San Ramon Valley

 

Rachel Hurd was elected to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education in November 2006 and is serving her fifth term. She serves on the TRAFFIX Board of Directors, and is a board liaison to the Special Education Community Advisory Committee, the SRV Council of PTAs, the district’s negotiating team, Deep Learning & Innovation Steering Committee, Equity Steering Team, and the Culture & Climate Committee.

 

Prior to being elected to the Board of Education, Rachel was an experienced parent leader and volunteer in our community, serving in a variety of capacities at her children's schools and at the district level.  She has served as Council PTA President, Special Needs Chairman, VP-Communications, and continues to be an adviser.

 

Rachel has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from U.C. Davis where she met her husband, Alec.  After working in aerospace for 7 years, she focused on raising their three children, two of whom have dyslexia.  Working through their learning challenges, learning about dyslexia, and trying to collaboratively affect change in the school system has helped shape her “career” as an education volunteer. All three kids graduated from California High School.

 

Rachel is also the Executive Director of Leadership San Ramon Valley, a local non-profit organization that provides an annual community engagement and leadership development program for adults who live and/or work in the San Ramon Valley.  She continues to volunteer for the SRV Council PTA as an advisor and member of the communications committee.  She is active in the statewide grassroots organization, Decoding Dyslexia CA and serves as its Assistant Director.  She is also a charter member of the Dougherty Valley/San Ramon Rotary Club, of which she is a past-president.

 

Laura Bratt sees leadership as an opportunity to lift others up, empowering folks to raise their voices by creating a safe space for authentic expression and by using her voice to amplify theirs. She strives to bring empathy and non-judgment into every situation she steps into and hopes that her impact lives in the love others find within themselves. 

A self-professed lifelong learner and team player, Laura thrives on digging into research and absorbing other’s perspectives. With a love for brainstorming, idea generation, and problem solving, a proven ability to lead effective collaboration, and a desire to move the needle and get things done, Laura leverages thoughtful strategy to ensure that concerns are discussed, questions are heard and answered, and everyone walks away feeling united rather than divided.

Growing up in a multiracial family, Laura has seen first hand the impact racism and implicit bias has had on those she loves. She learned early that speaking up and out for the marginalized could impact an individual’s understanding of themselves and those around them. As a wise friend once said, “When you know better, you do better.” Laura strives to help herself and others “do better” by building the tools needed to “know better” so everyone can discover the joy in celebrating diversity, the gift of respectful inclusion, the power in authentic belonging, and the value of supportive equity. 

Laura’s career in marketing, communications, and graphic design began while working in her parent’s print shop. After getting her Bachelor's Degree in Art from the University of Wisconsin in Madison (Go Badgers!), she worked in a design studio in Chicago. Later moving to California, Laura started her own business, DesignAura, where her clients have included performing arts organizations, non-profits, health and wellness, and education institutions. She taught at San Francisco’s Academy of Art and currently works at UC Berkeley’s Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life in marketing and communications.

A Trustee for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Laura has been volunteering and serving leadership roles in public schools for the last 15 years including multiple elementary and middle school site councils, on SRVUSD’s LCAP Stakeholder Committee, as a Mandarin immersion elementary program Foundation President in Capistrano USD, on preschool and elementary PTA Boards, and as a classroom volunteer. Laura currently serves on the TRAFFIX Board and as a San Ramon City Council/SRVUSD Liaison. She is a Board liaison for SRVUSD’s Culture and Climate, Special Education Community Advisory, Technology, and Equity Steering Committees.

Laura and her husband, Shawn, are raising four insightful, independent-minded teenagers in the Dougherty Valley after moving them from Martinez, to Grenoble, France, to Delaware, to SoCal and back to the Bay Area, grateful to have put down roots in the San Ramon Valley, near family and friends, and within SRVUSD.

 

A Danville resident for over 40 years, Shelley’s two children, Alexandra and Keagan, both graduated from SRVHS.  She has been married to her husband Robert since 1993. Shelley was elected by the voters of Area 2 in November 2020 and took her seat on December 15, 2020 after over 15 years of serving in many parent leadership roles within the District. 

