Our Team
Board of Directors 2023-2025
Chris Jones, CAGS, LEP #2819, President
Chris is a Licensed Educational Psychologist and credentialed school psychologist who has worked in private practice and public schools for over 25 years. Chris has experience in the areas of Autism, learning disabilities, mental health, and crisis response. He is currently a school psychologist at the Ventura Unified School District, maintains his private practice, and is the Chair of the Board of Behavioral Sciences.
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Melissa Wood. M. Ed., M.S., PPS, PAST President
Melissa is currently the Director of Special Education Programs at the Panama Buena Vista Union School District in Bakersfield, CA. She has extensive experience implementing mental health services to students, creating district-wide crisis response protocols, and collaborating with community agencies to facilitate support to families.
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Mike Giambona, Ph.D., LEP #3367, President Elect
Mike is a school psychologist at San Ramon Valley Unified School District, with over 20 years of experience. He has created and supervised mental health programs, ERMHS assessment teams, and ERMHS providers.
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Gina Beaman, Psy.D., LEP, LMFT, PPSC, Secretary/Treasurer
Dr. Gina Beaman, Psy.D., brings over 27 years of experience in mental health and school psychology to her role as Secretary/Treasurer. She is a School Psychologist in the Etiwanda School District and co-chairs the Ethics Committees for CASP and APA Division 16, offering extensive expertise across diverse settings.
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Katie Pettersen, Ed. S., NCSP, Affiliate Representative
Katie is a nationally certified school psychologist with Santa Clara Unified School District, Secretary of the Santa Clara County Association of School Psychologists, and adjunct faculty with UMass Global’s school psychology program. She specializes in conducting cross-battery psychoeducational assessments with a pattern of strengths and weaknesses analysis, as well as advocating for inclusive practices for LGBTQ+ folks, with an emphasis on transgender and gender non-binary students.
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Leslye Charlesworth, Ed.S., PPS, Region I Representative
Leslye has been practicing school psychology since 2005 and graduated from the University of Denver with an educational specialist degree in school psychology. She has worked in both Colorado and California and currently works in Healdsburg Unified School District where she conducts psychoeducational and 504 assessments, provides educationally related mental health services and works collaboratively with MTSS teams to promote positive outcomes across the district.
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Emily Bersaglia, PsyS, NCSP, Region II Representative
Emily is a nationally certified school psychologist. She has been practicing since 2008, serving students across four states. Emily is active in local, state, and national school psychology endeavors. She has found herself serving in various leadership positions in her district, particularly related to addressing issues of equity and disproportionality.
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Connie-Marie King, MS, Region III Representative
Connie-Marie King has been a school psychologist in Kern County since 2020. She has been an active member of her local affiliate and enjoys giving back to her community and advocating for her school psychologists. Prior to becoming a school psychologist, Connie-Marie worked as a behavior therapist and hopes to continue her passion and earn her BCBA.
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Aimee Garcia Fuentes, MS, BCBA, Region IV Representative
Aimee has worked as a school psychologist with Los Angeles Unified School District since 2015 and is currently at Panorama High School. Prior to becoming a school psychologist, she worked for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) for over eight years implementing Applied Behavior Analysis.
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Ashley Schwenn, Ed.S, ABSNP, LEP, Region V Representative
Ashley currently serves as a Licensed Educational Psychologist in Region V. She has served in both traditional and non-traditional roles in three states over the past 14 years. She served as an adjunct professor for the University of Dayton and Loyola Marymount University school psychology programs. She has extensive experience in school neuropsychological assessment and intervention, creating and implementing proactive districtwide systems of support, teacher professional development, and state association leadership.
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Yolanda Haro, M.Ed, Region VI Representative
Yolanda has been serving as a school psychologist for the last 13 years and is currently the Lead School Psychologist at Hemet Unified School District. She has experience working as a bilingual school psychologist and the school psychologist for the district's Behavioral and Mental Health Team working alongside the ERMHS team. She is also an adjunct professor for California Baptist University in Riverside in the school psychology program.
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Dorothy Guinter, MS, Region VII Representative
Dorothy has been serving as a school psychologist since 2007. Currently, her role is an Educationally Related Mental Health Services (ERMHS) School Psychologist for a specialized program that serves high school students with significant behavioral and mental health needs.
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Dr. Ivan Alvarez, EdD, MA, LEP #3516, Region VIII Representative
Ivan is employed as the Coordinator, Special Education at Lompoc Unified School District, assigned to the district office. He served 10+ years as Bilingual School Psychologist for Santa Barbara County Education Office, including a variety of roles at local school districts, special projects and Lead Psychologist. He earned his doctoral degree in 2022 from the University of Missouri at Columbia and Master's degree in School Psychology and School Counseling from Fresno Pacific University. He holds an administrative services credential from UC Irvine. Ivan has served as Region Representative since 2022. He looks forward to collaborating and working with CASP members and other board members!
