Board of Directors

Alison Meryweather

Alison has been a tireless advocate for public education in Washington, working in many capacities over the years. She recently served as a Director on the Issaquah School Board and is a long-time trustee for the Issaquah Schools Foundation. Her PTA experience is extensive, having served as Issaquah PTSA Council president and legislative chair. She has held numerous offices at her local PTA, including President and Treasurer. Alison knows that the key to success in our schools lies in engaging the larger community. That’s why her advocacy work has focused on building positive relationships and collective solutions to issues as diverse as arts education or passage of local levies and bonds.

Jody Mull

For the past 15 years, Jody Mull has been a passionate advocate for our public school students in Washington. During that time she has served her community in leadership roles at every level of PTA, including work as President of her elementary, middle and high school PTAs, and as a legislative chair with her PTA council in Issaquah School District. She currently serves as legislative chair for Issaquah High School PTA. Jody also puts her considerable talent to work for the Issaquah Schools Foundation, where she has volunteered for the past 13 years in many capacities, including serving twice as its President. Jody works with a host of community partners to help improve our schools, with a particular focus on funding for enrichment and extracurricular activities. She is active in statewide education groups such as Stand for Children (Washington) and The League of Education Voters, where her advocacy centers on helping struggling students and fully funding education. She is a strong voice for parents in Olympia and in her school district.

Beth Sigall

Beth Sigall’s passion for education advocacy was sparked 12 years ago, when her oldest son, now age 15, was diagnosed with autism. From that day Beth has worked in many different roles to help improve our schools. Her advocacy began as a special education attorney in Arlington, Virginia where she helped families navigate the special education system. After relocating to Washington in 2007, Beth became deeply involved in local and Washington state PTA, and in 2013 was recognized as the Lake Washington PTSA Council Outstanding Advocate of the Year. Her advocacy in Washington also includes extensive work with leading statewide groups The League of Education Voters and Stand for Children (Washington), where she advises state officeholders and others in support of policies to improve our schools. Beth played a critical advocacy role in passage of a first-in-the-nation law that establishes a career path and improved training for all paraeducators in Washington state.
For the past nine years Beth has also served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster children in King County Superior Court, where she identifies resources to address the needs of children who have been abused or neglected, and recommends placement plans for them moving forward. Beth lives in Redmond with her husband, Jule and their three children.

Susan Cobb

Susan believes that strong parent engagement and advocacy is critical to ensuring that our public education system puts the needs of students first. She is results-oriented and believes in a data-oriented approach to analyzing and solving problems in education. She has eight years of PTA experience in the Northshore School District serving as legislative chair and in other various capacities on her local PTA board, and she is currently working with a group of parents to advocate for district-wide full inclusion for students with disabilities. Previously, she was one of five primary parent advocates for “Save Our Challenge,” a grass-roots effort that successfully prevented the removal of NSD’s self-select Challenge program.
Before becoming a parent, Susan worked for Microsoft as a manager in the Windows Server and Internet Server Groups. She lives with her family in Woodinville.

Chad Magendanz

Chad Magendanz served two terms as state representative for the 5th Legislative District, which comprises the eastern third of King County. He was elected to caucus leadership his first year and served as ranking Republican on the House Education Committee and as a member of House Higher Education, Technology and Economic Development, Appropriations and Rules committees. Previously, he served as the Issaquah School Board president and in leading roles of other regional and statewide education-related committees and boards. After a close bid to unseat the incumbent state senator in 2016, he began volunteering as a TEALS computer science teacher at Gibson Ek High School, an innovative school he helped create. He’s now enrolled in a teacher certification program at CWU and just accepted a full-time position as a computer science teacher in the Bellevue School District.
Chad has an Electrical and Computer Engineering degree from Cornell and served as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy for 12 years. Having worked at Microsoft for over 20 years in various roles, he still moonlights as a software design consultant for many local firms and helped create Voter Science, a political analytics startup. He and his wife of 30 years, Galen, reside on Tiger Mountain and have two sons majoring in computer science, a junior at the University of Utah studying to be a video game developer and a recent MIT graduate serving in the U.S. Navy as a cyber warfare engineer.

Kelly Munn

“Five years ago I was 50 pounds overweight, taking a lot of medications, and so out of shape that my friends no longer wanted to walk with me.

For several years I sought help from nutritionists, physical therapists and gym trainers each of whom had the perfect program. I had very little success. It wasn’t until I met a trainer who asked me what I wanted, listened to my answers, and together we developed a personalized exercise program that has changed my life.

My dream is that every child has a personalized education program. Every student, their family and their community has a role in co-designing an educational program that spark curiosity, joy, and inspiration for every child.

For over 20 years I have been an advocate for improving public education both as a volunteer and paid staff. I have worked with all levels of PTA, Schools foundations, Bond & Levy committees, political and initiative campaigns. For 10 years I worked with the League of Education Voters where we focused on closing gaps and equity for all students.”