Walter J. Haas, Chair
Wally Haas serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Coaching Corps and is our founder. From 1988-1995 he held several positions in the Oakland A’s Baseball Company, including President and Chief Executive Officer. He is the Board Chair of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, and a trustee of the Golden Gate National Parks Association and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. He is a former trustee of the Urban School, and formally served on the Levi Strauss & Co. Board of Directors.
Steven R. Bell
Steven R. Bell is President of the Northern California region of Northern Trust where he is responsible for the company’s investment management, trust and estate planning, private and business banking and financial consulting business in Northern California. Steve received his A.B. degree with honors in economics from Duke University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude. He received his M.B.A. degree in Finance from the University of Chicago. He has served as a board member with various charitable, civic and educational organizations in Chicago and San Francisco. His wife Susan is Vice President for the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Parker Blackman
Parker Blackman has worked in public interest communications, advocacy and organizational development for over 12 years. He is currently the lead strategist at Fenton Communications in San Francisco. Parker formerly served as press secretary for Arianna Huffington’s run for governor of California; as a communications advisor for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; and as the Executive Director of Washington Public Interest Research Group. A volleyball player while at Stanford University, he currently coaches with Oakland’s Starlings Volleyball Club.
Mitch Cohen
From 1989-2008 Mr. Cohen was a Managing Director at Hellman & Friedman LLC, one of the largest and oldest private equity firms in the U.S. with over $20 billion under management. At present he is the Board Chair of the Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, and a trustee of the Marin Academy High School. He has also served in leadership positions at Congregation Emanu-El, the Jewish Community Federation Endowment Fund, the San Francisco Zoological Society and the McIntire School of Commerce. He graduated from the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia and lives with his wife and three children in Ross, California.
Mark Gainey
Mark Gainey co-founded Kana Communications, an enterprise software firm, in 1996. He served in several capacities including chairman, CEO and president, from 1996 to 2000. Prior to Kana, Mark worked for TA Associates, a Boston-based venture capital firm. Gainey currently serves on the board of directors for OCSC Sailing and Strava, Inc.
Judge Thelton Henderson
Judge Henderson is a nationally recognized leader in the civil rights movement and has an esteemed reputation as a lawyer, educator, jurist, and as a U.S. District Court Judge appointed by Jimmy Carter in 1980. He was the Justice Department’s first African-American lawyer in the Civil Right Division and a dean at Stanford Law School, where he established the minority recruiting program and helped diversify the student body and assisted in creating Stanford’s clinical program. Judge Henderson also played football at Cal, his alma mater and attributes his personal success to the tremendous impact that one of his childhood coaches had on his life.
Ira Hirschfield
Ira S. Hirschfield is President and a trustee of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Prior to joining the Fund, Mr. Hirschfield was Director of Philanthropy for Rockefeller Family and Associates and President of The Philanthropic Collaborative. Currently, Mr. Hirschfield also serves as a trustee of the San Francisco Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund. Previous board service includes the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Heron Foundation; Council on Foundations; Independent Sector; National Center for Family Philanthropy; Guidestar; National Center for Responsive Philanthropy and several Rockefeller family philanthropies.
John P. Levin
John Levin is Chairman of Folger Levin LLP. His practice focuses on transactions and strategic advice for businesses, high net worth families and individuals, and non-profit organizations. John received his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1973. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1969 and a Master of Arts degree in Education from Stanford University in 1970. Following law school, John served for one year as law clerk to Associate Justice Stanley Mosk of the Supreme Court of California. In 1978, John co-founded Folger & Levin and served as its chairman and managing partner for nearly 30 years. John is active in a wide range of community activities and has served on numerous boards. He is currently Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Stanford Hospital and Clinics and a member of the National Advisory Board of the Haas Center for Public Service. He is also Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of California. John has been active in the leadership of Stanford Law School, serving as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council, Co-Chair of the Campaign for Stanford Law School and a member of the Executive Committee of the school’s Board of Visitors. With his wife Terry, John established The John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School.
