Board of Directors
KAREN ALARY was born in the Bay Area and has lived most of her life in Healdsburg and Windsor. Her son is a student at THS. Karen is a Human Resources consultant with over 15 years of experience working in companies ranging from small, locally owned businesses to publicly held, national corporations. Karen has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from St. Mary's College of California, and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources certification from the Human Resources Institute. In her consulting practice Karen supports small to midsized businesses in the North Bay with their human resources needs. In addition to serving on the THS Board, Karen's work in professional organizations includes serving on the Board of PASCO HR, a Sonoma County-based organization supporting the human resources profession, and the Leadership Council of Sonoma Humane Society.
JIM HEADLEY grew up in Marin county, where he graduated from Redwood High School and continued his education at St. Mary's college. His studies at St. Mary's consisted of Business Administration. Jim started his career in the family business at Yardbirds where he worked his way through the company, ending his career in 2006 as a General Store Manager overseeing thousands of employees in over eleven stores throughout the bay area. Jim and his wife Bonnie have two sons who attend THS. Currently Jim owns his own vineyard management company where he uses his strong and effective work ethic to maintain over fifty acres of grapes and counting. Jim and Bonnie live in Sebastopol with their four children.
JAN HOLTERMANN was born in San José, Costa Rica and moved to Healdsburg with his family in August 2011. He has a business degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Georgetown University. He joined his family's wine importing company in 1990 and has since worked in this field. In 2008 he relocated to St. Helena where he completed the wine certificate program at the Rudd Wine Center of the CIA. He has been involved in a number of entrepreneurial ventures and currently serves as board member in two of them. In the convervation field in his home country, he served as advisor with the Organization of Tropical Studies and as director in the Osa Peninsula Campaign. Jan actively played tennis in the juniors and college and he served as team captain for Costa Rica's Davis Cup team. He and his wife Silvia have two daughters, both currently attending THS.
MELISSA IMHAUS is a THS parent and owns a boutique Investment Advisory Firm that she founded after leaving her position as VP and Financial Advisor at Charles Schwab & Co. Originally from Marin County, Melissa attended private schools throughout her education. She received her undergraduate degree in Finance Investment Analysis from USC's Dean School of Business and post graduate certifications from Dominican and the College of Financial Planning. Melissa has served on various boards, most recently the Windsor Unified School District's Bond Oversight Committee. Her children will be in second and third grades in the fall of 2010. She and her family moved to Sonoma County in 2003 and they currently live in Windsor.
BETTINA KOCHINKE was born in Germany and moved to California in 1987. She has a Master’s Degree in optics from the Optical College in Frankfurt Germany. She was responsible for establishing the U.S. distribution for an Austrian eyeglass designer. Her responsibilities ranged from U.S. director of sales and marketing to the management of their international exhibitions. After the 1997 merger with a larger competitor, she became the CEO of Uniopt USA. She retired from that position in 2006. Bettina and her family travel extensively, and she and her husband are actively running a family foundation with a focus on children and education. The foundation supports charitable causes in Sonoma County and abroad. Bettina lives with her husband in the Windsor area. Her two children were part of the 2008 inaugural graduating class at THS. Bettina also has a stepson who currently attends THS.
CAROL LEXA is a life-long Northern Californian and a 30-year resident of the Wine Country. Her circuitous twenties led her from Theater Arts at Santa Clara University to a BA degree in Studio Arts from San Jose State University. After emerging from the Santa Cruz Mountains after the late 70s, breaking ground as a woman in the wine industry in the 80s, raising children while exporting to Japanese clients in the 90s, Carol dove into real estate, joining a Healdsburg based boutique brokerage specializing in vineyard and winery properties. Surviving a series of office mergers, Carol continues to balance management and representation of Buyers and Sellers of residential, vineyard, land, and winery properties.
Carol and her husband enjoyed raising two children in Healdsburg, sending them to a combination of public schools and Sonoma Country Day School, Ursuline and Cardinal Newman High Schools. Her daughter is a post-doctoral research fellow at UCSF and her son is a fifth-year student at Portland State University.
JONATHAN MARVIN has been working his way north all his life. Born in San Francisco and raised in Marin, he took a short detour eastward, first for college at Berkeley, then to New York and Israel, before returning westward to Boalt Hall in Berkeley for Law School and eventually making his way back to his northward track which has now brought him to Windsor. After practicing law for 15 years in San Francisco and Emeryville, Jon's love of electronic gadgetry and visual imagery compelled him to find a more creative way to use his legal education and experience. He is currently a trial presentation consultant, assisting lawyers with presenting evidence effectively and efficiently in Court during trials and other legal proceedings. Jon and his wife Carrie have a son who just finished Kindergarten at THS (2010-2011) and is avidly looking forward to his promotion to first grade.
DEBRA MATHY is owner of Dutcher Crossing Winery in Dry Creek Valley. An educator by training, Debra has always loved wine. In addition to completing wine and viticulture courses at U. C. Davis, Debra Mathy graduated with a B.A. in Education from the University of Arizona and a Masters degree in Nutrition from Colorado State University. She is also an athlete, owning a unicycle, eight bicycles and the magnificent 1900s high wheeler. A bicycle is her first choice of transportation, and she often bikes the vineyards. Her golden lab, Dutchess, is her tail-wagging sidekick, winery dog and official greeter.
