Commitment to Children, Youth, and Community

By Jo-Ann "Sockolov" Byrne

I come from a family with a multi-generational history of civil service in town council, public transportation, public safety, and the military. I am a first-generation American and first of four children whose parents immigrated to the U.S. for the same core reason legions of people willingly assume the challenges and hardships of coming to this country with extremely limited means -- to work hard to seek the opportunities, unparalleled anywhere else in this world, to make a better life for themselves and their families.

I have been a San Mateo County resident for 40 years. I grew up in Pacifica and attended school in the Laguna Salada and Jefferson Unified School Districts. Growing up with the daily lessons my parents instilled about the value of hard work and determination and that becoming a well-educated person is key to achieving job success and quality of life, my brothers and I were inspired and determined to achieve our educational goals knowing we would have to be completely industrious and resourceful because there were no family financial means.

Educational Background

Though I received academic scholarships, I had to work part-time jobs and take out a student loan in order to fund my studies at San Francisco State University, where, in five years, I earned a B.S. in Business and B.A. in Speech Communication Studies, then went on to earn a Master's degree in Speech Communication Studies, also at San Francisco State University. I know well the struggles that students and their families face while navigating a post-secondary education journey.

During my post-graduate studies, I received a full scholarship from the Rotary Foundation to attend the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where I studied cultural anthropology, linguistics, and modern literature and served as a Goodwill Ambassador, speaking to numerous service groups throughout New Zealand, as well as locally upon my return, with the mission to foster cross-cultural exchange and understanding.

I consider myself a lifelong learner and have taken various business, creative arts, and language arts courses at Skyline and Canada Colleges and the College of San Mateo.

Commitment to Children, Youth, and Community

For over 10 years, I have been passionately engaged in efforts and programs that support educational enrichment opportunities for local public school students and have worked as a classroom volunteer, substitute teacher, PTA president, Site Council member, and have helped to raise millions of dollars to support students.

As a public education funding reform advocate, I led a grass-roots letter writing campaign in which thousands of letters were written by students, teachers, parents, and community members to protest state cuts to public education. I worked with California State Senator Joe Simitian and his office to deliver the letters to legislative representatives in Sacramento.

I am currently the Executive Director of the Redwood City Education Foundation, which serves over 9,200 K-8 students in the Redwood City School District. Under my leadership, the Foundation has more than doubled its revenue during a severe economic downturn, and has expanded and enhanced the music, science, technology, math, and wellness programs we support. Working directly with the healthcare district, $3.5 million of innovative health and wellness programs and services have been brought to our students. Working with my team members and corporate and charitable foundations, we have provided much needed technology resources, such as iPads, Elmos, and SMART Boards to local classrooms.

I sit on the Advisory Board of Family Connections, which is a tuition-free parent participation program for low-income families, providing education to over 400 individuals each year at three sites in San Mateo County. I have been an active member of the Redwood City-San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee for a number of years, as well as the Inter Service Club Coordinating Council, a consortium of local charitable service organizations that support Veterans, children, and youth in our community.

I have also been a volunteer with various community-based organizations such as Project Read and Jr. Achievement and was a Girl Scout leader for six years. I am an active member of the Peninsula Sunrise Rotary club and am working with my club members to raise $100,000 to purchase water filtration systems for two remote hill tribes in Thailand whose water supplies are contaminated with base metals and other toxic substances. We have engaged students of the Redwood High School Environmental Academy of Leadership to participate with us and two students will accompany our club to Thailand when the systems are installed in February of next year.

Professional Career

Prior to my work in public education, my professional career was in human resources and organization development and also animal welfare. The main thrust of my business experience was to help companies find the best people, train and develop them, and help them continuously improve their performance so that they and the company could be increasingly more successful. I held management and executive roles in both traditional and cutting edge industries.

I was the Global Director of Human Resources at Align Technology, the innovator and manufacturer of Invisalign dental braces, and joined during the start up phase and helped see the company through its IPO and global expansion phases. I supported all domestic operations as well as sales and manufacturing operations in Pakistan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Europe and South America. I know what workforce skills and abilities companies need to be successful in the 21st century.

My work at the Humane Society of the Silicon Valley was to provide support for injured and abandoned animals and find adoptive, loving human families for them. So I understand well how vital it is to provide for and support the most vulnerable among us.

I hold a lifetime designation as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Human Resources Certification Institute and earned a Certificate in Human Resources Management through the U.C. Berkeley Extension Program. I am also a graduate of the Redwood City-San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce Leadership program.

Family Life

My husband and I are raising two amazing daughters, who have always attended public school. Our 16 year old is a junior at Sequoia High School in Redwood City and plans to become a public school teacher, and our 11 year old is a 6th grader at Hillview Middle School in Menlo Park and plans to become a pediatrician. As a family, we are deeply invested in our local community and feel it is an honor and privilege to be able to serve and help others.

Priorities as a Trustee

As a proven leader in our culturally and socio-economically diverse community, with the ability to bring key stakeholders together to focus on achieving common goals, I will work with all stakeholder groups to share and leverage resources to ensure education excellence for all our children, no matter their backgrounds or needs. My priorities include:

• Addressing funding inadequacies through expense reduction, shared services, and creating economies of scale.
• Closing the Achievement Gap.
• Improving Kindergarten readiness and high school graduation rates.
• Levering the use of technology to enhance and improve teaching and learning.
• Assuring that more students have the opportunity to go on to college and be successful there and pathways to vocational education opportunities are readily available for students not pursuing college.
• Ensuring a world-class K-12 public school system and continuous improvement in education outcomes in our County.