Backbone Organization Board of Directors
The Board of Directors oversee the Backbone Support Organization as an independent non-profit, holding fiduciary responsibility for its long-term health and focus on educational equity.
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
Leadership Council Member, Community Leader – 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.
Rondell Gibson
Director of College Access, Marin, 10,000 Degrees
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.
Maureen Kennedy
Philanthropist
Community Leader/Philanthropist – Maureen Kennedy recently retired as a licensed real estate broker working in the East Bay Hills of California. In addition to her transactional and negotiating expertise, she has deep experience in strategic marketing (her work has been profiled in the San Francisco Chronicle). Kennedy uses systems and technology to give her clients the responsiveness they demand. Kennedy recently ended her term as chair of the board of the Pt Reyes National Seashore Assoc, and served as president of the board of the Berkeley City Club, Kennedy holds an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College, and a graduate degree (with a real estate finance focus) from Harvard University. She was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at HUD during the Clinton Administration.
Tonik Matthews
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).
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.
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.
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.
David Wain-Coon
President College of Marin
Co-Chair of Leadership Council, 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.
Chantel Walker
Assistant Director, Marin County Free Libraries (MCFL)
Board Secretary & Chair of Governance Committee, Leadership Council Member, Community Leader – 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.
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.
Anne Wilson
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).
