Our Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board brings together a respected group of experienced leaders who provide valuable insight, guidance and expertise to support our growth and impact.
Established during our first year, the board was created to ensure that we remain closely connected to the real challenges facing schools and educational leaders.
Drawing on their extensive experience in education, board members are trusted partners who help to shape our strategy, training programs and service offering. They provide direct feedback on the needs of schools, support the professional development of our educators, advise our leadership team, and help identify opportunities for meaningful partnerships.
Vanessa Garza
Executive Director
Girls Athletic Leadership School
Vanessa Garza expertly translates student potential into success with data-driven leadership.
Ms. Garza's previous roles include Director of Teacher Development at Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, and as an Assistant Principal at Green Dot Public Schools and PUC Schools. In these roles, she collaborated with Principals and teacher leaders to support and coach their instructional practices in line with the district's teaching standards and evaluations.
Ms. Garza, born and raised in Los Angeles, is proud of earning her master’s in education from UCLA while serving as a middle school teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Ms. Garza earned her bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and her administrative credential at the Charter School Leadership Academy at Loyola Marymount University.
Christopher Carlair
Principal/School Leader
KIPP Ignite
Christopher Carlair began his career teaching Kindergarten and 1st grade, and brings a deep commitment to early literacy, student voice, and family partnership.
Christopher served as a Dean and Assistant Principal at KIPP New Jersey before joining KIPP SoCal in 2022 as an Assistant School Leader. After 10 years in education he became the Principal of Ignite, where he leads with a focus on joy, achievement, accountability, and pride.
Originally from Buffalo, NY, Christopher studied English and Journalism at Morehouse College and The City College of New York - an experience that shaped his belief in the power of language, storytelling, and representation in the classroom.
Arica Watford Okifo
Associate Director, Talent
KIPP SoCal
Arica Watford Okifo is currently the Associate Director of Talent Acquisition at KIPP SoCal, where she has worked for the last 9 years.
Originally from Connecticut, Arica graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2015 with the goal to work in education. After graduating Arica joined AmeriCorps and spent a year serving with education nonprofit City Year in New Hampshire, supporting students and schools to thrive.
Arica then moved to the West Coast to complete a second year of national service as a Senior Corps Member at Markham Middle School in Los Angeles, where she continued working directly with students and the school community.
Dr. Tanaz Bruna
HR Director
Saugus Unified School District
Dr. Tanaz Bruna is a progressive, student-centered educational leader with over two decades of experience spanning PreK-12 instruction and administration.
Currently serving as Director of HR for the Saugus Union School District, Dr. Bruna strives to build a supportive, inclusive environment that fosters retention and makes everyone proud to be part of the team. She brings expertise in district-level operations, including collective bargaining, staff recruitment and retention, employee mediation, and reflective evaluation.
Dr. Bruna has held numerous roles in education, including Coordinator of Educational Services and Principal at award-winning elementary and secondary levels. Additionally, she holds an Ed.D. in K-12 Leadership from the University of Southern California, a Master of Arts in Education from California Lutheran University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Sonoma State University.
At Tradewind Subs, we’re more than just a staffing solution agency, we’re a community of passionate educators and advocates dedicated to making a difference in classrooms across California.
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Educators
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Schools
The Tradewind Difference
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