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All trustees may be reached through the
Happy Valley
Foundation Office:
Happy Valley Foundation
P.O. Box 804
Ojai, CA 93024-0404
Phone/Fax: (805) 646-9951
E-mail: hvf@west.net |
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(Ojai, CA)
Maryann Michalski Cord is an Ojai, California born artist, writer, producer, publisher, preservationist, and business entrepreneur: Co-Founder and CEO of Cord International & Hana Ola Records recognized as the First Name in Vintage Hawaiian Music with over 50 prestigious nominations and awards for making an unparalleled contribution to the preservation of 20th century Hawaiian music and history through the acquisition, licensing, state-of-the-art digital audio restoration, extensive annotation, and re-release of lost previously out-of-print recordings by an impressive list of long-defunct record labels with her late husband and business partner Michael Cord, a 2019 Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts Lifetime Achievement Legacy Award Honoree. Her catalog of over 3500 sound recordings by over 350 artists dates to the 1920s through to contemporary and enjoys global digital download and streaming distribution, is often licensed for film, television, commercials, documentary, and other media soundtracks. Too numerous to mention all, Cord’s songs have appeared in all the above genres including the blockbuster feature film The Descendants starring George Clooney, the first mainstream American movie scored exclusively with Hawaiian music’s greatest and most essential artists. Cord is the owner of two music publishing companies, a member of BMI, ASCAP, The Recording Academy, and the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts.
Retiring from what she fondly referred to as her day job of 35 years as Finance Director for multiple luxury automobile franchises working for the late American billionaire John E. Anderson, Maryann Cord moved back to her true love: art; becoming friend, docent, teacher, event producer, financial supporter, and artist in residence for the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts & Happy Valley Cultural Center. As an artist, Maryann Cord is best known for her figurative ceramic sculptural work - expressing spirit, emotion, myth, dreams, and ancient tradition. Cord's work regularly pays homage to her beloved spirit world mentor Beatrice Wood and Wood's unique approach to the sculptural forms she called Sophisticated Primitives. A museum enthusiast and avid world traveler, art from the ancient world is a constant influence in Cord's work that resides in the permanent collection of Ojai Valley Museum History & Art, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, and in private collections around the world.
Cord believes that a collective of collaborating individuals has the capacity to do great things and to change the world, her mission in life is to nurture beauty in all forms and hopes that her work with Happy Valley Foundation now approaching its 100-year anniversary will facilitate that end.
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(Ventura, CA)
After Summer emigrated from Harare, Zimbabwe in her teenage years, she found her new home in the USA at Happy Valley School (now Besant Hill School), which she graduated from in 2007. Summer then attended The University of California, Santa Barbara graduating with a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Languages. While working as a freelance translator and interpreter, Summer decided to re-engage with her love of nature, she moved to South Africa and became a qualified Safari Guide with the Field Guide Association of Southern Africa. During her period as a guide, she participated in many philanthropic conservation projects including but not limited to Immuno-Vaccine Contraception for African Elephants, Rhino Anti-Poaching Awareness and Research, and Cape Buffalo Darting and Relocation Programs. Summer then moved back to the USA to gain more experience in both business and philanthropy. Summer worked as the Associate Director of Development and Charitable Acquisition for the LA division of Share Our Strength; a charity that’s mission is to end hunger and poverty in the U.S. and abroad. She was also a Venture Capital Associate for 5 years at The Gideon Hixon Fund, an early stage Venture Capital Fund. Summer currently resides in Ventura, California where she now works in International Business, Operations, Logistics and Sales at Revitalash Cosmetics. |
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(Underwood, WA)
Linda Hardham is a friend of Happy Valley Foundation through the newly formed Alumni and Friends Council. Over the many years she has known of Happy Valley School (now Besant Hill) through her husband John’s (class of ’66) wonderful experience there as a student of four years, she has been very interested in the school’s progress and sustainability. The visits she made to the campus have served to pique that interest. Further, Linda’s commitment to the kind of education provided by the school is fueled by her own experience in a four-year prep school where she boarded as a student and engaged in her first leadership roles. Those years were formative for her.
