Board of Trustees

Lisa M. Hoffman, professor at UW Tacoma, joined the Annie Wright Schools Board of Trustees in 2016. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Lisa has been at UW Tacoma in Urban Studies since 2002, holding a number of administrative leadership roles as well as being faculty. She and her husband, Bill Driscoll, currently have two children at Annie Wright and are passionate about supporting Tacoma and equity across Pierce County. They love the outdoors, their family animals (three dogs, a hamster, one snake), and the arts.

Janelle Guirguis-Blake MD joined Annie Wright Schools' Board of Trustees in 2019. A clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington, she practices and teaches full-scope family medicine with a focus on underserved populations. She has been working since 2003 with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality where she has served in the capacities of chief medical officer, program director, and technical advisor for the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Since 2013, she has worked as a principal investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research leading systematic reviews in the area of preventive medicine for the USPSTF. Her areas of expertise include health policy, guideline development, and evidence based medicine. She received her medical degrees from Dartmouth Medical School and Brown University School of Medicine, then completed her residency at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine and health policy fellowship at the Georgetown School of Medicine. Janelle and her husband, Jeff, have two daughters, Natalie ’21MS and Norah ’28.

Diane Bai, MD, joined the Annie Wright Schools Board of Trustees in 2020. She is a practicing gastroenterologist at Franciscan Health Systems in Tacoma, co-founder of South Sound Women in Medicine (SSWIM), and served as Medical Director of Service Excellence at Franciscan Medical Group. Prior to moving to Tacoma, she was Clinical Assistant Professor at UW Medical School, Medical Director of Gastroenterology Department, and a member of the Board of Trustees Finance Committee of Pacific Medical Centers in Seattle. She grew up in China and California. After receiving her medical degree at UT Southwestern, she completed her residency at Columbia University and GI fellowship at Duke University. Diane and her husband, Clay Zhang, are strong believers in the Annie Wright educational philosophy of nurturing young people to become principled, creative, and reflective thinkers and communicators in the close-knit AWS global community. They have two daughters, Sasha ’23 and Hannah ’25.

Tenley Cederstrang joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. She works at RAIN Incubator in grant development and community outreach. With a bachelor’s in biology from Washington State University, her background is in business development, primarily in life sciences. She has also fostered start-up companies in apparel, fine art and real estate, and has served on the board for RAIN Incubator, Children’s Museum of Tacoma, AWS and Junior Achievement of Washington. Tenley and her husband Eric have two children who attended AWS, Avery ’11MS and Annika ’17 (lifer!). They credit Annie Wright with making them inquisitive learners and really nice people. She serves on the Philanthropy and Community Engagement Committee.

Misa Furumoto ’92 joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. After graduating from AWS, Misa attended Mount Holyoke College and Yale Divinity School where she obtained a master’s in religion. She and her husband Yasuhisa were ordained together as Anglican Church priests in Japan in 2015. Now she serves as a chaplain at a private girls school in Kyoto while serving at Nara Christ Church on Sundays. Misa and Yasuhisa have a 13-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. She serves on the Philanthropy and Community Engagement Committee.

Manuel La Rosa joined the Annie Wright Board of Trustees in 2020. He is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon who graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is in private practice in Tacoma & Gig Harbor. He served as an Affiliated Instructor at UW and was president Washington State Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, where he served as President. He is passionate about advancing education and creating individual economic freedom. Manuel and his wife Silvia have two children, Sebastian '13LS and Sofia '23. Manuel will serve on the Head's Support and Evaluation Committee.

Damani Leech joined the Annie Wright Schools Board of Trustees in 2020. Damani is the NFL’s Chief Operating Officer of International, driving international fan development, player development, sponsorship and consumer products, as well as leading the planning and execution of International Series Games in key markets. Prior to his time at the NFL Damani spent 17 years at the NCAA national office in various roles. Damani, raised in Tacoma, is a graduate of the Annie Wright Middle School and serves on the Board's finance committee.

Marjorie Oda-Burns ’66 joined Annie Wright Schools' Board of Trustees in 2019. After attending Annie Wright as a boarder from Hawaii and graduating from Pembroke College (the former women's college of Brown University) Marjorie completed medical school at Yale, with only seven women in her graduating class. After her internship at Stanford, Marjorie spent her career as an orthopedic surgeon in California while pursuing an active interest in medical ethics. Marjorie and her husband John's daughter, Theresa '04, also attended Annie Wright.

John Parrott first joined the Annie Wright Schools' Board of Trustees in 2010. In 2017 John returned to the board as Chair. He worked for Saltchuk a local NW company were he served as President at Foss Maritime and prior to that as President of TOTE Maritime Alaska. A strong believer in communities and education, he serves on both local and national non-profit boards. John has a BS in Marine Transportation from the US Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) and an MBA from Seattle University. He and his wife, Lynne, an active member of the Parents' Association, Strength to Strength campaign chair and Gator Gala auction chair, have three children, Thomas ’14MS, James ’16MS and Anna ’22.

Kevin Sanders joined the Board of Trustees in 2021, and is a radiation oncologist at Sound Cancer Care in Puyallup, Washington, and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including MultiCare Good
Samaritan Hospital and MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital. He received
his medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine. Kevin and his wife Brenda have two children attending AWS, Alyssa ’24 and Natalie ’26. He serves on the Finance Committee.

Monica Torrez-Pfiser joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. She is an attorney with over a decade of specialized experience in employment law, currently serving as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at TrueBlue, Inc., a Tacoma-based global company that is a leading provider of staffing and specialized workforce solutions which connects over 500,000 people to work each year. She has earned academic and professional honors, and served on community boards such as Lawyers Helping Hungry Children, Association of Corporate Counsel, Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, and has served as the Employment Law Chair of the Hispanic National Bar Association. Monica and her husband Bill have three children attending AWS, Maxx ’28, Maison ’34 and Mia ’35. She serves on the Head’s Support and Evaluation
Committee.

Jake began serving as Head of Annie Wright Schools in July 2020, but his tenure at the school began long before that. He joined AWS as a second-grader when his mother became the school’s Director of Communications. He stayed through Grade 8 and was in the first class of boys to graduate from Middle School. After high school, he earned a bachelor's from Pomona College. In 2000, he launched his 20-year career at AWS, serving in a range of roles including English & Humanities Teacher, Basketball Coach, Director of College Counseling, Director of Summer Programming, Interim Director of Admissions, Assistant Director of Upper School, and most recently, Director of Upper School for Girls. These two decades of service to AWS were only interrupted by his EdM at Harvard University from 2002 to 2003. Learn more about Mr. Guadnola here.