paralegal at the law offices of Tuttle & Taylor and Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. In 1985, he enrolled at the University of Virginia School of Law and received his J.D. in 1988. After working as an associate with the law firms of Pettit and Martin, and then Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal, Eric served as a deputy Los Angeles County Counsel civil litigator. While there, he was also an advisor to the Board of Supervisors, Sheriffs’ Department and the Department of Public Works.

Governor Pete Wilson appointed Eric to the Inglewood Municipal Court in 1998, where he was elected to be the Presiding Judge in 2000. Eric was elevated to the Los Angeles Superior Court later that year. In 2003, he was appointed to serve as the District Supervising Judge of the Southwest District, and was reappointed to that position in 2017.

In 2004 was elected President of the California Judges Association, and in 2015 became the only judge re-elected to serve a second term in that post. In 2019, Eric was elected Assistant Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, becoming part of the court’s first African American leadership team. In 2021, Judge Taylor was elected the Court’s 71st Presiding Judge.

He now presides over one of the Court’s few Civil and Probate Long Cause trial calendars again at the Torrance Court. Eric is also a Senior Adjunct Lecturer at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles. After serving on the Cate Board previously for 15 years and as Vice President, Eric returned to the Board in 2024. In 2020, Cate honored him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Trustee

Sylvia was born and raised in Boyle Heights and was among the first class of girls at Cate. She earned the first college degree in her family, graduating from Harvard University with an A.B. in Government, and her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Sylvia is a transformational operations and legal executive with strong leadership and management experience that includes leading a state-wide regulatory agency, significant non-profit organization programs, and legal and trial teams. Sylvia is also a fearless and tenacious trial lawyer, deeply rooted in civil rights and social, racial, gender, environmental, and economic justice. For decades, she has fought for the most oppressed and underserved, litigating against the toughest odds, with a reputation as a force for justice. She has achieved exceptional results in federal, state, criminal, and civil cases and over forty federal trials. She is now the President & CEO of the Disability Rights Legal Center.

Sylvia is a staunch advocate for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and is passionate about education, community, and creating change through policy. Her commitment to service includes serving on the Oakwood School Board of Trustees and the Equal Rights Advocates Board. Sylvia lives in Los Angeles with her two daughters, Chloe and Gabby.

CPO President

Amy Wendel earned her B.A. in History and Japanese Studies from Cornell University before moving to Kyoto to study at the Stanford Japan Center. After returning to the U.S., she joined Teach for America, continuing to teach while earning a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Stanford University – a time that also included avid climbing, including an attempt on Mount Everest. Over several years in the classroom, Amy taught at schools that embraced integrated curriculum, team teaching, and performance-based assessment.

After her years in education, Amy traveled the world – a journey that ultimately led her to pursue the arts and earn an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her award-winning short films – Weightless, Covered Girls, and Bodies – aired nationally on IFC and Showtime.

Her feature directorial debut, Benavides Born – co-written with her husband, Daniel Meisel – premiered in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition, earning her both the L’Oréal Paris Women of Vision Award at Sundance and the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award at the Nantucket Film Festival.

Released by Maya Entertainment under the title All She Can, the film premiered on HBO and later launched digitally through Sundance’s Artist Services Program. Amy is currently entering production on a feature film she wrote and will direct – a story set during COVID-19.

She lives in Santa Barbara with Dan and their three sons (two of whom are off to college) and is still waiting for life to follow a script.

Faculty Advisory Trustee

PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara
MA, University of California, Santa Barbara
BA, University of California, San Diego

Appointed: 2017

Dr. Laura Moore’s passion for history stems from her upbringing in Oakland, surrounded by a community of storytellers and historians, and her time studying Irish history in Dublin. She began her teaching career at UCSB, teaching in Black Studies, Writing, and History programs while completing her doctorate in American history.

At Cate, Laura teaches U.S. History, Women and Gender History, and Advanced History Electives, with expertise in race, ethnicity, and immigration. She has received multiple accolades, including the Spittler ’63 Cup and the W. Burleigh Pattee Award in 2020.

A former collegiate basketball player at UC San Diego, Laura continues to stay active as a basketball coach, earning Frontier League Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2023. She lives in ’25 House with her husband Casey, sons Leigh and Benny, and their golden retriever, Charlie Bear.

Faculty Advisory Trustee

BA, Colby College
MA, Brown University
PhD, Brown University
Appointed: 2022

Dr. Nicole Sintetos joined the Cate community as the English Department Chair in 2022, bringing extensive experience as an educator and researcher. She began her career at Dublin School in New Hampshire, where she taught English and History courses, coached lacrosse, and spearheaded school-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.