As a founding “friend” of the newly formed Alumni and Friends Council (AFC) of the Board, Linda is committed to help the foundation and the school thrive in a challenging fiscal environment accentuated by unprecedented pandemic-induced changes. The AFC goal is to raise funds to support its own activities in alumni outreach, and to eventually grow an endowment for student scholarships and financial aid.
Retired from a background in executive roles in healthcare followed by several years in semi-retirement as a certified executive coach, Linda has served on multiple not-for-profit boards at national, regional, state and local levels in leadership positions. The result of both her employment and volunteer experiences has been personal skill and leadership enhancement in communications, organizational development, strategic planning, coaching, fundraising and mentoring. She is excited to join the HVF Board of Trustees and commits to engaging with enthusiasm in all aspects of its governance. |
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(Ojai, CA)
Portia Johnson is a long-time faculty member and alumna of Besant Hill School of Happy Valley. After graduating from high school, Portia went on to pursue her passion for English and education. Portia graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English Literature from West Virginia University and earned an M.Ed in Educational Leadership from the University of New England. She has been a part of the faculty and administration at Besant Hill for 14 years. In this time, she has worked as an English Instructor, dorm parent, coach, advisor, department chair, and the Director of Teaching and Learning, and she now serves as the Head of School. Her proclivity for learning and growth is evidenced by her trajectory at Besant Hill School, as is her deep dedication to the school. She has worked hard to support strategic growth and forward progress that remain rooted in the traditions and philosophy of the founders of the school. Additionally, Portia serves as the Secretary on the Board of Trustees for the Ojai Art Center. She is passionate about teaching creativity and inspiring students, as well as giving back to the Ojai community. |
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(Agoura Hills, CA)
Bill is a graduate of Happy Valley School (now Besant Hill School) (1960-1963). He was in the school's Ukrainian folk dance performance group, was president of the student council, class of '63 and gave his son Jesse's Happy Valley School 2001 graduating class commencement address. After attending the University of Arizona and USC, Bill received a B.A., B.S. and a M.A. (theater arts/film), from UCLA. Bill went into motion picture production sound mixing, where he has been for the past forty-two years. He has received seven Oscar nominations for more than a hundred and twenty-five Hollywood feature films.
Bill is a strong believer in the positive, transformative impact the School’s philosophy has on students, regardless of their personal histories. He is the first alumnus to have his child graduate from Happy Valley School as well. |
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(Ojai, CA)
Tina Leslie recently retired from thirty-five plus years at Besant Hill School of Happy Valley. While at the school her primary passion was teaching English to International Students. Being in the classroom to experience the growth, creative development and enthusiasm of these students was an inspiration to Tina. She also coached tennis, volleyball and basketball, enjoyed camping trips, and served as Academic Dean and Athletic Director.
Tina received her undergraduate degree and teaching credential from California State University, Chico, her Certificate in teaching ESL from University of California, Santa Barbara, and received her Master's in Linguistics from California State University, Northridge.
Tina is active in the Ojai Valley Tennis Club, which promotes youth tennis and holds one of the largest tennis tournaments in the United States. She is one of the few people to have played the tournament (high school and college), coached a CIF team (from Happy Valley School), and now contributes to the tournament as a board member.
Throughout her years at the school, the magic and beauty of Happy Valley and its ability to transform students has always been cherished and never taken for granted. Being on the Happy Valley Foundation Board provides Tina an opportunity to continue to steward the nature and culture of this fascinating place.
