Board of Directors
CYNTHIA J. WILBER
Cindy Wilber is the Founder and Executive Director of Proyecto Itzaes and the Education Director of Centro de Educación Ambiental de la Península Yucateca (CEAPY) She retired from Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University in 2019 and is a member of the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS). Cindy is an educational specialist focused on curriculum development, community outreach programs, and access to knowledge for indigenous peoples and is a bilingual author.
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JESSICA CETZ DZIB
Jessica Cetz Dzib, lives in Ixil, Yucatán and is the current lead assessor (advisor) for Proyecto Itzaes and has been an active part of Proyecto Itzaes since she was 11 years old. Jessica graduated from the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (UADY) with a degree in Accounting and also has a MBA from UADY. Jessica contributes key elements on all levels to PI goals and programs and as a native Maya speaker promotes cultural preservation across all PI programs. Jessica is an active member of COPUS and has been responsible for disseminating Maya math/ numerology and has organized, with other assessors, all of PI’s science fairs.
KAREN DRACHLER
Karen Drachler is the Senior Donor Services Officer, Gifts Processing, for the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. She is a graduate of John F. Kennedy University with an MBA in Strategic Management and holds a Certification in Financial Accounting from Foothill College. Karen also received a B.S. in Biology from George Washington University. After serving in Honduras as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Karen moved to San Francisco and began working with PI. Karen is a Registered Yoga Instructor (RYT-200), an avid traveler, and an amateur photographer.
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KATE LOWRY
Kate Lowry is the strategy director at the Science Philanthropy Alliance. Trained as an earth system scientist, Kate conducted oceanographic research in the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica for her Ph.D. and undergraduate education at Stanford University. She is a member of the National Leadership Council for the Society of Science, a trustee for the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and Arts Foundation, a mentor for the Peninsula College Fund, and on the Irene Brown Scholarship committee. Kate has extensive experience as a mentor for underrepresented students and is a long time supporter of PI in multiple capacities.
KIMBERLY GIBSON
Kimberly Gibson is a postdoctoral researcher on inclusive innovation for climate smart food systems at the University of California, Merced. Her research focuses on ways to center sustainability and equity in the development of new ag technology. Kimberly earned her PhD in agronomy from UC Davis in 2023 where she studied insect resistance traits in Lima beans. She spent a year teaching English at Proyecto Itzaes in 2015-16 and has visited almost every year since to connect with the PI community.
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LANCE POWELL
Lance Powell currently chairs the science department and teaches at Menlo-Atherton High School in the Bay Area. As a career science educator he has designed and taught various courses and worked with a wide variety of high school students over the years in different schools, including one he co-founded; June Jordan School for Equity. He is currently teaching AP Environmental Science and Chemistry to English Language Learners. He is a member of COPUS and was also involved in the Proyecto Itzaes Science Fair a few years back.
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LAURA JONES
Laura Jones PhD Stanford ‘90 is Director of Heritage Services and University Archaeologist for Stanford University, responsible for stewardship of the University’s nearly 100 archaeological sites and 200 historic buildings. Her archaeological experience includes serving as director of a number of major excavations of prehistoric occupation and cemetery sites in the San Francisco Bay Area where she works closely with the indigenous Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. Laura has served on the Board of PI since its inception.
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MARCY BARTON
Marcy Barton has been a teacher and educational activist for more than five decades. Marcy’s career spans classroom and administrative experience from pre-school to 8th grade, and in locations from New England, to the Deep South, and to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been a writing specialist teacher, a TV math teacher, a technology integration specialist, a professional development designer and trainer, a Japan Memorial Fulbright participant, as well as a highlighted speaker at Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute for Design; the d.School. Now retired, her passion for curriculum development continues through her written contributions to the cause of literacy. Her companion volumes, Classroom for the Conceptual Age: Chronicles of An Integrated Exploratory Teacher and Classroom for the Conceptual Age: A Developmental Approach to Design Thinking provide a constructivist blueprint for 21st Century learning.​
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MATTIAS LANAS
Mattias Lanas is a scientific illustrator and educator based in Madrid, Spain. He graduated with degrees in Earth Systems from Stanford, then completed a Science Illustration Certificate Graduate Program at Cal State University, Monterey Bay. As a member of the Coalition for Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), Mattias participated in the Proyecto Itzaes COPUS science fair and is a long time supporter of PI. He currently freelances and teaches art and nature journaling.
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TOM MCFADDEN
Tom McFadden teaches biology at CK McClatchy High School in Sacramento and has been producing music videos for 15 years, including Soy Yucateco Tambien Maya that he made with Proyecto Itzaes. Tom previously hosrted "Science With Tom" on YouTube - developing videos, lessons, and tools that help every teacher unleash the creative genius of their rockstar students. In 2021, he launched Rhyme With, an EdTech tool that brings interactivity and student voice to standards-aligned music videos. Tom has been part of PI for years on multiple levels. Tom is a member of COPUS and has lived and worked with PI in Ixil, Yucatán.
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