Peggy Procter began at Echo Horizon School in 2017 as Head of School. She has over 30 years of experience as an educator and school leader, having worked in schools internationally and in the United States. Prior to Echo Horizon, she served as Director of Upper School and Global Studies Teacher at Windward School. At Windward, she spearheaded the Global Education, Writing and Rhetoric Across the Curriculum, Academic Integrity, and Challenge Success initiatives. Peggy is passionate about girls and women's empowerment and leadership and frequently serves as a facilitator for aspiring female leaders. Outside of work, Peggy is an avid reader, traveler, athlete, chocoholic, and nature lover. She loves nothing more than hiking, camping with her family, and watching her daughter Sidney (Echo Horizon Class of 2020!) play volleyball and softball. Peggy was born in Chicago, spent most of her childhood and adolescence in New England, and has called California home for the past 25+ years. She holds her BA from Dartmouth College in Spanish and Government and an MA in Spanish from Middlebury College in Madrid.  

Meg Baltazar, an LA native, was born in Long Beach and raised in Northridge. When she's not working and spending time with students, she enjoys time with her daughter, cooking, reading, traveling, hiking, and watching lots of sports! Ms. Baltazar has worked in education since 2001 where she served as an afterschool program director for Del Mar Unified Schools for four years. Meg got her Single Subject: English teaching credential and started teaching 8th then 6th grades at Community Charter Middle School in Southern California, where her students achieved the highest academic growth in the state on their standardized tests. With a desire to return to working with deaf students and a passion to provide a more customized approach to education, she joined Echo Horizon in 2012 as a 6th grade English teacher. Over the years, she continued her education, earning a Reading Specialist certification and CA Multiple Subject Credential. Currently, Meg serves as our Director of Global Arts, overseeing the specialists and third grade Master Teacher. Ms. Baltazar also worked as a UCLA Extension Program professor and support provider for four years until the birth of her daughter, Faith (a current Echo student). She has a BA in Political Science with a minor in Education from San Diego State University and a Master’s Degree in Education from Alliant University.

As Director of Upper Elementary and JEDI, Julia loves the opportunity to support students, families, and teachers at Echo Horizon. Her passions include curriculum, instruction, and community-building. Julia recently completed her 11th year in education. Her career began at public charter schools in Brooklyn, NY and Washington, DC where she taught 5th & 6th grade. Later, she returned to Georgetown Day School—her alma mater and an independent school in Washington, DC—where she taught 6th-8th grades and served as a Grade Level Coordinator, Middle School Community Engagement Coordinator (6–8), and faculty advisor for Students of Color Mentoring. 

Julia earned her undergraduate degree in History and certificate in African American Studies from Princeton University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education, and an EdD in Educational Leadership from USC's Rossier School of Education in August 2023. When she’s not reading history books for fun, Julia likes to cook, swim, sing in her car, and play with her dogs.

Born and raised in Venice, CA, Alicia Camacho began her career at Echo Horizon School, supporting our deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the Echo Center and as a Recreation Counselor in our AfterSchool Program. Ms. Camacho soon transitioned into the Arts Department, assisting with curriculum research and development, programming, and show production. Soon after, her skills in photography, graphic design, videography and moviemaking allowed her to make the natural progression to our Director of Digital marketing. She is passionate about telling the authentic stories of Echo Horizon School, and after serving our community for 17 years, Alicia is now our Director of Marketing and Communication and Creative Strategy.

A seasoned professional in youth and education, RaShaan brings 20+ years of experience to Echo Horizon School. He joined EHS in 2020 and is delighted to be part of the community.  RaShaan was born and raised in Chicago and holds a BA in Psychology and a master’s in Business Administration. He also recently earned a master’s in Education from Loyola Marymount. RaShaan taught Kindergarten and Lower Elementary at Westside Neighborhood School and was the Director of Galileo Learning, a hands-on STEAM summer camp and afterschool program. Deeply committed to creating a nurturing learning environment, RaShaan wants to see students thrive in a community that sees and values each individual. As a former college athlete, he is passionate about basketball, health and fitness, leadership development, and youth mentorship. In his free time, RaShaan enjoys writing poetry, coaching private basketball lessons, cooking, and spending time with his family.