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(Oakland, CA)
Sirr Less, class of 1992, has joined the board "in the hopes of making a dent in the infinite debt I owe to the vision and persistence of Happy Valley School’s generations of founders, faculty, and students." His first name rhymes with 'here'. Sirr has spent 20 years following an erratic, but fruitful, path through the world of business, technology and food. After graduating from HVS and being whispered into Cornell University by John Gorsuch, he studied Film and English and graduated with a BA in both, then traveled the world before settling in San Francisco, where he spent his childhood. He joined the world of video games during the first dotcom boom. After seven years working on games for SEGA and Nokia, Sirr and his younger brother founded a documentary film company, that became a digital creative agency called Integrated Alchemy Media (IAM) that they eventually sold to Whole Foods Market in 2010. Sirr went on to become Whole Food's Global Vice President of Marketing and Communications and first chief marketing officer in Austin, Texas. He left Whole Foods, and after 5 years and two kids in Austin returned to the Bay Area in 2015 to found a predictive analytics company, focused on independent film distribution, developing a market-sizing tool for the industry. He then returned to his filmmaking roots, at Adobe, where he is currently a Senior Product Manager of Animation and pilots a 'performance driven' animation tool that uses an actor's movement and expression to drive animated characters. Sirr now lives in Oakland, California with his wife Meghan, an entrepreneur with an art design and fabrication business, who is perpetually intrigued by and jealous of his high school experience, and his daughters Nico (age 9) and Calliope (age 7), as well as a giant dog named Inspector Clouseau. He is an avid bicyclist and traveler and a lover of the arts in all forms. He is an early stage venture investor with stakes in driverless vehicles, digital payment, natural foods and CBD beverage companies. He maintains close friendships with a number of HVS graduates. Sirr says, "I will never forget the adventures, friendships and deep connection to the arts and English language that came from my 4 years at Happy Valley, as they have sustained me through my lifetime and continue to be the engine of my personal, spiritual, growth."
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Photo by Emma Jane Richards |
(Los Angeles, CA)
Annie Saunders is a multidisciplinary creator and director of site-specific experiences, and has created award-winning multi-platform projects for major arts institutions including The Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as site-specific projects in disused spaces set for demolition and experiential campaigns for multinational brands. Her site-specific audio piece CURRENT won the Tribeca Festival's Best Immersive Creative Nonfiction, and her installation The Home received an Honorary Mention in Sound Art from Ars Electronica, a D&AD Yellow Pencil (Creative Excellence; Spatial and Installation Design) and UK APA awards for Best Experiential Project and Best Use of Technology for Good. She is a member of the inaugural ONX Studio (NEW INC/Onassis Foundation), and an alumnus of the Devised Theater Working Group at the Public Theater. Saunders is the founder and artistic director of site-specific performance company Wilderness, and her experimental project The Wreck for Opera Omaha was called ‘ingenious...a persuasive expression of complex female feeling,’ by the Wall Street Journal. |
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(Ojai, CA)
Alex Smith is currently the CEO of Happy Valley Foundation and Besant Hill School. Alex began working as the Business Manager of Happy Valley School in 2005. Under his oversight the school has undergone dramatic transformation in all facets of its operation which has enabled the school to fulfill the mission of the founders while delivering programmatic excellence. Alex has overseen a complete renovation of the physical plant which includes the building of the Arts Atelier, four "Grove" student and faculty homes, and a CIF regulation swimming pool. Alex graduated from California State University Chico with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. Alex attended the University of Redlands Salzburg, Austria campus where his love of travel and experiential learning was awakened. Prior to joining Besant Hill School of Happy Valley, Alex held several leadership positions at Kinko’s, Inc. – Corporate Office where he was responsible for many facets of Kinko’s business development. Alex is involved with many national organizations supporting the private school industry such as NAIS, NBOA, and CAIS. Alex has served on several accreditation committees for other private schools, and most recently received NBOA’s 2018 Unsung Hero Award. |
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(Orange County, CA)
Originally from Bamako, Mali, Moussa Sy is a longtime friend and a fellow alumni of Besant Hill of Happy Valley. During his time at the school, 2011-2014, he developed a great relationship with the land and the environment. After leaving the school, Moussa pursued his passion for the environment and later acquired a Master's degree in chemical engineering, emphasis in Renewable Energy Systems from Syracuse University. Currently, he is working as an Associate Underwriter/Risk engineer focusing on renewable energy systems In Insurance.
