The Board of Directors of the Carr Educational Foundation, (Daraja’s parent organization) is represented by experienced professionals in a variety of fields including education, special events, public relations, and strategic planning. It is a board dedicated to raising the funds necessary to build a strong foundation for Daraja, ensuring success long into the future.

Bob Bessin

President

Bob is a Physics and Mathematics teacher at Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley, California, and has over 10 years of teaching experience in both public and private high schools. He has a BS in Physics from UCLA and an MBA in Finance from Wharton. Before finding the joy of working with teenagers, Bob had a 20 year career as an executive in both large and start-up high technology companies in Silicon Valley. He lives in Los Altos, California with his wife Jane and has two children.

Tara Scarioni

Secretary

Tara graduated with magna cum laude honor from Loyola Marymount University and earned her BA in Theater and minor in Business Administration. Tara moved back to the Bay Area after graduating and started working in the hospitality industry – planning fundraisers, weddings and corporate events. She feels honored to use her expertise to benefit the girls of Daraja.

Karen Dohemann

Treasurer

Karen received a BS in Accounting from San Francisco State in 1988. She earned her Certified Public Accounting (CPA) License in 1991 after working for real estate accounting firm Kenneth Leventhal & Co. She has over 25 years of experience in accounting for companies such as Children’s Home Society, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and Cellegy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She currently works as Controller for Partition Specialties, Inc., a specialty interior sub-contractor. She lives in Novato, California with her husband, Erik, and three sons.

Jason Doherty

Director/Daraja Academy Administrator

Jason Doherty grew up in northern California, and received his BA in International Relations at University of San Diego in 1998, then moved to Tanzania to teach at a secondary school. During those 6 months, Jason discovered his passion for teaching. Upon returning home, he earned his teaching credential at Dominican University in 2004 and taught in the public school system for 6 years as a mentor teacher. He was selected as Solano County’s Teacher of the Year in 2007. In 2008, he moved with his wife, Jenni, to Kenya to start Daraja Academy.

Jenni Doherty

Director/Daraja Academy Administrator

Jenni Doherty grew up along the Rocky Mountain Range but moved to Northern California soon after meeting her husband, Jason. She graduated from Sonoma State University in 2004 with a BA in English Literature. She put her education to use as a Research Associate at WestEd, an educational consulting firm based in San Francisco, California. She was directly involved in the planning, execution, and evaluation of several research projects for the California Department of Education Child Development Division. In 2008, Jenni moved with her husband, Jason, to Kenya to start Daraja Academy. She won the prestigious 2010 Soroptomist Ruby Award for women working to improve the lives of women around the world.

Kim Florence

Director

Kim is a founding board member and her interest in Africa started as a child and culminated in a senior thesis at Brigham Young University on the effects of political opposition on the economies of African nations. She believes whole-heartedly in the importance of education, especially in the lives of women in developing countries. She taught English as a second language in China and here in the United States with a volunteer program that worked with immigrant populations. After working as a researcher at a non-profit public policy think tank and as an independent consultant, she has retired to focus on raising her very active 2 year-old and pursuing her volunteer interests. She and her husband live in San Francisco, CA.

Suzanne Montgomery

Director/Volunteer Program Director

Suzanne joined the board in 2009 after her first trip to Daraja with her daughter, who was a member of the Woodside Priory School’s Daraja Club. She holds a BA in Drama from UC Irvine, and as an actress has performed in theatres throughout the globe. She has taught drama and music to elementary school students, and was fortunate to hold an improvisation workshop with the Daraja students during the school’s first year. As a parent of two teenagers, Suzanne has served on PTA boards at the local and regional level, where she managed diverse groups of volunteers. She is currently serving as the volunteer program director for Daraja. Suzanne lives in Los Altos, CA with her husband, Scott, two teens, and two mostly well-behaved dogs.

Dr. Lisa Rodondi

Director

Dr. Lisa Rodondi is a philanthropist with a passion for global projects that foster the empowerment of girls and women through education and art. She has had over 20 years of healthcare experience as a specialty clinical pharmacist in the areas of critical care and infectious diseases. Throughout her career she has developed innovative positions and programs to improve the appropriate clinical use and cost management of antibiotics that served as regional models for other institutions. Her work has included teaching and mentoring others as well as numerous presentations at national meetings and publications in peer-reviewed journals including The American Journal of Medicine, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Lisa has two grown children and lives in San Rafael with her husband, Kevin.

Lee Ann Patterson

Director

Lee Ann Patterson graduated from Davidson College in 1982 with a BA in Economics. After college she taught Government Studies to high school students through the Close Up Foundation in Washington, DC. She also spent a year teaching English at Kangubiri Girls’ High School outside Nyeri, Kenya. She absolutely loved her time in Kenya and came back to the US to pursue a MS in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University. Afterward she traveled to Malawi and Zimbabwe to do a study for the United Nations Development Program and took a job at the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service to work on the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. In 1991, She returned to the University of Pittsburgh to get her Ph.D. in International Relations and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to do her dissertation research on biotechnology policy at the Commission of the European Union. Recently she acted as a consultant to and the administrator of the Cal/Med Consortium, a consortium of professors in California and the southern Mediterranean who face similar issues related to the production of “Mediterranean” agricultural products. She and her husband live in Los Altos California with their two daughters. In her free time she enjoys reading and going to all sorts of performing arts events. She also volunteers for a wide variety of organizations in her local community.

Mark Stefanski

Director

Mark has been teaching high school science for the past 25 years, the last 23 at Marin Academy, where he currently teaches biology. He holds the school’s H.D. Thoreau Faculty Chair for promoting education for sustainability and interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Mark is a Teacher Advisor for the award winning Web sites, Understanding Science.org and Understanding Evolution.org and has served as the High School Director for the California Science Teachers Association. He has received numerous awards including an award from the National Science Teachers Association for innovative teaching strategies in high school science.

In addition to his service on the Carr Educational Foundation Board, Mark has worked in volunteer leadership roles for the Insight Garden Program at San Quentin State Prison, Marin Organic and the Advisory Board of Teens Turning Green. Mark and his sweetheart wife, Johanna Brandriff, live happily in San Rafael with their 3 cats and many other pets.