Nicole earned her MA and PhD from Brown University, where she designed undergraduate courses in American Studies and Ethnic Studies. Her expertise spans American Literature, Labor History, Asian American Studies, Environmental History, and the History of Science. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and research grants, and is currently the co-director of a National Park Service-funded project preserving overlooked WWII Japanese internment sites.

At Cate, Nicole remains an active researcher and proud coach of the JV girls lacrosse team. She is committed to student-centered pedagogy and place-based learning, fostering curiosity and engagement both in and beyond the classroom.

Dean for Student Support | Ex-Officio (Fac.)

BA, Colby College
MALS, Wesleyan University

Appointed: 2002

In 2002, Jay joined the Cate community as a history and English teacher, coach, dorm parent, and advisor. Over the years, his roles evolved to include serving as Dean of Students (2004-2008), Assistant Head (2009-2022), and most recently, Assistant Head for Students (2022-2024). Jay Dorion began his career in education in 1993 at Cheshire Academy, where he taught history and English, coached, dorm-parented, and advised students.

During his time at Cate, Jay has taught World History to sophomores and coached boys’ and girls’ basketball. His contributions to the School have been recognized with accolades like the 2006 Yearbook Dedication and the Spittler Cup, awarded in 2008 and 2022.

Jay and his wife, Margot, raised their three children – Molly ’18, Olivia ’22, and Charlie ’26 – on the Mesa. They share their home with Stella the cat. In his free time, Jay enjoys hiking, running, playing pickup basketball, attending live music events, and reading for pleasure.

Dean of Campus Life

BA, University of California, Santa Barbara
Secondary Teaching Credential, Westmont College
MA, Independent School Leadership, Columbia University

Appointed: 2014

Erin Hansen joined Cate in 2014 and currently serves as the Dean of Campus Life. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication and Comparative Literature from UCSB, her secondary teaching credential in English from Westmont College, and her master’s degree in Independent School Leadership from Columbia University.

Before Cate, Erin spent eight years in public education as an English teacher and English Department Chair. She also served as an adjunct professor at Santa Barbara City College, where she launched the first dual-enrollment freshman transition course. In addition, Erin has delivered professional development across California for the Get Focused, Stay Focused! program.

At Cate, Erin’s work spans English, Humanities, and career planning, as well as supporting students with academic tutoring and organizational skills.

Erin lives on the Mesa with her husband, Erik, and their two boys.

Head of Advancement

BA, University of Denver

Appointed: 2011

As Cate’s Head of Advancement, Andrew works closely with the Head of School and the Board of Trustees to develop strategies that support the School’s mission. He oversees fundraising programs, including annual, capital, endowment, and planned gifts. Andrew was instrumental in the record-setting $115M For Cate & Forever Campaign and directs the Advancement Department, including major gifts, alumni and parent engagement, legacy giving, and stewardship programs.

Formerly the school’s Alumni Director, Andrew has built connections across the Cate community by organizing events worldwide. On campus, Andrew serves as an Advisor and Dorm Parent in High House.

Andrew lives in Carpinteria with his wife, Hannah. They enjoy skiing, running, and spending time at Rincon Beach with their dog, Sadie.

Assistant Head of School | Ex-Officio (Fac.)

BA, University of California, Santa Barbara

Appointed: 1991

Sandi Pierce has served Cate School for over three decades, beginning as Controller before transitioning to her current role as Assistant Head for Finance and Operations. With prior experience as Director of Dining Services at independent schools and universities, including Cate, Thacher, and Pepperdine, Sandi brings a wealth of expertise to her work.

A creative thinker and financial strategist, Sandi is dedicated to sustainable organizational growth and the well-being of the Cate community. She is passionate about exploring new experiences, whether through travel, music, or culinary adventures.

Sandi enjoys paddleboarding, kayaking, hiking, yoga, and spending time with family and friends. Her commitment to Cate reflects her belief in the importance of supporting people to achieve long-term success and stability. She lives off campus with her husband, former Cate Math instructor Gary Pierce, and their dog Finley.

Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and People Operations

BA, Whitman College
MA, University of Washington
Appointed: 2018

Elana Stone brings many years of experience in youth organizing and nonprofit program management to Cate, with a focus on education and LGBTQ+, racial, and economic equity. A graduate of Whitman College with an independently designed major in Social Power in the United States, Elana also earned an MA in Public Administration from the University of Washington, where they received the award for Outstanding Case Study for their graduate capstone project.

Elana’s lived experiences and professional background drive their commitment to creating inclusive and equitable school communities. They are passionate about social justice and enjoy bicycling, hiking, reading young adult fiction, and exploring the intersections of identities.