Our Board

Michael Kubo

Board President

Mike is a Research Scientist for the SETI Institute at NASA Ames Research Center and holds a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Santa Cruz. His research helps to elucidate the energetic habitability of environments analogous to those found on Mars and the ocean worlds of Europa and Enceladus, and to better understand the types of chemical biomarkers that potential life on those worlds might leave behind. In addition, he is the co-developer of the NASA Lassen Astrobiology Internship Program – a collaboration between NASA, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Red Bluff High School – a Title I high school in rural Northern California.

Always looking for ways to engage with his community, Mike has 10+ years of experience serving on the board of the Santa Cruz Roundtree HOA, as well as 3+ years on the board of directors at Coastal Community Preschool – serving in at-large and leadership capacities on both boards.

When he’s not working or engaging in board service, Mike enjoys winemaking with friends, cooking, and spending time with his wife and 7-year-old daughter.

Rosamaria Garcia

Board Vice President

Rosa Garcia is the Complaint Resolution Officer at the University of California, Office of the President. As an expert in ADA, Title VI/VII, Title IX, and abusive conduct, she leads systemwide compliance initiatives that foster a culture of safety, inclusion, and non-discrimination. She also oversees conflicts-of-interest cases across the system. Her portfolio includes governance and policy development, training and strategic communications, and internal audits that support harassment and discrimination-free workplaces throughout UC.

Originally from the East Bay, Rosa has lived and worked in Santa Cruz since 2003. At UC Santa Cruz, she advanced through roles in the Disability Resource Center and Title IX Office, ultimately serving as the Senior Director of Equity & Equal Protection and the campus’s inaugural ADA Compliance Officer. Prior to her career in higher education, she worked in community mental health.

Rosa also serves on the Board of Directors for Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno, a professional nonprofit dance company based in Oakland, California. The organization is dedicated to empowering the community and educating the public by deepening understanding and appreciation of Mexican culture and folklore through music, dance, and traditional art forms.

As a proud UC Santa Cruz alum, Rosa holds a BA in American Studies. She also holds an ABA Paralegal Certificate from Cal State East Bay, and a Master of Science in Mental Health and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling from San Francisco State University.

In her free time, Rosa enjoys hunting for sea glass along the coast with her daughter and discovering the best happy hour menus across Santa Cruz County with her partner.

Ian Christie

Board Treasurer

Ian is a California native, born in Riverside and raised in Santa Cruz. He attended Cabrillo College, after which he chose to pursue a full-time career in the cycling industry. 

At the age of 24, he became owner of Summit Bicycles’ two shops. Since then, he has opened two additional locations, acquired Trek Store San Jose, become a franchise owner of Beeline Bikes , and started San Jose Bike Rentals and Corporate Bike Solutions. Ian also sits on the Board of Directors of the cycling industry advocacy group, PeopleForBikes. Ian has also been the treasure for a local private school for the last 4 years. 

He lives in Scotts Valley with his high school sweetheart, three daughters, two dogs, one cat, and two hamsters. Ian enjoys cycling, running, gym workouts, golfing, goofing around with his daughters, and Disneyland.

Molly Fyfe

Board Secretary

Molly Fyfe is an educational researcher and evaluator with a PhD in Education and over 15 years of experience designing and assessing initiatives that advance innovation, equity, and inclusion in education. She currently serves as a Senior Evaluation Analyst at UCSF, where she leverages data to drive educational program improvement and applies evaluation methodologies to promote anti-oppression.

Previously, Molly held roles at Imperial College London, Cambridge University, and King’s College London, where she developed faculty training programs and led research initiatives focused on expanding educational access and improving learning outcomes. She also served as Executive Director of the Sustainable Systems Research Foundation in Santa Cruz, growing programs that supported historically underserved communities.

A Santa Cruz native, Molly grew up in the area and later returned to raise her three children. She is deeply committed to fostering educational excellence and inclusion in her community and is honored to support PCS through board service.

Tessy Paikeday

Board Member

Tessy Paikeday Le Duc (she/her/hers) is a Partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, a national full-service law firm. For the last 15 years, she has focused her law practice in corporate finance, assisting start-up companies in the Bay Area with securing capital, and venture capital firms with deploying it. Prior to joining Fox Rothschild, Tessy worked at Latham & Watkins LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the Office of the Inspector General of the Los Angeles Police Department and McKinsey & Co.

Tessy received a B.A., summa cum laude, in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1997 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2001.

Tessy moved with her family to Santa Cruz in 2015. She is passionate about education, and serves on the Yale Alumni Schools Committee. In her free time, Tessy enjoys traveling, reading, gardening, biking, playing tennis and exploring the beaches and trails of Santa Cruz with her husband, son and dog.

