Hannah Carney is the Agriculture Teacher, FFA Advisor, and Department Chair at Half Moon Bay High School. Hannah has been teaching for 3 years and loves to teach students about the importance of agriculture and connecting her curriculum to the FFA Organization. She lives in Brisbane, California and grew up on the Bay Area Peninsula. Hannah attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and received her Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Dairy Science and her Master’s Degree in Agriculture Education. She is passionate about sharing her love for the agriculture industry and looks forward to continuing her role as an educator.

Jared Milhous is a 6-7th grade science teacher who is enthusiastic about the outdoors and educating his students. When not in school, he can be found fly fishing, hiking, and camping as often as possible. These hobbies clearly impact his ability to find a reliable barber, but help him to share his passion for the natural world with his students.

Kurt Murray is a middle school science teacher at Cunha Middle School in Half Moon Bay, California. He began his teaching career as a Naturalist working at different outdoor schools in the Santa Cruz mountains. While spending time with the banana slugs and redwood trees, Kurt received his teaching credential from the University of San Francisco. Kurt is in his 17th year of teaching and hopes that he will still be able to find his students hidden in the coastal fog. He lives in Half Moon Bay, California.

Dr. Emily Thomforde is the Computer Science Coordinator at the California Department of Education. She previously served as the Maker Education and Computer Science Coordinator at the San Mateo County Office of Education. She advocates for equity in K-12 Computer Science and supports teachers and districts in building rigorous pathways to deliver the California K-12 CS Standards. Emily is a BAFTA-winning video game developer, and has eight years of experience teaching computer programming, software development and engineering at libraries, prisons, museums, and public schools locally and abroad. Her curriculum development credits include Vidcode, Hopscotch, Code.org, STEM from Dance, Code Combat, and BrainPOP. Emily holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK.

Bryan Flaig is an educational consultant specializing in STEM education. He has over 15 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach and administrator in California public schools. Bryan earned a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of the Pacific, writing a thesis on sustainable maker spaces in K-5 schools. Bryan provides support for school districts to integrate computer science and engineering into core content areas. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Emily Courtney is the Senior Director of the K-Career education initiatives at SEI, a non-profit organization that builds leaders to drive sustainability solutions. Emily has a background in environmental, job skills, and entrepreneurship education. At SEI, she manages holistic school programs designed to make it easy and affordable to green school facilities while engaging students in conservation, experiential green career education, and environmental leadership. Prior to joining SEI, Emily was the Director of Green Technology Education at Laney College in Oakland, CA. She holds an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise from Dominican University and a BA from Whitman College.

Jessica Redden is a Project Coordinator at SEI focused on supporting K-12 Energize Schools educational programming. Over the past three years Jessica has worked to develop energy, sustainability, and career technical education curriculum, facilitating teacher training institutes, and supporting in-class implementation of SEI curriculum and projects. In addition to her curriculum and instructional work at the K-12 level, Jessica has worked in the higher education space leading pre-service teacher trainings aimed at preparing teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach about energy systems and climate change. Jessica received her B.S. in Environmental Sciences from UC Berkeley and continues to live in the Bay Area.

Lauren Azzola is a Project Coordinator at SEI focused on supporting green workforce development and K-12 sustainability education. At SEI, Lauren works on the K-12 team to develop curriculum, lead teacher workshops, and support educators to implement sustainability and career technical education. Outside of her work on K-12 programs, she leads fundraising initiatives and manages team deliverables across a variety of energy and environmental projects. Lauren received her B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Northeastern University.

Tina is a CTE Teacher/Department Lead at Cesar Chavez Middles school in the Ravenswood School District. She teaches Engineering Architecture, Robotics, MakerSpace, Graphic Design, Manufacturing, and CSI. Tina has a BA in Information Technology, Labor Studies, and an MA in Instructional Technology and Education Leadership.

