Board of Directors
Shawn Seaton
ISA Trustee Emeritus
Shawn has spent 28 years as a chief executive officer and chief information officer in self – founded companies. Shawn has always had the belief that technology should serve us to enable better lives. In particular, education technology can allow everyone to experience the same great teachers and concept teaching methodologies.
Shawn originally founded Skillquest Computer Training Ltd. in 1992 in Vancouver, Canada as one of the first Internet training companies. Later expanding into the United States, Shawn founded Skillquest Corporation. Skillquest consulted on web development and infrastructure for companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Boeing, Thiokol, Royal Bank of Canada, Ikea, Kaiser Permanente, Bell Canada, and Telus. Shawn has enjoyed being a speaker at many IBM conferences throughout the world and continues to push the idea that education can happen anytime, anywhere. A native of Vancouver, Canada, he currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Shawn Seaton holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering degree from University of Victoria and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Shawn served as president of the DC Ranch Association board for 3 years and loved serving his community while saving $1.1 million in assessments and bringing civility back to the staff, residents and board members. Currently Shawn is serving as the International School of Arizona board chairman for his second 2 year term over 10 years.
Stephanie Hughes
ISA Board Treasurer
Stephanie received her bachelor’s degree in finance from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business and is currently an active member and board member of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO). She is a true entrepreneur and involved in many different businesses and opportunities. She believes you should always be learning and is committed to investing in personal and professional growth. As she strives to be a teaching leader, she genuinely hopes to have an impact on people that inspires their growth, dedication, and perseverance. She is a 4th generation native to Arizona, has a loving family with 4 kids, and loves to travel, and be outdoors creating amazing life experiences. She has three boys attending ISA in the Spanish track and has been a family at the school for 7 years.
Gurpreet Takher
ISA Board Chair
His most recent journey has led him to found Happy Lab Media, a company focused on creating stories that represent underrepresented children and families so that every child can see themselves in the books, shows and movies they see.
Gurpreet has worked in education by teaching middle school in Baltimore City and by working with disadvantaged youth to help them graduate high school and get into college. He is committed to the idea that giving back and helping others is one of the most noble actions humans can do. He has put this into practice by continuously volunteering and advocating for families and children at risk and in need as well as having raising guide dogs for the blind.
He and his wife have two children at ISA in the French Track.
Heath Whetsel
ISA Board Trustee
Heath has worked in the financial services industry since 2000. Prior to that, he served 5 years in the U.S. Army with the Armored Cavalry in Germany and California – along with 2 deployments to former Yugoslavia. Heath received his bachelor’s degree in Business Finance from Western International University. He is also a lifetime member of Disabled Veterans of America.
Heath resides in Phoenix and in his spare time he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife Theresa, son Christian, daughter Sarah and son-in-law Peter.
Eric Glass
ISA Board Trustee
Eric has a BS in Finance and Accounting from Iowa State University (Ivy College of Business) and an MBA in Finance from the University of Minnesota (Carlson School of Business). He also holds the CFA, CPA, and CAIA designations.
Eric is a Board member for the John “Jack” Trice Foundation and has been an active volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club, Junior Achievement, Habitat for Humanity, and Feed My Starving Children. Eric and his wife Vanessa are also the proud parents of two young boys.
Kyle Edrington
ISA Board Vice Chair
Kyle holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and has a passion for understanding how to most effectively utilize data to engage all stakeholders and inform broader operational decisions. The strongest analytics are only as reasonable as the stories they can tell and the direct solutions they can offer.
Kyle and his wife, Jamie, have two daughters who have attended ISA in the French track since early childhood.
Kyle Edrington
Vice-Chair of ISA Board of Directors
Founder of Edrington Health Consulting
Kyle holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and has a passion for understanding how to most effectively utilize data to engage all stakeholders and inform broader operational decisions. The strongest analytics are only as reasonable as the stories they can tell and the direct solutions they can offer.
Kyle and his wife, Jamie, have two daughters who have attended ISA in the French track since early childhood.
Gurpreet Takher
Chair of ISA Board of Directors
ISA Board Member
His most recent journey has led him to found Happy Lab Media, a company focused on creating stories that represent underrepresented children and families so that every child can see themselves in the books, shows and movies they see.
Gurpreet has worked in education by teaching middle school in Baltimore City and by working with disadvantaged youth to help them graduate high school and get into college. He is committed to the idea that giving back and helping others is one of the most noble actions humans can do. He has put this into practice by continuously volunteering and advocating for families and children at risk and in need as well as having raising guide dogs for the blind.
