OUR STAFF
Jenni Doherty
Co-Founder, Executive Director
Jenni founded Daraja Academy with her husband, Jason, in 2009. She designed many of the programs that make Daraja so unique and plays a critical role each year in choosing the next class of Daraja girls. Jenni wrote the W.I.S.H. (Women of Integrity, Strength, and Hope) curriculum, a 4-year series of women’s empowerment classes that have been enormously popular with the Daraja students. Jenni works with donors to provide continued support for Daraja Academy. While in Kenya, Jenni further develops Daraja’s programming and spends as much time with the girls as she can. Jenni holds a B.A. in English Literature from Sonoma State University. She is very passionate about women’s rights and strongly believes in the power of educating girls.
Jason Doherty
Co-Founder, Development Director
Jason grew up in northern California and received his BA in International Relations from the University of San Diego in 1998. He then moved to Tanzania to teach at a secondary school for six months, where he 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 six years as a mentor teacher. He was selected as Solano County’s Teacher of the Year in 2007. In 2008, he traveled with his wife, Jenni, to Kenya to start Daraja Academy.
Courtney Sanders
Development Officer
Courtney graduated from Sacramento State University with a degree in Intercultural Communication in 2020 and joined the Daraja Education Fund team shortly after graduating. Originally the Allyson Clark Communication Intern, Courtney is now the DEF Development Officer. She is passionate about education and helping girls around the world further their education and gain tools to help themselves, their families, and their communities thrive. Courtney enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, and getting to know people’s stories.
Patty Earnhardt
Fundraising & Administration
Patty worked in the private sector for many years before finding her professional passion in the nonprofit world. She is grateful she can contribute to meaningful and beneficial missions and causes. Daraja is a special place for her because she believes everyone deserves an education and an opportunity to develop to their full potential. She’s lived in northern California for many years and enjoys all the natural beauty and outdoor activities around the Bay Area. Patty is also a world adventurer and has Kenya next on her list.
DEF BOARD
Brian Schlaak, Board Chair
Director of Development at Ojai Valley School
Brian Schlaak finished his fifteen-year tenure as Head of the Upper School at Woodside Priory (a day and boarding school in Portola Valley, California) last spring. He has worked as an administrator in both public and private schools for 20 years and worked as a classroom teacher for 15 years before that. A graduate of UC Berkeley, he received his master’s degree in Education Administration from Stanford University. Past positions include Educator in Residence for Stanford’s School Redesign Network and Reform Coordinator for the Large to Small School conversion at Hillsdale High School. He has also been a Naval Officer, a Peace Corps volunteer, a bartender, and a whitewater raft guide. He is passionate about Daraja and enjoys his work on the DEF Board.
Elizabeth Lindquist, Vice-Chair, Fundraising Chair
Executive Chef and Restaurateur
Elizabeth Lindquist brings 20 years of experience as an Executive Chef and Restaurateur. She was raised in the Pacific Northwest where she first acquired a passion for food and learning, inherited from a long line of chefs and teachers in her family. Since her early teens, Elizabeth has been active in all facets of the food service/restaurant business, serving as Executive Chef, General Manager, and District Manager for several restaurants and corporate food services for Silicon Valley icons such as Google, Intel, and Xerox Parc. Elizabeth pursued her culinary career at Washington State University, studying Hotel Restaurant Administration. In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys volunteering for various non-profits, including Hidden Villa, Girls on the Run, and Technology for Global Security.
Susan Beans, Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair
Finance Executive
Susan is a San Francisco Bay Area native and has spent her career in finance leadership and strategy consulting roles. Most recently, Susan served as Chief Financial Officer for Avenues: The World School which founded progressive, internationally focused schools in the US, China and Brazil. Prior to Avenues, Susan was a partner at Webster Pacific in San Francisco where she spent 15 years providing strategic, operational and financial business services to clients in a wide variety of industries, ultimately focusing on the education industry. Susan is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Norma Thomas, Secretary
Retired University of California Pennsylvania Program Director
Dr. Norma Thomas is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, and the University of Pennsylvania. She retired from the California University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work as the MSW Program Director but continues to teach for the Center for Social Work Education, Widener University. Honored to receive many community service awards, Dr. Thomas serves on local, state, national and international boards, and advisory committees. She started a venture with her daughter and fellow board member, Raina León, called Story Joy to help the BIPOC community achieve its goals. She is a member of several organizations including the Morgantown, WV Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Black Social Workers, and the American Society on Aging. She is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Pennsylvania and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
Matthew McWright, Governance Chair
Clinical Psychologist
Matt McWright joined the DEF board in 2023. He is a retired clinical psychologist whose career included roles as an adjunct faculty member, leadership development consultant, school counselor, and lacrosse coach. After getting his BA from Duke and Psy.D. from the University of Denver, Matt spent the first half of his career consulting with large corporations in how they define, measure, and develop their leadership talent. He then took on these practices at Genentech as part of their executive development function. Wanting to return to his clinical roots a few years later he became the school counselor at an independent middle and high school, while also coaching their lacrosse team. Along the way he taught undergraduate and graduate courses at various institutions. He has a lifelong fascination for how, when, and why people seek to transcend their circumstances and achieve amazing things and this is precisely why he fell in love with the Daraja Academy, where such transcendence is a daily occurrence.
