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Meet Our Board

The Board of Directors provides strategic leadership and governance to ensure Monarch remains true to its mission while supporting long-term success.

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Julie Chickillo

President

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Nathan Berman

Treasurer

Coming Soon
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Elleta Gaskins

Secretary

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Chris Herter

Board Member

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Alesandra Rodriguez

Board Member

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Chase Wilson

Board Member

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Christina Williams

Board Member

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Rachel Lee

Board Member

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Shana Velez

Board Member

Coming Soon
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Board Meeting Agendas and Minutes

Board Meetings typically take place on the fourth Thursday of each month. The exceptions are a first Thursday in December to cover November and December, and a July retreat. All meetings are “Open Meetings” and comply with Colorado’s Sunshine Laws. This means the public is welcome to attend the meetings and can make comments during the public comment period. The Monarch Board is unique in the fact that board members serve dual roles to provide governance to two separate non-profit organizations – Monarch Montessori of Denver (dba First Steps at Monarch Montessori) & Monarch Montessori of Denver Charter School.

See Agendas & Minutes
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Julie Chickillo

President

An information security, risk and compliance professional with over 15 years’ experience in Information Security Governance, Risk and Compliance, Threat & Vulnerability, IT Audit, Privacy, DevSecOps and Legal. Proven leadership, presentation and communication skills. Julie currently serves as the VP, Information Security at Guild Education where she is responsible for the complete development of security and privacy program meeting compliance with GDPR, CCPA, ISO 27001, NIST 800-53. Overseeing a team made of risk, audit, compliance, privacy, DevSecOps, threat and vulnerability management specialists.

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Elleta Gaskins

Secretary

Elleta Gaskins is a Denver native and executive partner with experience supporting senior leadership across technology, finance, and hospitality organizations. She specializes in executive alignment, cross-functional collaboration, and strengthening communication between leadership teams and the communities they serve. As a mother of three Monarch students, Elleta is deeply committed to educational excellence and fostering environments where children and families feel supported and empowered. She brings a unique blend of strategic insight and relational leadership to her board service, grounded in both professional expertise and lived experience.

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Chris Herter

Board Member

Chris Herter, an experienced educator, proud Monarch parent, and certified Montessori teacher, brings a unique combination of expertise to the Monarch board. With a background spanning managerial roles in hospitality, a Master of Arts in Elementary Education, and a Montessori credential, Chris’ skill set is exceptionally versatile and well-suited for supporting the board’s goals. His experience teaching across lower and upper elementary grades enables him to advocate for the needs of students and teachers at all grade levels. Furthermore, his experience in operations management lends a business-savvy approach to nonprofit operations, bolstering the board’s strategic vision.

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Alesandra Rodriguez

Board Member

Alesandra Rodriguez has over ten years of Montessori education in early childhood, lower elementary, and dual language. Alesandra is an avid Montessorian and serves as a field consultant for MECR, and is a former employee of Monarch. She has a Master’s Degree in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education with an endorsement in Special Education. She is passionate, dedicated, and committed to advocating for the identification and programming of gifted and talented students in underrepresented populations and with multiple exceptionalities. She is active in the community participating and presenting in Gifted and Talented conferences and is also a board member of the Colorado Academy for Educators of the Gifted, Talented, and Creative.

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Chase Wilson

Board Member

First and foremost, Chase is a proud Monarch parent. He has over 10 years of banking experience serving in roles with regulatory agencies and in the private sector. His roles in the private sector included serving as the Assistant Treasurer of a regional, publicly traded bank. In Chase’s current role, he serves as a Capital Markets Risk Specialist for Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Chase grew up in North Dakota where he received a bachelor’s degree from Minot state University and an MBA from the University of Mary. In his free time I enjoy spending time with my son, golfing, and doing DIY projects around the house.

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Christina Williams

Board Member

Christina Williams is currently a Special Education Teacher in an AP for all High school. In this role, Ms. Williams provides academic support to students with Individualized Education Plans, facilitates team meetings, and works closely with General Education Teachers to scaffold and differentiate assignments while fulfilling the grade level standards expected for each lesson. Ms. Williams earned a Masters’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis on General Studies for ages 5-21. Ms. Williams works full-time as a published author with her company MIE Readers. She is the President and Representative of the Black Excellence Committee at Monarch Montessori. She is most proud of being a mom to her three children and a wife to her husband. Through her earned Bachelor’s Degree in Writing and Directing, Ms. Williams combined her educational background and her professional writing background to author five published books. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Higher Education.

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Rachel Lee

Board Member

Rachel is currently an Asset Manager in affordable housing at the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. She brings more than a decade of experience in finance, credit, and portfolio management, including serving as a Loan Underwriting Manager, where she led the underwriting and credit review of nearly $1 billion in new originations. Rachel holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Finance from University of San Diego and a bachelor’s degree with a double major in economics and political science from San Diego State University. A proud product of Montessori education, she now has a son enrolled in Monarch’s dual language program and is excited to contribute her professional expertise in support of this outstanding, community-focused school.

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