Executive Team

Jeff Williams
Chief Executive Officer 		Jeff Williams founded this company in February 2003. He has brought it to its current level of expertise and industry leadership by instituting rigorous management, fiscal and accounting standards, by taking an aggressive approach to legislation on behalf of the company's clients, and by assembling a team of the most respected professionals from the education sector, business world and legislative arena. A longtime business accountant who specialized in rapidly growing small businesses, he worked with the prestigious firms of Ernst & Young, and Schultze, Wallace & O'Neil. Mr. Williams holds a master's degree in finance from California State University San Diego, where he also served on the faculty, as well as a master's degree in taxation from Golden Gate University. His undergraduate degree is from Santa Clara University, and he earned his CPA certification in 1987. In addition to supporting a number of philanthropic causes, he currently serves on the board and executive committee of the Sacramento Theatre Company, and is also active with the American Diabetes Association, focusing his fundraising efforts on juvenile diabetes and Tour for the Cure.

Susan Cook
Chief Operations Officer 		A noted industry expert in line management operations, individual and team coaching, and organizational alignment to meet critical goals, Susan Cook served as General Manager for AT&T Business Systems, and as a vice president and general manager at ARC, Inc. Ms. Cook has owned a successful consulting business as well, which provided CEO coaching, executive and management training, organizational and managerial effectiveness, and organizational design. Her clients included high-growth companies and companies in transition. She holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and has written a number of articles on conflict management, service and business management issues for trade publications.

Kevin Gordon
President 		Widely viewed as among the top education advocates in California, Mr. Gordon is President of School Innovations and Advocacy. Along with CEO Jeff Williams, Gordon leads our company's efforts to provide the very best services available to school agencies across budget and finance, curriculum and instruction, categorical programs, human resource management, school facilities construction and education technology. The longtime Executive Director of the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), Mr. Gordon previously served as the Chief Lobbyist and Assistant Executive Director of the California School Boards Association (CSBA). He has also served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Robert T. Matsui and as a legislative advocate for the California Building Industry Association. He holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco. Prior to that, while completing his undergraduate degree in communication studies at University of California, Davis, he was recruited by the IBM Corporation and served three years in its national marketing division for large systems.

Monte Brookshier
President of Technology 		Monte Brookshier joined SI&A as a former member of Academic Accelerator, LLC (AAC) in 2008. While at AAC, Mr. Brookshier was responsible for managing product development for edPlan Online, infrastructure engineering for the full product suite and developing the AAC operations delivery model. He also served as Senior Engineer at CRI Advantage, Inc. and was responsible for engineering, deploying and providing Tier 4 support for Hewlett Packard’s Global Exchange Messaging Team.

Scott Hill
Vice President, Education Policy 		Scott Hill is known at both state and national levels for his experience in establishing and implementing standards-based reforms in K-12 schools. He has worked with SI&A since 2004, with the exception of 2007-08, when he served in a public role as California's Undersecretary for the Office of Education. Prior SI&A, Mr. Hill was a partner at Camelot Consulting LLC, providing strategic planning, business-to-government, and advocacy services. In other service as the Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, he directed daily operations of the California Department of Education, including school Districts and school finance. He directed the statewide revision and implementation of School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) called for in California Senate Bill No.1400. Also the former Executive Director of the California Academic Standards Commission and Curriculum Commission, Mr. Hill worked as Communications Director for the George Lucas Educational Foundation and as a Senior Policy Analyst for the California School Boards Association. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science from George Washington University, and holds an M.A. in government from the University of Virginia.

Terry Bradley, Ed.D.
Vice President-School Facilities 		Dr. Terry Bradley joined SI&A after retiring as Superintendent with 33 years of service in the Clovis Unified School District, including 26 years as chief business official. During his tenure, students and schools in Clovis Unified attained an impressive list of accomplishments, including the highest API score of any unified school district in California testing more than 25,000 students. Dr. Bradley is also respected in the field for his leadership in professional organizations; including the Association of School Business Officials, the California Association of School Business Officials and the Association of California School Administrators. He served as Chair and held memberships on the board for both Californians for Schools and the Coalition of Adequate School Housing, and was active in the California Association of School Business Officials' mentoring program. Dr. Bradley received his doctorate degree in school management from the University of LaVerne in 1986.

Peter Birdsall
Executive Director -- Advocacy and Association Management 		With over 30 years experience in state level education policy, Mr. Birdsall is a widely respected analyst and speaker on K-12 issues ranging from school finance to curriculum, assessment and accountability. For 25 years, he owned and operated Birdsall and Associates, a California lobbying firm specializing in K-12 education policy. Prior to that Mr. Birdsall served as chief of the California Department of Education's Legislative Office and chief of staff of the Department's education program branch. Mr. Birdsall began his career in public service as a budget analyst with the California Department of Finance. He has a B.A. in Political Science and Economics and a M.A. in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Abe Hajela
Chief Counsel 		Mr. Hajela served as the Lead Counsel for the California School Boards Association in the precedent-setting Williams v. State of California legislative settlement. He brings more than a decade of experience in the field of education law, including stints as Special Counsel to the California School Boards Association, Legal Counsel for the San Francisco Unified School District, and as a litigation attorney for the Sacramento firm of Olson, Hagel & Fishburn. He earned his juris doctorate in 1994 at the Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.

Kate McConkey
Executive Director of Marketing 		Although her background includes executive positions in marketing, advertising, public relations and corporate professional development, Kate McConkey also brings substantial experience within the fields of education and advocacy. She held communications management positions with the California School Boards Association, a Sacramento-based education lobbying firm and Colorado State University. Ms. McConkey most recently served at SureWest Communications where she was responsible for corporate branding and taking telecommunications products direct to consumers through advertising, media broadcast placement and direct mail campaigns. McConkey holds a BS in Marketing Communications from Northwest Missouri University.

Jeri Wenger
Executive Director of Education Consulting Services 		Jeri Wenger is known and respected among school business officials and personnel for her expertise and state-wide professional development programs on categorical program compliance, attendance accounting, school finance and internal controls. In her recent position as a Principal/Partner with the accounting firm Vicenti, Lloyd & Stutzman LLP, she developed excellent relationships with state and federal agencies and professional associations dedicated to school business and education. Ms. Wenger's 30 years of school business and education experience also includes the positions of Director of Fiscal Services for Chino USD, Management Information Systems Manager for San Bernardino COE and Fiscal Services Director for Chaffey JUHSD.

Jeff Owen
Executive Director of Sales 		Jeff Owen has worked for School Innovations & Advocacy since 1999 and currently leads the sales team. Throughout his years with SI&A, he has worked directly with over 200 school districts and has hands on knowledge of how districts work from site staff up to superintendent level. For the past four years, his focus has been on truancy reduction and drop-out prevention. Mr. Owen works closely with truancy organizations and is an active member of the CASCWA (California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance). He holds a Bachelors degree in Communications Studies from California State University, Sacramento.