Board of Directors

Sylvia Villa-Serrano is a native of San Francisco and has lived in Hercules since 1989. After a successful three decade career at Wells Fargo Bank she has dedicated her time and skills in supporting organizations and coordinating fundraising for worthy causes. She is a champion for small business in our community and has been active with the Hercules Chamber since 2009. She has been instrumental in forming the Bay Front Chamber of Commerce, an organization that merged the Hercules, Pinole and Rodeo Chambers of Commerce. Currently she is the Executive Director of the Bay Front Chamber and serves on numerous community boards.

Don Kuehne has served as a director of the Hercules Education Foundation since its inception in 2007. Don is married and has three children that attended our public schools (K-12) and graduated from Hercules High school. He is retired from Chevron and is active as a community volunteer.

Sarah Creeley has been an Elementary school teacher at Hanna Ranch Elementary School in Hercules since 1996. She was a founding member of March 4 Education in 2004, and a founding member of the Friends of Franklin Canyon. Sarah has worked to advocate for the Hercules  Community public Library since 2010, and she volunteers there teaching a Wild About Writing class every summer. Sarah has been director on the Hercules education foundation board for four years.

Bob is the Director of the East Bay Health Workforce Partnership. The EBHWP consists of Local Health Providers, Educational Leaders and Leaders from Community Based Organizations. The main goal of the Partnership is to work toward increasing local diverse hiring opportunities with regional health providers. Bob works directly with students in local High Schools and Colleges as well as out of school youth in the East Bay.

In addition, Bob is currently a Heath Care, Labor Relations and Workforce Development Consultant with over 35 years of experience in health care employment and administration. Bob is a member of the California Workforce Development Board, (CWDB) and was appointed by the Governor of California as an Executive Member of the CWDB in 2012.

Previously, Bob was the Vice President of Patient Relations, Labor Relations and Workforce Development at Doctor’s Medical Center (DMC), a 200 Bed Community Hospital located in San Pablo, CA. Prior to Bob’s appointment at DMC, he was the Director of Workforce Planning and Development for Kaiser Permanente working directly with 160,000 employees. Bob led the development of Kaiser’s comprehensive Workforce Development Program that included labor and management.

Over the past ten years, Bob has worked diligently with health leaders in California to develop a comprehensive model of career development and to synergize private and public funding to meet the needs of the ever changing technologies in the delivery of HealthCare. Bob continues to be a proponent in developing strategies that expand our primary care and allied health services, increase the training opportunities for our health care workforce that is culturally competent and at the same time strengthening our economy by focusing on affordable quality health care programs.

In addition to Bob’s experience and expertise in health care, he has held leadership positions including Chair of the Center of Labor and Education at UC Berkeley and Director of the of the Public Service Training Program in New York. Bob also serves on numerous community boards and public organizations.

Dr. Ward-Jackson is a first generation college grad who has also earned three Masters degrees (M.A., M.Ed., M.Th.) and two Doctoral Degrees (Ed.D., Ph.D.); she is a life-long learner who continues her education by participating in Post-Doctorate Professional Development in advanced Educational Leadership at Harvard University. Dr. Ward-Jackson has a 19-year research, practice, and administration background. She is a Bernard Osher Fellow as well as an alumna of Teacher Cadet and the Phi Delta Kappa Future Educator Institute at Dominican University (then college). Before joining Making Waves Academy in 2012 as the Middle School’s Academic Dean, Dr. Ward-Jackson served students in both traditional public school communities and within the For-Profit supplemental education sector. A self-proclaimed “fence straddler,” she has taught Kindergarten, 5th grade, and 11th grade in the K-12 system and has also taught as a Lecturer and Adjunct Professor collegiately (she presently holds an appointment at Holy Names University and is a Summer Session Guest Lecturer at UCLA). Dr. Ward-Jackson worked in For-Profit Supplemental Education Services in the capacities of Director of Education, Center Director and Executive Director over the course of 8 years, serving San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Castro Valley, Oakland, Acalanes, and Mount Diablo Unified School Districts. Always mindful of the power of post-secondary education and its profound impact on her life, Dr. Ward-Jackson has also given back as an Admissions Representative and Ambassador for UC Berkeley and is a 10-year Selection Committee Member for the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office (specifically the Incentive Awards Programs). Dr. Ward-Jackson is presently a Divisional Director at Making Waves Academy, a high performing, 5th-12th grade, Independent Public County Charter Academy in Richmond; she isolates this role as the most impactful and fulfilling role of her career to date. In this role she harnesses all of her previous experiences to effectively engage administrators, teachers, parents, and students in academic rigor, relevance, results, and relationships. A proud Hercules resident, Hercules Community and Library Services Commissioner, and Hercules Education Foundation Director, Dr. Ward-Jackson is a family oriented person who enjoys traveling, singing, writing, and cultivating others towards success.

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