Manuel Arens

Board Member

Manuel Arens joined Google in 2007 and held different positions in three different countries as data scientist, in sales as well as in finance. He is now working as purchasing manager where he oversees global processes and develops programs for Google’s technical infrastructure organization to procure equipment for a global data center fleet more efficiently. Before that, he started his career in finance with Eaton Aerospace in the United Kingdom in the accounts payables department. His excitement for aircrafts and machine tools continued while working in supply chain management for Airbus in Germany, where he was involved in global logistics for the Airbus A380 program.

In his free time Manuel loves to hike and explore Santa Cruz’s playgrounds with his wife and twin daughters. He is an enthusiastic reader of classic literature and crime novels and can also be found in the children’s section of Santa Cruz library picking new books for his girls. He likes playing tennis, skiing and is a student private pilot. 

Samantha Rosasco

Board Member

Sam is a botanical artist and she holds a BA in Business Management Economics from the University of California Santa Cruz.  For the last 5 years, she has served as President of the Pacific School Foundation, supporting Pacific Elementary School in Davenport, CA.  Prior, she served as President of the Westside Parent Education Nursery School in Santa Cruz for 3 years.  As board president, she has fine tuned her leadership style to create an open and inclusive environment and has worked on defining straightforward opportunities for volunteers to follow in order to create memorable “fun” community and fundraising events. She is a dedicated volunteer who wears many hats from event planning, fundraising, website management and social media.

When she’s not creating art or supporting the Pacific Elementary School, Sam enjoys reading books, playing piano, culinary exploration, singing and kickboxing as well as spending time with her husband and two children. 

Hong Zou

Board Member

With do-it-yourself (DIY) running in her blood and aspiration toward better education opportunities, Hong immigrated into the United States at age 16. In her first decade here in America, life revolved around school, work, volunteerism (then, to improve English and to assimilate), and time with family. She worked for a long list of technology companies in the Bay Area, and in 2021, switched to precision medicine. Hong enjoys collaborative problem-solving (starting from the statistics course at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA), interacting with diverse groups of people, learning from them, and working to achieve shared goals.  

Hong lives in Santa Cruz with her better half (he owns a community-oriented store in downtown) and 2 daughters. She is more than thrilled to have discovered PCS and wants to continue building its legacy in all positive and inspiring ways. Spare time is spent on cooking, reading, time with family (including aging parents, who still live in the Bay Area), exercising, and vacations like visits to Hawaii or Japan (latter is yet to evolve beyond a concept).

Colin Hannon

Board Member

Colin Hannon grew up in Los Osos, California and has lived in Santa Cruz for over 25 years.  A UCSC alum with a Master’s degree in piano and performance practice, he has worked extensively in the community as a staff accompanist for the UCSC music department, as music director at the United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz, and as music director and pianist for countless musical productions for local organizations including Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Jewel Theater, New Music Works, and Cabrillo Stage.  He has worked in classrooms as a music teacher and accompanist for grades K-12 at Carden School, Mission Hill Middle School, Santa Cruz and Soquel High, Kirby School, and many others, and also maintains a private teaching studio.  This work has been formative to his approach to education and to his commitment to ensuring that all students are given every opportunity to succeed.  In addition to his musical work, Colin is the office manager for a local landscaping firm where he has worked for over 25 years.  

Colin lives in Davenport with his wife and two children and has been deeply involved in their current school, Pacific Elementary. He also serves on the board of the Davenport North Coast Association, where he works to support the community and the natural environment of the North Coast and to communicate with the myriad federal, state, and local government agencies involved in planning for the future of the North Coast.

In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, surfing, hiking, and doing projects around the house.

Colin is deeply committed to working with the faculty, staff, students, and board at PCS to support and expand their work and to enact the school’s mission and vision.

Lars Madsen

Board Member

A native of Denmark, Lars Madsen (he/his) has lived in the U.S. since 2005. He currently serves as Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Development Operations at Medical Center Development at Stanford University. In this role he supports the Senior Associate Vice President and a team of development officers in raising money for the Stanford School of Medicine and the Stanford adult hospital. Prior to joining Stanford, he spent 12 years in the Office of the President at Harvard University with his last role there being Chief of Staff to President Drew Gilpin Faust. He holds a master’s degree in political science with a focus on international relations from Aarhus University in Denmark and a master’s degree in social and political thought from the University of Sussex in England. A father of three, you will often find him on the soccer or baseball fields cheering on his children or poolside for swim practice. In his free time, he enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, and biking.

Amilcar Menichini

Board Member

Amilcar is an Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and holds a PhD. in Finance from the University of Arizona. He has been teaching finance and accounting for more than 20 years while his research focuses on different aspects of financial choices of both public and private organizations, as well as on attrition and retirement decisions of U.S. officers. He is also a Research Affiliate at the Center for Analytical Finance at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Amilcar has been on the board of the Moore Creek Canyon HOA for the last four years and served for two years on the board of directors at Coastal Community Preschool.

During his free time, he enjoys hiking, running, and cycling with his wife and daughter.