Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees are tasked to ensure the administration, faculty, staff, parents, alumnae, and students are provided everything possible to maintain a safe and supportive school environment. The Board is comprised of members with a diverse set of backgrounds, expertise and qualities to support our school.
CLAUDIA FERGUSON
Chairperson of the Board
Homemaker
Volunteer at St. Bede’s Catholic Church Ministries
Member of the University of Portland’s Family Leadership Council
Claudia received a BA from Stanford University and MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Claudia spent several years in Operations Management at Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and at Citibank Australia. She switched paths for a time and worked in Community Arts for the City of Melbourne and in Development for the Sydney Opera House. Claudia retired from the corporate world to raise four sons with her husband, Will. She is an active member in the community, serving on local boards and volunteering in Boy Scouts, schools as well as her church.
Hillside has been an instrumental resource for all four of her sons over the years, for summer, full time or dual-enrolled school. Each son benefited from Hillside’s student-focused programs that allowed them to achieve their goals.
Claudia joined Hillside’s Board in 2019 and has served as Board Chair since 2020.
KIM ESPE
Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair
Certified Public Accountant
Kim was born and raised in Pasadena CA and went to Flintridge Sacred Heart and John, her husband of almost 35 years went to Saint Francis High School. We were high school sweethearts and in December of 2018 transplanted to Carson City , Nevada.
Kim has two adult children Lindsey, who lives in Tennessee and Dennis (a 2016 Hillside Graduate), who lives in Montana. Kim is a Certified Public Accountant (certified in both California and Nevada) and provides part-time Controller/CFO services to several companies in both California and Nevada.
Kim has served on the Hillside board from January of 2017 and resigned shortly after moving to Nevada. Kim rejoined the Board in November of 2022 as Treasurer and has been serving in a remote capacity ever since. Kim loves Hillside School and all it stands for both as a parent and a Board member.
DAVID MORTON
Secretary
Member of Fine Arts Club of Pasadena
Following a lengthy career in public education, David Morton turned to the visual arts as his new avocation. It was not a surprising turn of events considering his life-long interest in art and design. His choice of media is oil and pastel and to a lesser extent, photography. Although David has wide-ranging interests in visual arts, his personal tastes are centered on the impressionists and the California School of Plein Air Painters. In his own paintings, David enjoys developing layers of paint or pastel and creating sections of paintings that have a particular interest of their own. It is a slow process meaning that the paintings are not quickly produced. Subject matter
is often centered on traveling experiences, and because of that, may have a bit of nostalgia in the mix. He is largely self-taught with the exception of painting classes in college. In addition to his artistic endeavors, David is an avid gardener including garden design.
David’s career in public education included teaching and numerous administrative positions finishing as the district Chief Business Official. He holds a Ph.D. in the politics of education from Claremont Graduate University.
His daughter attended Hillside while simultaneously attending La Canada High School. She took courses at Hillside that were better for her to learn in a smaller and attentive setting. She is now a college graduate pursuing her love of the arts.
RICK HARRIS
Technology Committee Chair
CEO, Creative Logical Solutions, Inc.
Manager of IT and 3D Services, Mollenhauer Group Civil, Inc.
President, Burbank Men’s Golf Club
Rick received a BA in Psychology with minors in Computer Science and Family Relations and immediately started teaching elementary, middle and high school at Pilgrim School in mid-Wilshire, LA. While teaching, Rick secured his Masters coursework, behavioral observations and behavioral analysis work in his Master of Counseling with a sub-specialty in Applied Behavioral Analysis. His wife Louise also worked at Pilgrim during this time and after 11 years, Rick and Louise moved to Saint Mark’s School in Altadena. Rick’s role was as the Director of Technology. Their son also attended Saint Mark’s from Pre-6th grade. During all this time, Rick also started a web hosting and dev company to help out private schools with their unique online needs.
Although his son did not attend Hillside, he did face learning challenges during middle school and high school and Rick now knows that Hillside would have been a great fit to support and strengthen his individual needs.
Rick loves to snowboard, cook with his wife, woodwork, but his true passion is golf.
Rick joined the Hillside Board in 2016 and has served as Technology Chair since then.
