Leadership & Trustees
Leadership and Trustees
Cate is led and governed by people who know and love boarding schools, especially this one.
Many of our administrators and trustees graduated from Cate or other boarding and independent schools while others have children who have been educated here so they’ve seen the impact of a Cate education. We search far and wide for leaders who can make our great school even better and who are devoted to keeping Cate’s enduring spirit fed with new ideas.
Board of Trustees 2025-2026
Leadership
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.
Officers
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
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.
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
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.
Life Trustees & Trustee Emeriti
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 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 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.
Trustees
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
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
TrusteeBen 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
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 served as President of Cate’s Alumni Leadership Council from 2022-2026. John lives in Ventura with his wife Patty, and two wonderful daughters, Aida, and Lamia.
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
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
Jillian Muller currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Rescue Committee, the Executive Council of UCSB Arts & Lectures, and as a Trustee of the Dancing Tides Foundation.
Prior to moving to California to raise her family, Jillian served as Marketing Director for several healthcare-focused hedge funds from 1997 to 2008.
She holds a B.S. in International Business from Florida State University and an EMBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
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
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 Roundtable. 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
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.
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.
Faculty Advisory Trustees
Faculty Advisory Trustee
BA, Georgetown University
MA, Johns Hopkins SAIS
MA, Bosphorus University
Appointed: 2010
Ivan brings a wealth of global experience to Cate as Chair of the Humanities Department. A Fulbright Scholar, Ivan spent years in government, global finance, and international consulting, living in Turkey for eight years and traveling extensively in the Middle East. At Cate, he teaches Micro and Macro Economics, as well as Modern Middle East, integrating his professional expertise and global perspective into the classroom.
Recognized for his innovative teaching, Ivan is a recipient of Cate’s Centennial Award. He also leads outings to Kern as a former wilderness backcountry instructor.
Ivan attended Phillips Academy, Andover, and deeply values the boarding school experience. He lives on the Mesa with his wife, Rebekah, also a Cate faculty member, and their sons, Kiyan and Aydin.
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.
Ex Officios
Head of Advancement
BA, University of Denver
Appointed: 2011
As Cate’s Head of Advancement, Andrew partners with the Head of School and Board of Trustees to advance the School’s fundraising priorities and foster a culture of philanthropy across the Cate community. He leads the Advancement Department, overseeing annual, capital, endowment, and planned giving initiatives while providing leadership for alumni and parent engagement, advancement communications, and fundraising.
Since joining Cate in 2011, Andrew has held several advancement leadership positions, expanding the School’s philanthropic support and deepening relationships with alumni, parents, and friends throughout the Cate community. He has long served as a dorm parent and trip leader for the 11th-grade Outings Week adventure to the Sierra Nevada.
Andrew lives in Carpinteria with his wife, Hannah, who teaches history at Cate. An avid trail runner, he has completed more than sixty ultramarathons.
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.