Jessica Heffernan Ziegler
Executive Director
Jessica has been the executive director of Sunbridge Institute since 2008. Her professional focus on leadership skills, governance issues, and personnel development are utilized both in her executive director role and in her work as co-instructor of Sunbridge’s “Collaborative Leadership” course and related workshops; she also teaches Waldorf school administration in Sunbridge’s Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Education program and previously taught in Sunbridge College’s Administration and Biography programs. Jessica is a partner in MIRA Companions for Development, an international consulting group, and works as an executive coach and organizational development consultant for Waldorf administrators and teachers and other professionals in diverse institutions and schools in both the US and Germany. She served as the first administrator and as a board member at a Waldorf school she co-founded in Everswinkel, Germany, and has sat on many other boards, including AWSNA and the Otto Specht School in Chestnut Ridge, NY. Jessica holds a BS in business management and did her biography training with Karl-Heinz Finke and her executive coach training with SECA International.
The parent of a son and a daughter, both of whom went through Waldorf schools and graduated from Green Meadow Waldorf School, Jessica’s deep belief that education can improve the world—and that Waldorf schools offer the most inspired and meaningful approach to education—is the prime motivation behind her work at Sunbridge. When she is not in her office, she creates her elixir to daily life by spending time near, or on, the water.
Ivy Greenstein
Director of Communications and Outreach
Ivy has been directing Sunbridge’s outreach efforts, including communications, marketing, design, and development, since 2011. Previously, she was the director of outreach and alumni relations at Green Meadow Waldorf School and, before that, the administrative director of Sunbridge College’s Barfield School master’s program. Her background in non-profit administration also includes serving as an admissions officer at Columbia Law School, publications coordinator at the Detroit Grand Opera Association, and public relations assistant at NYC’s Museum of Contemporary Crafts, as well as sitting on various independent school boards. Ivy, who holds a degree in art history from Kirkland (Hamilton) College, came to Waldorf education as a parent and is now a proud Waldorf alumni parent and grandparent; she is also currently a member of AWSNA’s Reimagining Teacher Preparation Project Prototype Group and serves as secretary to the Sunbridge Board. A poet and book artist who enjoys walking and hiking along beaches and mountains with her husband and their hound, she loves the creative aspects of her position and is delighted to have the opportunity to promote the mission of Sunbridge Institute.
Tamara Photiadis
Data and Operations Manager
Tamara joined the Sunbridge staff as registrar in 2014 and became data and operations manager in 2020. Previously, she had a long career in advertising graphics, including business ownership, and before that, worked many years in accounting for non-profit organizations and colleges. She holds a BS in business administration. Tamara’s two children are students at Green Meadow Waldorf School, and her hobbies include sewing, holistic healing, and reading. She is a strong Waldorf enthusiast and is thrilled to serve the Sunbridge community.
Barbara Vitale
Admissions and Summer Coordinator
Sunbridge welcomed Barbara to its administrative team in 2019. In her role of admissions and summer coordinator, Barbara utilizes organizational skills she honed during a 30-year administrative career working for a distinguished global law firm whose early clients included Thomas Edison, James Joyce, Winston Churchill, and the Wright brothers. Her experience at the firm included serving as a real estate project manager and, most recently, a paralegal manager, managing workflow and establishing procedures and protocols for a team of 25 paralegals working across several domestic and international offices. Barbara first came to know the Threefold Community as a Nature Place Day Camp parent. In her free time, she enjoys domestic and international travel, skiing, hiking, and spending time with her family. She holds a BA in sociology from CUNY’s Brooklyn College.
David Chin
Registrar
Joining our team in 2020 as both registrar and our data management assistant, David is a seasoned tech industry professional, with extensive experience in IT sales, client services, management, development, and strategic planning. He is also a Waldorf alumni parent and a longtime Threefold community member who leads Tai Chi classes at the Rudolf Steiner Fellowship Community and coaches high school boys basketball at Green Meadow Waldorf School, the school his three grown sons attended. David’s wife, Marissa, is a teacher at the Otto Specht School. David holds a bachelor of science degree in computer applications and information systems from the NYU Stern School of Business.
