SEARCH COMMITTEE

Laura Selig, Chair, Search Committee and Stanbridge Board Member
Laura is the mother of a Stanbridge alum and an accomplished HR executive with over 30 years of experience leading global HR teams across public and private companies in the life sciences, technology, and financial services industries. She has held leadership roles at Model N, SnapLogic, Couchbase, and Visa, where she has been instrumental in shaping high-performing teams and fostering best-in-class workplace cultures. Throughout her career, Laura has been a champion of the employee experience, earning recognition for her ability to cultivate exceptional teams and drive workplace excellence. Under her leadership, companies have repeatedly received Best Place to Work awards, achieving record levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. Laura is known for her empathetic leadership style, pragmatic problem-solving, and unwavering commitment to teamwork. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Laura lives in San Mateo, CA, with her husband, John, and is a proud mother to three children, including a Stanbridge 8th grade graduate. In her free time, Laura enjoys great food, traveling, volunteering in her community, and cheering on the Golden State Warriors.

Kinga Czegeni, Stanbridge Board of Directors Chair
Kinga is the mother of a current Stanbridge student and is a special education expert and a Certified Anat Baniel Method Neuromovement® practitioner. She holds a master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in Physical and Health Impairments, as well as, a California teaching credential. Kinga entered the field of special education at the International Peto Institute in Budapest, Hungary. She graduated with High Honors with a degree in elementary education majoring in special education of children with motor disabilities. In 2002, Kinga graduated from the first Anat Baniel Method Training, based on the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais. She is a graduate of the Anat Baniel Method for Children, Vitality and Anti-Aging, and High Performers Mastery Programs. Kinga was a lecturer for over a decade at San Francisco State University, teaching on the Implications and Management of Physical Disabilities and Sensory Impairments. In 2005, Kinga was one of the founders of The Avalon Academy®, a model school, certified by the California Department of Education, dedicated to providing exceptional educational services for children with movement disorders, such as Cerebral Palsy. She stepped down as Executive Director in 2022, after seventeen years of service. Currently, Kinga dedicates her time and attention to her practice, MOV-MI, helping clients and families on their journey.

Jay Huston, Stanbridge Head of High School
Jay Huston has been a member of the Stanbridge Academy High School faculty for more than 20 years, teaching biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and design engineering. For nearly a decade, he has also served as Head of High School, providing academic and programmatic leadership across the division.

Jay holds two single subject teaching credentials and a Master of Arts in gifted education. His depth of experience in science and engineering instruction reflects Stanbridge's commitment to rigorous, hands-on learning for students with diverse learning profiles.

Having served under four heads of school, Jay brings an institutional perspective that is both broad and deeply rooted. He understands what has made Stanbridge distinctive over time and brings that knowledge to the search committee with a clear sense of the leadership qualities that will best serve students, faculty and families in the years ahead.

Aaron Ikezawa, Stanbridge Parent
Aaron is the father of two sons, including his eldest, Damian, who began attending Stanbridge in the summer of 2024. He brings over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, with a background spanning sales and operations leadership, product management, and consulting. Aaron began his career at Wells Fargo Bank, later helped build and launch national sales teams at Capital One, and went on to lead operations at regional financial institutions. He currently consults banks and credit unions through Vericast.

From 2020 to 2023, Aaron served on the Board of Directors for the Neighborhood Child Care Center, where he held the role of Treasurer. He holds a BA in American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he also competed on the NCAA Slug tennis team. A graduate of Junípero Serra High School, Aaron and his wife, Jennifer, returned to San Mateo in 2023, where they live with their two sons.  He is excited to continue to support and contribute to the growth of Stanbridge’s community.

Emily Mitchell, Stanbridge Director of Admissions
Emily joined Stanbridge in August 2024 as Director of Admissions, bringing more than 20 years of experience as an elementary educator. She has carried her lifelong love of learning and deep classroom experience into her work with the administrative team. Emily is passionate about partnering with families to find the right school fit for each child academically, socially, and emotionally.