Jennifer Maxwell
Jennifer Maxwell is an accomplished competitive runner, mother of six children and co-founder of PowerBar with her late husband Brian, a former world-class marathoner. Ms. Maxwell is widely recognized for her innovative leadership style. She was a keynote speaker at the 11th annual University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business Women in Leadership Conference. Ms. Maxwell is renowned for her philanthropy. She has received the Haas Women in Leadership Cora Jane Flood Philanthropy Award for her outstanding support to Haas, including the establishment of the Brian Maxwell Fellows program for entrepreneurs. Ms. Maxwell is a graduate of the University of California Berkeley, Nutrition and Food Science, 1988.
Greg McAdoo
Greg McAdoo is a venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital, focusing on semiconductor and systems investments. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 2000, Greg was President and CEO of Sentient Networks (CSCO). Greg has held senior engineering and executive level management positions at Cisco Systems, Sourcecom, Micom Communications and Datability Systems. Greg received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.
James McGillicuddy
James McGillicuddy is a recent graduate of Stanford University. At Stanford, James received a BA in Science, Technology, and Society and an MA in Communication. While attending Stanford James was a member of the football team and played during Stanford’s epic 2010 season which culminated in Stanford’s first Orange Bowl win and highest post season ranking ever. James his an associate at Summit Partners in Palo Alto, which specializes in growth equity.
Angela Nomellini
Ms. Nomellini graduated from Stanford University in 1975 with a BA in English. She also has a J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law (1978). Her interest in education began when her eldest son started school and she became active at both the local school and district level. Among other activities, she served as a Local Panel parent member for Partners in Literacy, a collaboration of schools from Hillsborough, San Bruno and Millbrae funded by a grant from the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative. Currently she is a member of the Hillsborough School District Board of Trustees, the Stanford Schools Corporation Board and the Stanford University School of Education Advisory Council. She is also Chair of the Student-Athlete subcommittee of the Stanford Athletic Board.
Thomas A. Patterson
Mr. Patterson is a general partner at Madrone Capital Partners, a private investment firm based in Menlo Park. He was formerly a partner at the private equity firm of Weston Presidio. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1988 and rowed on the Crimson’s varsity lightweight crew team. He returned to Harvard and earned an MBA in 1993. Tom is a trustee of The Bay Area Discovery Museum and also serves as a director-at-large for the Montana Land Reliance.
Joan Ryan
A sports columnist for 13 years and the recipient of 11 Associated Press Sports Editors Awards, Ms. Ryan currently writes a general column and occasional features for the San Francisco Chronicle. She is the author of Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters and the co-author with Tara VanDerveer of Shooting From the Outside: How a Coach and Her Olympic Team Transformed Women’s Basketball.
Dave Stewart
A native of Oakland, Mr. Stewart spent 15 seasons in the major leagues and was a member of three world championship teams. As a pitcher for the Oakland A’s, he posted four consecutive 20-win seasons. He was formerly the pitching coach and Special Assistant to the General Manager of the San Diego Padres. Mr. Stewart was also the Assistant General Manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. A long-time community activist, he established and directs the Dave Stewart Foundation.
Kevin Skelly
Kevin Skelly currently serves as the superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District. He came to Palo Alto after serving as an associate superintendent of Learning Support Services for the Poway Unified School District, a district of 33,000 students in San Diego County. Prior to Poway, Skelly served eleven years as the principal of Saratoga High School. He has been a presenter, author, coach, and Big Brother. His passion for education and children began with his work after college with talented students from low-income neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., and shoe-shine boys in Quito, Ecuador. Skelly received his BA in Economics from Harvard and his Ph.D. in Education Management and Policy from UC, Berkeley. He lives in Palo Alto with his wife. They have four children; the two youngest children attend PAUSD schools.
Sylvia Mei-ling Yee, Ph.D.
Ms. Yee is Vice President of Programs at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. She has served as the board chair of numerous national, state and local organizations, including Family Support America, Asian Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, the Foundation Consortium and the Bernal Heights Community Foundation. In addition to Coaching Corps, she helped launch several major initiatives including the San Francisco Beacon Initiative and the Bay Area School Development Program. For many years, she taught at the secondary and university levels and is the former executive director of St. John’s Educational Thresholds Center. Ms. Yee received her doctorate in educational administration and policy from Stanford University, and has authored two books, Careers in the Classroom and Got Me a Story to Tell.