Meggan Gill ’10
Director of Education and Organizational Culture
Meggan joined Sunbridge’s administrative team in 2021. She is also a member of the Sunbridge Early Childhood and Elementary program faculty and in 2025 was named co-director of WECAN. A specialist in diversity, equity, and inclusion, Meggan is a member of Alma Partners. She is also an active workshop presenter for AWSNA and WECAN and, along with Dr. Linda Williams, led a workshop at the 2023 World Teachers’ Conference. Meggan’s teaching experience includes serving on the faculty of Brooklyn Waldorf School from 2009-20, where she led parent-and-child and kindergarten classes and was active on the Faculty Council. Prior to joining BWS, she taught kindergarten at the Olympia Waldorf School and parent-and-child and nursery classes at the New Amsterdam School.
Meggan, who originally hails from the Pacific Northwest, earned her undergraduate degree in health sciences from The Evergreen State College, her MEd in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in Waldorf education from SUNY Empire State, and her certificate in Waldorf early childhood education from Sunbridge. A certified yoga teacher and practitioner who fills her cup by being in nature and/or on her bicycle, she is also an avid reader and self-described nerd.
Christopher Costa
Staff Accountant
Chris joined our finance office in fall of 2022. Bringing with him 25 years of experience working as an accountant in a number of businesses in New York and Connecticut, Chris was attracted to Sunbridge as a workplace in which he could apply his extensive accounting and computer skills to a role within a mission-based group setting. He holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from SUNY Binghamton.
Jessica Major
Summer, Admissions and Finance Assistant
Jessica joined the Sunbridge team in winter 2023 to assist with admissions and summer programming. Bringing over 20 years of human resource experience to her Sunbridge role, including extensive experience working with team members in various roles, developing and implementing processes and upholding organizational culture and policies, Jessica will also be helping our program students through the financial aid process and assisting Sunbridge staffers in various areas of HR. A newcomer to the Waldorf movement, Jessica is excited by the introduction to this pedagogy her Sunbridge position has afforded her. When not at work, she loves spending time with her family (especially outdoors), as well as entertaining and cooking.
Solana Hoffmann-Carter ’23
Program Assistant
Solana became a Sunbridge staffer in summer 2023 when she came aboard as assistant for our Elementary Teacher Education program. A Sunbridge graduate herself, Solana is also a graduate of the Waldorf School of Princeton, where she served as a class teacher before joining the Sunbridge staff. Prior to her work at WSP, she was an early childhood educator at Brooklyn Morning Garden. Solana is a dance artist whose work with children also includes teaching capoeira and modern dance workshops in NYC public schools and developing a movement and arts summer camp in St. George, Grenada. She holds a BFA in dance, with a minor in religion and philosophy, from the University of the Arts and a diploma in Waldorf Elementary Teacher Education from Sunbridge.
Sunbridge Board of Trustees
Jody Spanglet
President
Jody assumed presidency of the Sunbridge Board in 2026. She first joined the Board and its Finance Committee in 2024, soon after leaving her post as AWSNA’s Director of Accreditation and returning to Ashwood Waldorf School where she is currently director of finance. Prior to her role with AWSNA, Jody served Ashwood first as director and then faculty chair; previously she was a grades 1-8 and 5-8 class teacher. Jody started her Waldorf career as after-care teacher at the Charlottesville Waldorf School when her daughter was a student there. She has since pursued 20 years of coursework in Waldorf education and anthroposophical study at AWSNA-accredited institutions. Jody received a BA in sociology from SUNY Binghamton and her MSEd in Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia.
Nabila Halani ’24
Trustee
Nabila is a spring 2024 addition to the Board. She is high school faculty chair and math teacher at her alma mater, Toronto Waldorf School, and is also a member of the inaugural class of Sunbridge’s High School Teacher Education program. Nabila earned her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Philosophy, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Science, from McMaster University and her Bachelor of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and is a member in good standing of the Ontario College of Teachers.
Keelah Helwig ’09
Vice President
Keelah, a mixed-age-kindergarten teacher and chair of the early childhood program at The Waldorf School of Garden City, became a trustee of the Sunbridge Board in 2019. Keelah’s Waldorf journey began in 1976 when her parents enrolled her at Garden City as a kindergartener; 30 years later, she returned to her alma mater as an early childhood faculty member. Keelah has also served as a WSGC Board trustee, College of Teachers chair and continuing member, and founding member (2008) and chair of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. A member of Alma Partners, she is also a founding member (2018) of Sunbridge’s Diversity Fund Scholarship Committee, and in 2021 joined the boards of WECAN and AWSNA. Keelah earned a BA in theatre from Spelman College and her master’s in early childhood education from Sunbridge College.