In my work as a STEM Coordinator over the past eight years I’ve been able to combine my backgrounds in engineering and environmental studies with a passion for science, making and design. Some of the themes that have been present in all of my careers are designing with children in mind, inquiry and exploration, believing in children’s ability to solve problems and create solutions.

Suba is a STEM Elective Teacher and Educational Technology Coach at Kennedy Middle School in Redwood City School District. For the past 25 years, Suba has been teaching and assisting students and faculty of diverse backgrounds and levels through various academic support STEM programs in the California K-12 and Community College environments. Suba holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology,Chennai, a Master’s Degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from University of California, Irvine and a California Career Technical Educator Credential. She is passionate about creating opportunities for bringing STEM Education to ALL students.

Sarah is a K12 Strong Workforce Pathway and STEM Coordinator at the San Mateo County Office of Education. During her 12 years in education, she has taught science, engineering design, health, and various electives to 2nd-8th grade students throughout Northern California. She also has coached teachers and led curriculum development and adoption processes as a district level STEM Teacher on Special Assignment prior to joining the County Office team.

Doron is the CTE and STEM Coordinator at the San Mateo County Office of Education. During his career in education, he has held various positions as a classroom instructor and school-, district-, and county-level administrator for school districts in Florida, New York, California, and Barcelona, Spain. He was awarded his MS.Ed. in School and District Administration from the College of New Rochelle, and his Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership from St. John’s University. He provides leadership at the local, regional, and state levels within the science, engineering, health, and career technical education communities, with a focus on the integration of career education with K–12 California content area standards and frameworks. He lives in Alameda, California.

He is also the author and manager of this K12 Strong Workforce Program grant.

Chris Link, PhD is the Director of Education for the Global STEM Alliance, the New York Academy of Science's initiative to advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education worldwide. Chris has an extensive background in curriculum development and professional development for educators. Prior to joining the Academy he developed STEM curriculum and professional development for schools in New York City and Redwood City, California and spent 8 years as a classroom teacher. Chris completed his PhD in Education at the University of Missouri-Saint Louis and holds a Master of Science in Biology and a Graduate Certificate in Science Education from Washington University in St. Louis.

Doron is the CTE and STEM Coordinator at the San Mateo County Office of Education. During his career in education, he has held various positions as a classroom instructor and school-, district-, and county-level administrator for school districts in Florida, New York, California, and Barcelona, Spain. He was awarded his MS.Ed. in School and District Administration from the College of New Rochelle, and his Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership from St. John’s University. He provides leadership at the local, regional, and state levels within the science, engineering, health, and career technical education communities, with a focus on the integration of career education with K–12 California content area standards and frameworks. He lives in Alameda, California.

He is also the author and manager of this K12 Strong Workforce Program grant.

Rosanna Ayers directs the Youth Design Challenge and the development of resources and programs to support educator interactions with the Institute. Before joining the Institute Rosanna served as the region lead for science education in six counties in her position as a county science coordinator. As a science coordinator, Rosanna supported the implementation of Next Generation Science Standards in 20 school districts. She has nearly 20 years of experience as a classroom educator, a college instructor and a county office administrator for science. Rosanna holds a K-8 Teaching Credential along with a supplemental authorization for Business in secondary education. Rosanna has a bachelor’s in International Business, a Masters in Educational Leadership and School Development and an Administrative Credential for K-12 education.

Doron is the CTE and STEM Coordinator at the San Mateo County Office of Education. During his career in education, he has held various positions as a classroom instructor and school-, district-, and county-level administrator for school districts in Florida, New York, California, and Barcelona, Spain. He was awarded his MS.Ed. in School and District Administration from the College of New Rochelle, and his Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership from St. John’s University. He provides leadership at the local, regional, and state levels within the science, engineering, health, and career technical education communities, with a focus on the integration of career education with K–12 California content area standards and frameworks. He lives in Alameda, California.

He is also the author and manager of this K12 Strong Workforce Program grant.