Kirsten has served in almost every independent school role from teacher to administrator to student to parent to volunteer, and continues to synthesize her prior experience and apply it to SCDS. Kirsten spent her K-12 school years in two independent schools. She was graduated from Brown University with a dual concentration in educational studies and philosophy. She holds an MEd in early childhood and elementary education from Bank Street College of Education in New York and a permanent New York State Teacher Certification for preschool through 6th grade. Kirsten worked at her alma mater, The Chapin School, as an Assistant Kindergarten Teacher (three years) and later as a Head Kindergarten Teacher (four years). While at Chapin, she also spent two years as Director of Lower School Admissions. She is currently the Managing Director of Harvard Avenue School (a local preschool), where she has worked from July 2007-present. Kirsten has been an active SCDS parent volunteer for the past 11 years. In addition to volunteering often at the classroom level, she chaired the New Family Committee for several years and was Parent Council President for two years. Kirsten was the Board Vice President for the 2017-2018 school year, chaired the Advancement Committee for 2 years and co-Chaired the Head of School Search Committee. Kirsten's daughters are members of SCDS '19 and '21.

Ryan was born in Hawaii and raised in Bellevue. He graduated from the Bush School during the grunge era and went to Bucknell University. He is the Founder/Owner of Aedifex, Inc., a real-estate development and construction firm. Ryan was Co-Chair of the SCDS Annual Fund 2015-2016 and coaches the 5th and 8th grade girls basketball teams. He has two girls at SCDS '18 and '21. He lives in Seattle, and can be found, when not at work or SCDS, golfing, skiing, or attempting to keep up with his wife and girls.

Sarah Leung '90 is an alumna of SCDS, a current parent of two SCDS students, '26 and '21, and is in her fifth year as a Trustee of SCDS, formerly serving as Board Vice President. She chairs the Board Trusteeship Committee, and served on the Board Strategic Planning Update Committee and Head of School Search Committee. She is also a member of the SCDS Alumni Council. Previously, Sarah served for eight years on the Board of Directors of the Denise Louie Education Center, a multicultural early learning and family support organization for low-income families. She is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Big Fish Games, Inc., and received her JD from Duke University School of Law in 2001 and her BA in American Studies from Williams College in 1998.

Ramona is an attorney with extensive experience in business litigation and antitrust law. She practiced at Preston Gates & Ellis and its successor K&L Gates for 25 years, which included service as its Seattle Office Managing Partner and Hiring Committee Chair. Ramona currently teaches antitrust and intellectual property at the University of Washington School of Law. She has served in leadership roles in the antitrust section of the Washington State Bar Association and also has been active in the American Bar Association. She previously served on the Board of Trustees and as Board Chair of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Alaska and Washington. She is a graduate of Seattle’s Leadership Tomorrow program. Ramona and her husband Brian McMullen co-chaired the Seattle Country Day School Annual Fund Campaign in 2010-11, and they have two children, both of whom are recent graduates of SCDS. Ramona joined the SCDS Board in 2011 and served as its President from July 2016-18.

Kristina joined the SCDS board in 2013. She currently serves on the Diversity and Finance Committees. Kristina also serves on the board of Rainier Scholars, an educational non-profit in the Seattle area which opens doors to education for hard-working, disadvantaged children of color, providing a pathway to college graduation and creating future community leaders. In 2019, Kristina joined the board of Semester at Sea, a multi-country study abroad program for college students.  Kristina previously worked for twelve years at the Microsoft Corporation. Her last position there was Director of College and MBA Recruiting which also included responsibility for Microsoft’s scholarship program, aimed at encouraging underrepresented minorities and young women to pursue studies in Computer Science. Raised in Puyallup, Kristina graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Biology. In her spare time she enjoys golf and traveling. She resides in Yarrow Point with her husband, Joe, and three children who all attended SCDS.

Brent is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Steelhead Partners, LLC, an investment adviser and private fund manager. Prior to joining Steelhead, he was a director in the legal department of BlackRock, Inc. (formerly Quellos Group LLC), where he started as an associate general counsel in 2004. He began his legal career at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, where he focused on securities and investment adviser regulatory advice, private placements, and corporate legal matters. Brent graduated from the University of Puget Sound and received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. For SCDS, he co-chaired the Crazy Carnival in 2017 and 2018. He lives in the Eastlake neighborhood in Seattle with his wife Tara and their daughter Hadley '22. 

A native of Seattle, Washington and current resident of Queen Anne, John majored in business at Pepperdine University before obtaining a law degree from Fordham University and a Master’s in Tax Law (an LL.M.) from New York University. After clerking for a judge and working in the private sector at a Seattle law firm, he joined the in-house legal department at Seattle Public Schools in 1997. In his role as Deputy General Counsel, he is responsible for advising the School Board, superintendent, and administrative staff on a range of educational and administrative issues, including budget, curriculum adoption, department reviews, employment matters, student discipline, facilities and operations, contracts, and litigation management. He has also been elected to other non-profit boards, most recently the Network for Excellence in Washington School Board, the group that coordinated the landmark lawsuit against the State of Washington for underfunding public education. John is the parent of a SCDS graduate (Andrew ’17) and served as the chair and co-chair of the SCDS Adopt-A-Street Committee for three years. 

