Board Member/President

Megan Hamilton Rabbitt

Megan Hamilton Rabbitt grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Indiana University to earn a BS in Elementary Education and Communications. After teaching young students for several years, she decided to earn a MA in Journalism and spent a few years in broadcast news. Megan LOVES to write, and you may find her bi-line in local newspapers, Bay Area magazines, and even national blogs! 

Megan then moved to California where she picked up teaching in the classroom again and continued to learn her craft for another fifteen years. After she had her own children, she completed a MA in Special Education at Notre Dame de Namur University. She currently works as Head of School at a micro-Catholic TK-8 school paving the way for Catholic grammar schools to become inclusive and meet the needs of all types of learners. Prior to becoming a site leader, she worked as a Learning Specialist and English teacher at Archbishop Riordan High School. As an educator and mother of a son with learning differences, she is aware of the need for school administrators to collaborate with one another to best serve the needs of students who learn differently in the Bay Area. 

After meeting in September 2019 with Mallorie Chase from Fusion Academy, Megan shared her dream of bringing school administrators together in order to best serve students with learning differences in the community. They both agreed that they wanted to co-organize a group of schools that have the same values for helping students. In October 2019, Megan hosted the inaugural Inclusive Schools Group meeting at The Laurel School, working as the Director of Admissions & Marketing for the school. ISG has grown to over 25 schools reaching as far south as San Jose, up north to Santa Rosa, and even as far East as Orinda. In 2021, this expansion has included the creation of a steering committee in order to best meet the needs of all the school communities. Megan’s goal for ISG is to always be committed in organizing and sharing information about resources that can guide families in finding the best school fit and community support services for their children. She wants to preserve the group to be as organically run as possible where small schools have just a big of a voice as larger schools in the community- all the schools serve a special purpose and can help students in their own unique way. In September 2022, Inclusive Schools Group officially filed as a nonprofit organization.

Board Member/Secretary

Board Member/Vice President

Board Member/Treasurer

Board Member

Rebecca Hawley

Dr. Rebecca Hawley is a Bay Area Native who was raised in Berkeley and Oakland. She spent her teenage years overseas in Italy and returned to the United States at age 18 going on 19. Dr. Hawley attended Pitzer College and majored in Sociology with a focus on Education and Early Education and issues of equity. She completed her MA at Mills College and Earned a degree in Early Childhood Education and Development with a focus on Early Childhood Special Education and Early Intervention series. She pursued her doctorate in Educational Leadership with a focus on inclusive based and culturally relevant based practices.

Dr. Hawley has worked in the field of Education, Early Intervention, Special Education, and Family Support Services for over 20 years at a National, International, and local level. Her work is inclusive of work within the private and public sectors of Education, Non-profits, and Family Support Services. Her direct research and practice have primarily focused on issues of equitable and individualized services access to education for children and youth ages 2-21.

Currently, Dr. Hawley is the Special Education Director at TildenPreparatory School, Walnut Creek and Albany campuses and is an Adjunct Undergraduate and Graduate School Professor at San Francisco State University and Mills College, Oakland in the Special Education, Child/Teen Development, and Infant Mental Health departments.

Dr. Hawley presents at local and national conferences on child/youth development, family partnerships in education, special education, and trauma informed practices. She is also a standing advocate for parents of students with special needs and mental health challenges. She is currently pursuing her Special Education Law Certificate. Moreover, she is a mom to a now 20-year-old professional artist/musician with diagnosed dyslexia and auditory processing disorder.

Brian Barish

Brian was born in New York and moved to the Bay Area in 2008 to teach Middle School Science in Oakland Unified School District through the Oakland Teaching Fellows Program. He continued his passion for teaching (and pop culture!) as a Math and Science teacher in independent education and transitioned into administrative roles as Dean and an Assistant Middle School Head. He has been involved with school-wide diversity and equity initiatives such as social justice curriculum development, experiential learning and building local partnerships with nonprofits. He also co-facilitated LGBTQIA Bay Area educator workshops to help strengthen networks and community.

He is currently the Director of Admissions at Charles Armstrong School in Belmont, a 2-8 school supporting students with dyslexia. He is passionate about helping families navigate their search in finding the best education for their students who require specialized support as they grow into their own best advocates and empowered learners.

Jesse Roselin

Jesse founded Pacific Preparatory in 2002 and has carefully managed the growth of the school to ensure that all students are matched with truly exceptional teachers. He provides educational consulting services to schools and families, maintains thoughtful relationships with our community of education professionals, and supports the leadership team. Jesse is also the co-founder of the Tutor Corps Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides tutoring scholarships to under-resourced students. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University and holds a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Jesse has 15 years of teaching experience and has taught through the Teach for America program in East Palo Alto. He served on the board of trustees of the Marin Waldorf School in San Rafael for six years and is active in the education community. When he’s not working, Jesse and his wife are kept busy by their three children, and together they love to hike and enjoy the nature around their neighborhood in Marin County, CA.

Deanna Mayer

Deanna was born and raised in Ohio and loves that she now gets to call California home. After a 30-year career in the private school world, Deanna was looking to land at a school with a heart and mission she could rally around. The Helix School is just such a place. When not serving as the Executive Director at Helix, a school for stages 5-22 with autism, Deanna enjoys spending time with her four adult children, or camping, biking, playing games, and exploring new places with her photographer partner.