Jennifer Mascolo began working at Echo Horizon School in 2002, following a brief internship while finishing her graduate program. She was born and raised in Massachusetts, but moved to California to be a part of the unique co-enrollment model of Echo Center/Echo Horizon School. Ms. Mascolo was an Echo Center teacher for 20 years, with experience working in every grade level, before moving into the position of Director of Echo Center. She has a Masters of Education of the Deaf (MED) from Smith College/Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, MA, and a BS in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Ithaca College. Ms. Mascolo is inspired by the extraordinary inclusion program of Echo Center/Echo Horizon School and how much all of the students simply enjoy learning. She also loves Echo Horizon’s remarkable community so much that she and her husband decided to send their daughter here for Pre-K, and her daughter just recently graduated from 6th grade! In her free time, Mrs. Mascolo loves going to the beach, reading, and watching movies with her family.

Saundra Sparks is the Chief Financial Officer at Echo Horizon School. Prior to moving to California and working at Echo Horizon School, Saundra lived and worked on the East Coast. She spent 12 years working in Manhattan for a market research firm where she began as Controller and was ultimately promoted to Vice President of Finance and Technology. She moved to Virginia in 2001, where she worked for the District of Columbia Government as a Deputy Director in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Upon leaving the DC Government, she worked as a consultant for non-profits in the DC area. Saundra received a B.S. in Accounting from Brooklyn College and an M.B.A. from Baruch College, both of which are part of the City University of New York (CUNY). She also holds a Masters in Information Systems from Pace University in New York. Fun fact about Saundra, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2007 to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

Saundra loves so many aspects of working at Echo Horizon School. One of her favorites is to see how much our students grow as they move from PreK or Kindergarten to 6th grade. Everyone who works here is committed to making this experience rewarding and fun for the students and their families. She is proud to be a part of it.

Jennie Willens has worked in independent schools in Los Angeles since 2002 and has been a proud member of the Echo Horizon School community since 2018. After studying theater at Northwestern University, Jennie’s career began as an arts educator teaching theater and musical theater at Brentwood School. Jennie’s love for student life initiatives and community engagement led her to Windward School in 2012 as the Dean of Student Life and Experiential Learning. Jennie’s passion for student support and parent partnership led her into the role of Dean of Students for the College Preparatory Division before making her way to Echo Horizon School as Director of Academic, Student and Community Affairs. Currently, as Director of Lower Elementary, Jennie enjoys every single moment with the young Echo scholars, but especially playing games at Kindergarten recess. During her twenty years in independent schools, Jennie’s interest in social-emotional learning, purposeful play, community engagement, and building strong relationships in school communities has led her to wonderful opportunities to facilitate and participate in professional development with educators locally, nationally and globally. Jennie has served as a Visiting Scholar for the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education, as well as a workshop and retreat facilitator in these areas of expertise with CATDC, Kenya Big Picture Learning, and CSEE. Along with fellow Echo Horizon educator Jake Willens, Jennie is the proud parent of two Echo Horizon Hawks—Grace (Class of 2022) and Ryan (Class of 2026).

Peter Scott is a screenwriter who has worked in film, television, and books. He is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America. Originally from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, Peter is a graduate of Milton Academy in Milton, MA, and Harvard University, from which he holds a B.A. in Economics. Prior to starting his writing career, Peter worked in management consulting at the Monitor Group in New York City. Peter and his wife, Emily Fox, are the parents of two children, one current Echo Horizon student and one graduate.

Ken Nakayama has 25 years of experience in quantitative finance and trading and began his career at Bankers Trust marketing derivatives to hedge funds and other institutional money managers. He subsequently founded and headed equity derivatives and trading research at Deutsche Bank, and together with his team won numerous awards for best-in-class research from Institutional Investor (including a 1st place All-American ranking for Equity Derivatives Research), Risk Magazine, and Euromoney. Ken later traded a statistical arbitrage strategy for Deutsche Bank, then joined Barclays Global Investors (now BlackRock) to head systematic volatility trading and research. He was also the "tipster" behind a May 2001 article in Barron's that questioned Bernard Madoff's legitimacy—the only article in a major publication to raise these questions.

Today, Ken is a principal of Chord Asset Management, which runs a statistical arbitrage hedge fund.  Ken is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School and a member of its secondary school committee in Los Angeles, a CFA Charterholder, a finance industry mentor and selection committee member for UCLA's Sharpe Fellows and Simon Fellows programs, and a mentor for UCLA’s Masters of Financial Engineering program.  Ken and his wife Lori have three boys, two of whom are currently attending Echo Horizon School, and one of whom graduated in 2015.

