Board of Directors

GTA Board Chair Shawna Gilroy, born and raised in Northern California, is the President and CEO of the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce. After moving to Vallejo in 2013, she wasted no time in becoming immersed in the community. With 15 years of advertising and marketing experience, Ms. Gilroy uses her knowledge to promote and support the community of Vallejo, its businesses, and community organizations. Before taking on her current role, Ms. Gilroy worked for nine years as Advertising Sales Director and Community Engagement Manager for the Vallejo Times-Herald. Ms. Gilroy is a member of Vallejo Rotary, and was President for the 2018-2019 Rotary year. She was also awarded the President’s Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2015-2016. She has served on the committee for Vallejo Waterfront Weekend since 2014. She is also an Alumni of Leadership Vallejo, graduating with the Year 8 Class in 2015, and continues to contribute to their many activities. She was an Ambassador for the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce, formally serving as Chief Ambassador in 2016, and was awarded the Ambassador of the Year recognition. She continued to serve as Chief Ambassador for the 2017 year while also being a board member in the Membership Chair position. She then moved on to becoming the Vallejo Chamber Board Chair in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 Ms. Gilroy accepted the position as the President and CEO of the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce where she continues to support her community. Ms. Gilroy, who became Board Chair of GTA in 2022, lives in Vallejo with her son, who attends Griffin Academy High School, and is proud to call this city home. She strongly believes in supporting her community through activism, volunteerism, and perseverance. Ms. Gilroy looks forward to continuing to work and grow with Griffin Technology Academies, the Chamber of Commerce and the entire Vallejo community.

Vivian Wesley joined the GTA Board in June 2017, but her experience with our schools dates back to 2009 when her twin daughters became Griffins in 6th grade. Ms. Wesley was an active GTA parent until 2016, when her girls graduated from MIT Academy, and has continued to be an active member of the MIT and then GTA community ever since. Over the years, she has been involved in the Parent Teacher Networks (PTN), the African American Parents Association (AAPA) and a regular participant in GTA Strategic Planning sessions. Mrs. Wesley holds an Associate Degree in Social Science from Merritt College Oakland as well as a Certificate in Mortuary Science from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science, and until she retired in 2022, she worked for Napa County Health & Human Services Agency. Prior to that, she had a career of 25 years in banking. Married nearly 30 years, Mrs. Wesley enjoys being active with her church and spending time with family.

Luis Rosales is an MIT Academy High School graduate and former class student representative to the Board of Directors. Currently, Luis is the only member on the Board to both have attended a GTA school, and also serve on its Board. Luis formally joined the Board as a non-student member in May 2022; and hopes that his experience as a former student will offer the Board a new perspective when implementing new policies for all the GTA schools. In the past, Luis has worked with children with developmental disabilities; implementing behavioral schedules and helping children become independent by teaching them to cope with their disabilities while also empowering them with the tools and skills that would enable them to live better lives. While at Sextant Consulting Inc., Luis was also the company’s primary translator and interpreter, being fluent in both English and Spanish.

Philip McGuire joined the Griffin Technologies Academy Board of Directors in August, 2022. His long-standing interest in education as well as extensive executive leadership experience contributed to his interest in serving on the GTA Board.

Phil entered semi-retirement in 2022. His most recent executive leadership role was as CEO of a nonprofit transportation agency in Modesto. Prior to that, he served as the first CEO of the newly formed public transit authority in Stanislaus County in 2021. Over a long career in transit management, he served as CEO for other transit authorities as well as nonprofit organizations in that industry. Phil served on the consulting team that led to the formation of Soltrans in Vallejo in 2010.

As a resident of Vallejo since 1985, he has watched the evolution of the city and its institutions over many years. His wife, Marsha, retired after a long career as lead social worker for Sutter Hospital in Vallejo. In addition to a number of volunteer activities, she went back to work part time at the Hallmark store in Benicia. Phil and his wife have three sons all of whom attended local high schools, and each of their sons went on to complete degrees at California universities. Their oldest son started his career in business before switching to teaching, and recently accepted a teaching position in Vallejo.

Phil earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Iowa

Rebecca Hartman-Baker joined the Board in 2022. She looks forward to using her expertise to help Griffins prepare for careers in the tech world.

Rebecca leads the User Engagement Group at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center, a national supercomputing center sponsored by the Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She has worked at supercomputing centers across the world, including the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility in Tennessee and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Western Australia. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Physics from the University of Kentucky and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Rebecca is the mom to a son who is currently a freshman at MIT Academy, and a daughter who is a first-grader in the Vallejo schools. When she’s not thinking about supercomputers or spending time with her family, she likes to play the violin.

More Info In Progress.

More Info In Progress.