Board of Trustees

BOARD CHAIR
boardchair@gardnerschool.org

Heidi DeWitt is a business operations strategist and marketing leader who brings more than a decade of corporate and entrepreneurial experience to her role as Board Chair of The Gardner School of Arts & Sciences. She holds an MBA from the University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business (Beta Gamma Sigma) and a BBA in Finance and Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Heidi spent much of her career at HP, where she led demand-generation programs, financial forecasting, and global go-to-market initiatives, followed by a role as Senior Manager of Business Operations at Rivian, where she built a business operations function from the ground up. Today she directs marketing and operations for Jared Ritz Real Estate / Country Broker — the family's Southwest Washington rural and land brokerage.

A Clark County resident and mother of three, Heidi is passionate about education and community, and she brings the same blend of strategic rigor and creativity to the Gardner School board that has defined her career.

VICE CHAIR

Sarah Grenert-Funk is the Head of Upper School at Oregon Episcopal School (OES) in Portland, Oregon. She has also been a classroom teacher, dorm parent, advisor, and lacrosse and basketball coach. Sarah earned her bachelor of arts in English from Middlebury College. She also holds a Master of Arts in English from Middlebury College's Breadloaf School of English. Before joining OES, Sarah taught English at Birch Wathen Lenox School in New York City and worked in book publishing. She and her husband, Joe, have two young children.

TRUSTEE

Kelsey Smith is currently a staff accountant at Integrated Tax Services and specializes in preparing nonprofit tax returns. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a focus in Accounting from Washington State University Vancouver.  In her free time she enjoys binge watching foreign films, drawing, lap swimming, and playing electric guitar.

TRUSTEE and AUCTION COMMITTEE CHAIR, Gardner Parent

Susan Melton is the proprietor of a small business specializing in 3D printing. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Western Oregon University. She has two children enrolled at Gardner School. Susan's diverse professional background includes roles as a zookeeper, 911 dispatcher, and SharePoint consultant.

TRUSTEE

Nina Parikh is the Health Director and Parent Engagement Coordinator at Oregon Episcopal School, where she also coordinates and supports the school's strategic planning efforts. Previously, she worked at CareMessage, a health technology nonprofit, where she served as Director of Research and Director of Product. Nina began her career as a high school biology teacher in Chicago Public Schools and a Program Director for OneGoal. She holds a Master of Public Health from Washington University in St. Louis, a Master of Arts in Teaching from National-Louis University and a B.S. from the University of Oregon.

TREASURER

Lisa Heath has 20 years of experience in marketing and business development in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing from Montana State University. Lisa enjoys traveling with her husband and two daughters, gardening, and home remodeling projects.

TRUSTEE, DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR

Susan Pulley is the Associate Head of School at Abiqua School in Salem, Oregon. She leads the Admissions and Advancement Teams and is trained in Dyslexia support. Her special interest is equity in access to education. Susan holds a Bachelor of Arts from California State University Stanislaus and a Masters in Education from Southern Oregon University.

SECRETARY and GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE CHAIR, Gardner Parent

Anthony Stark is an attorney with 17 years of experience, including having spent the last decade as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Vancouver-based ZoomInfo (Nasdaq:GTM). He received his J.D. from Cornell Law School after majoring in Computer Engineering at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Anthony and his wife Sarah have three children attending Gardner School as of the Fall of 2025. In his spare time he enjoys singing while playing the guitar or the piano and being a movie nerd. 

TRUSTEE

Damaris Martinez-Guzman is a Mexican-American Latina born and raised in Hood River, Oregon, with roots in Colima and Nayarit, Mexico. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and Spanish from Western Oregon University, where she began her career in event coordination, working with Latino programs.

Damaris has previously worked with both corporate and nonprofit organizations that support underrepresented communities, a passion she discovered early in her career. She has been with the Chamber for over 2 years and serves as the Events and Operations Manager, where she is dedicated to supporting the organization and its mission through her work.