TOM FLYNN
Chair of Enrollment Committee
Systems Operator, La Canada Irrigation District
Knights of Columbus Member
Tom Flynn has been a Board Directors at the Hillside School and Learning Center since 2019.
Tom’s son Matthew graduated from Hillside in 2019. Matt thrived at Hillside both academically and socially and is now going to college in Chicago. Tom, his wife, and daughter live in Tujunga and Tom works for the La Canada Irrigation District as a water systems operator.
Tom grew up in La Canada, went to school there, and has worked there his whole life. He is honored to be on the Board at Hillside as it provides him an opportunity to give back to a place that has given he and his family so much. Tom loves to collaborate with other Board members as they share a common bond of continuing to support Hillside to be the great school that it is!
CYNDI HATCHER
Hillside School Executive Director
Chair of the Fundraising Committee
Ms. Hatcher joined Hillside in 2001. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Education from University of West Florida and her Masters in Arts in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Secondary Mathematics Instruction from California State University of Los Angeles as well as a California Teaching Credential in Secondary Mathematics.
Hatcher began her teaching career in Florida public schools as an elementary school teacher and a middle school mathematics teacher. She moved to southern California in 2001 and began teaching at Hillside as a math teacher. She taught all levels of math from pre-algebra level through Precalculus.
After 10 years of teaching at Hillside, she took on the role of Associate Director handling the oversight of all Hillside programs including summer school, day school, tutoring and educational therapy. In 2020, she became the Executive Director after her long time predecessor retired.
ELIZABETH CAMPO
Director
Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church – Executive Director
Elizabeth Richer Campo has over 20 years experience in nonprofit leadership. She was a key player in the $25 million dollar expansion at Pasadena Humane. Currently she is the Executive Director of Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena where her role includes managing the finances, HR, Facilities and fundraising. As part of her role at Neighborhood, she has diversified income and created new fundraising opportunities.
In 2020 a healthcare professional recommended Hillside School and Learning Center as a good school for her son who needed a supportive school environment after a long illness. Needless to say Hillside was the perfect fit and now her son has graduated and is currently attending CSUN as a History major with a goal of achieving an advanced degree in Library Sciences.
Starting in her son’s preschool; Elizabeth has made volunteering at his schools a priority. She served on the PTO during elementary school and at Hillside. She believes that parent engagement is key to a student’s success.
LOUISE HARRIS
Director
Retired Educator
Louise was born and raised Sweden. After high school, she spent seven summers working at a residential camp in Santa Cruz, CA. Louise achieved a degree in Education with a specialty in Upper Elementary Education and Minors in History and Social Studies and taught for two years at a Middle School in Sweden. During her last summer in Santa Cruz, she met her husband, Rick and moved to Los Angeles permanently. Louise taught 3rd and 4th grade at Pilgrim School in Mid-Wilshire Los Angeles for 8 years before moving to Saint Mark’s School in Altadena where she taught 6th grade for 20 years.
Louise retired from teaching in 2021 and now enjoys reading, gardening, golfing with Rick and their son Thomas, skiing, pickleballing, travelling, cooking with her husband, e-biking, card playing with other couples and catching coffee/lunch with friends. She is an instrumental part and patient caregiver of her mother-in-law Joyce in her fight with Alzheimer’s/Dementia as she and Rick live at home with Joyce.
Louise joined the Hillside board in 2024 knowing that as an educator, the school’s mission to support and nurture student growth is paramount.
CAROLINA ROJAS
Director
Pyxis Laboratories – Owner
Though Carolina graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature from UC Irvine, her career has focused on science and the administration of her small business, Pyxis Laboratories. For over ten years, Carolina has managed both the business and the scientific sides of a biochemistry lab that synthesizes the chemical components which are used in the manufacturing of rapid drug tests.
Carolina’s son, Desmond Sweetland attended Hillside School from 9th through 12th grade. Desmond graduated in June of 2023 as a member of the National Honor Society with a merit scholarship from the La Canada Kiwanis Club and he will be attending the UCLA Pathway program in the fall. Carolina strongly believes that the attention, dedication, and talent of Hillside’s teachers and staff in combination with Desmond’s natural grit and perseverance made these outcomes possible. Carolina is honored to support Hillside and its mission as it goes on to help other students with their individual needs and to reach their personal goals.
Carolina has been a member of the Board since 2024.