BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Cabrillo Education Foundation (CEF) is led by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of corporate and community leaders who donate their time and talent to helping fund the quality education these students deserve.

Advisory Committees

Endowment Allocation Committee, Chairperson, Valerie Dubois
Endowment Investment Advisory Committee, Chairperson, John Ediger
Events Committee, Chairperson, Michele Hannegan
Governance Committee, Chairperson, Rob Kuiper
Technology Committee, Chairperson, Chris Dobbrow
Donor Development, Chairperson, Diane Brosin

Bios

Michele Hannegan – President

Michele Hannegan joined the Cabrillo Education Foundation Board in 2008 as the mother of pre-school age children and a new member of the Half Moon Bay community. Prior to moving to the Coastside in 2007, Michele was a professional communications specialist active in a variety of political and media-related positions. After starting her career on a California gubernatorial campaign, she moved to Washington DC in 1998 where she briefly served as an editorial assistant to Robert Novak (Evans and Novak; CNN’s Crossfire) before moving to the Republican National Committee (RNC) where she served as Press Secretary for the RNC’s Co-Chairman. Following the 1998 elections, she became Press Secretary for the Presidential Inaugural Committee and then held a similar position at the U.S. Department of Labor.

In 2000, Michele returned to her hometown of Sacramento to take a communications position with the California State Assembly, eventually returning to the campaign trail with Californians for Schwarzenegger. Following the successful 2002 campaign, Michele took a position as Communications Director for the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) where she gained expertise in environmental policy. Two years later, Michele returned to Washington DC as the Communications Director for the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) under President George W. Bush.

Upon her arrival on the Coastside, Michele immediately got involved in community activities with her children’s future in mind. Michele gained non-profit experience as the Communications Associate for the Stewardship Council, a private foundation dedicated to land conservation and environmental programs for California youth. She also served as a member of the Coastside Mothers’ Club Board of Directors from 2007-2009. Michele resides in Half Moon Bay with her husband Bryan and their two daughters.

John Ediger – Vice President, Endowment Growth

John joined the board of Cabrillo Education Foundation in 2005. He held the position of President from 2007 to 2009, and is currently Vice President of Endowment Growth.

He moved to the coast in 1999 for many reasons including to start a family in a place with a great community and excellent public schools. He has been involved in the public schools for years in a variety of ways including volunteering in the classroom, participating on the CUSD strategic planning committee, and joining CEF to start an endowment fund for ongoing sustained funding for continuous improvement of our local education.

John is a product of public schools and believes whole-heartedly that the success of our community and our country is dependent upon how strong our public schools are, and that this is dependent upon the involvement and dedication of the community. With a B.S. in Computer Science, an M.S. in Engineering Management, and MBA work from Santa Clara University, he has worked in the start-up world and various engineering and management roles at Hewlett Packard, currently as IT Director.

John is also on the board of HMB Little League, coaches multiple local kids’ basketball teams, loves sports, photography, skiing, and spends as much time as possible with his wife and three kids.

Diane Brosin - Acting Secretary

Diane has spent more than thirty years on the coast during which she’s volunteered for several community nonprofit groups, and been a board member for Coastside Child Development Center and Elkus Ranch.  Starting out as a foods chemist, her professional background includes sales, marketing and general management for various scientific instrument and leasing companies.

She lives with her husband and her son, who attends Half Moon Bay High. Many of her spare time activities revolve around her love of cooking, good food and our wonderland of delicious local ingredients.

Deb Hedger – Director

Deborah Hedger joined the board of Cabrillo Education Foundation in 2011. Deb has been involved with local public schools since 2008 when her daughter began school at Hatch Elementary. She was elected president of the Hatch Elementary Parent Teacher Organization for 2010-2011, and served as secretary of the board for 2009-2010.

In 2001, Deb moved to Half Moon Bay with her spouse, Jenny Walter. After the birth of their daughter in 2003, Deb transitioned her practice of law to part-time, and is corporate counsel for a family-owned electronics manufacturing business located in North Dakota . Previously, she worked for the State of California as counsel for death row inmates at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center and in juvenile court representing parties in abuse and neglect and delinquency cases, both at the trial and appellate levels. She is admitted to the bar in California and North Dakota , the United States District Court Northern District of California, United States Court of Appeals, 9th District, and the United States Supreme Court.

Deb was educated in public schools throughout her life, and graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law and the University of Arizona . She remains deeply committed to the issues confronting the youth of our community and our public schools.