He and his wife have two children at ISA in the French Track.
Errin Simpkins Travers
Sonia Bernaquez
Jim Kuykendall
ISA Board Member Secretary
ISA Board Trustee
Sonia Bernaquez is a Certified Professional Coach currently living and working in the Great Phoenix area. Her main areas of expertise as a coach are strategic management, professional development, leadership organizational, staff productivity, and crisis management. She is also an ACE Coach Accelerator Enhanced certified practitioner. She helps her clients overcome challenging situations in a straightforward and efficient approach.
As a Professional Coach, she has worked with small business owners in various field and high-level executives in major biopharmaceutical organizations. This year all of her clients had increasing revenue, some over 200%, despite the global crisis.
ISA Board Trustee
Prior to joining IBG Fox & Fin, Jim Kuykendall spent 20 years as a corporate attorney, corporate director, and business owner. Jim has worked on M&A transactions across the United States and in Mexico and Asia, with deal sizes ranging from $1 million to $1 billion. Jim worked on the ground in 11 countries in Asia as general counsel (Asia Pacific) for a multinational industrial minerals company. He also served as vice president and general counsel (North America) with the same company, and as sales director managed a $200 million budget selling industrial minerals to
Fortune 500 companies. He has experience in mining, industrial minerals, payments/banking, food and beverage, and utility industries.
Jim also owned and operated a successful Arizona business in the underground utility industry. Jim is a fourth-generation Phoenician and enjoys living in Arizona with his wife and three children. He has been a fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for 25 years and has completed marathons and was an avid swimmer for many years.
Errin holds a BS in Psychology from Howard University and a JD from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. Errin is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. She and her husband have two daughters who are enrolled in ISA in the French track and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Charlotte.
- ACE Coach Accelerator™ Enhanced Practitioner, 2021
- Myers-Briggs® personality type assessment certified, 2019
- University training and certification in Professional and Personal Coaching in accordance with the ICF (PPCC), 2015
- Certified in leadership Organizational , HEC Montreal, Canada, 2012
- Certified in business management, HEC Montreal, Canada, 2015
- Minor in psychology, UdeM, Montreal, Canada, 2015
- Bachelor Es Science HEC Montreal (UdeM)
- Interior Design Certification
- J.D., University of San Diego
- MBA, University of San Diego
- B.S., Business Administration-Finance, University of Arizona
Jim and his wife have three children who are enrolled in ISA in the Spanish track.
ISA Board of Trustees
As the ISA is a 501(c)(3) corporation, it has a governing board of directors. We encourage interested parties to learn more about the responsibilities of the Board and how to get involved.
Responsibilities of the Board of Directors
The Board consists of up to fourteen (14) members, who meet regularly and serve without compensation and is dedicated to the school’s mission of providing academic excellence through second language immersion. The Board has fiduciary responsibility for governance, policy-making, and strategic planning for our independent, private school.
The Board has 5 Specific Responsibilities:
- To select the Head of School (HOS), approve his/her compensation, and evaluate his/her performance annually.
- To delegate to the HOS administrative functions, including the authority to admit or dismiss students, as well as to appoint or remove employees.
- To monitor the school’s financial health and management, approve capital expenditures, adopt annual capital and operating budgets, hold major fundraising events, and otherwise take steps that may be necessary to protect the financial stability of the school.
- To define and promulgate the general policies for the school necessary for its effective operation, including financial, employment, operating and educational policies and procedures, and to ensure their effective implementation.
- To advise the HOS and require specific board approval on matters that may have a material effect on the educational or financial health of the school.
Now Enrolling for 2022-2023
Kyle Edrington
Vice-Chair of ISA Board of Directors
Founder of Edrington Health Consulting
Kyle holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and has a passion for understanding how to most effectively utilize data to engage all stakeholders and inform broader operational decisions. The strongest analytics are only as reasonable as the stories they can tell and the direct solutions they can offer.
Kyle and his wife, Jamie, have two daughters who have attended ISA in the French track since early childhood.
Gurpreet Takher
Chair of ISA Board of Directors
ISA Board Member
His most recent journey has led him to found Happy Lab Media, a company focused on creating stories that represent underrepresented children and families so that every child can see themselves in the books, shows and movies they see.
Gurpreet has worked in education by teaching middle school in Baltimore City and by working with disadvantaged youth to help them graduate high school and get into college. He is committed to the idea that giving back and helping others is one of the most noble actions humans can do. He has put this into practice by continuously volunteering and advocating for families and children at risk and in need as well as having raising guide dogs for the blind.
He and his wife have two children at ISA in the French Track.