Prior to Syracuse University, Moussa also received his Bachelor's in Environmental Science with Renewable Energy emphasis at San Jose State University. During his undergraduate studies, he interned with the City of San Jose Public Works Energy Department, working on utility data for over 400 city facilities. In addition, at San Jose State University, he worked as a research assistant on solar energy irrigation for agriculture in developing countries. While attending Syracuse University, his passion for the environmental space continued while conducting research in a renewable energy lab; working closely with PhD students on developing cathodes such as calcium chromium and calcium manganese oxide. |
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(Ojai, CA)
Kevin Wallace is Director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts & Happy Valley Cultural Center, curating exhibitions of work in a wide-range of media, overseeing educational programming, and arranging performances and cultural programming. He has guest-curated exhibitions for a number of museums and art centers, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, the St. George Art Museum, the Mingei International Museum, the Oakland Museum, the Mobile Museum of Art, and the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles. He has authored and co-authored numerous books on contemporary art and craft, including River of Destiny: The Life and Work of Binh Pho, Moulthrop: A Legacy in Wood, Transforming Vision: The Wood Sculpture of William Hunter, Celebrating Nature: Craft Traditions/Contemporary Expressions, Every Exit is an Entry: The Life and Work of Liam O’Gallagher, Shadow of The Turning and Intersection: Art & Life.
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(Silverlake, CA)
Derek Woods is the VP of Gaming and Digital Experience at NCompass International, an experiential marketing agency headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. His time at HVS opened his eyes to not only academia and the arts, but the passion and dedication of education. Going on to the University of California Berkeley to study Film Studies and Existential Philosophy, Derek focused on how literature and films could explore complex philosophical ideas and conversations. Wanting to be part of that conversation Derek decided to continue on to get his masters in Film Production with an emphasis in Directing at Chapman University, bringing to life stories of his own, and leading productions crews. When graduation came, Derek moved on to working in the film industry, making music videos and eventually finding a niche by tapping into his love for technology. He began consulting for big budget films such as Star Trek Into Darkness at Bad Robot.
Inspired by how much he could help companies, and creators, Derek took on a job to build and lead a team for technology consulting in Los Angeles at Rocket Science Consulting. The clients ranged from the Film Industry to the Print Industry. Derek recruited, trained and managed a team that focused on building and supporting technology that allowed people to work easier and smarter. In 2016, one of those clients, NCompass International, a marketing agency, offered Derek a job to come and build out their own Technology Department for producing events around the world. Up for a new challenge, Derek accepted and quickly went to work building a new team, developing new products and finding new ways to use technology that excited the minds of audiences and attendees.
Producing engaging, educational, and thrilling experiences around the world for major pop culture events like Comic Con to E3, along with esports competitions throughout Europe, not only brought a world of new challenges, but exciting new opportunities to explore new mediums for telling stories and using his passion for art to connect with people.
Now living in Silverlake, CA with his wife Julie Woods, a Senior Technical Producer at NCompass, and their Bulldog Oliver, Derek still finds himself filling his spare time with the passion for literature and photography he discovered all those years ago in the hills of Ojai.
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(Pasadena, CA)
Currently the Director of Technology at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA, John has a rich and diverse background of professional experience ranging from arts administration, fundraising, finance, technology, and diversity, equity and inclusion work. Prior to working at Poly, John worked in finance and technology at Lincoln Center Theater in New York. Through the arc of his 30-year career, John has a breadth and depth of experience that spans the arts, education, and nonprofit administration.
