Board of Directors
AMANDA BONDS, CHAIR
Amanda Bonds serves as Program Director at Words Alive, providing leadership for a portfolio of programs that connect children, youth and families to the power of reading. Amanda also manages agency evaluation efforts and represents Words Alive on multiple education-focused community partnerships across the county. Believing in the power of learning, her teaching history includes college-level writing at UCSD, elementary age classrooms in Jamaica and summer programs at the San Antonio Zoo. As chair of the DEEP’s Board of Directors, Amanda believes that the greatest opportunities for young people in our communities come by way of imaginative and collective effort!
KATIE KUZMA, SECRETARY
Katie Kuzma brings over a decade of school leadership and teacher coaching experience to the DEEP Board of Directors.
Having served as a principal, instructional coach, and teacher for the past 15+ years, Katie understands firsthand the
transformative power of quality instruction and strong community partnership. Today, she leads math instructional strategy
with Instruction Partners at schools across the west coast. Katie holds a BA in Developmental Psychology from Harvard
University. She is honored to join DEEP in its commitment to advancing educational equity and ensuring every child has
access to high-quality opportunities
ERIC LARSON, TREASURER
Eric Larson is Vice President, Finance & Treasury Manager at Mission Federal Credit Union. Eric has a 35+ year history in Community Banking in San Diego, having previously held the role of Chief Financial Officer at CalPrivate Bank and prior to that at San Diego National Bank. He believes strongly in educational opportunities for children and the work that DEEP does to create them.
RONALD PRESTON CLARK
Ronald Preston Clark, a San Diego native and Hampton University graduate, is the Lead Teacher for the Black InGenius Initiative (BiGI) at the University of San Diego, where he supports literacy and social-emotional growth for multicultural middle school students. He is the founder of Club FBS (Fitteds, Books, and Sneakers), a book club and mentorship program for Black and Latino young men in San Diego. An award-winning author and dedicated community leader, Clark also mentors aspiring leaders through RISE San Diego.
LINDA ‘MARTY’ GOHLKE
Linda ‘Marty’ Gohlke earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Music Education (teacher education and ethnomusicology). She has 25 years of experience in K-12 public school administration in Fine Arts and Curriculum and Instruction in both Washington and California. She focused on curriculum development, classroom-based assessment and standards alignment for the Washington State Office of Public Instruction.
NORMAN “NORM” F. HAPKE, JR.
Norm is the board secretary of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and the Jacobs Family Foundation. Norm spent his career as a U.S. Marine Corps Officer, and commercial pilot. He has a strong interest in public policy issues and is an advocate of self-help community change strategies and school reform. Norm is especially dedicated to improving the education of our children in the Diamond neighborhoods and has been a critical supporter of DEEP since its inception. DEEP has Norm’s wholehearted financial and moral support. He is proud to serve on its Board of Directors.
HEATHER LAIRD
Heather, a native of Southern California with a bachelor’s in Psychology from UCLA, has a rich background in non-profit work, underscoring her lifelong commitment to community service and equity. For 11 summers, she volunteered at Camp del Corazon, a non-profit camp for children with heart disease and transplants. Heather managed a multi-site AmeriCorps program in Los Angeles and later oversaw programs for affordable housing developer, Community HousingWorks in San Diego. There, she partnered with United Way to create a reading readiness program and served on the boards of the San Diego Council on Literacy and the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation. Honored as a San Diego Leadership Alliance Fellow in 2011, Heather also mentored foster youth. With a focus on non-profit fundraising, she excels in building relationships, leveraging networks, and forming effective teams to advance mission-driven initiatives.