Board of Directors

Angela Cassidy, a lifelong resident of Indiana and a proud alumnae of Indiana University, retired after a 33 year career as Vice President and Trust Officer with JPMorgan Chase Bank. Active in her community and church as a volunteer all of her adult life she has served on several not-for-profit boards, including St. Vincent Mercy Hospital Foundation and United Way of Madison County. Angela and her husband of 40 years, Tom, began visiting Borrego Springs in the early 80's and now call Borrego their "home away from home" from January to May. In Borrego, Angela volunteers at the elementary school and at the Borrego Art Institute and belongs to St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. Angela and Tom have two sons and two grandchildren…

I have a bachelor of science degree in teaching the deaf from Northwestern University, a masters degree in counselling from San Diego State University and an EDD in educational leadership from United States International University. I worked with San Diego Unified School District for 30 years as a teacher, counsellor, principal and trainer in the area of race and human relations. With AVID, I worked evaluating programs throughout the world on preparing low income and first time students going to college. I also was on the board and co-directed a K – 12 online school. I've been actively involved with Borrego Springs Unified School District for many years and have been substituting in the classroom K-12 for the past several years. I have been on the BASIC board for 10 years, the last two as president.

Retired educator and community leader with advanced degrees in education and social work.

Retired school teacher; Learning Academy math instructor and Dean of Students.

Joanne S. Ingwall, Ph.D. is currently Emerita Professor of Medicine (Physiology) at Harvard Medical School, having retired from an active research career in cardiac energetics and function in 2012. Since moving back to California in 2006, Joanne has transferred her energy from the academic arena to several volunteer organizations, including the ABDSP Paleontology Society and the ABDSP Botany Society. Joanne's major volunteer activity in Borrego has been as a member of the board of BASIC. She has served as its CFO/treasurer, a member of the scholarship selection committee and associate director of BASIC's Cradle to Graduation C2G program. In the summers, she and her husband Dick are active in several citizen scientist projects in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Joann Stang is the Founder of BASIC's Learning Academy and a founding member of BASIC. She chaired the Circle of Art for 9 years, served on the scholarship committee for 18 years and served the organization in a variety of leadership roles. Joann's passion for support of education comes from her belief that education of all is a foundation of our democratic system. She has had leadership and management responsibility as Corporate Director for Human Resources at Solar Turbines, a Caterpillar Company, with international human resources societies and in volunteer organizations in San Diego and Michigan, her summer home…

Retired doctor and community volunteer.

Peter Kellner is a software consultant, educator, and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience building technology and helping others learn. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Cornell University. He founded 73rd Street Associates, which developed healthcare and insurance software serving more than 500 organizations nationwide. Peter also founded Silicon Valley Code Camp, bringing thousands of developers together to learn and share their knowledge, and has authored numerous programming courses for Pluralsight. His work reflects a longstanding commitment to education and connecting people through shared learning. In Borrego Springs, Peter has served as a web coding mentor with the Borrego Springs Unified School District and currently volunteers as a math helper at Borrego Springs High School. As a BASIC board member, he brings experience in technology, education, and organizational leadership to support educational opportunities for local students.

Bilingual (English/Spanish) lifelong Borrego Springs resident; K–8 educator with 20+ years in BSUSD; M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, SDSU; co-owner of Carlee's Restaurant.

Borrego Springs native, BSHS graduate, and small business owner; immigrated from Mexico; BOD of OLAX; longtime BASIC volunteer.

With 14 years as an administrator in the Borrego Springs Unified School District, Martha Deichler has a passion for the families and children who call our rural desert oasis their home. She currently works as the School Community Liaison to connect our students to the resources that allow them to grow and flourish, most specifically the rich educational opportunities offered by BASIC.