John served on Polytechnic School's Heads Equity and Inclusion Committee, Return to Campus Steering Committee, PolySolves Learning Spaces and Materials Sub-Committee, and was a co-chair of the Technology Committee and the Equity and Inclusion Cohort. He has taught robotics, coding, human development, serves as a middle school advisor, middle school student APISA affinity group advisor, middle school DEI team member, and is a frequent outdoor education chaperone.
He also serves the broader community as a member of several board appointed committees including the Blackbaud K-12 Advisory Board and the ATLIS DEI Advisory Committee, and has also served as a member of the Rolling Hills Preparatory School board, the Scouts BSA Greater Los Angeles Areas Council Technology Committee, and has volunteered for the Partnership for Success, a private/public school partnership program serving Pasadena area students.
John holds a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design and is a master's degree candidate at the Klingenstein Center Leadership Academy at Teachers College, Columbia University. |
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(Boerne, TX)
Martha M. Doornink, M.Ed. is an educator and mother of four. She and her husband Ron were thrilled to watch as Besant Hill School provided a life-changing experience for their son, Evan, who graduated from Besant Hill School in 2012. Martha holds a BS from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a Masters in Education from Xavier University with Montessori AMS Teaching Credentials (primary). She recently returned to school, earning a post-graduate Certification in Integrative Health Coaching from Duke University. She enjoys practicing as a Health Coach in both group and one-on-one settings, relishes her service on two other non-profit boards, and is a passionate gardener. She and her husband live in Manhattan Beach and enjoy visiting their grown children in Portland OR, Olympia WA, and Chicago, while looking forward to empty-nesting in the fall of 2014 when their youngest matriculates at Reed College.
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(Santa Barbara, CA)
Jimmy is a graduate of the Happy Valley School (now called the Besant Hill School), attended Duke University, received his B.A. in Physics from Pomona College & received his PhD in Math from UC Berkeley. He taught Mathematics for 35 years at UCSB and has published over 200 articles in mathematics. Jimmy never suspected when he arrived at the Happy Valley School (now the Besant Hill School) as a boy of 15 that he would be captivated for life. He served on the HVF Board from 1960 to 1966 and from 1989 to 2017. |
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(Santa Barbara, CA)
Radha is a graduate of Happy Valley School (now called Besant Hill School), attended Swarthmore College for two years, BA from Scripps College and received an M.A. in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley. She has written two published books, India Beyond the Mirror, and Lives in the Shadow with J. Krishnamurti, as well as an "in house" volume, The Story of Happy Valley.
Radha's earliest memories include picnics on Happy Valley with many of the original Board members. She and her husband, Jimmy Sloss, met in the first year of the school (1946) with which they are still associated. She served on the HVF Board from 1986 to 2018. |
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(West Hills, CA)
Ken is a graduate of Happy Valley School (now called Besant Hill School), and attended the University of the Americas at Cholula, Mexico, receiving his Licenciatura degree in cross-cultural psychology at UDLAP. After completing his Masters work in Government at Georgetown University, Ken returned to California, receiving his Juris Doctor degree from the University of La Verne. Ken practices consumer law in Southern California. |
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(Santa Barbara, CA)
Nina de Creeft Ward graduated from Happy Valley School (now Besant Hill School). Nina received a BA degree from Scripps College with a major in Art, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Claremont Graduate University. Nina has sculpture in the collections of Iowa State University, Charles H. MacNider Museum in Mason City, Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa. She has taught Art to children and adults. An adjunct Art Instructor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa for nine years, Nina and her husband lived in Cedar Falls for twenty-six years and raised four sons and a daughter. They have lived in Santa Barbara, where Nina grew up, since 2001. Nina continues to be active making and exhibiting clay sculpture, drawings, and prints. She was Alumni Representative to the Happy Valley/Besant Hill School Governance Committee for five years, until she became a member of the Happy Valley Foundation Board in the spring of 2009.
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Trustees