The founding Board of Directors of the CHIME Institute was comprised of parents of
CHIME students and California State University, Northridge (CSUN) faculty and
community representatives. With the organization’s growth, the Board has been
expanding and evolving to bring in specific expertise and skills, i.e.,
business management and finance. The Board currently has representation from
the fields of education, business management, law, marketing, and community
activism.
- Michele Haney, Ph.D., President and Chair
- Patrick Smith, Vice-President
- Joshua Mark, Interim CFO
- Marc Polansky, Secretary
- Emmanuel Bernabe, Jr., Esq., Director
- Julie Fabrocini, Ed.D., Director
- David Kretschmer, Ph.D., Director
- Traci Myman, Director
Michele Haney,
Ph.D., Board Chair and President of the CHIME
Institute
Michele Haney is co-founder of the CHIME Institute
and was the first vice president of the Board as
well as the first coordinator of the infant/toddler
intervention component of the institute. She is the
parent of two children with disabilities. Dr. Haney
is a professor of early childhood special education
(ECSE) at California State University, Northridge
(CSUN) Michael D. Eisner College of Education. She
has been a teacher and administrator of both general
and special education programs in early childhood.
Dr. Haney has coordinated student services for
several U.S. Department of Education personnel
preparation projects, including the Infant
Development Specialist Training Program at
California State University, Los Angeles and the
Transdisciplinary Approach to Preparation of
Infant/Toddler Specialists at CSUN. She has
co-authored and co-directed four other U.S.
Department of Education personnel preparation grants
at CSUN including an ECSE Model Demonstration
Project to provide identification, intervention, and
program development services within the large Latino
community of East San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles
and Project CULTURE in ECSE, a program to support
students working on their master’s degree in ECSE
with an emphasis on understanding families from
diverse cultural backgrounds. She has served on the
Los Angeles County Regional Council, which is
comprised of Special Education Local Plan Area
(SELPA) representatives, parents, and other
educational agencies in the county. Dr. Haney has
co-authored two books: Preschool Inclusion and
Promoting Learning through Active Interaction: A
guide to early communication with young children who
have multiple disabilities. She has co-authored
several chapters in a widely used text for working
with students with severe disabilities titled
Community-Based Curriculum. All books are published
by Paul H. Brookes. She has presented at many
national and international conferences and written
numerous articles in the field of ECSE.
She has a bachelor’s degree in English from Goddard
College, a master’s degree in educational
administration from Castleton State College, a
specialist credential—learning handicapped from
Mount St. Mary’s College, and a Ph.D. in special
education from the joint doctoral program of
California State University, Los Angeles and the
University of California, Los Angeles.
Patrick Smith,
Vice PresidentPatrick Smith joined the Board in 2000
and served as chair of the board from 2000
to 2006 and as president of the CHIME
Institute from 2004 to 2006. His association
with the CHIME Institute began in 1996 with
the enrollment of his son Daniel in the
CHIME preschool program. He and his wife
Delia are founding parents of the CHIME
charter schools, and four of their five
children are either attending or are
graduates of the schools.
Mr. Smith is a partner at Beltran, Beltran,
Smith, Oppel & MacKenzie, LLP, and a
practicing attorney for over 25 years. His
practice areas are varied, but focus on
public interest litigation, including civil
rights law, education issues, and criminal
defense at all levels. His primary focus
involves the representation of families with
members who have disabilities, involving
educational and other service related
issues, juvenile law, and adult and juvenile
criminal defense. His practice has included
and continues to include appellate
representation before the United States
Supreme Court and the United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and all state
appellate courts. His trial practice is
national and includes work before the
California Office of Administrative Hearings
and state and federal court, including
courts in CA, TN, CO, NE, TX and IL. He is a
lecturer and author for attorney Continuing
Education programs in California on civil
rights and education. Previously, he was an
associate at the law firm of Klass, Helman &
Ross specializing in civil rights, business
litigation and transactions, and criminal
defense. He has also served as law clerk to
the Honorable Robert M. Takasugi, Judge of
the United States District Court for the
Central District of California, and as an
attorney in the Los Angeles County Public
Defender Office and in the United States
Department of Justice Honors Program.
His community service includes having served
as vice president of the board of directors
of the Dubnoff Center, a nonpublic school,
and as a member of the board of trustees for
the Williams Syndrome Foundation. He teaches
religious education at his local church.
Mr. Smith has a bachelor’s degree in English
from Northern Arizona University and a Juris
Doctor, cum laude, from Southwestern
University School of Law.
Joshua
Mark, Interim CFO
Joshua Mark joined the Board in 2007. He and his
family have been active members of the CHIME
community since his daughters entered kindergarten.
Heidi, his wife, is a weekly volunteer in the girls’
classrooms, serves on the Parent Association Board
(membership coordinator), and is CHIME’s volunteer
librarian. Mr. Mark is also on the Parent
Association Board focusing on increasing the
school’s revenue through various fundraising
programs. For example, under his coordination,
participation in the eScrip/Grocery Loyalty Program
increased from 75 to over 400 participants with
funds to the school from this program growing from
$400 a year to $10,000. Other Mark Family members
who are active in the CHIME community are his
mother, a former preschool teacher, who volunteers
weekly in the art teacher’s room and his father,
former LAUSD assistant superintendent for special
education, who has volunteered services in a variety
of capacities for both the school and the institute.
