Same school. Solidified future.
The JGS of tomorrow begins today!

The Jones-Gordon School was founded on the fundamental premise of fulfilling our mission by doing what is right — for our students, for our faculty, and for our families. This guiding principle, coupled with our hopes and dreams for the future, forged our recent transition to the Jones-Gordon Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (dba The Jones-Gordon School and On-Track Tutoring).

Jones-Gordon Foundation Board of Directors

Stephen Y Schwanz
Co-Chair

Stephen is President and founder of ZEL Capital Partners and prior founder of Franchise Capital Advisors. Previously, he was senior vice president of structured finance at GE Commercial Finance. During his 22 years at GE and predecessor company Franchise Finance Corporation of America along with ZEL Capital Partners, his team has originated and closed over $5.5 billion in Real Estate transactions. Stephen was also a founding Director of Pinnacle Bank located in Scottsdale, AZ which opened in 2005 and sold in 2019 to Arizona Federal Credit Union.

Stephen has been a member and past President of the Executive Council of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix since 1984. He also sits on the Board of Governors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale where he has chaired many fundraising events.

Stephen is a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, where he resides with his wife Michele, and daughters Madison, and Molly (JGS Class of 2019).

Anita Theisen
Co-Chair, Acting Treasurer

Co-owner of Theisen Automotive Group/Mercedes-Benz of Scottsdale & Mercedes-Benz of Arrowhead, Anita is the Chair and acting Treasurer of the Jones-Gordon Foundation.

Additionally, Anita serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Arizona Science Center. She has previously served on the Boards of the International School of Arizona and Homeward Bound, and the Director’s Circle of Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Anita earned a Bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, a Master’s in Architecture degree from The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), and a Master’s of Science in Real Estate, Development Concentration (MSRE) from New York University.

Dana Herzberg
Executive Director

Dana is the driving force behind the Jones-Gordon Foundation. In addition to serving as the Foundation’s ED, she is the Founder and Head of School of The Jones-Gordon School (established in 2010), and the Founder of On-Track Tutoring (started in 1999) — the two entities that are now under the auspices of the nonprofit organization.

With nearly three decades in the education industry, Dana is well known for her work with students who have learning differences, including dyslexia and the conditions that often co-occur (e.g., ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, anxiety, and giftedness). Formerly a certified teacher (in Elementary, Gifted, and Special Education), Dana held positions at a local public school district and provided educational consulting services for numerous Valley private schools. Dana also has extensive experience providing educational recommendations on neuropsychological and psycho-educational evaluations for several AZ clinicians as well as academic assessment and consulting services to local families.

A MASK Magazine “Moms Making a Difference” Unity Award nominee and Raising Arizona Kids Magazine Mompreneur, Dana has been a guest on “Family Matters” with The Mothers on KFNX and is often called upon to speak with journalists, parents, and other educators about special education topics. Dana previously served on the board of a local independent school and held an advisory council position with the Phoenix chapter of the Parents Education Network. She maintains professional affiliations with the Council for Exceptional Children, Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD), the International Dyslexia Association, the International Reading Association, and the National Tutoring Association. In 2007 Dana founded the CHADD Valley of the Sun chapter in honor of her mentor, Dr. Clare Jones.

Dana earned a master’s degree summa cum laude in curriculum and instruction, with a focus on brain-based learning, twice exceptionalities, and multisensory curriculum from ASU, where she also graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in special education. Dana and her husband have a son now in high school (pictured here with Dana), who has attended JGS since kindergarten.

Tracie Glover Hawxhurst
Secretary

Prior to her position with The Jones-Gordon School, Tracie spent many years as an administrator at the Tesseract School where she also served as the liaison between the Board of Directors and the school.

With many years of experience with nonprofit independent school boards, Tracie’s insight and guidance are invaluable to our board operations.

