Board of Directors
Tanya Sheckley
Founder, President
UP Academy® was born of my quest to find the best education for my three children. My oldest, intuitive, curious and differently-abled with cerebral palsy, my middle, ambitious, fearless and creative and my youngest, observant, sweet, and athletic and all three of them brilliant (but every parent says that right?) This school is created as a legacy, in loving memory of Eliza Sheckley so every child, of every ability, can reach their potential. I hold a BA in Public Health and Dance and an MBA in Entrepreneurship.
Barry Sheckley, PhD
Barry Sheckley, Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut, former Ray Neag Professor of Adult Learning, and former Head of the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education, has devoted over 30 years to exploring through research and practice how experience enhances learning. His research suggests that engaging individuals in on-going inquiry about problems of practice is the most effective way to help them learn effectively. He has received a number of professional awards including the University of Connecticut Alumni Association’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; the Association of Continuing and Higher Education’s Marlowe Froke Award for Excellence in Professional Writing; the American Society for Training and Development’s Excellence in Research to Practice Award; a Doctor of Humane Letters, honorus causa, from the Board of Trustees University of New Hampshire; and, from the Council for Adult and Experiential Education, a lifetime achievement award in recognition to his insightful contributions to the field of adult and experiential learning.
Cathleen Brdlik Hartman, PhD
Cathy is a Senior Director at Calico Life Sciences, an Alphabet company run and co-founded by Arthur Levinson, PhD (former CEO of Genentech). Calico is focused on aging and age-related diseases such as neurodegeneration and cancer, and her responsibility is to lead the development of the PTPN2 immuno-oncology program in partnership with AbbVie. Prior to Calico, she spent the majority of her career at Genentech where she developed, launched, and marketed products that changed the natural history of HER2+ breast cancer and various heme malignancies. Her passion for eradicating cancer is driven by her personal connection to the disease, having lost her mom, Helen, to colon cancer at age 5. Cathy earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry from Oberlin College, her Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Genetics from Yale University, and completed post-doctoral training at Stanford University.
She is a proud mama to two UP Academy students: Colin who is 11 years old and in 5th grade, and Gavin, who is 9 years old and in 4th grade. Education is a key value for Cathy and her family, first instilled in her from a very young age by her father Otto - a man who became a heart surgeon despite his meager means and helped so many people in his lifetime. She has been committed to supporting and elevating the educational experience of children through her years of volunteering at the schools where Colin and Gavin have attended and is honored to serve in the fundraising leadership position on the UP Academy Board of Directors.
Susan Lin
Treasurer
Susan Lin is a Sr. Portfolio and Program Manager with Cisco Systems. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Washington, School of Business. She is passionate about initiatives for women in technology, children’s early education and development as well as inclusion and diversity. She is also a proud mother of two, Amelia and Max; who continue to inspire her everyday.
Jocelyn DeGance Graham
Recognized by LinkedIn as an inaugural 'Top 10 Compassion Award' winner, and by the Business Journal as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley, Jocelyn is Co-Founder and President of Hire-Pathways, an Angel funded Future of Work startup. Jocelyn sits on the Board of Trustees for the Holberton School of Software Engineering, and the Advisory Boards of various tech startups. Jocelyn is the Founder of Cloud-NOW.org, a non-profit focused on Diversifying Tech and providing STEM scholarships for the next generation of female and minority leaders. Jocelyn’s pioneering work in Diversity also includes being a Techstars Startup Weekend organizer for Inclusive Education, and serving as Diversity Partner Liaison to Google. Jocelyn has deep expertise in marcom and market research, and has spent the majority of her career advising high potential technology startups including Holberton (funded by LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, Trinity Ventures, Reach Capital, and Omidyar Ventures), as well as Fortune 100 companies such as Hewlett-Packard, and Accenture. She has been quoted/ featured/ published in NBC, Forbes, Recode, Thrive Global, Pando Daily, @theCube, Silicon Angle Media, and more. Jocelyn holds a Master’s degree in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology, with an emphasis in Statistics & Research, and a Bachelor's degree from University of California, Santa Barbara.
Watinee Leewongjaroen
Watinee Leewongjaroen is keen on arts and designs. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from Academy of Art University, San Francisco with a background in architecture. She is a mother of 2 wonderful boys at UP Academy and has been in the school community for over 5 years. She believes that great education will lead kids to be successful in today's rapidly changing and complex world.