Board of Directors

The Board of Directors oversee the Backbone Support Organization as an independent non-profit. The Board holds fiduciary responsibility for the long-term health of the Partnership and its educational equity mission.

The Board’s key areas of responsibility include:

  • Policy – Reviewing and establishing policies for the operation of the BSO as an organization
  • Finance –Stewarding the BSO’s financial assets and approving the annual budget, which includes setting partnership fees if any
  • Collaboration with the CEO — Supporting, retaining and advising the Chief Executive Officer.

Current Board Members

Chandra Alexandre

CEO, Community Action Marin

Community Leader/Early Childhood Education – Chandra Alexandre, the CEO of Community Action Marin, has over 20 years of experience supporting organizations to social justice outcomes. Her work has helped strengthen regional affordable housing and early childhood education initiatives, expand education reform strategies nationally, and resource grassroots-led movement building for global women’s rights. Chandra graduated from Columbia, has an MBA, and holds both Ph.D. and D.Min. degrees. She has taught fundraising and philanthropy at the University of San Francisco and is an official mentor for the United Nations Association of San Francisco. Chandra is also a founding board member of Marin Promise Partnership.

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Rondell Gibson

Director of College Access, Bridge the Gap

Community Leader – Rondell Gibson is a Marin City native who received his bachelor’s degree in Business from Saint Mary’s College of California. Over the last 10 years he’s been at 10,000 Degrees, advancing from Intern to College Advisor, to Senior College Advisor, to his current role as the Manager of 10,000 Degrees Southern Marin region — overseeing Fellows, near-peer college mentors who work one-on-one with students and their families on college, financial aid, and career options.

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Tonik Matthews

(Retired) Director and Senior Corporate Counsel, Autodesk

Community Leader/Legal Experience – Tonik has been involved with Marin-based non-profit organizations since moving here in 1995, including three (3) years as a board member of the Marin Theatre Company, six (6) years as a director on the The Branson School board, and ten (10) years as legal counsel to the George Lucas Educational Foundation. At present, she is counsel for the Autodesk Foundation which supports community resilience around the world through DAF-funded grantees in the fields of future of work, environmental sustainability, and building design. In addition, Tonik is part of the global evaluation committee for 100 & Change, a bi-annual program funded by the MacArthur Foundation which awards $100 Million to a single proposal promising real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time. After being a partner in a Los Angeles-based law firm, she moved to Marin to join Lucasfilm as its Director of Business Affairs, then later became General Counsel of an SF-based company before joining Autodesk where she is currently Director and Senior Corporate Counsel to the CIO and to the SVP of Business Strategy and Marketing. Tonik is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard University and earned a law degree from the Stanford Law School. Tonik speaks conversational Spanish, and lives with her husband in Marin (where she raised my two now-grown daughters, one of whom is a Marin-based English teacher).

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Anna Lam Pilloton

(Retired) Director, School & Community Partnerships, College of Marin

Educator with Expertise in Governance & Leadership – Anna Lam Pilloton has recently retired from her role as College of Marin’s Director of School and Community Partnerships. She also worked as the Executive Director of Marin Teaching Network, and she served on Kentfield School District Board for thirteen years, during which time she was the recipient of the Golden Bell Trustee of the Year Award. Anna earned a degree in Economics while enrolled in the BA/MBA Program at the University of Chicago, as well as completed a Masters in Governance Certificate and Adjunct Trainer from the California School Board Association. Through the years, Anna has been deeply involved in MPP’s work, including through engaged participation in the Enrollment Action Team, Future Ready Team, Summer Bridge Program, Strive Together Systems Indicator Pilot, and more.

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Larry Rosenberger

Retired CEO of Fair Issac

Board Treasurer & Chair of Finance Committee, Philanthropist – Larry Rosenberger is Fair Isaac’s Research Fellow. Previously, he was FICO’s CEO. Larry holds a degree from MIT and degrees from UC Berkeley. In the for-profit world, he currently serves on six boards of early-stage privately-held companies and actively advises five others. In the nonprofit world, he has previously served six boards and currently actively advises four. His philanthropic passion is helping unprivileged students to become successful. Larry and his wife, Diane, have two sons and four grandchildren, spanning ages 9 through 16.

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Rachael Ruffalo

Senior Practice Associate, ED Trust West

Board President, Educational Expert – Rachel’s career in education spans more than twenty years of serving as a teacher, new school developer, school leader, consultant, researcher, and advocate. Through these various roles, Rachel has been committed to pursuing equity and social justice through education. As a first-generation college student, Rachel experienced the transformative power of education within her own family. Since April 2017, Rachel has served as a Senior Practice Associate with The Education Trust-West, whose mission is to achieve educational equity and justice for all students with a particular focus on students of color, students from low-income communities, and English learners. In this role, she leads engagements with school districts through a multi-year process that involves a mixed-methods research study to identify opportunity gaps and systemic inequities and a closely facilitated planning process to develop actions that address the root causes of the inequities. She also contributes to research and policy advocacy related to college and career readiness, English learners, STEM equity, and the equitable implementation of standards-based curricula through a set of assignment analysis tools. Rachel holds a B.A. in history and an M.A. in education (Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies) from Stanford University and an M.Ed. in teaching and curriculum from Harvard University. Rachel lives in Mill Valley with her husband and three children, all of whom attend public schools.

