Governance

About the Yavneh Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is comprised of volunteer parents and dedicated community members who are committed to quality Jewish education. The Board sets policy and standards, ensures fiscal responsibility, and acts as ambassadors for the school. The Board encourages parental and community involvement in Yavneh and actively solicits support for the school.

2024-2025 Board of Trustees

Diana Wilmot
President

Stephanie Rothstein
Vice President/ Governance Chair

Danielle Sapiens
Treasurer/Finance Chair

Jennifer Orrin
Secretary/ Advancement Chair

Kari Wolff
Member at Large

Diana Wilmot – Board President
Diana Wilmot is a parent of two alumni from Class of 2020 and 2022. She served as an administrator at Yavneh for six years (2014-2020), with various responsibilities including overseeing the educational programming as well as the financial and operational systems. Serving as Yavneh’s current Board President, Diana is thrilled to continue to serve Yavneh in this volunteer position and strategically set the vision for Yavneh’s future. Diana’s career in educational administration over the last 25 years helps her lead the Board, support the organizational structure of the institution and create a succession plan to ensure the leadership of Yavneh is sustained and driven with passion for the benefit of the larger Jewish community throughout the South Bay.

Stephanie Rothstein – Vice President/Governance Chair
Stephanie Rothstein is a 22-year educator with expertise in strategic planning, design thinking, project-based learning, real-world application, education technology, and innovative learning practices. She previously started, chaired, and taught in the LEAD pathway at Los Gatos High School. The last three years she supported Innovation and Educational Technology at Santa Clara Unified School District. She currently serves as Vice Principal of Wilcox High School in Santa Clara Unified. Stephanie loves Yavneh and has been happy to be part of this school community with her husband Neal for many years. Her oldest daughter graduated Yavneh in 2024 and she has two other children currently attending Yavneh.

Jennifer Orrin – Secretary/Advancement Chair
Jennifer is a motivated team player who drives her teams to success via positive reinforcement and a persistent team ethic. She began her career as a Pediatric Nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, and has a Master’s in Pediatric Nursing Education from UCSF. She currently works in Customer Operations at a Healthcare Startup as the Director of Customer Success. Jennifer has a passion for supporting Jewish Youth and always tries to stay involved in the Jewish community in one way or another.

Danielle Sapiens – Treasurer/Finance Chair
Danielle Sapiens received her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Education from Tel Aviv University in 2000. She earned her Master’s degree in Cognitive and Technology Education, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2004, and another Master’s in Teacher Leadership from Brandeis University in 2022. Additionally, she holds a Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard University, awarded in 2024. With over 25 years of experience as a middle and high school teacher, curriculum developer, and in various leadership roles in education, Danielle has been with Yavneh Day School since 2013. During her tenure, she has served as a teacher and educator, Director of Mathematics, and most recently, as the Principal. Now, as a volunteer, she is honored to leverage her knowledge to serve on Yavneh’s Executive Board as the Treasurer.

Lissa Minkin – Development Chair
Lissa Minkin is rounding the corner on 30 years of Human Resources experience in companies including Time Warner, eBay, Facebook, Addepar, Tile, Life360 and Wrapbook. Lissa recently became Vice President, People – Americas at Netgear (NTGR). Lissa’s son Noah is a graduate of Yavneh Day School, Saratoga High School and a rising Sophomore at Tulane University, her alma mater. She lives in Saratoga, California.

Kari Wolff – Member-At-Large
Kari Wolff is a proud parent of three Yavneh Alumni and continues to make Yavneh her top philanthropic commitment. She has volunteered countless hours at Yavneh, serving on the Executive Board as Member-at-Large. She served Yavneh for six years as a first grade teacher and reaching specialist. Kari is thrilled to be a committed member of the Development Committee and provide strategic direction for Yavneh’s educational program and fiduciary vision.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES (Committees)
Rebecca Dishotsky (Governance)
Rebecca Dishotsky is the parent of two Yavneh alumni. She is a Silicon Valley native who works as a corporate communications professional at Analog Devices. Along with her husband Kirk, she enjoys music, gardening, cooking, movies, hiking and spending time with family and friends. The family are longtime members of Temple Emanu-El in San Jose and live in Palo Alto.

