BOARD MEMBERS

Rhonda Graham, Board Chair
A Los Angeles native, Rhonda has lived in Northwest Pasadena for over 20 years and raised her family there. She has three sons, two of whom attended Odyssey Charter School. Her oldest son, Ronald, is in his senior year at University of La Verne and plans to become a teacher. Evan is attending Pasadena City College, while Kai just entered University of California – Davis studying Biotechnology. Rhonda previously served on the board of Odyssey Charter School from 2009 to 2015, initially as a parent representative and ultimately as a community member. She has also been an active supporter of both Odyssey and her sons’ high school (also a charter school). Rhonda and her family are active with various animal rescue organizations in the local community.

Marisa Davis, Board Secretary & Odyssey Charter School Parent Board Member
Marisa Davis joined the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board in October 2016 and currently has two children attending Odyssey. She has her BFA in Textile and Surface Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and her MBA from Western Governors University. She works as a contract Textile Designer in various industries and as a marketing and business consultant to artists. Her interest in education started as a volunteer improving facilities in New York City public schools and has extended over the years through human rights education and anti-bias trainings, the Alternative Education Resource Organization and ongoing advocacy for all children’s right to education. She is honored to be a continued part in supporting the OCS mission and our wonderfully unique community.

Caitlin Reily, Odyssey South Parent Representative Board Member
Caitlin Reilly joined the Odyssey Charter Schools board in 2022 as a parent representative for OdysseySouth. She was raised in Washington, D.C. and received her B.A. in Art History from ArizonaState University in 2000. She works as a freelance Art Director in film and TV and resides inPasadena with her husband and two sons, both students at Odyssey Charter School South.

Dee Bohreer, Odyssey Parent Representative Board Member

 Lauriane Quenee, OCS- South Parent Representative Board Member
Lauriane Quenee joined the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board in 2021 as a Parent Representative after serving as a Member-at-Large, then Secretary for the OCS-South Parent Participation Group.  Lauriane received her education in France and holds a PhD in Microbiology. She worked as a scientist and laboratory manager for about 10 years at the University of Chicago in their High-Containment Research Laboratory, developing vaccines against high-consequences infectious diseases. In 2014, she joined the Research Safety Office at The University of Chicago to manage the Select Agent Safety Program. She became an active member of the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA International) and was granted the highest professional credential offered by ABSA International. 

Since 2016, she serves as the Institute Biosafety Officer for Caltech and has developed a comprehensive biosafety program in support to the biology, biomedical and bioengineering research efforts ongoing at the Institute. She draws on her experience as a scientist and technical expertise to support researchers with all aspects of bio-risk assessment, bio-risk management, biosafety, biosecurity and research compliance and focuses on developing and fostering a robust culture of safety at Caltech.

Dr. Joretta Joseph, Community Board Member
Dr. Joretta Joseph joined the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board in 2012 as a community member, and assumed the role of Board Chair in October 2013. Joretta has spent the past five years of her professional career in higher education as program administrator, faculty member, and advisor at the University of Southern California and Pasadena City College. Prior to her work in academia, she worked in various accounting and finance roles in both the public and private sector.
As a scholar, her research interests lie in the area of equity in education for historically underrepresented groups in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Joretta earned a doctorate in education from the University of Southern California, an MBA from Howard University, and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Clark Atlanta University.

Mikala Rahn, Community Board Member
Chief of Research, Evaluation and Strategy at Homeboy Industries
Founder of Public Works and Learning Works Charter School

Dr. Rahn joined the Odyssey Charter Schools Governing Board in October 2022.  She has always held strongly to the belief that education is one of the things that defines a person and shapes who they become. With that principle in mind, Dr. Rahn founded Learning Works Charter School in 2008. The school focuses on the needs of students the mainstream educational system cannot address: dropouts, probation youth and pregnant and parenting teens. Using a core set of principles and unique tools developed by Dr. Rahn, LWCS has succeeded in stemming the tide of dropouts like few others have. The school serves 350 of the highest risk youth at both the Pasadena main campus and satellite site at Homeboy Industries in Boyle Heights. The school has graduated 999 to date with a high school diploma and reduced PUSD dropout rate from 24.6% to 9.4%

Susan Ruffins, Community Board Member
Susan Ruffins is rejoining the Odyssey Charter Schools Governing Board, this time as a community board member. She served as parent representative and treasurer to the governing board from 2002 to 2007 during the school’s early years in Pasadena, through its initial five year renewal and its relocation to its current site in Altadena. Susan’s two children attended Odyssey from 2000 to 2010. She is currently a senior administrator at the Beckman Institute on Caltech’s campus where she helps organize and financially oversee multidisciplinary research. Prior to joining Caltech Susan was a vice president in charge of west coast mortgage banking at what is today Banc One Corporation, part of Chase. She has a degree in business and foreign languages from Penn State and an MBA from New York University, Stern School of Business. Susan is originally from Pittsburgh and has lived in New York and Chicago, and has resided in Los Angeles since 1993.