As Principal of Galileo Global Marketing, Ziad works with brands and content creators to define partnership marketing strategies and develop best-in-class campaigns that drive results for his clients.

Prior to founding Galileo Global Marketing, Ziad spent almost twenty years in the film marketing and partnerships arena, at studios like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. In these roles, he managed global organizations, negotiated partnerships with companies around the world, and spearheaded the creative development of award-winning co-branded advertising campaigns.

His expertise covers some of the biggest, most enduring global IPs, including James Bond, Spider-Man, Batman and Men in Black -- in partnership with brands as diverse as Lexus, McDonald's, M&M/Mars, Heineken, Sony Mobile, Paul Smith and more.

Ziad lives in Mid-City Los Angeles with his husband and their two children, both Echo Horizon scholars.

Joshua Oppenheimer was born and raised just outside New York City. After earning his BFA at Northwestern University, he obtained his MFA at the Peter Stark Motion Picture Producing Program at USC. Since graduating, Josh has worked as a writer in film and television for several major studios and large independent production companies. He lives with his wife, Lucille, and their two daughters, Olivia and Juliana.

Sharon Tal Yguado is a leading media executive. She most recently served as the head of original series at Amazon Studios. In this role, Sharon oversaw the development and production of big scope, hour-long genre series. She originated and spearheaded numerous high-profile projects, including The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time. The Hollywood Reporter has named Sharon one of the top 100 female leaders in Hollywood for two consecutive years (2017, 2018). 

Previously, Sharon served as the head of Fox International Studios and EVP of global programming at Fox Networks Group (FNG), where she oversaw FNG’s original global scripted strategy. She led the development and production on a number of global scripted TV franchises, including The Walking Dead (AMC), Outcast (Cinemax), and Legion (FX). Sharon was also responsible for the programming strategy and launch of over 150 entertainment channels all over the world. Under her leadership, Fox became the largest global cable network in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. 

Sharon has a master’s degree in Film and Media Studies from New York University and The New School. She also has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Tel Aviv University in Israel. Sharon is married to Joshua Yguado, President and Co-Founder of JamCity. They have two children at Echo Horizon. Sharon was born in Israel and lived in Rome, Italy, and New York before moving to Los Angeles 12 years ago.

Anne is a co-founder of MuckerFi, a specialty finance company, and the founding partner of Beal Private Capital.  Earlier in her career, Anne spent time in Silicon Valley, including tenure as an enterprise software product marketer at Ariba Networks, as an investor at Van Wagoner Capital and as an investment banker at Perseus Group and Alex. Brown.

Anne has a B.A. in History from Yale College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jason D. Kaplan joined Howard Capital Management in 1999. As managing Partner, he oversees the operations of the firm as well as manages client relationships for a number of individuals and families, providing both investment counsel and portfolio management services. He is also on the Investment Committee, which makes decisions for the Firm regarding asset allocation and portfolio holdings and serves as Chief Compliance Officer.

Prior to joining Howard Capital Management, Mr. Kaplan worked in the corporate finance group at Imperial Capital where he was responsible for developing and executing mezzanine financings and acquisitions. He began his career at Arden Realty, Inc. as a financial analyst. Mr. Kaplan currently serves on the Board of FastPay, the market leading provider of liquidity and financial workflow solutions to the global digital media industry. In addition, Mr. Kaplan is involved with numerous charities and currently serves on the Boards of the Saban Community Clinic as well as team Prime Time.

Mr. Kaplan received his B.A. degree in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University. He earned both his J.D. and M.B.A degrees from the University of Southern California and is a member of the California State Bar.

Jason has been married to Alison for 15 years and they have two boys, Jake (13) and Jordan (8).

As the Chief Operating Officer and Director of Institutional Advancement at Windward School, Dawn specializes in strategy, risk management, and infrastructure. Dawn joined Windward in the fall of 2011 and brings over 20 years of experience working within the non-profit and educational sectors.  

Though a Northern California native, Dawn moved to Los Angeles to pursue her undergraduate education at UCLA. She later received an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University with an emphasis in Leadership and Organizational Change.

Dawn has three grown children and resides in Calabasas.

Tom Y. Chang is an associate professor of Finance and Business Economics at the USC Marshall School of Business, a research fellow at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and a CESR fellow at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research. He conducts research in the field of behavioral economics focusing on better understanding individual decision making and its implications for firm behavior.