Mike Alifano – Director

Mike was born and raised in Half Moon Bay, CA. He attended the local public schools and graduated from Half Moon Bay High School in 1990. Mike pursued a career in technology in Silicon Valley for 10 years before starting his own company, Alifano Technologies in 2000. Alifano Technologies focuses on providing leading-edge technology support to all Coastside home users and small businesses. Over the last 10 years Mike has successfully grown his business from a one-man operation to a staff of 15 employees; he is proud that all his employees can both work and live in our Coastside Community. Mike, his wife Cortney and father Allan, operate their computer sales and service business at their new location 225 Main St. in downtown Half Moon Bay.

Recently he was appointed as a Director for the Coastside Fire Protection district. Along with serving as a Director on the Board the Cabrillo Education Foundation, Mike is also on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club the Coastside, and Coastside HOPE. He is also a committee member of the Coastside Young Professionals, HMB Police Chief’s Advisory Committee, as well as an active supporter in the Police Athletics League. Mike’s political experience began in 2009 when he managed his father successful election to the Half Moon Bay City Council. Most recently he managed the successful election of Rob Pappalardo to the CUSD School Board. He was the Technology Chair for FOCUS (Friends of Cabrillo Schools) for the Yes on Measure E campaign. Following the successful passage of Measure E he was appointed to the CUSD Measure E Citizen’s Oversight Committee. He is also an active member of the HMB Business Improvement Development Committee.

Mike and his wife Cortney have a 3 year old daughter, Gianna, and just had a baby boy named Nico in November 2010. He is an avid surfer and loves to snow and wake board in his spare time. Other hobbies include motorcycles, mountain biking but his passion for computers, technology and gadgets make him tick.

Jill Ballard - Director

Jill Ballard has lived on the coast since 1974 when she and her husband completed building their first coastside home. Both of her children attended coastside schools, went on to 4 year universities and have themselves entered the field of education, one at Half Moon Bay High School and one at the University of California, Davis. She has been an English teacher in California public schools for 31 years and recently retired as English Dept chair at Half Moon Bay High School. She is actively involved as a volunteer with Coastside Hope in the Christmas Bureau and especially with the 2nd Harvest food distribution program. As a retiree, Jill and her husband have enjoyed traveling to places she has long wanted to visit. She also now has the time to read, garden and care for the many animals she and her husband have.

Christine Mendonca – Director

Christine joined the board of Cabrillo Education Foundation in the fall of 2004. She held
the position of Secretary from 2005 to 2009 and was President from 2009 through 2011.

Christine has been involved with the local public schools since 1993. In 1994, Christine and six others formed the Farallone View Elementary School Education Foundation, and she served on the board until 1999. As her daughters progressed through Cabrillo Unified School District, so did Christine. In 2000 she became a board member of Cunha Intermediate School Education Foundation and served as its president from 2002-2005. From 2002-2009 Christine has been a member of the Half Moon Bay High School Site Council and served as president from 2005-2009. In 2006 and 2009 Christine served as co-chair of Half Moon Bay High School Safe and Sober Grad Night.

Christine has lived on the coast since 1989 with her husband and their two daughters. In July of 2000, Christine, her husband Lenny and a few coastside friends opened up Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

2009-current Christine serves on the Business Advisory Board of United American Bank

Awards:

Recipient of the 2009 Dolores Mullin "Like A Rock" Award, HMB Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors' Bureau Farm Day Lunch

Recipient of the 2006 Mary Jane Murphy Award, HMB High School Associated Student Body

Valerie Dubois - Director

Valerie Dubois joined the board of the Cabrillo Education foundation in 2012, after serving as a member of the allocation committee for the Endowment Fund in 2011 and 2012.

Valerie grew up in Wisconsin, is a product of the public school system there and is a passionate supporter of ensuring a high quality public education is available to everyone. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and spent 5 years working at GE Healthcare before moving to California and settling on the coast near her two sisters. She is currently working part time for Oracle Corporation in product strategy for their Supply Chain Applications.

She and her husband Tim have two children, both attending CUSD schools. She was a member of the board of directors for the Farallone View Ed Fund, where she led the effort to consolidate the two existing parent groups into a single, unified Parent Teacher Organization. She then served as the Vice President of Fundraising for the PTO for two years. In her free time, Valerie loves camping, biking, hiking, reading, traveling and spending as much time as possible with her family.