Leadership
Erika Assadi, Executive Director
Erika came to Parker in 2018 and served as the Head of Integrative Programs JK-Grade 12 until transitioning as the Horizons at Francis Parker School Executive Director in 2022.
Prior to joining Parker, Erika was part of a founding team that helped develop an idea to a thriving independent school in San Francisco. She has held various roles including Director of Enrollment Management/Admissions, Director of Educational Technology and Communications, Spanish Language Director, and Director of Summer Programs. She has taught Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Grade 2, technology and Spanish JK-Grade 7. Additionally, she served as a curriculum specialist with Pearson K12 Learning Company.
Erika holds her master’s degree in Educational Administration/Leadership from Concordia University and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Texas at Tyler.
Erika is also a former competitive dancer and has taught lower to high school students various styles of dance for over 15 years. A self-professed “travel junkie,” Erika has a goal to visit at least two new countries per year.
Horizons at Francis Parker School Board
- Carin Canale-Theakston – (Board Chair) Community and Parker Board Member
- Chris Egleson – Community Member
- Christine Hickman – Community Member
- Claire van der Lee – Community Member
- Kevin Yaley – Head of School
- Mike Rinehart – CFO
- Mary Taylor – Community Member
- Patsy Tomlin – Community Member
Meet Our Board Chair
Carin Canale-Theakston
Horizons Board Chair, 2023-2024
Chief Executive Officer, Evoke Canale
Carin Canale-Theakston is a senior life science executive with over 25 years of experience helping companies navigate a myriad of complex business strategies. As a seasoned life science executive, she has had a strategic seat at the table in over 500 life science companies, having helped shape countless strategies – and often business models – over the two-plus decades she’s been working in the sector. Carin is currently the founder and CEO of Evoke Canale, a life science strategic communication firm, and a senior advisor to its parent company, Inizio, a market-leading commercialization platform for pharma and biopharma.
Previously Canale Communications, Carin founded the company in 2010 after serving as president of the life sciences division of international public relations firm Porter Novelli. In addition to running Evoke Canale, Carin is actively involved in public and nonprofit boards. Carin is a director for Cidara Therapeutics; a director for Peel Therapeutics; vice chair of the board of directors for Biocom California and chair of its nominating-governance committee; a member of the board of managers for Life Science Cares; a member of the executive committee of the board of directors for Connect/San Diego Venture Group; and has been the chair of the Horizon’s at Francis Parker board of Trustees since its inception.
Meet Our Board Members
Chris Egleson
Horizons Board Member, 2023-2024
Partner, Sidley Austin, LLP.
Chris Egleson has built a distinguished nationwide practice as a partner in both the Supreme Court and Appellate and the Commercial Litigation and Disputes groups. He represents clients in California, New York, and around the country in appellate and trial courts and in crisis situations.
As an appellate lawyer, Chris has assisted financial institutions, technology companies, sovereign states, foreign officials, governmental entities, private individuals and myriad others on appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, in nearly every federal Circuit, and in state courts of appeal from New York and Pennsylvania to Kansas, Colorado and California.
Prior to joining Sidley, Chris served as counsel at an international law firm and clerked for the Honorable Norman H. Stahl of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Chris earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was a research assistant to Professors Laurence Tribe and Richard Fallon and then-Professor Heather Gerken, and served as executive articles editor for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. He received his B.A. from Brown University.
Christine Hickman
Horizons Board Member, 2023-2024
Board Member, Elementary Institute of Science
Christine Hickman graduated from Yale and Harvard Law School. She worked in public interest law, the California judicial system, and as a law professor in San Diego. She has served on various boards, including the Elementary Institute of Science and Francis Parker School.
Christine is proud to be affiliated with Horizons, which offers building blocks for San Diego students. While I hope this generation does not have to be “twice as good for half as much,” programs like Horizons will have them prepared --- just in case.
Mike Rinehart
Horizons Board Treasurer, 2023-2024
CFO, Francis Parker School
Mike Rinehart serves as the treasurer for Horizons at Parker School. Mike was Chief Financial Officer at Ezoic Inc., a global technology company whose AI-powered platform helps more than 10,000 digital publishers improve the performance of their websites. From 2016 to 2021, Mike was Vice President and Corporate Controller at Avalara, Inc., a global provider of software solutions for sales tax automation.
