Our Board
#PublicSchoolProud
Chad Campbell
Chad Campbell is a native Arizonan with a long history of political service, public affairs work, and community leadership. He served eight years in the Arizona Legislature, including two terms as the House Minority Leader from 2010-2014. Chad is now a Senior Vice President at Strategies 360, a national public affairs firm.
Roopali Desai
Roopali Desai is a leading election lawyer in Arizona. Her political law practice involves advising clients on all aspects of election law including campaign finance compliance, disclosure and reporting requirements, and bringing and defending election challenges. Roopali’s political law clients include federal, state, and local candidates; political party organizations and clubs; nonprofit organizations; and more. Of note, Roopali successfully represented Save Our Schools Arizona in its referendum campaign.
Libby Goff
Libby (Elizabeth) Goff ran a small CPA firm for many years providing accounting and tax work for small businesses, and currently works as the CFO for the small manufacturing business she and her husband own. Libby is an activist working to change laws and increase funding to improve public schools in Arizona.
Iain Hamp
Iain is a professional community relations consultant and analytics strategist, as well as the founder of the Phoenix Community ToolBank. He has served in a variety of leadership roles with nonprofit organizations focused on the education and welfare of children in Arizona.
Raquel Mamani
Raquel was born and raised on the beautiful border town of Nogales, Arizona. She is a mother of 11-year old twins and taught in Arizona for 12 years. She has volunteered with SOSAZ every step of the way.
Dawn Penich-Thacker
Dawn began her career as a U.S. Army Public Affairs Officer, serving in Strategic Communications at the Pentagon and elsewhere. She holds a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Linguistics, with which she teaches and publishes on Political Rhetoric and Professional Communication. She has volunteered on local, state and national campaigns since 2006.
Yasmin Kassel - President
Yasmin is an Arizona public school proud alumna, a mom, and a former strategic business consultant-turned-public education advocate. She brings over a decade of business transformation consulting experience from her time at IBM. Currently, she is working on her doctorate in education from Johns Hopkins University, specializing in Entrepreneurial Leadership in Education. Yasmin believes that a strong economy starts with a strong core, and high-quality, equitable public education is at the heart.
Iain Hamp - Past-President
Iain is a professional community relations consultant and analytics strategist, as well as the founder of the Phoenix Community ToolBank. He has served in a variety of leadership roles with nonprofit organizations focused on the education and welfare of children in Arizona.
Jacob Martinez - Vice President
Jacob is a life-long resident of Mesa, Arizona, and is currently a student at Arizona State University working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. His experience has a recent student has motivated him to fight for public education and community in his day to day life.
He currently serves as a Security Forces Member (MASN) in the United States Navy, a small business owner, and a Commercial Corridor Manager with RAIL CDC.Â
In addition, he serves as the Chairman of the Mesa Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and on the Board of Directors for the Mesa Historical Museum. He had the privilege of serving as President of the Mayor’s Youth Committee and as Vice President of Dobson’s School Improvement Advisory Committee, as well as serving as a member of the Mesa Public Schools Bond and Override Advisory Committee. Jacob also sat on the Arizona Department of Education's School Safety Task Force, where we developed a model school safety plan that was distributed to schools to support safer learning environments.
Libby Goff - Treasurer
Libby (Elizabeth) Goff ran a small CPA firm for many years providing accounting and tax work for small businesses, and currently works as the CFO for the small manufacturing business she and her husband own. Libby is an activist working to change laws and increase funding to improve public schools in Arizona.
Susan Collins - Secretary
Susan grew up moving all over the United States while her dad worked as a military contractor. She has seen is a product of public schools and understands the importance of strong public schools in every zip code. As a teacher in low income schools in Mississippi and Arizona, she understands the needs of students, teachers, and schools. She moved to Kingman in 2016 and began advocating in 2017. She is passionate about the needs of rural schools and communities and ensuring that every student receives an excellent education provided by a passionate and qualified educator.
Patrick Brown
Patrick Brown is a native of Arizona and is proud to come from a long line of teachers and educators. As an educator with experience from high school all the way to university, Patrick is a fierce advocate for public education and ensuring that public education is accessible and equitable to all. As someone who believes that public service is at the heart and soul of our community, Patrick has served in various leadership roles with community organizations, non-profits, political and social justice organizations.
Missa Foy
Missa Foy is the current Chair of the Navajo County Democrats and the Organizing Director for the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats. Missa is also a member of the Arizona Native Votes board. The efforts of these Indigenous led organizations on which she serves has expanded the electorate and increased turnout on sovereign lands in Northeast AZ. The teams with which she works empower voters to overcome systemic barriers to voting and get to the polls on sovereign nations. The Northeast Arizona Native Democrats and Navajo County Democrats work on White Mountain Apache Lands, Hopi and Navajo Nation. Missa and her family live in Arizona’s White Mountains where her three children attend their community public school Blue Ridge Unified. They love hiking, camping and rock climbing.
Raquel Mamani
Raquel was born and raised in the beautiful border town of Nogales, Arizona, and is the mother of 15-year old twins. She has taught for 12 years in 3 different states, including special education for 10 years and 2 years teaching a dual-language Spanish class. When her children started kindergarten, she returned to volunteering on the PTO and working as a substitute teacher. Raquel has been involved with Save Our Schools Arizona since 2017 and is passionate about sharing the information she has learned about the history of education funding in Arizona, especially to the Spanish-speaking community. Raquel believes strongly that quality education is a necessity for a healthy democracy.
