Courtyard School Board of Directors
(as of January,
2008)
Chris Carter, Chair
Chris and
his partner Peter are in their 8th year as Courtyard parents. Chris spends his workdays on campus at UC
Davis where he is a budget policy official advising campus leaders
on issues that involve graduate professional schools and student fees. Outside of work, Chris and Peter dedicate
time to their vintage Sacramento home and supporting their son’s play on a
year-round, competitive baseball team.
It’s a good thing they enjoy baseball!
The family also fosters newly weaned kittens for the county animal
shelter until they are old enough to be altered and placed for adoption.
Franco Garcia, Vice-Chair
Franco
Garcia is a long-time real estate owner/broker.
His firm, Garcia Realty, was Northern California’s first Hispanic
brokerage. His knowledge of the city
planning process has been integral to Courtyard as the school purchased and
moved to its current, permanent site. He
is a member of the national, California and Sacramento realtors’ associations
and serves as a board member of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
fundraising committee. He is a regular
helping hand with Habitat for Humanity and enjoys traveling, music, and guitar
playing. He and his wife, Dorothy, are
thirteen year residents of Midtown where they are raising Sebastian (3rd
grade) and Emika (future Courtyard kindergartner),
and dog, Lottie.
Marc Porter, Treasurer
Marc Porter brings to Courtyard construction and
facilities knowledge from his ten years plus as a residential sales manager for
Carrier Corp. He has a passion for all
things Sacramento having been a fourteen year resident of Midtown Sacramento
within a short distance from the school.
He is an ardent Kings’ fan and season ticket holder, loves to cook,
enjoys great wine, and being able to live in a city where he can walk to great
restaurants. He spends much of his
free-time coaching soccer, both at Courtyard and the East Sacramento soccer
league. Marc and his wife Jenni have
sons Ryan, a Courtyard student, and Michael, who will join the Courtyard family
in 2008 when he enters kindergarten.
Julie Sauls, Secretary
Julie Sauls has over a decade of professional political
experience concentrating her time within the Capitol arena and has worked with
members of the legislature to develop both their political and policy
strategy. Julie currently serves as the Vice President of External
Affairs for the California Trucking Association. She and her husband Jeff
reside in the Natomas area with their two children
Jack (2nd grade) and Matthew (future kindergartner) and their
Beagle, Lucy. Julie enjoys travel especially to destinations near a
beach, watching her children play sports and learn. She coaches her youngest son in soccer and
spends her free time in the garden and cooking.
Jacob Appelsmith
Jacob Appelsmith and his wife Beth have lived in a Victorian
on Capitol Avenue for fifteen years. Jacob has been a litigator for 20
years, and he is currently the statewide head of the California Attorney
General's employment-law section, managing the work of more than 100 attorneys
and paralegals. He is a Berkeley native, and he loves all things Midtown,
especially Courtyard. He plays in several garage bands,
including his kindergarten daughter Violet's band, The Black Tomato.
Corey Brown
Corey Brown is an attorney with more than twenty-five years of
experience working with nonprofit organizations on environmental protection
issues. He spent more than eighteen years as a conservation advocate urging the
State Legislature and various agencies to adopt stronger conservation policies.
He now works for the Resources Law Group which assists private foundations and
individual donors in achieving permanent conservation successes and formerly
served on the faculty of the McGeorge Law School
where he taught the Legislation and the Law of Politics Course. He lives in
Midtown with his wife Marcy and daughter Natalie (1st grade). The
family enjoys travelling, hiking, bicycling the
American River Parkway, and spending time with Courtyard families and other
friends.
Connie Sanders Emerson
conniesandersemerson@earthlink.net
Connie Sanders Emerson has over twenty years professional
political and non-profit fundraising experience with an emphasis on development
and execution of statewide and national fundraising programs generating funds
for budgets of up to $20 million. She
served as Western States Finance Director to President Bill Clinton and
currently focuses her time and energy on clients serving in and or running for
the California State Legislature, in addition to a small number of non-profit
organizations. She and her children and
Courtyard students, Sophie and Mack, and their Bernese Mountain
Dog, Harper, treasure their 1911 Craftsman bungalow located in East
Sacramento. She enjoys travel, politics,
Arts & Crafts-period furniture and architecture, and watching Katharine
Hepburn and Alfred Hitchcock films.
Amy Halloran
Amy Halloran has over ten
years of legal experience and currently is an attorney with the Sacramento
office of Hanson, Bridgett, Marcus, Vlahos &
Rudy. Her practice
focuses on estate and tax planning for individuals and families as well as
business succession planning and wealth preservation. Amy has served on the Board of People
Reaching Out ("PRO"), a Sacramento non-profit dedicated to the
prevention of substance use and abuse by youth; she is currently working with PRO to develop
its Planned Giving Program. Amy is
raising two daughters, Jillian (1st) and Delaney (a future K), with
her husband, Pete, in Arden Park. The
family enjoys hiking, cooking and Disneyland!
Paul Nolfo
Paul is married
to Tamu whose son, Miles Mitchell, is in the 5th
grade, and together they have Joseph (aka Joey), a lively one year old and
future Courtyard kindergartner. Paul is
originally from Brooklyn, New York and has lived in Sacramento for nearly 20
years. He has worked in the nonprofit
arena for his entire career with arts, social service and youth development
organizations. Currently Paul and Tamu have a
consulting firm that partners with public institutions
and nonprofits to apply knowledge for community wellness. They provide strategic planning, program
development and capacity building services.