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Jennifer Strong, MS, ABSNP, LEP #4317, Region IX Representative
Jennifer Strong has extensive experience in the school setting in southern California, including her recent leadership involvement in shaping policies and procedures for Special Circumstances Instructional Assistance (SCIA). Currently, she practices at Cognitive Diagnostic Associates, a comprehensive full-service support for education.
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Kamio Jones, Region X Representative
Dr. Kamio Jones is beginning her 5th year as a school psychologist. She has worked for a small rural charter school in Yolo County and is now working in Elk Grove USD where she works with students K-12 th grade. Her research interests are intersectionality, self-care, and diversity. She has had the opportunity to present her research at the Black School Psychologist Summit two
years in a row in Atlanta, GA and plans on continuing to be involved with the Black School Psychologist network for the years to come. Dr. Jones has had the opportunity to be a guest speaker on a podcast discussing self-care for Black School Psychologists. Dr. Jones’ strength and favorite part of the job in the field of school psychology is providing mental health support to
the youth.
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Committee Chairs
Position | First | Last | Email |
|---|---|---|---|
Co-Chair, Legislative and Advocacy | Michele | Custer | |
Co-Chair, Legislative and Advocacy | Jeannine | Topalian | |
Co-Chair, Membership | Dorothy | Guinter | |
Co-Chair, Membership | Emily | Bersaglia | |
Co-Chair, Communications | Danielle | Christy | |
Co-Chair, Communications | Barbara | D’Incau | |
Chair, Awards/Honors | Maureen | Schroeder | |
Co-Chair, Professional Learning | Terri | Foster | |
Co-Chair, Professional Learning | Sarah | Rodriguez | |
Co-Chair, IDEAL | Rey | Vargas | |
Co-Chair, IDEAL | Nel | Romo | |
Co-Chair, Mental Wellness | Tom | Sopp | |
Co-Chair, Mental Wellness | Stephanie | Murray | |
Student Leadership Chair | Maureen | Schroeder | |
Convention Co-Chair | Giniena | Tan | |
Convention Co-Chair | Cassie | Rivera |
Specialists
Position | First | Last | Email |
|---|---|---|---|
CSP Editorial Board, Editor Emeritus | Michael | Hass | |
CSP Editorial Board, Editor in Chief | Meagan | O’Malley
| |
Co-Specialist, LEP/Private Practice | Wendell | Callahan | |
Co-Specialist, LEP/Private Practice | Chris | Jones | |
Specialist, Assessment | James | Hiramoto | |
Co-Specialist, Assessment | Amy | Merenda | |
Co-Specialist, Ethics/ Professional Standards | Gina | Beaman | |
Co-Specialist, Ethics | Melissa | Wood | |
Historian | Christine | Toleson | |
NASP Delegate | Jeannine | Topalian | |
SPEC Liaison | Jackie | Allen | |
CTA State Liaison | Josie Meza | Malik | |
ACSA Liaison | Doug | Siembieda | |
SELPA Liaison | Tracy | Peyton |
Join a Committee
Not quite ready to serve on the Board, but want to get more involved in CASP? Think about joining a committee! Whether you’re interested in recruiting members, advocating for your profession, or organizing educational events, we have a committee for you. You’ll meet new people, become part of the inner circle, learn new skills, and be recognized for your contribution to the profession.
Past Presidents
From 1950 to present – view a list of every past CASP president.
CASP Staff
Paul Cauchi, Executive Director
Paul recently joined the team as the Executive Director. With 20 years of senior level association experience, he is mission-oriented and focused on providing world-class programs, education, advocacy and services to the 2,000 CASP members. Prior to association management, Paul worked in marketing and finance. He loves music (both listening and playing) as well as hiking and spending time with his wife Magdalena and two kids Karolina and Jake.
Please contact me for:
- Board of Directors
- Volunteering
- Strategic Partnerships
- Advocacy & Policy
- Media Inquiries
- Accounts Payable
Kendall Bare, Membership and Communications Manager
Kendall has been with CASP since September 2021. She previously worked for other Sacramento based nonprofits, including Snowline Hospice and Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services. She enjoys yoga, traveling, serving her community, and spending time with her family (including her beloved black cat, Clarice).
Please contact me for:
- Publications
- Social Media
- CASP Emails
- Membership
Josh Johnson, Information Technology Manager
Josh has been CASP’s Webmaster since 2011. Before joining this talented team, he freelanced for graphic design and web development. His hobbies include photography, graphic design, video games, and home automation.
Please contact me for:
- Issues with the CASP website or CASP emails
- Suggestions or feedback for the CASP website
- The LEP Directory
Katrina Miranda, Meetings and Events Manager
Katrina comes with experience in planning impactful events and is excited to continue that at CASP. In her most recent role, Katrina managed events and marketing for the Department of Chemistry at UC Davis. Before that, planned events for California state agencies at Sac State CCE. In her spare time, Katrina enjoys going to concerts, trying new restaurants, reading, and spending time with her friends, family, and her dog, Chiquita.
Please contact me for:
- Continuing Education
- Events
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