Nicole Bahu
Member-at-Large

As a member of the JGS community since the school’s inception, Nicole contributes a unique insight and perspective to the board. A mom of two, Nicole’s younger son, Mick, was a JGS student from grades 1 through 12. Since graduating in 2021, Mick has been a successful student-athlete as part of the Track and Field team at Cornell College.

Nicole has not only seen first-hand the school’s incredible growth and development but has also been an active participant in helping drive Jones-Gordon’s progress. Nicole was instrumental in founding the school’s Parent Organization and served as its president for multiple years. In addition, Nicole has worked to help ensure that JGS students have social and athletics opportunities similar to those at other private schools with school dances, clubs, and other social experiences.

Les Brun
Member-at-Large

Les is Chairman and CEO of Ariel Alternatives, LLC, which invests in mid-market, scalable businesses that are or will become Black and Latinx owned. He is also Chairman and CEO of Sarr Group, LLC, a diversified holding company, as well as Senior Advisor to G100 and World 50, a private platform of peer-to-peer communities for senior-most executives and directors from some of the world’s largest companies. Previously, he was a Managing Director in the NY office of CCMP Capital Advisors. Les also founded and was Chairman Emeritus of Hamilton Lane, the world’s leading Private Equity advisory and management firm, and was a board member of the Richcourt Group, a Hamilton Lane company specializing in research-driven hedge fund investing.

Les is currently Lead Director of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., where he was formerly Chairman of the Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Corning, Inc. and Footprint, LLC. Throughout his lengthy career, Les has served in various roles (Chair of the Board of Directors, Lead Director, Committee Chair, and Council Member) for other large, high-profile corporations and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Les holds a BS from SUNY Buffalo, where he has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus and is a former Trustee of the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc. He is also a former Trustee of Widener Univ., as well as Episcopal Academy in PA. Among other honors, Les has been recognized as one of America’s top 100 Corporate Directors and was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame for Philadelphia Inquirer’s Industry Icons.

Proud father of a Jones-Gordon graduate (class of 2021), Les is married to Maggie, a popular JGS Humanities & Visual Arts teacher who is currently on sabbatical.

Julia Maguire
Member-at-Large

Julia was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Communications. Her career began at a large wealth management firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. From there, she moved to Los Angeles and worked as an Executive Assistant in the entertainment industry for the next seven years.

She is a wife, mother of three children, and a proud JGS parent. Her experience at The Jones-Gordon School has given her a deep appreciation for the importance of customized education.

She is passionate about the success of Jones-Gordon and she looks forward to sharing her energy and ideas with the Board.

Shari Schwartz
Member-at-Large

Shari earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in visual communications and graphic design from the University of Arizona. After graduating, she remained in Tucson and spent the next decade in the design/marketing/advertising field, where a majority of her clients were small-to-mid-sized start-ups and nonprofit organizations. Her work led to various volunteer positions on committees and boards of several NGOs, many of which were related to her passion for education.

Shari resides in Phoenix with her husband, Marc. Their son, currently a student at ASU, graduated from JGS in May 2022.

Chuck Theisen

Member-at-Large

Chuck is an owner of Theisen Automotive Group/Mercedes-Benz of Scottsdale & Mercedes-Benz of Arrowhead.

In addition to being a member of the Jones-Gordon Foundation Advisory Board, some of the other boards Chuck has served or currently serves on are the Milton H. Erickson Foundation; Childhelp, USA; Homeward Bound; Robbins-Madanes Center; and the Yo San-University (a medical school for Chinese medicine). He has been an active member of CEO (Chief Executive Organization), YPO/WPO, (Young Presidents Organization and World Presidents Organization), rotating through all the chairs in both organizations and the international board.

Chuck holds a PhD in History from UCLA, a law degree from Stanford, an MBA from ASU, and an MA in Psychology from USIU.

Jessica Wilhelmsen
Member-at-Large

Before joining the JGS team in 2012, Jessica spent several years volunteering and working in the nonprofit world, focusing on the social and emotional development of youth.

Jessica is an Arizona State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) in Psychology with an emphasis on Child and Family Development.