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.

Jack O'Connell
Chief Education Officer 		Considered a leader amongst state school chiefs nationwide, Jack O’Connell brings years of public service and expertise to the SI&A team as its Chief Education Officer. During his two terms as State Superintendent of Public Instruction and twenty years as both a state Senator and Assembly member, Mr. O’Connell focused on closing the achievement gap and preparing students for a rapidly changing global economy by holding high standards for all students. He remains a strong supporter and facilitator of partnerships between schools, businesses, communities, and philanthropies in order to engage students with challenging, real-world education experiences. Mr. O’Connell earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton and a secondary teaching credential from California State University, Long Beach. As a former high school teacher and author of the legislation creating the California High School Exit Exam, he led a comprehensive effort to increase rigor and improve student achievement in California high schools.

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.

Gerry Shelton
Vice President — Education Policy 		Before joining SI&A, Gerry Shelton was the Chief Consultant to the California State Assembly Committee on Education since 2006. The primary jurisdiction of the Committee on Education is K-12 education, including issues such as accountability, curriculum, facilities, career technical education, special education, teacher preparation and school finance. Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Shelton completed his undergraduate and graduate education in the University of California system, served as an instructor at U.C. Davis for four years, and was a professor at C.S.U. Sacramento for fourteen years – all in economics with a specialization in state and local government finance and public policy. He also worked in the Department of Education from the early 1990's until 2006 in both program and fiscal capacities, including serving as the Department’s chief financial officer, where he and his staff represented the Department during the development of the state budget and in a number of areas related to fiscal policy and education finance.

Scott Hill
Vice President — National 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.

Debra Scherber
Director of Marketing 		Debra Scherber is a talented marketing executive with over 20 years of experience in strategic marketing and technology management. Most recently, Ms. Scherber ran a thriving consulting firm, Strategic Business Solutions in the Sacramento area, specializing in business planning, strategic marketing, and process optimization. Her experience also includes executive leadership at Revionics, Inc., a successful software-as-a-service start-up where she helped launch the company and its products as VP of Marketing. Ms. Scherber also led marketing at ALLDATA LLC, an AutoZone company as the Vice President Marketing. During her tenure, she led the expansion of the product line and entry into two new markets resulting in a 77% increase in net profit. Previously, Ms. Scherber led product development and technical support with Cabot Corporation, and was responsible for two US patents and helping to secure the leadership position in the semiconductor CMP materials market. Ms. Scherber earned her Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry and an MBA in Marketing and Technology Management from UC Davis.

Jeff Owen
Vice President — Products & Services 		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.

Abe Hajela
Chief Counsel 		Mr. Hajela served as the Lead Counsel for the California School Board 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 Board 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.