From 2011 to 2016, Mike was Head of Finance and Operations at Francis Parker School and returned to Parker in 2023. Earlier in his career, Mike held various financial and operations positions at several technology companies. Mike received a bachelor's degree from San Diego State University. In his spare time, Mike enjoys spending time with his family, working out, and volunteering.
Mary Taylor
Horizons Board Member, 2023-2024
Associate Chief Diversity Officer for Outreach and Success, SDSU
Mary Taylor serves as the Associate Chief Diversity Officer for Outreach and Success at SDSU. In her role, Mary oversees Educational Opportunity Programs, Outreach and Success; Inclusive SDSU; and the Office for Restorative Practices.
Mary has over 18 years of student services experience and a passion for student access and success. She began her career at UCSD where she held the roles of intake advisor for the Career Services Center, Counselor, Director of the TRIO Student Support Services, and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs. In the non-profit sector, Mary has served as the Dir. of Reality Changers’ College Apps Academy and as the Interim Executive Dir. of the Elementary Institute of Science. In 2014, she was the recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award for creating and developing the College Apps Academy Program and was a Janet Chrispeels Doctoral Fellow in Educational Leadership at UCSD in recognition of her work serving low income/underserved students and families.
As a scholar, Mary has a research agenda focused on educational equity and access for marginalized and underserved students, Black student success in higher ed, college access, success and completion, and non-profit collaboration with educational institutions. Mary earned her BA in Sociology from UCSD, her MA in Student Affairs from SDSU, her certificate in College Admissions Advising from UCLA, and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCSD/CSUSM (research topic: Black Student Success in Higher Education: An Asset-Based Examination of Individual and Institutional Factors).
Patsy Tomlin
Horizons Board Member, 2023-2024
Board Chair, Elementary Institute of Science
Patsy Tomlin is attending Columbia University’s M.S. in Nonprofit Management as she has been an involved community member in San Diego.
She has served as Board Chair for the Elementary Institute of Science (EIS) and is passionate about educational equity and access.
Claire Deeks van der Lee
Horizons Board Member, 2023-2024
Travel Writer & Researcher, Freelance
Claire Deeks van der Lee graduated with a BA in International Affairs from Emory University and an MA from The George Washington University in International Affairs and Development, Claire’s early career was spent working with International Organizations, NGOs and the US Government in the areas of progress reporting and policy analysis. She has worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Vietnam Veterans of American Foundation in Hanoi, and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). While taking a sabbatical to live in Thailand and travel throughout Asia, Claire found harmony between her research and writing expertise and her love of exploration in the form of travel writing. Upon relocating to San Diego, Claire began writing for Fodor’s travel guides and has contributed to more than a dozen guidebooks to date.
After witnessing her own child’s journey with language-based learning differences, Claire has become a passionate researcher and advocate for early identification and intervention of learning challenges as well as creating awareness of alternative educational tools and teaching children self-advocacy skills. For all the success she celebrates along her own child’s journey, she worries about the children that are left behind due to lack of awareness, support, or resources for intervention. She is beyond excited at the opportunity to dedicate her time and passion to a program like Horizons, with its long-term commitment to removing the barriers to equitable education and helping children discover their own success.
Kevin Yaley, Ph.D.
Horizons Board Member, 2023-2024
Head of School, Francis Parker School
Kevin Yaley, Ph.D., has served as Head of Francis Parker School since 2010. Prior to joining Parker, he taught history, ethics, and philosophy for a decade at the University of San Diego High School. He also coached cross country, track and field, and soccer. Kevin chaired four California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) accreditation visits. He was a fellow of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Edward E. Ford Fellowship for Aspiring Heads and was awarded a fellowship to the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership’s Heads of Schools Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He also served on the CAIS Board of Standards from 2008 to 2016.
Kevin received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Notre Dame, an additional master's degree from San Diego State University, and his doctorate in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego.