Sandy Mackie, Board President
Sandy is a California native and long-time resident of San Diego. She has worked for the Lakeside Union School District for over 20 years as a Special Education Resource Specialist. She has been committed to peaceful conflict resolution in the schools through Peace Patrol, Peaceful Playgrounds and PeaceBuilders. Her school PTA and the PeaceBuilders organization recognized her for her dedication to these causes. Sandy has a life-long passion for the arts and dance, both as a participant and supporter. For more than two years, she acted as the Chair of the Board for the San Diego Center for the Moving Arts. Sandy is also involved in local and global issues that include the environment and poverty.
Marti Hess, Board Vice-Preseident
Marti has been involved in the non-profit sector since 1991. Her career has spanned a variety of duties, from program management to fundraising and development to her current position as Executive Director of a non-profit after school provider. She has procured over $10M in grant funding and has been involved in the planning of several highly successful fundraising events. Although she has never been a dancer herself, Marti appreciates and supports the innovative style of Eveoke’s performances and the high quality of its educational programming. Marti lives in Point Loma with her husband Jack.
Stephen Shushan, Board Treasurer
Stephen served as Business Manager (1985-1990) and Assistant Stadium Manager (1990-2003) at Qualcomm Stadium. He served as the City’s representative at PETCO Park to ensure that the City’s interests and responsibilities were properly addressed, establishing policies and procedures for the implementation of the agreements between the City and Padres. He retired from the City of San Diego in 2005. Current activities include serving as Operations Manager for the December Nights Event in Balboa Park (attended by 300,000 people), as a Board Member for the YMCA’S Youth and Family Services Program, and as a Committee member for the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowl Games.
Jake Edmondson, Board Secretary
Jake works as an Instructional Designer at Qualcomm, Inc. and an eLearning Architect at Memec, Inc. As a member of the Information Design and Training team, Jake currently serves as the team lead for 15 products and services, planning and designing training and documentation for internal and external Qualcomm customers; as a developer, he creates web-based tutorials, develops help systems, teaches webinars, and develops just-in-time performance support tools.
Paula Herring, Board Member
Paula earned her M.B.A. degree is from the University of Phoenix, and B.A.’s from Luther College in Public Communication and Political Science. Currently, she is a learning and development specialist for Bridgepoint Education. Past positions include Director of Academics and Director of Career Development Services and Academic Administration at California School of International Management, a business school for International students in San Diego, a Branch Manager for Newark Electronics in San Diego, and a consultant for the company in Chicago. She is adjunct faculty for University of Phoenix, Keller Graduate School of Business, Devry University and Webster University.Past board positions include the Parkinson’s Disease Association of San Diego Board of Directors, Sledgehammer Theatre, and for Survivors of Torture International.
Al Irvine, Board Member
An entrepreneur and pioneering computer scientist, Mr. Irvine has been in the computer industry since 1956. In 1984 Mr. Irvine founded, and is President of Eclectic Solutions Consulting—an information systems consulting organization. His degrees are in mathematics with minors in philosophy, English and physics. Mr. Irvine has published many technical papers, testified before Congress and been an invited member of two National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council panels: The Committee on the IRS [$8 Billion] Tax System Modernization and The Panel on Research on Future [2010] Census Methods. From 1990 to 1997 he was a member of the Board of Teatro Máscara Mágica, and served as the President of the Board for three of those years. He joined the Board of Trustees of the San Diego REPertory Theatre in 1988 and served on that Board for 15 years in the positions of Vice President, Membership Chair and Secretary. In 2000, he joined the Board of Trustees of Eveoke Dance Theatre serving as a Trustee and Treasurer through 2003. He briefly chaired the Advisory Board of the Common Ground Theatre in 2005. He has been awarded three “Star” awards.
Alynn Silliman, Board Member
With an 11-year diverse background in human resources, management, inside/outside sales, marketing and business development, Alynn started Right Hand Girl, a company with the small and new business owner in mind. Her passion is providing the small business with an extra set of hands and a fresh perspective without the cost and commitment of a full time employee; salary, benefits, workers comp and more.
Greg Wilson, Board Member
Greg has been in public accounting since 1980 and founded Wilson & Associates, CPAs in 1983. His experience includes: Preparation of Complex Tax Returns including Partnership, Corporation, Estate, and Fiduciary; Certified Audits of 401 (k), Mortgage Broker/FHA, HUD real estate projects, and various Non Profit groups; Management advisory, Complex Real Estate transactions; and is a Court Approved Expert Witness in complex business transactions. Greg leverages tax strategies to promote business and personal tax planning to help his clients achieve their goals. Greg graduated from Cal-State University Northridge in 1978 with a degree in Accounting.