REBECCA SALTZMAN MILLER a native New Yorker, started her career in the retail industry. As a 15 year executive in retail business systems at Federated Department Stores, Rebecca successfully managed major development, merger and implementation projects across the country. As President/CEO of Children Of The World (COTW), she formed alliances, funding, and program alternatives that transformed harmful institutions to best practice models of care for vulnerable, orphaned and abandoned children. Rebecca managed fund raising initiatives, royal/celebrity tours and diplomatic appearances to raise funds and awareness for the children she served. Since leaving COTW to raise her own family she has consulted with and served on local and national boards and advisory groups. She is an experienced non-profit professional and the recipient of the Rockefeller Foundation's "Next Generation Leadership" Fellowship Award. After living/working in New York, Atlanta, Bucharest, Salt Lake City, Belgrade, San Diego, Seattle and Los Angeles, Rebecca was thrilled to join her husband Joel as he accepted a position at Jackson Family Wines as Chief People Officer, They relocated to north Santa Rosa in August 2010 and immediatly enrolled their two daughters into 1st and 4th grade at The Healdsburg School.
SANDI PASSALACQUA brings more than 40 years of experience in education to The Healdsburg School. Spanning her career, Ms. Passalacqua has been a teacher in public, private and parochial educational institutions. In addition to teaching, Ms. Passalacqua has held numerous positions within education, some of which include tutor, consultant, and principal. She worked in Special Education, and designed and implemented ESL and Title I programs, as well as foreign language curriculums. She has traveled extensively and sought to create unique travel opportunities for her own students. She holds a Masters of Education, and is an accomplished painter and pianist. She is married to Tom Passalacqua and has three children and eight grandchildren.
Prior to moving to Sonoma County in 2002, CINDY PHILLIPS worked as a Case Management RN for over a decade at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, a large non-profit hospital and healthcare group in Milwaukee, WI. As a hospital-based RN Case Manager, Cindy worked closely with all members of a patient's healthcare team to coordinate care on complicated cases. She is a graduate of both the University of Wisconsin and Cardinal Stritch University and holds a certificate in Ethical Issues of Case Management. Cindy was on the Board of Trustees at Brush Creek Nursery School for four years and has worked as a volunteer for The Arthritis Foundation, United Way and the Volunteer Center of greater Milwaukee. At The Healdsburg School, Cindy is the secretary of the Strategic Planning Committee, co-room parent for the 2nd grade class, a volunteer for the 2012 Bravissmo fundraising event as well as co-chair for Bravissimo 2011. Cindy is married to Jerry Phillips. They have two children at The Healdsburg School.
DENNIS STEAD was born and raised in the Catskill Mountains of New York. After serving in the Marine Corps for four years, he returned to New York where he owned and operated four businesses prior to his 28th birthday. He then joined a multibillion dollar retail company where he started as store manager and ultimately became the Merchandise Vice President of 1,200 stores. After many years in the corporate world, Dennis decided to use his inherit engineering abilities and began his own Contract Manufacturing Company. Some of the companies he did business with were IBM, Data General, Mack Truck and Carrier Corporation. After twenty-two years, Dennis sold his business and moved to Healdsburg with his wife Barbara, to be closer to his children and grandchildren. Along with a love of business, Dennis also has a strong sense of community which is why he founded a Little League team in the small town he grew up in, served twenty-five years as a volunteer in his local fire department and rescue squad, was a board member for his church, was a Scout Master for five years, and sat on the board of his local Parks and Recreation Commission for seven years. Dennis spends time these days growing Syrah grapes, traveling and he is an active member of the Healdsburg Kiwanis Club.
KAREN TYNAN was born and raised in the south and came to Healdsburg thirteen years ago. She is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Class of 1987. She sailed in the merchant marine for Chevron Shipping Company for nine years, achieving professional success and sailing as a Chief Officer aboard U.S. flagged tankers. She left the merchant marine to pursue family life in Sonoma County. She is a cum laude graduate of Empire College School of Law and practices in the area of occupational safety and health law and advising employers. She has been a parent organization president, school board member, has chaired fundraising events in Healdsburg, and has enjoyed partnering and working with Sandi Passalacqua for the last five years. Karen and her husband Dan have three children.
JANE WEIL grew up in the Chicago area and moved to California in 1981. After receiving her BA from the University of Michigan she began a pottery business in which she taught, marketed and exhibited her work in juried shows, galleries, museums and the White House. Jane received her MSW from the University of California Berkeley in 1985 and became the Mental Health Services Coordinator at the medical clinic in Gualala, CA. She was the counselor for the Point Arena High School's dropout prevention program and later served on the district's school board. Jane is a trained mediator who currently works primarily with at-risk adolescents using restorative processes through several community-based mediation services. She serves on the Board of Directors of Recourse Mediation Services. Additionally, she has worked on various school committees, fundraisers and Boards, as well as providing parent classroom and team support. Jane and her husband, Tom Bertolli, have three young adult children and first hand experience with many Sonoma County Schools.