Mr. Mark is the executive director, Special Event
Production, Creative Services, and the director of
sustainability for FOX Broadcasting Company. His
responsibilities include handling the technical
production and logistics for FOX’s corporate
meetings, sports hospitality programs, premier
parties and special events. Prior to working at FOX,
he worked for several other television production
companies as an associate producer, production
coordinator, and other positions on such television
shows as Saved By the Bell, City Guys, California
Dreams, and Grace Under Fire.
He received a B.F.A. degree in design, production,
and stage management from North Carolina School of
the Arts and an M.F.A. in producing from the
American Film Institute.
Marc
Polansky, Secretary
Marc Polansky joined the Board in 2012. Since 2007
he has been general counsel and senior vice
president of Business Development for Veros Real
Estate Solutions, LLC, a predictive technology and
software development firm. Prior to that, he was a
senior partner and trial attorney in the top 100 law
firm of Cozen O’Connor.
Mr. Polansky has a bachelor’s degree in economics
and political science from the University of
Maryland and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of
Law, Illinois Institute of Technology.
Emmanuel
Bernabe, Jr., Esq., Director
Emmanuel Bernabe, Jr., joined the Board in 2012. Mr.
Bernabe is an active member of the California State
Bar, and has been since 1997, and currently owns and
operates his own legal practice. In addition, he is
vice-chairman and chief executive officer of Synergy
Development Institute, Inc., a global management
consultancy and development firm. As part of his
endeavors with Synergy, Mr. Bernabe develops
fundraising programs for numerous nonprofit and
charitable organizations. Prior to Synergy, he
served as outside general counsel for a large
skilled nursing hospital chain and advised its risk
management and self-funded insurance programs.
He received his bachelor’s degree in business
administration with emphases in entrepreneurship and
marketing from the University of Southern California
in 1994 and his Juris Doctorate from Southwestern
University School of Law in 1997.
Julie
Fabrocini, Ed.D., Director
Julie Fabrocini joined the Board in 2010, having
previously served as an ex officio member of the
Board since 2001. Dr. Fabrocini is the senior
program officer for U.S. Education Programs at the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She previously
held the position of executive director of the CHIME
Charter Schools for five years and was the founding
principal of the CHIME Elementary School, a position
she held for nine years. As an administrator, her
major accomplishments included: academic and social
success of students, high levels of parent
involvement and satisfaction, facilities
development, charter renewal, growth of student
community, organization of fundraising, and
involvement of the outside community. Prior to her
position at CHIME, she was a program specialist for
the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of the
largest school districts in the nation. In addition,
Dr. Fabrocini worked as a part-time faculty member
at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in
the teacher preparation programs.
She serves on the advisory board for the Center for
Teaching and Learning at the CSUN Eisner College of
Education and has also served on the advisory board
for the Los Angeles Times Literacy Center at CSUN.
Dr. Fabrocini has a bachelor’s degree in liberal
studies and a master’s degree in instruction of
students with moderate/severe and multiple
disabilities, a teaching credential-specialist in
moderate to severe disabilities, an administrative
credential in educational leadership and
administration, and an Ed.D. in educational
leadership from California State University,
Northridge.
David Kretschmer,
Ph.D., Director
David Kretschmer joined the Board in 2001. Dr.
Kretschmer is a professor and former chair of the
Department of Elementary Education at California
State University, Northridge (CSUN). He joined the
faculty at CSUN in 1987 as a lecturer after teaching
science for several years at the high school and
middle school levels and serving as a math and
science specialist at the elementary level. Dr.
Kretschmer coordinates the Accelerated Collaborative
Teacher (ACT) Preparation Program for multiple
subject candidates at CSUN. His research interests
include teacher’s science pedagogical content
knowledge, student’s alternative conceptions and
conceptual change in the sciences, and teacher
education.
He has a bachelor’s degree in biology/science
education from Oregon State University, a M.Ed. in
curriculum and the study of schooling from the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a
Ph.D. in education, also from UCLA.
Traci
Myman, Director
Traci Myman joined the Board in 2012. Ms. Myman is
currently vice president of business affairs at the
ABC Entertainment Group. In this capacity, she is
responsible for structuring and negotiating the
deals to develop and license prime-time programming
on the ABC Broadcast Network. Prior to working at
ABC Entertainment, Ms. Myman was an associate at the
law firms of Youngerman & McNutt, LLP and Gabriel &
Herman, LLP where she was primarily engaged in
business litigation matters.
Before practicing law, Ms. Myman applied her passion
and advocacy skills towards helping others. At the
2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles,
Ms. Myman served as a community relations & outreach
associate for LA Convention 2000. Prior to this she
also worked as a community outreach coordinator for
Big Sisters of Los Angeles. Working in these
capacities taught Ms. Myman the importance of
working cooperatively and building positive
relationships in the community.
Ms. Myman received a B.A. in English and a B.F.A. in
television and broadcast journalism from Chapman
University and a J.D. from Loyola Law School.
|