Janet Frink graduated from Colgate University with degrees in political science and sociology. Janet spent 15 years in the field of marketing. She began at a New York law firm then spent five years with a national public relations firm in Los Angeles marketing consumer products from fashion to packaged food to automobiles. She transitioned to technical marketing joining Microsoft in Seattle in 1994, leading the MSN marketing team prior to her departure. Janet has been an active community and school volunteer over the years. She has chaired benefit auctions for the Seattle Aquarium and her children’s former school. She has been on multiple non-profit boards and was responsible for fundraising, design, and community education for the renovation of the Madison Park Playground. Janet joined the SCDS community in 2010 when her oldest child '15 joined in the 4^th grade. The family moved the other three children, '17 and twins '21, shortly thereafter. Janet joined the SCDS Board in 2012. With four children having experienced all grades of SCDS, Janet has a great perspective into the wide variety of issues facing the SCDS community.

Catherine Burns Humbert ’91 is an alumna of SCDS and Lakeside School. She received a BA in Economics from Pomona College. While studying abroad in Strasbourg, France, she attended the Institut d’Etudes Politiques and met her husband Olivier. They are the parents of two SCDS students, ‘22 and ‘26.  Together Catherine and Olivier chaired the SCDS Annual Fund in 2018-2019. Catherine has been a longtime member of the Investment Committee for the Seattle / King County YWCA and several Advisory Boards for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Catherine is Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor at United Capital, A Goldman Sachs Company. She holds the designations of Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner. 

Bharathi Jagadeesh is a neuroscientist by training. She completed her undergraduate education at Caltech, earning a BS in biology, and then went on to complete a PhD in neuroscience at Northwestern University, where her research topic was the neural basis of visual processing. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the NIMH, in Bethesda, Maryland, she headed her own laboratory at the University of Washington, studying the brain circuits that underlie visual decision making and memory. Since leaving the university, Bharathi has served on the Seattle Public Schools Textbook Advisory Committee, and for SCDS on the last Strategic Planning Initiative and on the advisory group for the Endowment Feasibility Study. She has managed Destination Imagination teams and led Girl Scouts for her children. Recently she has developed an interest in what our growing knowledge of the brain can tell us about how we learn and how this research can enhance education. Bharathi has been part of the SCDS community since her first child entered SCDS in kindergarten; she currently has one child at SCDS '18 as well as a child in high school '19. Bharathi's own educational horizons were expanded by attending high school at an independent school, Columbus School for Girls, in Columbus, Ohio.

Sandra received her BA in American History from Columbia University and a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University. She’s also served for nine years as Chief Strategy Officer of MDLinx, a DC-based Internet healthcare company that was acquired in 2006 by M3 USA, a publicly traded eHealthcare company. Over the past ten years, Sandra has focused on raising her children and volunteering at their schools. She chaired three benefit auctions and volunteered as PTA Vice President at her children’s schools in Boston. She also served as the Parent Council president at SCDS for two years. She lives in Queen Anne with her husband Patrick and their three children '18, '20, and '24, all who attend SCDS.

Michael is a Seattle native but grew up in Tacoma. He spent 14 years at Charles Wright Academy (preschool through 12^th grade) and has been a donor for almost 30 years. Michael graduated from Williams College (Williams has the oldest alumni association in the world, and Michael has been donating to Williams for almost 25 years) in 1993 with a degree in philosophy. Michael graduated from UVA law school in 1996 and also holds an LLM in taxation from the University of Washington, where he met his wife, Karri. He worked for a couple of years at Arthur Andersen in Seattle; then at Graham & Dunn; followed by Ryan, Swanson & Cleveland where he practiced a mix of tax and business law. In January 2005, Michael joined Philips and has been working with them in Bothell ever since.

Michael and Karri’s son Ethan '19 started at SCDS in kindergarten as did their daughter Willa '21. Michael coached Ethan’s soccer team from K-2nd and Willa’s from 1st-5th (so far). Michael has also coached the Ultimate team in grades 3 and 4 for Ethan and 3 and 4 for Willa, as well as a couple of SCDS Spring Jam teams. Michael and Karri served as Annual Fund Chairs (2016-17), setting records for both dollars raised as well as participation. Michael previously served on the Leadership Council for the Annual Fund and helped start and run the SCDS Book Swap. He and Karri are also devoted auction attendees—never having missed one!

Brenda has worked in independent middle schools across the country. In Philadelphia, Brenda worked with Breakthrough Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on helping low-income students move from middle school through college, which was housed at local independent school Germantown Friends School. Brenda then taught middle school Spanish and worked on diversity initiatives at The Baldwin School, an all-girls PreK-12 independent school, and The Shipley School, a coed PreK-12 independent school. After completing a graduate school program focused on private school leadership at Teachers College Columbia University, Brenda moved to Austin, Texas to become the Middle School Head at Trinity Episcopal School of Austin, a K-8 independent school. An opportunity to be the Middle School Head at The Overlake School, a grades 5-12 coed independent school in Redmond, brought Brenda to the Puget Sound. She is excited to now be the third Head of School at Seattle Girls’ School. Brenda is a passionate educator who believes that students learn best when they are known, accepted, and challenged to grow through engaging and authentic learning experiences.

