Board of Trustees 2009-2010

Dawn Cameron, Parent/President
Dawn has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since she was four years old, attending elementary school in Milpitas and high school in Fremont. She spent one year as an exchange student to The Netherlands during high school, where her host family sent her to a girls’ finishing school run by Catholic Nuns in a 300-year-old abbey. She has a Bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from San Jose State University and Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco. Professionally, she has worked in the public sector for 25 years as a transportation and land use planner specializing in collaborative and strategic planning. Dawn has two daughters: her oldest daughter graduated from our school in 2006 and her youngest daughter is currently enrolled. Dawn has been on the Board since 2004, where her roles include serving as board president, facilitating the school’s strategic planning process, and serving on the Management Team.
Alan Eagle, Parent
Alan has 20+ years of experience in Silicon Valley start-ups in a variety of account management and product marketing roles. He is a Los Altos Hills native, attended Gunn High School, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science and mathematics from Dartmouth College. He also has an MBA from the Wharton School. Alan enjoys writing, coaching youth baseball and soccer, and traveling. He is an avid skier, biker, hiker and backpacker. His two children are students at our school.

Becky Jensen, Parent
Becky Jensen was born in Dallas, Texas, and lived on Long Island and in Boulder before moving to the Bay Area to attend college. She holds a Bachelor’s in Russian Literature from Stanford and a Masters of Management in Finance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She works as a financial counselor, helping people manage their personal spending habits. Her two sons attended the Waldorf School of the Peninsula from kindergarten through 8th grade. The eldest graduated from the San Francisco Waldorf High School in 2009 and the second is still a student there. Becky served on the newly formed Community Life Committee then helped found the Parent Circle. She joined the Board in the Fall of 2008.

Pierre Laurent, Parent/Vice President and Treasurer
Pierre was born and raised in France. He received a MS in Computer Science in France and a MBA from Kellogg, Northwestern University (Chicago). After studying in France and a brief work experience with a contractor for the European Space Agency, he joined a promising software startup which had just gone through its IPO in Washington state. After eight years at Microsoft and three years at Intel in various managerial and marketing capacities, he moved with his family to the Bay Area. Pierre and his wife Monica, a faculty member at WSP, have three children. Pierre has served on the board as Vice President and Treasurer and is a long-time member of the Strategic Planning Committee.
Simona Hodek Martin, Parent
Simona was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Following the Prague Spring in 1968 her family fled to Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering and worked in the high tech industry for 14 years. Her most memorable professional experience was working in Asia and Latin America for Cisco Systems, managing the real estate, strategic planning, design and construction activities in those regions. In 2000 she retired to raise her two children. Since 2000, Simona has been involved in fundraising and committee work at our school, co-pioneered a Waldorf-inspired playgroup and participated in an anthroposophical book club. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2003, and served on the High School Research Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Finance Committee and as board treasurer and vice president. Simona is currently enrolled in the foundation studies program at Rudolf Steiner College.

Dermot Nolan, Parent
Dermot was born in Dublin Ireland many moons ago. He graduated from National University of Ireland with BSc in Biochemistry and spent 17 years as an officer in the Irish Army. Married to Janet Dunwoody (WSP Games teacher), his three children Killian (currently senior in UC Riverside), Melisa (12th Grade WSP) and Enya (9th Grade WSP) have been blessed with Waldorf education. Dermot and family left Ireland for Calgary Canada in 1993 and spent 7 years there before hitting the Bay Area in 2000. Dermot works in the computer industry specializing in Project and Portfolio Management. Dermot has been on the WSP Board for one year and is leading up the Strategic Planning committee.
Sandy Olson, Parent
Sandy grew up in Westport, Connecticut and has lived in the Bay Area for 10 years. She graduated from Sacred Heart University with a Bachelor's degree in accounting and was a CPA with Ernest & Young, LLP for many years. In 2000 she retired to raise her twins, who are in second grade at our school. She co-chairs the Spring Gala fundraiser and has participated in other fundraisers along with other committee work at the school.

Martha Groves Perry, Parent
Martha joined the board in December 2009 and serves on the Strategic Planning Committee. She was born in Buffalo, New York, and has lived in many places including Indiana, Kentucky, Washington DC, Texas and Belgium. She lived in Germany for nearly nine years, during which she served on the board of a Waldorf kindergarten and attended the international Waldorf kindergarten teachers’ conference in Hannover, Germany during the 2000 World’s Fair. Martha arrived back in the States from Germany with her husband Bill and two children in 2001, and both of her Germany-born children are currently enrolled in the school. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and English from Georgetown University in Washington DC, and a doctorate in American literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She currently works as a music director for a contemplative worship service at her church in Sunnyvale, drives her two active children wherever they need to go, and can occasionally be spotted fronting an R&B band composed of parent musicians from the school.
Hans Walser, Sunflower Kindergarten Teacher
Hans was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania into a household of Waldorf teachers. His mother is a kindergarten teacher, his sister is a music teacher and his stepfather is a high school math teacher. He attended the Kimberton Waldorf School from nursery to 12th grade. Hans’ interest in early childhood education began when he did his high school senior project on children’s play. He attended Warren Wilson College for a year and a half, and then became a kindergarten assistant at Kona Pacific School in Hawaii. He came to California to begin kindergarten training at Rudolf Steiner College. He recently graduated from the program and brings his energy, idealism and more than 3 years of experience as a nursery/kindergarten assistant to our school.

Katharina Woodman
Katharina grew up on a farm in northern Germany as the youngest of four siblings, which greatly accounts for her down-to-earth, no-frills attitude. Before and during her studies of German, English, and Social History at Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, she lived and worked in different parts of the UK. Her work experience includes teaching German as a foreign language, desktop publishing and copy editing. Katharina experienced Waldorf education first hand through watching her four nephews attending K-13, and their parents co-founding a Waldorf school, while working as board members and teachers themselves. Her summers in Germany are filled with conversations on anthroposophy and management of a school. As a parent at WSP (her two children attended K-8 at WSP and continued their Waldorf education at SFWHS), Katharina filled many roles and served on the board for six years, being its secretary and member of the core group for five. She attended all Healthy Waldorf Schools conferences since their inception in 1996 and completed the Collaborative Leadership workshops with Torin Finser from Antioch College. Having retired from active paternal duties, Katharina enjoys pursuing anthroposophy classes, including eurythmy and singing, and study group. As a woman of leisure, she was able to re-join the board in the fall of 2006 as a community-at-large member.