His research has been published in top scientific journals and is regularly covered in outlets like The Associated Press, The Atlantic, BBC, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, The New York Times, PBS, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

He is also a big supporter of science education, and regularly serves as a Grand Awards Judge at both the California Science and Engineering Fair and the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.

Tom holds a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in economics from MIT. He is married to Mireille Jacobson, Professor of Health Economics at USC. They live in Culver City with a dog, cat, and two children, both currently attending Echo Horizon.

Andre James is a senior partner at Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm.  He is the leader of the firm’s Global Media & Entertainment Practice.  He focuses on advising clients on topics of strategy, operations, organization, and M&A.  He is a member of the firm’s Los Angeles office and the executive committee overseeing Bain’s America’s business. During his 20 plus years at the firm, he has also worked as a member of the Hong Kong and Seoul offices.

Andre earned an MBA from the Wharton School and a JD from University of Pennsylvania’s School of Law.  Andre is also an alumnus of UCLA where he received a Bachelor of Arts in business economics.

Andre lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife and three children, two of whom are graduates of Echo Horizon. 

Maria Manotok Pathria has over 20 years of legal experience in the asset management industry, all with The Capital Group Companies, Inc. and its affiliates, which rank among the world’s oldest and largest investment management organizations. As a member of the Legal Management Group, she oversees and manages the global Legal and Compliance operations for the organization and provides legal advice to its senior executives and internal stakeholders. She is also currently Chair of the Board, Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel for Capital International Inc. From 2019-2021, she was based in Singapore and held the role of Head of Legal and Compliance, Asia Pacific.

She holds a juris doctor degree from UCLA School of Law and a bachelor's degree in political science from Smith College. She is a member of the California State Bar and the Los Angeles County Bar.

Maria is also a member of the Board of Directors of the John Tracy Center. Her husband, Varun, is a private equity investment professional currently serving as Managing Director of ThirdEye Capital, LLC. He previously served on the Singapore American School Foundation Board. She has two children at Echo Horizon.

Michelle Martinez is a former attorney and third generation Los Angeles native. She graduated from UC Irvine with a BA in English in 1997, and received her JD from the UCLA School of Law in 2000. Michelle began her legal career as a litigation associate at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe in Los Angeles, before moving to Orrick’s New York office in 2002. Michelle specialized in products liability and mass tort litigation, and has helped try cases all over the country. She was a member of the New York and California state bars, and practiced law for ten years before leaving Orrick in 2010, following the birth of her oldest son.

Michelle and her husband, Corey LoPrete, relocated to Los Angeles shortly after their oldest child was born. Michelle served on the Board of Trustees at Palisades Preschool in Santa Monica from 2017-2020. Michelle was Co-Chair of the board from 2018-2020. Michelle’s tenure on the PPS Board included the selection and on-boarding of a new Preschool Director, as well as helping the school navigate the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting quarantine. She also serves on the Board of LIFT-Los Angeles, a national nonprofit whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty by investing in parents and families. Michelle and Corey currently reside in Mar Vista with their two sons, who both attend Echo Horizon School. 

Gillian Nalibotsky currently works as an attorney in the public sector representing the State of California.  She began her legal career as a litigation attorney representing financial institutions in matters involving commercial transactions, bankruptcy, real estate leases and complex fraud. She is an appointed committee member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Joint Task Force on the Retention and Promotion of Women Lawyers and is a member of the National Charity League. 

Born and raised in our nation's capital, Jeena attended Howard University where she received a B.S. in Systems and Computer Science. After working a few years as an IT consultant at Accenture, Jeena decided to move to Los Angeles, CA. She was determined to pursue a new career in the fashion and modeling industry. Upon arrival she worked as a runway/print model and became a SAG-AFTRA commercial actress. Her beautiful family consists of her husband Philip and their two children. Phylicia is a 5th grade Echo Horizon School student and Zavier, who wears bilateral cochlear implants, is a 2nd grade Echo Center student. Recently, Jeena has developed a passion for advocating for families who have children with disabilities.

John P. Roberts is the Chief Content Officer of Pure Imagination Studios, which focuses on the development and execution of original TV, film, and digital productions for kids and family. John is a four-time Emmy Award nominee in interactive television and recipient of the ITV Leadership Award from ITVT. He is also a board member of the Producers Guild New Media Council and an active member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. John lives in West Hollywood, CA, with his wife Christie and their son, a second grader at Echo Horizon. He graduated from State University at New York with a bachelor’s degree in Communication/Media.