Ed Petersen, an alumnus ’85, is a parent of two current SCDS students, ’21 and ’22. He is the co-founder and CEO of Wrench, Inc. and is a classic serial entrepreneur, having founded multiple companies. Both he and his wife Jennifer have been involved with the school in a variety of capacities, including the Parent Council, chairing the Annual Fund, and chairing the school’s Crazy Carnival. Ed also has served on the Board of Trustees for Whittier College and currently he and Jennifer sponsor a scholarship that funds undergrad students over the summer months, allowing them to participate in unpaid internships in international studies. Ed graduated from Whittier College, with degrees in Business Administration and History.

Danna Redmond is the Co-Founder of HeyThrivy. She also founded the podcast, The Career Cue. Danna also spent seventeen years at Microsoft with a career spanning a variety of leadership roles in Online Advertising, Customer Services and Support, Information Technology and Human Resources. Danna is mom to SCDS student, Cole '20. She has been active in the SCDS community as a parent grade representative, member of the leadership council for the Annual Fund, chair for the Book Swap, a volunteer on auction committees, and has coached an FLL (First Lego League) team for two years. She also chaired the 2017 SCDS “A World of Pure Imagination” Auction. Danna’s non-profit involvement includes serving as board chair and board secretary for Home Step, now part of Compass Housing, and serving on a Children’s Hospital guild. Danna currently serves on the national alumnae connections team for Chi Omega sorority, and is an advisor to the collegiate chapter at University of Washington, where she previously served on the advisory training team. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Utah State University and an MBA from Seattle University.

Tsering Yuthok Short received her BA in English literature from the University of Washington, and a JD and Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Willamette University College of Law. For over 20 years, she has been a practicing attorney, as well as a women's lacrosse referee for NCAA/college and high school games. She is also actively involved in school and community issues, including PTSA and her children's Tibetan Language and Culture Class. Before children, she was a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Pierce County's Felony Division. Tsering has served on the boards of the Tibetan Association of Washington (TAW), Washington Women's Lacrosse Officials Association (WWLOA), and within organizations such as the Mercer Island Food Revolution, Scouts BSA, and a Scouts for Equality Pack of Cub Scouts. Additionally, she enjoys assisting individuals within the Tibetan community and nonprofit organizations with pro bono legal services. She currently serves on the WWLOA board as Chair. Tsering and her husband Floyd, also an attorney, have one child in the Class of 2022 at SCDS. Their two older children are proud SCDS alums.

Chris is the Founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of Acuitas Investments. Chris has also held positions at Russell Investments, Bear Stearns, Schroders, and Lehman Brothers. He is a regular contributor to CNBC and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, The New York Times, and other publications. Chris also currently serves on the board of Seattle’s New Discovery School. Chris resides in Seattle with his wife Rebecca and their four children. Their four children attend or have attended SCDS: Dylan '18, Brady '21, Matthew '22, and Caroline '24.

Zahlen '96 is an SCDS alumnus and possesses degrees from the University of Chicago in Economics, Italian Literature, and International Studies. After a brief stint in finance and healthcare consulting in Beijing, he and his siblings founded Five Ultimate, a sports apparel company serving the ultimate frisbee community. The siblings later started several other businesses in the ultimate sphere, including The All-Star Ultimate Tour (a series of matches across North America to highlight female athletes), the Seattle Cascades (a professional team playing at Memorial Stadium), and ARIA Discs (a championship-level disc company for ultimate), where Zahlen currently serves as CEO. Outside of all-day, every-day ultimate, he has served on the board of several foundations and has completed studies at THNK.org, the Amsterdam School for Creative Leadership.

Jarvis Weld graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in government and Russian. She received her MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth. She served U.S. Senator Patty Murray on her initial campaign and then in her Seattle office on foreign policy issues and constituent service. Jarvis worked in high tech marketing and product management at Microsoft and Visio. Her nonprofit involvement includes serving on the board of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, as Co-Chair of the Parent Association at Seattle Preparatory School, and in many roles at the Tilden School and SCDS including Parent Council and the Auction. She is the mother of two SCDS graduates, '15 and '17, and a current student '22.

For seven years, Ms. Zaidberg served as Head of School at Rockland Country Day School, a Pre-K-12 school in the Hudson Valley of New York. Some of her many accomplishments included the launch of a gifted and talented program; the introduction of project-based learning; completion of a curriculum alignment process; and the construction of a campus STEAM Lab. Prior to Rockland Country Day, Ms. Zaidberg was the principal of two middle schools for girls in New York City. Her early career was spent leading after-school programs with a focus on educational enrichment, remediation, and social-emotional development. With 25 years in education, she began her career as an educator teaching English and History at St. Joseph High School, her alma mater, on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She received her BA in Sociology from Oberlin College and her EdM in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. Ms. Zaidberg is excited to bring her passion for program development and educating children to Seattle Country Day School.