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Holly Tate

Lawyer

Holly Tate Clark is a lawyer who, since having children, has been a stay at home parent, as well as an active member of her community. In addition to volunteering at her children’s school, Holly currently serves on the National Advisory Board of DukeEngage, a program at Duke University that funds the work of undergraduates at various domestic and international non-profits each summer. Holly’s past volunteer commitments include being President of Pixie Parents, Inc., a non-profit that operates a children’s cooperative park in Marin County. Holly also led a major capital campaign dedicated to renovating the park. Holly has also served on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School and acted as Vice Chair of the Stanford Law Fund. Prior to leaving her law practice, Holly worked at Latham & Watkins and as a judicial clerk to the Hon. James V. Selna in the Central District of California. Holly graduated from Stanford Law School in 2004 and Duke University in 2000.

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David Wain-Coon

Past President, College of Marin

Co-Chair of Leadership Team, Educator – David Wain Coon, Ed.D. became College of Marin’s 10th Superintendent/President in December 2010. Throughout his 30-year career in higher education, Dr. Coon has been recognized for his leadership locally, regionally and nationally. During his tenure at College of Marin, Dr. Coon has successfully presided over two facilities modernization programs in excess of $515 million, tackled a long history of acrimonious labor relations with a willingness to listen to all constituent groups and energized partnership opportunities with Marin County schools and nonprofits. With a continued focus on social justice, Dr. Coon serves as co-chair to the Marin Promise Partnership with a focus on closing equity gaps in Marin County. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce.

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Chantel Walker

Assistant Director, Marin County Free Libraries (MCFL)

Board Secretary & Chair of Governance Committee, Community Leader, Professional HR Experience – Chantel L. Walker, Assistant Director of County Library Services at the Marin County Free Library (MCFL), has more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy and the broader nonprofit sector, working as a technical assistance provider, grantmaker, senior executive and direct service provider. She has published and presented on issues of early childhood education and community development; community organizing and the role of philanthropy; human services reform; and, early childhood education finance and facilities development. Chantel continues to be an active and dedicated volunteer for family and community issues with several nonprofit organizations and public agencies, currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Marin County Library Foundation as well as the Marin Environment and Housing Coalition. Her former positions include: President of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, Board Chair of the Children’s Creativity Museum and the Women’s Foundation of California, as well as Board Member for the State Bar of California, Neighborhood Funders Group, and Association of Black Foundation Executives.

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Matt Wilka

Managing Director, FSG

Foundation/ Philanthropy/Collective Impact Expert – As a Managing Director at FSG, Matt guides many of the firm’s education engagements, with a focus on innovative learning models, education systems change, evaluation, and collective impact. In his 10 years at FSG Matt has served as a trusted advisor to a range of leaders within foundations, school systems, nonprofits, companies, and government agencies, and has built expertise in strategy development, leading change, analysis of complex systems, mixed methods evaluation, and multi-stakeholder facilitation. His experience with collective impact includes helping to incubate and launch collective impact efforts focused on higher education success in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, early childhood well-being in Washington State, and comprehensive youth development in Oakland. Matt is also a frequent speaker on collective impact and other topics, and has co-authored over 20 papers in his time at FSG. Before joining FSG Matt served as a Fulbright Fellow in Ecuador, and managed programs for an education nonprofit in Boston. He holds a BA in English from Williams College, and in his spare time enjoys exploring the beautiful trails of Mill Valley with his wife and two young children.

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Anne Wilson

(Retired) Senior Advisor, United Way of the Bay Area

Nonprofit/Business/Strategy/Fundraising Expert – Anne Wilson is a strategic innovator who builds cross-sector partnerships to address community needs through an equity lens and activates donors, volunteers, and advocates. As CEO of United Way Bay Area (UWBA) from 2000–2020, Anne transformed UWBA into a leading poverty-fighting organization. In addition to leading a reset of UWBA’s business model & a digital transformation of fundraising, marketing & core business operations, Anne led an expansion of community impact partnerships while proactively responding to fundamental changes in Bay Area philanthropy. Throughout her tenure, Anne led strategic collaborations with corporate partners to meet their CSR goals and increase employee engagement, and launched several regional initiatives that are national models. Anne is a New Jersey native, and earned a BS from Syracuse University, and MSW from UC Berkeley. Anne also serves as a board member of Homebase/The Center for Common Concerns and as a federal commissioner of the SIPPRA Commission (Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act).

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