Governance

Golden Bridges School is independently incorporated and self-administered. The school is governed as a legal and fiscal entity by the Board of Trustees. The Steering Committee carries the responsibility for all aspects of student life including the hiring and evaluation of teachers, admissions, academic standards, and pedagogical and curriculum development. The Faculty carries the heart of the school, especially the cultural ethos, along with programming and curriculum mindful of selective collaboration with current educational trends.  The faculty strives to make the spirit of Waldorf-inspired education relevant for modern times and our present cultural situation..  The Administration is responsible for finance, development, business matters, and communication. The Parent Body is responsible for attending all-school and class meetings and participation in committee and volunteer work. 

The Board of Trustees carries the legal and fiduciary responsibility of the school. Equally, the mission of the board is to support the Steering Committee and Faculty in offering service, protection, and holding the spiritual intentionality of the school mission. The Board meets regularly to discuss long-term planning, practical matters, budget review, and overall operation in relationship to the mission of the school. The Board is composed of current parents, teachers, and friends of the school who have demonstrated an understanding of and commitment to the aims of our educational philosophy and the founding mission of Golden Bridges School.  
​

2020-2021 Board of Trustees

Jessie Elliot

Founding teacher of Golden Bridges School​ and Administrative Director

Adam Marquart

Director of Operations at Golden Bridges School. He has served on the Board of Trustees since 2018.

Vanessa Ginzton

Coming soon!

Maria Chambers

Maria came to Waldorf Education as a student in Susan Howard's kindergarten class at the Lexington Waldorf School nearly 40 years ago. Recognizing the positive impact of that experience, she became a teacher herself and has taught in a number of small independent schools. Maria holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Evergreen State College and a MS in Environmental Education from Antioch University New England. With a rural upbringing and her background in Outdoor Education & school gardens, Maria is particularly excited about the GBS farm. A professional potter who has worked and taught in studios from Vermont to Colorado, Maria now has a studio in her San Francisco home where she lives with her husband and young daughter. 

Ethan Wimert

Ethan provides Legal Council to GBS. He is a Personal Injury attorney in the East Bay and partner at Heinrich Law, P.C.
His two children attend Golden Bridges School. He has served on the Board since 2015.

Peter Rojas

Peter Rojas is a founding partner at Betaworks Ventures, a seed stage venture capital fund based in New York and San Francisco investing in the future of how we connect, create, and communicate. He is also the co-founder of several startups, including Weblogs Inc. (acquired by AOL in 2005), where he created and was editor-in-chief of both Engadget and Joystiq; Gizmodo (formerly Gawker Media, now G/O Media); music discovery service RCRD LBL; and gdgt, a social commerce platform (acquired by AOL in 2013). Prior to Betaworks Ventures he worked at AOL as VP of Strategy and Co-Director of Alpha, the company's experimental products group. He currently has two children enrolled at Golden Bridges and one future GBS student. 

Alex Estrovitz

Alex Estrovitz is an engineering Director at Salesforce.com, Inc. He has served as Board President since 2019 and is an enthusiastic supporter of Waldorf style education. 
Alex has nearly two decades of experience serving his community.  His first board membership was with Killing My Lobster, a local arts nonprofit, followed by twelve years organizing the annual Mustaches For Kids fundraiser benefiting DonorsChoose and now with GBS. He can often be found cycling around & out of the city before dawn or working on the school’s farm.  Alex lives in San Francisco with his wife and son, GBS Class of 2023. ​

Christian Gandarillas 

Christian is an Accountant at Fuseproject LLC, a top notch design company in San Francisco. He has experience in operations, logistics, and accounting and has worked in a wide range of industries. Christian attended Dominican University, where he still enjoys taking classes to further his education. He is a native San Franciscan, has two children at Golden Bridges School, and is passionate about the outdoors. 

Kate Schox

Kate Schox is a founding partner at Trucks Venture Capital. Trucks.vc is a seed-stage venture capital fund for entrepreneurs changing the future of transportation. Our investments make transportation safer, cleaner and more accessible. She is also the co-founder of Schox Philanthropy. Schox.org is a philanthropic fund inviting select startup founders to commit 1% equity and make donations to curated nonprofits.

Kate also plays an active role in her community as a volunteer yoga teacher and board member to several Bay Area non-profits. She holds an M.A.A. (Master of Applied Anthropology) from the University of Maryland, College Park, as well as a B.Ed from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Kate lives in San Francisco with her husband Jeff, their third grade son, and 16 year old dog.​

Kit Colbert

Kit is a founding parent at Golden Bridges School where his two children now attend.  While Kit's background and day job is in the tech industry, he's a strong believer in the Waldorf education philosophy of building the whole person and is excited to work with the board to continue helping the school grow and evolve its charter.

Ali Wells

Ali was born and raised in Oakland and attended a small liberal arts college in upstate New York where she got to spend a lot of time outdoors. There she discovered her passions for gardening, teaching, traveling, and learning about other cultures' way of life.  After graduating with a B.A. in Psychology and a Masters in General and Special Education she found herself moving to Oaxaca, Mexico to teach English and experience a new culture. She is currently in teacher training at Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training and joined our faculty as a grades teacher in 2019.