 

During that time, she worked with school sites and the District at many levels, including PTA President and Auction Chair at John Baldwin Elementary, Charger Fund President at Charlotte Wood Middle School, and PTSA President, Registration Chair and Grad Night Chair at San Ramon Valley High School.  In addition to those roles, Shelley was instrumental in bringing the first online registration system in the District to Charlotte Wood Middle School, and then to San Ramon Valley High School.  Shelley has been honored three different times by the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation as a Shining Star. Shelley has also served as President of the Autumn Creek Owners Association since 2002. 

 

At the District level, Shelley has served as the Chair of the Parcel Tax Oversight Committee and was instrumental in defining a better system to account for the use of those funds.  In addition, she also served as the Vice-Chair of the Facilities Oversight Committee. Her current work in the District includes serving as the District liaison to the Town of Danville and the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, member of the Access to Excellence Committee, and a member of the Social Emotional Well Being Committee. 

 

Shelley attended the Oakland College of Court Reporting and upon graduating earned her State license in 1985.  After working as a freelance reporter taking depositions and reporting in both State and Federal courts for eight years, she returned to college to earn her Esthetician’s License in 1994 and went on to become a Beauty Director for Nordstrom where she served as a spokesperson and trainer for the cosmetic department at Nordstrom, Walnut Creek.  Since 2003 Shelley has served as the HR/Finance Manager for West Cal Technologies Group Inc., formerly The Henke Group, a manufacturer’s rep company in the data communications and technology industry.  Her diverse background and varied business experience include the areas of law, finance, budgeting and human resources.

 

A resident of San Ramon with her family since 1994, Ms. Ordway has over 16 years of experience working in education, and over 21 years as a volunteer in our San Ramon Valley community. As a SRVUSD Board of Education Trustee, she is dedicated to the educational and social emotional growth of kids and students of all ages, and it is her mission to help children and teens thrive academically, socially and other areas of strength so that they can develop into effective leaders and engaged global citizens.

 

She is the owner of Susanna Ordway College Consulting where she has been supporting students and families in navigating the college entrance process since 2016. Her volunteer efforts include being on the Board of Directors for the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) Tri-Valley Chapter, and the Executive Board for San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs (SRVCPTA). She is also a Regional Coordinator for the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA), and a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) as well as their affiliate, the Western Associate for College Admissions Counseling (WACAC), professional organizations that serve as oversight for ethics in the college admissions process to protect students and their families. With the Board of Education, she is on several District committees and is Board Liaison for the Facilities Oversight Advisory Committee (FOAC), the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation (SRVEF), SRVCPTA and with the City of San Ramon.

Prior to starting her own business, Ms. Ordway worked with SRVUSD students in the classroom as an instructional assistant and paraeducator at Twin Creeks Elementary School, and as an instructor with Venture School. She began her career in the corporate world, in financial marketing, leaving it to teach applied and fine arts, reading and art classes integrated with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math concepts. While raising two children who graduated from SRVUSD, Ms. Ordway volunteered extensively at their schools: Twin Creeks Elementary School, Iron Horse Middle School and California High School. She has also been very involved in the San Ramon Valley Council of PTAs where she led the Reflections art program, Parenting Conferences and helped coordinate PTA Advocacy Days to advocate for our students’ welfare. Her extensive experience in working directly with kids and teens is additionally evident as she served several years as an instructor with the City of San Ramon’s summer camp, a Virtual Volunteer Coach with San Francisco-based ScholarMatch and a Volunteer Academic Advisor with Youth Radio in Oakland. 

She earned her B.A. at Pomona College, and her M.B.A. at the Thunderbird School of Global Management (part of Arizona State University). She received her certificate for the College Admissions and Career Planning program from UC Berkeley, and was also a 2019 graduate of Leadership San Ramon Valley.

 

 

Anya Ayyappan is a junior at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, California. As a member of the District Board of Education, she serves as a liaison between the SRVUSD student body of over 30,000 students and the school board, advocating for the wants and needs of K-12 students across the District. 

For the past three years, Anya has served the city of San Ramon advocating for youth voices. As the student board member, she hopes to strengthen the reach of the District’s platform through coordinated efforts that amplify and address the various perspectives of its diverse student body. She looks forward to working with her fellow students.

Anya enjoys traveling and exploring new places - their architecture and history, and trying new cuisines. Venice and Paris are her favorite cities. She enjoys reading and watching movies in her spare time. ‘The Good Earth’ and ‘Moonlight’ are her favorites.