Signa Oliver
Signa is a native-born Phoenician, mother of two children and grandmother to 7 grandchildren. As a graduate of Phoenix-area public schools, she was the first person in her family to obtain a graduate degree. A staunch advocate for public education, Signa is the newly elected governing board member for Phoenix Union (PXU), Ward 2. She believes that every student in the school district should have the opportunity to be provided with the highest quality education possible to prepare them for success in their adult lives. Signa also served in the AZ Army National Guard, the US Army JAG Corp and the AZ Army Reserves for 18 years.
Wes Oswald
Wes Oswald is an elementary school teacher who has been teaching in Tucson, Arizona since 2003. Wes got involved in public school activism and advocacy during the Red for Ed movement in 2018 because he had directly experienced the defunding of Arizona’s public school system year after year. From being laid off twice, to fighting to keep his beloved neighborhood public school from shutting down permanently, to having his position cut in the middle of the school year, he knew these repeated budget cuts had to stop. Wes holds a BFA in Graphic Design from University of the Pacific.
Jill Humpherys
Yasmin Kassel - President
Yasmin is an Arizona public school proud alumna, a mom, and a former strategic business consultant-turned-public education advocate. She brings over a decade of business transformation consulting experience from her time at IBM. Currently, she is working on her doctorate in education from Johns Hopkins University, specializing in Entrepreneurial Leadership in Education. Yasmin believes that a strong economy starts with a strong core, and high-quality, equitable public education is at the heart.Iain Hamp - Past-President
Iain is a professional community relations consultant and analytics strategist, as well as the founder of the Phoenix Community ToolBank. He has served in a variety of leadership roles with nonprofit organizations focused on the education and welfare of children in Arizona.
Jacob Martinez - Vice President
Jacob is a life-long resident of Mesa, Arizona, and is currently a student at Arizona State University working towards a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. His experience has a recent student has motivated him to fight for public education and community in his day to day life.
He currently serves as a Security Forces Member (MASN) in the United States Navy, a small business owner, and a Commercial Corridor Manager with RAIL CDC.Â
In addition, he serves as the Chairman of the Mesa Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and on the Board of Directors for the Mesa Historical Museum. He had the privilege of serving as President of the Mayor’s Youth Committee and as Vice President of Dobson’s School Improvement Advisory Committee, as well as serving as a member of the Mesa Public Schools Bond and Override Advisory Committee. Jacob also sat on the Arizona Department of Education's School Safety Task Force, where we developed a model school safety plan that was distributed to schools to support safer learning environments.
Libby Goff - Treasurer
Libby (Elizabeth) Goff ran a small CPA firm for many years providing accounting and tax work for small businesses, and currently works as the CFO for the small manufacturing business she and her husband own. Libby is an activist working to change laws and increase funding to improve public schools in Arizona.Susan Collins - Secretary
Susan grew up moving all over the United States while her dad worked as a military contractor. She has seen is a product of public schools and understands the importance of strong public schools in every zip code. As a teacher in low income schools in Mississippi and Arizona, she understands the needs of students, teachers, and schools. She moved to Kingman in 2016 and began advocating in 2017. She is passionate about the needs of rural schools and communities and ensuring that every student receives an excellent education provided by a passionate and qualified educator.Patrick Brown
Patrick Brown is a native of Arizona and is proud to come from a long line of teachers and educators. As an educator with experience from high school all the way to university, Patrick is a fierce advocate for public education and ensuring that public education is accessible and equitable to all. As someone who believes that public service is at the heart and soul of our community, Patrick has served in various leadership roles with community organizations, non-profits, political and social justice organizations.
Chad Campbell
Chad Campbell is a native Arizonan with a long history of political service, public affairs work, and community leadership. He served eight years in the Arizona Legislature, including two terms as the House Minority Leader from 2010-2014. Chad is now a Senior Vice President at Strategies 360, a national public affairs firm.Missa Foy
Missa Foy is the current Chair of the Navajo County Democrats and the Organizing Director for the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats. Missa is also a member of the Arizona Native Votes board. The efforts of these Indigenous led organizations on which she serves has expanded the electorate and increased turnout on sovereign lands in Northeast AZ. The teams with which she works empower voters to overcome systemic barriers to voting and get to the polls on sovereign nations. The Northeast Arizona Native Democrats and Navajo County Democrats work on White Mountain Apache Lands, Hopi and Navajo Nation. Missa and her family live in Arizona’s White Mountains where her three children attend their community public school Blue Ridge Unified. They love hiking, camping and rock climbing.
Raquel Mamani
Raquel was born and raised on the beautiful border town of Nogales, Arizona. She is a mother of 11-year old twins and taught in Arizona for 12 years. She has volunteered with SOSAZ every step of the way.Signa Oliver
Signa is a native-born Phoenician, mother of two children and grandmother to 7 grandchildren. As a graduate of Phoenix-area public schools, she was the first person in her family to obtain a graduate degree. A staunch advocate for public education, Signa is the newly elected governing board member for Phoenix Union (PXU), Ward 2. She believes that every student in the school district should have the opportunity to be provided with the highest quality education possible to prepare them for success in their adult lives. Signa also served in the AZ Army National Guard, the US Army JAG Corp and the AZ Army Reserves for 18 years.Wes Oswald
Wes Oswald is an elementary school teacher who has been teaching in Tucson, Arizona since 2003. Wes got involved in public school activism and advocacy during the Red for Ed movement in 2018 because he had directly experienced the defunding of Arizona’s public school system year after year. From being laid off twice, to fighting to keep his beloved neighborhood public school from shutting down permanently, to having his position cut in the middle of the school year, he knew these repeated budget cuts had to stop. Wes holds a BFA in Graphic Design from University of the Pacific.