Jennifer Mahoney, Board President

Jennifer has almost 20 years of Special Education experience both in public and private schools.  Throughout her career, she has taken pride in helping students enjoy learning, thrive in social situations and excel in previously difficult areas.  Jennifer taught for 15 years in the public school system of Wayland, Massachusetts.  During that time she focused on leading mainstreamed classrooms with developmentally disabled students.  She helped improve the learning skills for special needs students with low math and reading comprehension for the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment).  In her long career she has worked with the Open Court Phonics Program, Wilson Reading, Touch Math Program, and is fluent in Reading Milestones Programs.  She is experienced with Autism, developmental delays, PDD, ADHD, behavioral learning, ESL, trauma victims and has also served as a speech pathologist.

She was a finalist for the Golding Award for Excellence in Massachusetts Education.  She holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts, the Clarke School for the Deaf and the Wellesley College Stone Center.  Prior to joining Orion, she led the Board of Trustees study at The Cathedral School for Boys on “ADHD and Boys.”  Jen continues to be a public speaker on bullying prevention and Open Circle Programs.  She is proud to lead the Board of Trustees of Orion Academy as they prepare to acquire a larger, more customized campus that will accommodate the future growth of the curriculum and enrollment.

David Richter

David Richter is a parent of a Class of 2011 Orion graduate.  He was actively involved as a parent while his son was at Orion and joined the board in May of 2011.  David has seen first-hand the benefits of the Orion Academy program and is committed to seeing the expansion of the Orion program to a larger audience, both in the Bay Area and beyond. David has been a member of many task forces at Orion including Strategic Planning, Orion Community Council, and the WASC Leadership Team

A graduate of UC Berkeley, David is a widower, a father of two and a local business owner.   He lives in Walnut Creek with his two children.

Mary Kay Billington

Mary Kay is an alumni parent.  Her son attended Orion Academy for four years and graduated in 2007.

While her son was a student at Orion, Mary Kay founded the PTO and served as president for two and a half years.  Orion was growing and the PTO followed by adding many social opportunities for the students such as dances, bowling nights, movies, family weekends, seminars and the prom.

After her son’s graduation, Mary Kay continued to serve Orion by joining the board. She has been an active part of the Orion community participating in WASC, strategic planning and fundraising ever since.

Jeffrey M. Rankin

is a licensed psychologist with a private psychotherapy practice in Walnut Creek and Danville, California.    He has been in practice for twenty years, and his practice focus includes adult affective disorders, stress based conditions, and marital difficulties.   Since 1997 Dr. Rankin has been an organizational/employment consultant with Valley Clinical & Consulting Services providing services to over fifty law enforcement and high risk agencies in northern California.  After his son left home for college in 2002, Dr. Rankin made the decision to stop accepting adolescent clients into his practice.  Prior to that time he worked with adolescents suffering from a variety of emotional difficulties including those with non-verbal learning disabilities.

Between 1986 and 1997 he was the Chief Administrative Officer with the Amador Family Center in Concord, California.  In this capacity he maintained oversight of the hiring, scheduling, record keeping, administrative, financial and billing aspects of the Amador Family Center.  After successfully completing the sale of this business to a national organization, he moved into organizational consulting services.

Dr. Rankin received a bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from Beloit College, a master’s degree in adolescent psychotherapy from Antioch University, a master’s degree in health and medical sciences from the University of California-Berkeley, and a Doctorate in Mental Health from the University of California-San Francisco (Langley Porter Institute).

He is a member of the California Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association.  He chaired the Mandatory Continuing Education Program Committee (MCEP) from 2004-2006, a committee charged with review and approval of continuing education providers and courses for psychologists in the State of California.  Dr. Rankin was just elected to serve as Chairperson of the American Psychological Association Continuing Education Committee with this term to begin in January 2007.

In his spare time Dr. Rankin enjoys music, theater, boating, fishing, sports, weather monitoring, and reading.  He is married and his wife practices psychoanalysis in San Francisco, California.

 

Isabelle Wang

Isabelle Wang has more than 10 years of corporate finance, operating and marketing experience across multiple industries and company types.  Her background includes lead financial and fund raising roles at venture-backed companies, such as KatanaMe Inc and Nimblefish Technologies; financial and strategy experience at Hitachi Inc Corporate Venture Capital Division; and marketing and operation experience in Ericsson China.  She is currently working in Finance organization at Pacific Gas & Electric.  Isabelle earned an MBA at University of Southern California.

A resident of Orinda, Isabelle enjoys reading, music, and sports