Amy Bornstein
Lawyer
Amy Bornstein knew she wanted to be more involved in supporting girls’ education at Daraja from the moment she stepped foot on the campus in Kenya. As such, she is very pleased to be able to bring her legal experience to the Daraja Board. Amy graduated from UCLA with a BA in History and, subsequently, received her JD from the University of San Francisco. Over the course of her career, she has worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in San Francisco, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in Los Angeles and Bloomberg in New York. She has also received her mediation certification. Currently, Amy lives in Marin County with her husband and two children. She enjoys spending time as an active and engaged volunteer in her childrens’ schools. In their free time, her family’s biggest hobby is to explore the world through travel.
Matt Lai
Upper School Director at The Bush School
Matt is the Upper School Director at The Bush School, an independent K-12 school in Seattle. Prior to that, he spent 16 years working in schools in the Bay Area in admissions, student life, and athletics. He currently serves as a Trustee at the Enrollment Management Association, a national organization that provides professional support and advocacy to independent schools around the world. Matt is a former attorney who practiced in the litigation department at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP in Manhattan. He holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School as well as a M.A. and B.A. from Stanford University.
Raina J. León
Writer
Raina has been published in over 100 journals as a writer of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and scholarly work. She is also the author of three collections of poetry and a chapbook. Her work has been a finalist for several prestigious awards, and she has received numerous fellowships and residencies—most recently completing a teaching poet-in-residence position at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. She is currently a founding editor of The Acentos Review and an associate professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her research interests include high school engagement and the teaching of poetry, critical pedagogy, critical literacy in the high school classroom, and educational technology usage among high school educators.
Raina received her BA in Journalism from Pennsylvania State University, MA in Teaching of English from Teachers College Columbia University, MA in Educational Leadership from Framingham State University, PhD in Education under the Culture, Curriculum and Change strand at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and her MFA in Poetry at Saint Mary’s College of California.
Amy Liaw
Community Builder and Marketer
A results-driven marketer, Amy comes with 20 years of experience across brand management, product development and email marketing across consumer and retail industries. In recent years, Amy has channeled her strategic thinking and creative energy into helping the significant educational communities in her life. She has served on the board of Bay Area nonprofits such as Presidio Knolls School and Adolescent Counseling Services and is always excited to help with fundraising efforts at her alma mater. Moved by its mission and vision, she looks forward to contributing her marketing and development expertise to Daraja. Amy holds an M.B.A from UCLA Anderson School of Business and a B.A. from Stanford University.
Samantha Raniere
President of Raniere Consulting
Samantha Raniere is the president of Raniere Consulting. She brings over 25 years of experience in leadership coaching, team effectiveness, and change management. She has dedicated her career to the development of leaders and teams, with a particular focus on women – from emerging talent to CEO. She sees the potential in everyone and is committed to helping people and teams reach their maximum potential. Samantha has been involved with Daraja since 2016 and regularly volunteers to bring her coaching work directly to the school in Kenya.
Samantha grew up in Delaware, graduated from Vanderbilt University, and has an MA in Psychology from American University. She lived in Chicago for four years before transferring to the Bay Area in 2000 to be closer to her brother. She currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter. In her spare time, she loves bringing people together to enjoy and share experiences. As a former triathlete and runner, she is frequently active and outdoors, enjoying the beauty of the area in which she lives.
Paula Russell-Gilford
Stay-at-Home Mum
Paula is a stay-at-home mum to her two beautiful daughters in the UK. This was an amazingly wonderful and privileged position to be in and one that remains her present situation, having moved the family back to the UK in July 2023. During her time in California, Paula applied for and was successfully admitted to the Masters of Liberal Arts program at Stanford where she is currently writing her thesis for this program, having completed all the course work prior to the move to the UK. Pauls is passionate about diversity and enjoys mentoring young LGBTI students.
The empowerment of young girls and women through education is essential if we wish to effect positive change in the world. This is a belief Paula holds strong, so when she was introduced to Daraja she knew she had found something special. When Paula visited Daraja in person, the word “special” felt too small. She was introduced to a community created from diversity, to educate and empower incredible young girls: to encourage them to critically think and strive to achieve beyond what they had imagined. Paula feels incredibly privileged to be a small part of that community and honored to have been asked to serve on the board.
Karen Simons
Financial Public Relations Professional
Karen has spent the better part of the past 2+ decades raising three wonderful, fully launched children and actively supporting their academic institutions from Pre-K through College. She has also been a host mom to a remarkable young man from Ghana. She has witnessed firsthand how education can impact not only an individual, but an entire family and a community. Karen firmly believes that education and independent thinking are the engine behind everything and the best possible way to create social change. She is thrilled to be a part of the Daraja community so she can share its incredible story!
Karen grew up in Rochester, New York, attended St. Lawrence University, and now primarily lives in Greenwich, CT with her husband, dog and regularly boomeranging adult children.