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board of trustees

& advisors

Board Members

Ca

Carri Abrahms (Secretary) - Carri is a licensed, ASHA-certified Speech-Language Pathologist who brings a breadth of experience in communication disorders and the arts.  A professional dancer and singer, she has shared her passion for music with Marin County children as a private voice teacher and musical director for organizations such as Marin School of the Arts, Marin Academy, Stapleton, and YES Productions.  She continues to perform with San Francisco Choral Artists and Those Darn Accordions and is currently exploring ways to integrate music and literacy.  Carri lives in San Rafael with her violinist husband and daughter, a dyslexic learner.

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Vickie Barret - Vickie is a writer who specializes in creative non-fiction and memoir works. For over a decade, she was a business journalist at Forbes Magazine. She chaired the Bay Area Discovery Museum board several years, and ran a successful capital campaign that funded new award-winning exhibition spaces. She also served on the board of Town School, where she chaired the development committee, and currently is on the board of Service Corp, a mother-son volunteer organization in San Francisco. Her middle son joined North Bridge in his third-grade year and stayed through sixth. He went on to start the student neurodiversity group at Town School; Vickie created a parent group at the same time – thanks to the learning and advocacy emphasis at North Bridge.

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Jean Covington (Vice-President)  Jean is currently on sabbatical after a 19-year career as a Public Defender in Contra Costa County. She earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco and has dedicated her career to addressing social, economic, and racial disparities within the criminal justice system. As the proud parent of a second-year Narwhal, Jean is particularly passionate about North Bridge Academy’s mission to serve as a model and resource for teaching dyslexic learners throughout the Bay Area and is committed to increasing the school’s accessibility.

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Kristen Chaudhry - Kristen joined the NBA board in 2024, bringing over a decade of experience as a grade school teacher in both private and public schools across Barcelona, New York, Dallas, and Chicago. She also spent time in India, volunteering with a non-profit focused on educating and housing street children. In Marin, Kristen served on the auxiliary board of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and as PTA president at Park School, where she led board meetings and committees. She has held various volunteer roles at Marin Country Day School, including serving on the Annual Fund Committee and as an Admission Tour Guide.  For the past two years, Kristen has volunteered at NBA as a room parent. She lives in Mill Valley with her husband and three children, including her youngest daughter, Emma, a 4th grader at NBA. Kristen is enthusiastic about deepening her involvement with the NBA community.

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Jessica Nenner - Jessica is a licensed clinical social worker, with over 20 years working in schools. Jessica has taught SEL (social-emotional learning) classes, worked individually with students, and provided support and guidance to teachers and parents in both independent and public elementary and middle schools. Currently, she is the Lower School Counselor at Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco. 

  

​Matt Kropp  (Treasurer) – Matthew brings twenty years of business experience to his position as Treasurer.  Currently, he is a partner at Boston Consulting Group, advising for-profit and not-for-profit businesses on strategic planning and technology.  In addition to his business acumen, his background in computer programming and content delivery will guide the technology integration planning process.  In addition to his professional skills, Matt is the father of a dyslexic son. 

 

Jan McDougal - Jan is a strategy consultant and entrepreneur who worked in industries from financial services to consumer goods before she discovered her passion in education. She holds a BS in Business Administration from Georgetown University, an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and an MA in Teaching from the University of San Francisco. She is a credentialed secondary school math teacher who taught at Bayside MLK School in Marin City. She has consulted with the Boston Consulting Group to large K-12 districts and worked as an independent consultant to smaller education clients including the Urban School of San Francisco, San Francisco Friends School and Horizon Community School in Marin City.
 

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Karen Rosenquist (President) - Prior to founding North Bridge Academy in 2015, Karen was involved in board work for non-profits that provided low-income students with educational and financial support.  For the majority of her career, Karen was an executive in children’s digital and media companies including DreamWorks, Warner Brothers, and Jim Henson Productions. Karen began a career in the 1990s as a project manager for several web design start-up companies.  Karen is pursuing a Master's in Education from Johns Hopkins University.  In addition, she holds a Master's in Education from Dominican University and a degree in Art History/French from UC Santa Barbara.  She lives in San Anselmo with her husband and her high-school son, the first North Bridge Academy student.  

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Glenda Sell -  Glenda has been practicing law in the North Bay for 18 years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Hispanic Studies from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis, School of Law (King Hall), and was certified by the State Bar of California as a Family Law Specialist.

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advisors

Dr. Nancy Cushen-White - Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco, Department of Pediatrics, a teacher, and a learning disabilities specialist.  She is a Slingerland specialist who taught Slingerland methodology for three decades.

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Dr. Jenny Forman - Jenny has 20 years of clinical experience in a variety of contexts that involve psychotherapy and testing and assessments. Her background studies and experiences are in Western psychology and clinical assessment and diagnosis and Eastern psychology in the fields of transpersonal and spiritual psychology. She has worked in numerous settings, including schools, parent and child serving organizations and private practice.

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Dr. Surina Basho - Surina has expertise in cognitive neuroscience, executive function, and learning differences.  She provides one-on-one individualized educational therapy to students; training teachers and schools in how to integrate executive function into the classroom for all students, and providing educational talks to the parent community.

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