Winnie Stern ’14
Trustee
Winnie, who joined the Sunbridge Board in 2021, became co-director of Sunbridge’s Elementary Teacher Education program in spring 2022. She is also on the faculty of Green Meadow Waldorf School, where in 2021 she completed taking her class of students from first through eighth grade and now currently teaches high school history. A former substitute teacher, Winnie initially became interested in exploring the foundations and goals of education through a philosophical lens, and discovered Waldorf education while seeking to answer the question, “What kind of education helps to create a happy and healthy human being?” She holds a double-major BA in philosophy and education from Brooklyn College, an MA in philosophy and education from Columbia University Teachers College, a NYS teaching license in grades 1-6 education, and her Waldorf teacher certification from Sunbridge.
Linda Williams ’87
Trustee
Linda became a Sunbridge Board trustee in 2022, but her association with our institution goes back several decades, having received a certificate from Sunbridge’s antecedent, the Waldorf Institute. A longtime faculty member of the Detroit Waldorf School, Linda started her class teaching career there in 1987 and graduated her last 8th grade in 2022. In addition to leading several DWS classes, Linda also taught at the Urban Waldorf School in Milwaukee, served as director of the Elementary teacher training program at the Waldorf Institute of Southeastern Michigan, and taught undergraduate and graduate courses in elementary literacy and urban education as professor of teacher education at Eastern Michigan University.
The recipient of numerous teaching awards and fellowships. Linda is a frequent presenter and workshop leader, including presenting on resilience at the 2023 International Teachers Conference at the Goetheanum. She is also a consultant and mentor teacher for the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, as well as for several Waldorf schools, including on issues of diversity and inclusion, as well as a member of Alma partners, the AWSNA Board of Trustees, the Pedagogical Section, and the International Forum (Hague Circle). Linda earned her BA from Justin Morrill College at Michigan State University, her MA in Waldorf Education from Mercy College, and her doctorate in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy, with a cognate in Literacy, from Michigan State University.
Kelly Church ’17
Trustee
Sunbridge Elementary program alumna Kelly joined our Board in 2023. From 2015-2023, Kelly was the administrator at The Denver Waldorf School. Her resume also includes serving as executive director at Colorado Springs Assets for Youth, Board member of the Association of Colorado Independent Schools, and as an AWSNA delegate. In 2023, Kelly joined Denver’s St. Elizabeth School, where she currently serves as director of philanthropy. Kelly earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Denver and her master’s in child development from Tufts; in addition to her Sunbridge diploma, she also earned a certificate from our Collaborative Leadership course.
Jason Child
Trustee
Jason, who became a Board trustee in 2023, is a member of the faculty of Emerson Waldorf School. Since joining his school in 2005 as music director, he has also taught 1st-12th grade music, including chorus and band. A leader in organizational development for Waldorf schools in the Southeast region, Jason served on AWSNA’s Leadership Council from 2011-20. He has presented numerous workshops for AWSNA, as well as for the Association of Waldorf Music Education and the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools, and also mentors and evaluates teachers across North America. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Earlham College and a master’s degree in music education from Florida State University.
Astrea Ravenstar
Trustee
Astrea joined the Sunbridge Board in 2026. Since 2023, she has been the lower school chair at Manhattan’s Rudolf Steiner School, and since 2022, the leader of AWSNA’s Mid-Atlantic region. Between 2009 and 2023, Astrea served the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs in various capacities, including as class teacher, faculty chair, College chair, Governance Council member, and administrator. Her many academic credentials include earning a BA in cultural studies from SUNY Empire, a Level I Certification from the Spacial Dynamics Institute, and an MEd from Antioch New England.
Victoria Reyes
Trustee
Victoria became a Sunbridge Board trustee in 2026. She joined the faculty of the Rudolf Steiner School in NYC as an educational support coordinator in 2024 and has also been on the faculty of Colegio Waldorf Guatemala since 2019 as a lead teacher in the high school teacher-training program and a permanent mentor for section leaders and teachers. Between 2005 and 2024, Victoria held several roles at Austin Waldorf School, including student support coordinator, high school chair, humanities teacher, department chair, and teacher mentor. Victoria, who is an active member of the Anthroposophical Society, the School for Spiritual Science, the Pedagogical Section Council of North America, and the AWSNA Board of Trustees, completed the Spatial Dynamics Movement Training and earned her Waldorf High School Teacher Training certificate from Rudolf Steiner College. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, earning a BA in Anthropology and an MA in Latin American Studies. In recent years, she has been working toward a PhD in Managing Organizational Systems from Saybrook University.
