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Daniel Norbutas, Advisor
Now Senior Director of Educational Services and Technology Larkspur-Corte Madera School District, Daniel served nine years as Hall Middle School Principal and most recently Chief Academic Officer in the Sausalito Marin City School District. Daniel has also served as assistant principal and teacher in the Tamalpais Union High School District. He earned his BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley and his MA in Education and teaching credentials from San Francisco State University. Daniel lives in Mill Valley with his wife and son, is a self-proclaimed geek and enjoys CrossFit, board games, and flying remote control airplanes - among many other hobbies. |
Why we do this
MV GATE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, founded and supported by Marin parents who believe in bringing enhanced learning opportunities to our kids, now, and in partnership with our schools. We believe that 1) our kids’ gifts and talents can be best nurtured through empowering challenges and support; 2) that our own community represents a great and largely untapped resource in our kids’ education; and 3) that today's kids, if they are going to be happy and successful, must develop a richer set of cognitive and life skills than any previous generation.
What we are
A nonprofit off-shoot of Mill Valley’s It Takes a Village PTA, and partially funded by ITAV’s generous grants, MV GATE in 2012 became a federally registered independent nonprofit (tax ID #46-1269141). For its first year the young nonprofit offered a variety of out-of-school enrichments in math, literature, history, and nature for grades 2-8 with the help of talented parent-members. In late 2013 MVGATE recognized the demand for computer science enrichments, and began offering its breakthrough Hour of Code Night programs and after-school enrichment classes in every elementary school in Mill Valley. Other Districts and the Marin County Office of Education expressed interest in MV GATE programs, resulting in expansion to a growing list of more than a dozen schools across southern Marin. Thousands of kids have now learned computer science, engineering, math, and more via hundreds of MV GATE classes, now providing a long-term enhanced learning path for kids in grades K-8, and engaging talented young people grades 6-12 in mentoring and teaching roles.
Who we are
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John Pearce, Director & CEO
John is a long-time information entrepreneur with specialties in media, marketing, political marketing, public relations, and education. He was founder and CEO of MediaMap, a media research and software provider for the public relations industry. He also founded and led Cambridge Communications, a Massachusetts PR agency. With Kath Cramer, he founded and directed “Ralph Don’t Run,” a national political campaign in 2003-2004 to encourage progressive opposition to the presidential candidacy of Ralph Nader, appearing on CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and Meet the Press. John has spoken at dozens of national conferences on public relations and marketing topics. John earned his BA in History, Magna Cum Laude, from Boston University. |
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Jeff Leane, Co-Director & COO
Jeff’s a physicist turned inventor turned entrepreneur. He started his first technology company in middle school, selling rocket kits to other kids and making $6.61. As a senior researcher at Accenture Technology Labs, he co-invented the shopbot. He came to Palo Alto in 1995, co-invented B2B e-commerce and the first XML application, and started Chemdex, where he was CTO. He coaches Math Team and MVGATE’s Build Your Own Computer workshop, and advises the Marin Economic Forum on startups. Jeff earned his AB in physics from Princeton University and his MS in applied physics from Case Western Reserve University, where he co-invented some nanotech thingy. |
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Kath Cramer
Kath is the architect and founder of The National Work Family Alliance, launching the organization after traveling the US to meet with and bring together respected work-family leaders. In addition to co-founding Ralph Don’t Run with John Pearce, Kath has a bachelor’s degree in economics and women’s studies from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. A strict vegetarian, she takes in stride the challenge of living in a family of strict carnivores. |
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Elizabeth (Pitt) Leane
Elizabeth is a graduate of Dartmouth College where she studied engineering at the Thayer School, majoring in Computer Science. She's Ex-Oracle. During her prior career as a Technical Specialist she enjoyed troubleshooting database problems on Massively Parallel Systems. She's a problem solver. She's also a Mill Valley mother of two daughters. At Old Mill School she delighted in bringing amazing authors to inspire the students during her two years chairing Author Committee. |
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Peter Phleger, Counsel
Peter is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Private Investment Funds Group in SF. The co-director of San Francisco's Y Theater Company in a past life, he earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his B.A. from Yale University. Peter and his lovely wife, the actor Courtney Walsh, have four kids. When, at MVGATE's very first meeting, Courtney walked in with a detailed proposal to connect local students with Stanford Classics Professor Rush Rehm, we knew we were really going to like the Phlegers. |
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Lance Ignon, Advisory Board
Lance has more than 25 years of experience as a public relations executive and business/finance journalist. Now Managing Director at Citizen Public Relations, he uses these experiences and his personal commitment to social change to advance values-based movements. Prior to establishing Citizen Public Relations, Lance was founder and director of the San Francisco office of Sitrick And Co.; Vice President of VaxGen; and Director of Corporate Communications for Tenet Healthcare. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and completed professional training in finance at Stanford University. |