Marilyn Goldsmith (Strategic Planning)
Marilyn is a healthcare executive, a registered nurse and a nurse advocate. Marilyn has managed an oncology treatment facility, a rehabilitation institute, a critical care area, and hospital strategic planning and marketing departments. As a part of the pharmaceutical industry, Marilyn developed a business model for administering oncology care which included executive coaching for healthcare leaders. She has served on the faculty at major universities and colleges teaching business and nursing. Building on these experiences, Marilyn started her own company specializing in marketing, executive coaching and executive search within the pharmaceutical and healthcare arenas.
Marilyn has been a lay leader in the non-profit Jewish communal world through her service to Jewish Federations in New York and New Jersey. She has served as a member of the board of directors for Jewish Silicon Valley and J Leaders and is a proud grandparent of a Yavneh student.

Jon Katz – (Audit Chair, Finance)
Jon is an experienced finance executive with broad experience working for both start ups and large public companies. He began his finance career at EY after several years building the Jewish community at Hillel at Stanford University. He is an experienced non-profit board member in the Silicon Valley Jewish community, having served on the board of the Jewish Federation for many years, and is passionate about creating micro-communities within the broader Jewish community. Jon is the proud parent of three current Yavneh students.

Abby Morrill (Audit)
Abby grew up in the Bay Area and only ventured to leave for the University of Arizona (go Wildcats!) before coming back. She began her career in audit, but currently works at Adobe in the finance organization after holding accounting positions at other public companies prior.
Her free time is mostly spent watching her kids swim, play soccer and baseball. She is happy to return to the Yavneh Board and served previously in 2022-2023.

Lindsay Roller (Strategic Planning)
Bay Area native, Lindsay Roller has worked in various formal and informal Jewish education settings from synagogue preschools and religious schools in Los Angeles to Camp Ramah in Ojai. She enjoys reading, cooking and crafting and is excited to share these passions with her children. She is married to Rabbi Nathan Roller, Rabbi Educator at Congregation Beth David and has two children enrolled at Yavneh.

Rabbi Nico Socolovsky – Clergy Representative (Strategic Planning)
Rabbi Nico is the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Shir Hadash. Rabbi Nico grew up in Buenos Aires and immigrated to Israel in 2002. He has worked in many different social frameworks; teenagers, immigrants, ex-prisoners, underprivileged families, and others. In 2010 Rabbi Nico initiated the Shchuniya, a home for Jewish renaissance, in Haifa. He also worked for RHR – Rabbis for Human Rights – directing the Center for Economic Rights in Hadera, Israel. From 2013 to 2015 he lived in Singapore and served several communities in South East Asia. Rabbi Nico lives with his wife Noga, children Amitai, Nitzan and Guilad, and their dog Athena.

David Silberstein (Finance)
David Silberstein’s career journey showcases a remarkable transition from entrepreneurship to a highly successful commercial real estate agent and eventually founding his own commercial real estate firm, Silverstone Commercial. Leveraging his experience and success, David founded Silverstone Commercial in 2017. His firm operates with the same principles he learned throughout his career and focuses on serving clients across California. David specializes in various types of commercial properties, including retail, office, warehouse, schools, and development opportunities. His approach to marketing each property type is tailored to meet the specific needs and expectations of his clients. David has vast expertise in negotiating complex deals and finds creative solutions to get the deal done. David is the proud parent of two Yavneh Alumni.

Liza Slain (Advancement)
Liza Slain was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. When she was 7 years old she and her family moved to Ukraine, where she lived until her early adulthood. She graduated from nursing school in Odessa before emigrating to the United States in 1995, beginning a new chapter. Liza dedicated her professional life to maternal care, focusing on obstetrics and gynecology (ObGYN). To further her expertise, she later returned to school and received her lactation consultant license from UC San Diego.

She is married and has three children, all of whom graduated from Yavneh. While her children attended Yavneh, she was an active part of the community, volunteering and contributing to the school’s activities and events. She is committed to providing a strong Jewish educational foundation for her family and others.

Heidi Zinman (Governance)
Heidi Zinman is a mother of four, a graduate of UC Berkeley and Santa Clara Law School, and was a practicing attorney and real estate agent for many years. She also served as a surrogacy case manager, helping loving couples to grow their families. Her children attended Yavneh Day School and the pre-school at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center of Silicon Valley. Heidi and her husband Dave believe strongly in an education rooted in values and the importance of community in student life. Yavneh played a critical role in the development of their children and remains a cherished institution for the family.

While her children attended Yavneh and the JCC, Heidi was an active and frequent volunteer. She was Vice President of the Yavneh Parent Association, a Chair of the Auction Committee for the 40th Anniversary Gala for the JCC, Chair of the Spring Fundraiser and Head of School Installation for Yavneh Day School, and a room parent at Yavneh Day School for many years.