Executive Leadership Team

Cherese Brauer

Chief Executive Officer

Cherese has extensive and successful experience in classroom teaching, leadership coaching, and instructional leadership. She began her career in education as an elementary, middle school teacher, vice principal, and then founding school leader at some of KIPP DC’s first schools. After more than a decade teaching in and leading excellent schools, she became Director of Instructional Leadership at KIPP Foundation, and joined KIPP Northern California as founding Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer in 2018.

Cherese brings both depth of knowledge of our core strengths and a powerful vision for fulfilling our promise of working together with families and communities to create and sustain joyful, academically excellent schools.

She is a proven leader with deep respect throughout KIPP’s national network and beyond. She strongly believes that schools should cherish and fortify all children, and we are confident that our schools will continue to succeed and flourish under her leadership and vision.

Jenny Tan

Chief of Schools

Jenny Tan graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in Cognitive Science. Tan earned a Master's Degree and a School Leadership License from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. As the elementary principal of the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, she not only helped the school achieve the highest distinctions possible such as "Exemplary" and "High Achieving" as determined by the Nevada Department of Education. She later became the first Chief Academic Officer for KIPP Colorado, where she supported their elementary, middle, and high schools to become top performing schools in Denver Public Schools. Tan then joined the KIPP Foundation allowing her to work with senior academic leaders across the KIPP network. She was most recently the Associate Dean of the Relay California Leadership Programs.

David Ling

Chief People Officer

David is the Chief People Officer for KIPP Bay Area Public Schools. In this role David oversees the Talent and Human Resources departments along with KIPP Through College. He also leads the recruitment, development and retention efforts for KIPP Bay Area Public Schools’ Regional Support Office staff. Prior to becoming Chief People Officer, David served as KIPP Bay Area Public Schools Managing Director of Talent, Managing Director of Student Services, and the Director of KIPP Through College, as well as the school leader at KIPP Bridge Charter School in Oakland, California from 2003 –2009. Before joining KIPP, David taught 7th and 8th grade Social Studies in Baltimore, Maryland as a Teach For America corps member. A Bay Area native, he is a graduate of UC Berkeley (B.A.) and Johns Hopkins University (M.A.T.), as a well as the 2002 KIPP School Leadership Program. David lives in the East Bay with his wife and two sons.

Ruchi Thiru

Chief Operating Officer

Ruchi Thiru joined KIPP Bay Area Public Schools in 2014. As the Managing Director of Operations and Information, she oversees three departments: Operations, Data, and Technology. Prior to this role, Ruchi served as our first Director of Data and Evaluation, building a new regional Data department that is responsible for developing our data infrastructure, improving access to key data, and driving regional analysis and evaluation. Before joining KIPP, she worked in the private sector in brand management and consulting. Ruchi received her B.S. in Economics from Wharton/University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from Kellogg/Northwestern University, and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems.

Ruchi originally hails from the East coast, but has quickly converted to Bay Area living. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, young son, and dog.

Cory Vastola

Chief Financial Officer

Cory joined the KIPP Bay Area Public Schools Finance Team in 2013 as an Education Pioneers Analyst Fellow. As Director of Finance, Cory is responsible for overseeing the regional Finance Team, whose responsibilities include annual and long term organizational budgeting, compensation, facilities financing, and providing school budget management support to school leaders. Prior to KIPP, he worked in economic consulting in New York City. A native of Seal Beach, California, Cory holds a B.A. in Economics from Brown University. Education is his passion, but in his spare time, Cory enjoys playing the viola in the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony.

Hillary Harmssen

Chief Growth Officer

Hilary Harmssen brings over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector in the areas of educational equity, community development, affordable housing and economic development. Prior to joining KIPP, she worked at the California Charter Schools Association for 10 years serving as a relentless advocate for charter public schools and leading the organization's advocacy, policy and political work across the Bay Area and Northern California. A Bay Area native, Hilary holds a BA in American Studies from Cornell University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern California. In her free time, Hilary loves to go on adventures with her husband and three kids.

Lara Knight Wheatley

Managing Director of Schools

For the past eighteen years, Lara Knight Wheatley has led as Teacher, Principal, Principal Manager, and Leadership Coach. She began her career in Urban Planning after receiving her B.S. in Community and Regional Development from UC Davis. She quickly realized that true community revitalization was not possible without strong public schools. This led her to UCLA to obtain a Secondary Teaching Credential and a Masters in Education with a focus on Social Justice. After teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District, she moved to Sacramento to become a founding teacher at Sacramento Charter High School. In 2009, she joined the KIPP Foundation and led Successor Prep, a national leadership development program supporting principals who were transitioning into existing KIPP schools. In 2011, she jumped at the opportunity to lead KIPP Houston High School (KHHS), the first high school in KIPP’s national network of college preparatory schools. During her time at KHHS, she worked with an incredible team of leaders and teachers who drove results and prioritized relationships. During her five years at KHHS, ACT results climbed from an average of 18 to 21 and the school received the US Department of Education’s National Blue Ribbon designation. While she is proud of KHHS’ growth and achievement during her tenure, she is most excited about all the alumni who are teaching, leading, and working in fields focused on educational opportunities for all. Currently, she draws upon her experience as a principal in her current role supporting KIPP Bay Area's four high schools. Lara enjoys spending time with her husband, who shares a similar passion for education, and her two kids, a five-year-old girl and two-year-old boy.