Vikrant Batra, Parent Board Member
Vikrant is the Global Chief Marketing Officer for HP Inc. He has more than 20 years of experience in worldwide marketing and advertising across consumer packaged goods, utilities, finance, and technology. Vikrant is an award-winning creative and marketing strategist and has held a variety of marketing leadership roles since joining HP in 2010. Before taking over the role of CMO in 2018, he served as Global Head of Marketing for HP’s Printing business. Prior to that he was the global head of marketing for HP’s Personal Systems business.
Vikrant joined HP after a range of senior advertising and marketing agency roles supporting top global brands, He was a Senior Vice President responsible for managing strategic brand planning at TracyLocke. At the Integer Group, an Omnicom agency, he served as Group Director. He began his advertising career at J. Walter Thompson.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in marketing and advertising management from the University of Bombay and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
Vikrant and his wife, Jennifer, live in Los Gatos with their son, Dante and daughter, Sahar, who are both students at WSP.
The family has been part of Waldorf schools and communities for over twelve years. Vikrant previously served on the Board of Sanderling Waldorf School in San Diego.
Jennifer Dirking, Grandparent Board Member
Jennifer is a fundraising professional, currently raising major gifts for Stanford Medicine. Prior to Stanford, she led development efforts at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, De Anza Community College, and at the University of Washington in Seattle. In her various roles, she developed expertise in raising major and principal gifts, interdisciplinary partnerships, corporate and foundation support, and nonprofit board development.
She is an ardent proponent of habitat gardening to feed ecosystems. In her spare time she gathers and shares native plant seeds, gives public talks, and connects people with resources that can help them return their gardens or local public spaces to a wild landscape. Jennifer’s education included two years at Foothill Community College, after which she earned her bachelor’s degree in English from UC Santa Barbara, and her master’s in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco.
As the daughter of schoolteachers, and with a family history of schoolteachers dating back to the 1800s, Jennifer is inspired by the transformative powers of education at all levels. She has been involved with the Waldorf School of the Peninsula since 2017, serving on the Development Committee, which helps to raise funds for the school. Jennifer and her husband Brian live in San Carlos, and together they enjoy hiking, camping, golfing, and gardening with native plants – especially when joined by their daughter Kendra and grandsons, WSP students Trey and Charlie.
By volunteering, at first on field trips and later on the school’s Development Committee, Jennifer found herself even more connected to the WSP community and committed to the school’s mission. Now, as a WSP Board Member, she looks forward to leveraging her experience as a fundraiser and nonprofit manager to ensure that WSP has the resources and strategies in place to ensure its continued growth and success.
Bob Froelich, Community-at-Large Member
Bob grew up in small-town Michigan, attended the University of Michigan, where he remained until 1982 to complete his doctorate in Electrical. He then moved to California, working as a design engineer in high-frequency electronics for radio and radar. He has worked at companies large, small, long-established, and in start-ups; in roles ranging from entry-level engineer to team leader to senior mentor. He also teaches part-time for a technical education service. Bob became interested in the works of Rudolf Steiner while in graduate school, and joined the Anthroposophical Society in 1977. He has been a member of a local Steiner study group since 1991. Bob has been a friend of Waldorf School of the Peninsula for almost as long, having attended many festivals and lectures at the school and having often lent a hand at the Holiday Faire. Bob audited and thoroughly enjoyed the foundation year of Waldorf teacher training. Bob’s hobbies are bicycling, orchid-growing, and dreaming that someday he will catch up on his yard work.
Yasuko Inoue, Faculty Board Member
Yasuko grew up in Kobe, Japan and graduated from Osaka University of Foreign Studies with BS in German Studies, where she met Waldorf Education for the first time. This special meeting and her own educational experiences in Japan led her to the decision to come to the United States. She explored the different styles and possibilities in Education at Indiana University and received her Master of Science degree in Elementary Education. After working as a second grade teacher at a public language immersion school in Culver City, Yasuko moved to Northern California to start her family. Since then, she has been following her passion for Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy, and has been part of WSP community for many years, first as a parent, then an aide in Extended Care, and an assistant teacher in Rose Kindergarten. Yasuko received her Waldorf teaching certification from Rudolf Steiner College in 2010. She was inspired to join the Board of Trustees as she found it heartwarming to see people who hold so many different roles at WSP (grandparent, parent, community, alumna, teacher) all come together, and thoughtfully discuss what is best for the school.
Pierre Laurent, Parent Board Member & President
Pierre was born and raised in France. He received an MS in Computer Science there, and an MBA from Kellogg, Northwestern University in Chicago. Having studied in France and after a brief work experience with a contractor for the European Space Agency, he joined a promising software start-up which had just gone through its IPO in Washington State. After several years in Washington working in various managerial and marketing capacities, he moved to the Bay Area with his family. His wife, Monica, is a class teacher who has completed one class journey from first to eighth and is just beginning her second. Pierre is serving on the board as President and is a long-time member of the Finance Committee and Strategic Planning Committee, among others.
Kerstin Pintus, Faculty Board Member
Kerstin received her BA in Physical Therapy from the University of Cologne, Germany and also holds a diploma in physical education with focus on movement and special education from the staatlich anerkannte Gymnastikschule Dortmund, Germany. In her 28-year career, she focused on working with children of all ages. Her interest and passion in all aspects of handwork and fiber arts originated at a very young age and have only grown stronger with time. Since 2001, Kerstin has volunteered in various handwork classes at WSP from grades one through twelve. Additionally, she has taught doll-making to parents, teenagers, and educators for many years. Her goal is to kindle a passion for handwork and inspire to create beautiful work. Kerstin enjoys gardening, spending time with her dog and, of course, handwork.
Amy Shimmick, Parent Board Member & Board Treasurer
Amy is a Silicon Valley native with a bachelor’s degree in International Policy Studies and an MBA in International Management. She lived in France for six years where she worked as a management consultant. She also spent several years as a clinical marketing manager in medical device start-ups.
For the past few years, however, Amy has made a novice (and generally comical) attempt at raising livestock and produce for her family’s consumption. When not herding cows and reclaiming piglets and turkeys from neighboring property, she enjoys yoga, hikes and her two children.
Sandra Welch, Parent Board Member
Sandy was raised on a centennial farm in rural Michigan as the oldest of six children where she developed a deep connection for working with animals and nature. After graduating from Michigan State University with a BA in Interior Design, she started graduate work in Facilities Management. She held jobs in design and sales and completed studies in Advanced Screenwriting through the Professional Program at UCLA. She retired from work to raise her children, who attend WSP. Sandy has lead the Auction for the Spring Gala and enjoys finding ways for other parents to get involved and make a difference. Her other passions include writing, horseback riding, pilates, yoga, reading, Waldorf education, gardening, working with animals, and being a mother.
Alyssa Woodman, Community-at-Large Member
Alyssa was born in Germany and moved to the Bay Area with her family at the age of four. She and her younger brother attended WSP from kindergarten (Rose, with teacher Carole) through 8th grade, and both continued their education at the Waldorf HS in San Francisco. Alyssa studied Design and Merchandising at Drexel University in Philadelphia and graduated in 2011. Returning home, she started an internship with a small software start-up in Palo Alto, where she developed into a Product Manager over the course of two years. From there she went to Tesla Motors in Fremont, starting as an Engineering Project Manager, and over the course of the following six years, moved through engineering and sales operations and is now an associate in the Engineering Finance team. She credits much of her ability to move between disciplines and pick up new skills on her time at Waldorf, and after almost ten years out in “the real world” joined the board at WSP to give back in some small way to the school that gave her so much.