In addition to her enthusiasm for curriculum design, Emily is deeply committed to Design Thinking. During her time at Nueva, she coached the Design Institute for 13 summers and continues to enjoy collaborating with teachers to develop innovative, project-based learning experiences through this lens.

Emily earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lafayette College and a Master’s degree in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Kent, and their two teenage daughters, Madison and Ashley. She is also an avid Boston sports fan and looks forward each summer to attending a game at Fenway Park.

Lynette Mullens, Stanbridge Board of Directors
Lynette is the Co-Founder and former Co-Executive Director of The Avalon Academy, a model school founded in 2005 for children and young adults with movement disorders such as cerebral palsy. She currently serves as Board Chair at Avalon. Lynette graduated with a degree in Medicine (M.B., B.S.) from the University of London, England, in 1987. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the same university in 1993 and subsequently joined the headquarters of GlaxoWellcome, a major multinational pharmaceutical company where she specialized in clinical research and development of drugs for the treatment of neurologic and psychiatric disorders. After moving with her family to California in 1999, Lynette’s focus pivoted to special education to help fulfill the needs of her eldest child who has cerebral palsy.

Diane Rosenberg, Community Member
Diane served as head of The Nueva School from 2001 to 2020, growing enrollment from 317 to 950 students and leading the school's expansion to include a grades 9–12 upper school. During her tenure, she launched Nueva's Innovation Lab in partnership with Stanford University's d.school, founded the Common Ground Speakers' Series and led three successful capital campaigns. Nueva was recognized as an Ashoka Changemaker, Apple Distinguished Program, National Blue Ribbon recipient and Green Ribbon Schools recipient under her leadership.

Before Nueva, Diane held senior leadership roles at Princeton Day School and The Park School in Baltimore, spanning admissions, division leadership and classroom teaching. She also served as interim head of school at Phillips Brooks School.
Most recently, Diane served as founding head of school at Butterfly Grove, an independent school committed to inclusive learning environments for children with autism. She is a founding member of the Mastery Transcript Consortium and has received fellowships from the Fulbright Memorial Fund, the Klingenstein program at Columbia University and the National Science Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and psychology from Kalamazoo College.

Greg Waldorf, Stanbridge Parent
Greg is a Lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business where he has been on the faculty since 2019. Throughout his career, as a CEO, board member, founder and investor, he has helped companies become global leaders in their respective industries.

Greg most recently served as CEO of Invoice2go (acquired by Bill.com), where his team revolutionized how the world’s smallest businesses work. Greg currently serves as a Senior Advisor at Sixth Street Partners and Westbound Equity. He also sits on the board of Virta Health.

Greg is the father of three children. His youngest, Gigi, is a student at Stanbridge.

SEARCH FIRM
The board has retained 12M Recruiting to serve as search consultant for this process. 12M is an executive search firm that has served independent schools since 2015 and brings a particular commitment to diversity, intentionality and mission alignment to every search.

REFERRALS AND QUESTIONS
We welcome candidate referrals and questions from the community throughout this process. Contact the search committee at headsearch@stanbridgeacademy.org.

UPDATES
This section will grow as the search progresses. All community communications related to the search will be archived here.

• August 11, 2026 - email sent to Stanbridge community with timeline for quarterfinal interviews and other search updates. Read the email here:

• June 3, 2026 - email sent to Stanbridge community announcing that Head of School job posting is now live. Read the email here.

• June 1, 2026 - applications for the Stanbridge Head of School position are now being accepted. Read the opportunity statement here.

• May 15, 2026 - email sent to Stanbridge community with initial findings from 12M's discovery phase, and announcement of search committee. Read the email here.

• May 8, 2026 - email sent to Stanbridge community with reminders about upcoming opportunities for live input sharing and the community survey. Read the email here.

• May 4, 2026 - email sent to Stanbridge community about upcoming opportunities for community members to share their input and perspectives with the search firm. Read community email here.

• April 22, 2026 - announcements shared with Stanbridge community. Read Julie Smith's letter and Kinga Czegeni's letters.