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https://www.seq.org/ABOUT-US/Board-of-Trustees/Trustees/
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Sequoia Union High School District

Trustees

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW

Members of the Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees are elected by the general population. Board members are elected to four-year terms. Student Advisory Council (SAC) members rotate to attend Board Meetings as Student Board Members and serve a one-year term.
 
Position Name (click name to send email) Trustee Area Term End Date
Board President Sathvik Nori D 2026
Board Vice President/Clerk Amy Koo A 2026
Board Member Rich Ginn C 2028
Board Member Mary Beth Thompson B 2028
Board Member Dr. Maria E. Cruz E 2028
Student Board Member SAC Rotation N/A End of 2024-25 school year
Student Board Member SAC Rotation N/A End of 2024-25 school year
 
The public may email all board members via board@seq.org 

Sathvik Nori

Sathvik Nori - Trustee
SATHVIK NORI
President
First joined board: December 2022
Current term ends: December 2026
Contact Information
Address: 480 James Ave., Redwood City, CA 94062
Email: snori@seq.org
 
District and Community Meetings Participation
Menlo Park 2x2
Menlo Park 2x2x2
 
Biography
Sathvik is a product of San Mateo County public schools. Sathvik lived across the bay in Fremont until he was 12, when his family moved to the Mid-Peninsula. Sathvik graduated from Hillview Middle School and attended Menlo-Atherton High School, graduating in the class of 2021. While at M-A, Sathvik played Basketball, until two meniscus surgeries forced him to prematurely retire and pursue other activities like Debate and Journalism. During his Senior year, Sathvik served as the student trustee of the district in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, where he saw first hand the importance of having a school board accountable to the needs of our diverse community. As a recent graduate, Sathvik wants to continue to center the student experience and perspective in all decisions taken by the board to ensure that everyone has as great of an experience in SUHSD as he did. Sathvik is also a commissioner on the San Mateo County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission where he serves as a public watchdog for incarcerated youth in the county. Sathvik currently attends Stanford University. In his free time he loves to read, spend time with friends, travel, and try new food around the Bay Area.

Amy Koo

Amy Koo- Trustee
AMY KOO
Vice President/Clerk
First joined board: December 2022
Current term ends: December 2026
Contact Information
Address: 480 James Ave., Redwood City, CA 94062
Email: akoo@seq.org
 
District and Community Meetings Participation 
BRSSD/Sequoia 2x2
Budget
Strategic Plan Implementation Committee
Wellness Advisory Committee
Sustainability (student led committee)
 
Biography
Amy Koo was elected to the Sequoia Union High School District Board in 2022 and previously served on the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District Board from 2013 to 2022.  Amy lives in Redwood Shores with her husband and two sons who attend public schools.   She believes that every child can be successful if we can tap into each child's strengths and passions and provide appropriate support.  Her current priorities are to improve the district's communication, engagement, and collaboration with stakeholders, ensure efficient operations, and recruit and retain great teachers from diverse backgrounds. 
 
Amy is a board member with the Asian Pacific Islander School Board Members Association (APISBMA), was previously the Director at Large, Asian Pacific Islander for the California School Boards Association (CSBA), and a past co-chair of the San Mateo County School Board Association Kent Awards.  Amy is a financial professional who helps families learn how to manage their money and reach their financial goals and would love to see students attend a best fit college without worrying about how to pay for it.  She previously worked at Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Foster City and held positions in Marketing, Managed Markets Analytics, and Trade Operations. She served for three years on the leadership team of the Women at Gilead employee resource group which supports the career growth of women.  She has a passion for ensuring that everyone reaches their full potential through a safe, inclusive, and collaborative environment.  
 
Amy is a 4th generation San Franciscan who holds a BS degree from MIT and MBA/MS degrees from Stanford. In her spare time, she enjoys singing/music, volleyball, traveling, and cheering for the SF Giants and 49ers. 

Richard Ginn

 
RICH GINN
Member
First joined board: December 2020
Current term ends: December 2028
 
Contact Information
Address: 480 James Avenue, Redwood City, CA 94062
 
District & Community Meetings Participation
Budget
Strategic Plan Implementation Committee
Redwood City 2x2x2
Redwood City Together
County Committee on School District Organization (CCSDO)
 
Biography
Rich Ginn served two terms (2010-2018) on the governing board of the Las Lomitas Elementary
School District.

Rich was born and raised in West Covina, CA by parents who both worked in the
Hacienda La Puente School District. His mom taught several different elementary
school grades and his dad was the school psychologist. Rich has one sister who works
as a physical therapist, mainly with senior citizens, in San Bernadino County.
Rich attended the local public schools K-12, then moved to the Bay Area to attend
Stanford. At Stanford, he pursued a co-term program and earned an undergraduate
degree in Quantitative Economics and a Masters in Engineering.

After Stanford, Rich joined Decision Focus, a consulting firm in Mountain View, CA that
specialized in developing algorithms for recurring decision situations and implementing
those algorithms in custom software developed for the firm’s clients.

Next, Rich was recruited to be the first full-time employee of a new Philips Electronics
division that built the first app store. The idea was to have the first-mover advantage in
the soon-to-be huge market for Windows CE applications. Unfortunately, Windows CE
devices never achieved wide-spread adoption.

From 1998-2000 Rich pursued an MBA at UCLA with a focus on finance and
accounting. In 1999, he served as an intern at Costella Kirsch
(www.costellakirsch.com), a Menlo Park based finance company founded in 1986 which
provides structured debt capital to start-up companies. Rich continued to work part-time
for the firm during his second year of business school then joined full-time in June 2000.
He became Managing Director and CFO of the firm a few years later and continues in
that role today.

Rich lives in Menlo Park, CA with his wife, two kids, and a very cute labradoodle. He
enjoys outdoor activities, especially running and biking.

Mary Beth Thompson

MARY BETH THOMPSON
Member
First joined board: December 2024
Current term ends: December 2028
Contact Information
Address: 480 James Ave., Redwood City CA 94064
Phone: 
 
District & Community Meetings Participation
BRSSD/SUHSD 2x2
Wellness Advisory Committee
RCSD/City of Redwood City/SUHSD 2x2x2
Redwood City Together
 
Biography
 
 
 
 

Dr. Maria E. Cruz

DR. MARIA E. CRUZ
Member
First joined the board: December 2024
Current term ends: December 2028
Contact Information
Address: 480 James Ave., Redwood City, CA 94062
Email:  mecruz@seq.org
 
District and Community Meetings Participation
Menlo Park 2x2
Menlo Park 2x2x2
Ravenswood 2x2
Ravenswood 2x2x2
 
Biography
Dr. Maria E. Cruz is a first-generation descendant of the Wixáritari (Huichol Indigenous Mexican people) and was born in Northern California. Dr. Cruz is the first in her family to graduate from college. In 2004, she graduated from UC Berkeley with an English major. In 2007, she received her Master's in Social Cultural Anthropology from the University of Texas Austin. In 2013, she also received her Ph.D. from the same department, and as a doctoral student, Dr. Cruz was awarded the National Science Foundation Award. Dr Cruz teaches Indigenous and Mexican American Oral History/Tradition and Testimonio in the Chicana/o Studies (CCS) department at San Jose State University, CA.

Additionally, Dr. Cruz directs the Aspire/McNair Scholars (TRIO) Programs, which support first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students, helping them with retention and graduation and developing undergraduate research skills to pursue Ph.D. programs nationwide. In addition to being an educator, Dr. Cruz is also a mother to a freshman in high school at Menlo Atherton High School. Dr. Cruz is honored and grateful to represent the diverse population in Area E for the Sequoia Union High School District.