Board of Directors Bios
VCS is grateful for our BOD.
Danielle Tomwing
Board Chair/VCS West Parent Representative
Danielle Tomwing is currently a director at a national healthcare company with over 15 years of experience in IT Operations and leadership. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, she completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Management Studies at the University of the West Indies. Her love of travelling led her to the opportunity to travel the world on the Queen Elizabeth II Ocean Liner for almost 4 years where she had the opportunity to work with 50 nationalities on board. She has two daughters who have been attending Vanguard Classical School West since kindergarten. She currently serves on the District Accountability Advisory Committee for APS.
Dan Jorgensen, Ph.D.
Board Secretary
Dan Jorgensen, Ph.D., currently serves as the Accountability Support Manager within the Colorado Department of Education. He previously served as the Data, Research, and Accountability Officer at Harrison School District 2, the Assistant Director of the Division of Accountability and Research within the Aurora Public Schools, and as a project leader within the Department of Planning and Analysis within the Denver Public Schools. Dr. Jorgensen has earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Educational Policy & Administration from the University of Denver, a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he was a Rhoden fellowship recipient, and a Bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dr. Jorgensen previously served as an elected member of the APS Board of Education. During different points of his board tenure he served as the Vice-President, Treasurer, Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee representative, RMSEL board member, and as a member of the Institutional Advisory Committee for Pickens Technical College. As part of his work with the Colorado Department of Education, he was appointed by the Commissioner of Education to serve as a Regional Education Laboratory (Central States) Governing Board member (2013-Present) and as an appointed member of the Central Comprehensive Center (2016-Present). Currently, he serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver where he instructs graduate level Educational Leadership and Policy courses.
Dan has received numerous awards for his work in education including the A+ Game Changer Award from A+ Colorado along with advocacy recognition awards from the Arc of Aurora, YAASPA and RISE Colorado. Also, he is a former recipient of the adjunct teaching award at Johnson & Wales University in Denver.
Natalie Doxey
VCS East Parent Representative
Natalie Doxey is a full-time mom to her four children and also provides daily care for her elderly father in-law & grandfather in-law. She enjoys spending time with family, being spoiled by the beauty of Colorado, volunteering at her local church as an Interfaith Specialist, participating in her community, and going out for long bike rides down the Highline Canal.
Natalie has been a Vanguard Classical School parent for 11 years; all four of her children currently attend Vanguard Classical School East. Natalie runs her own photography business in her spare time.
Teresa Tate
Community Representative
Teresa Tate is the current Vice President of School Services at the Colorado League of Charter Schools. In her role, Teresa focuses on supporting and leading the School Services team which boasts content expertise in key charter school areas, including academic instruction, business operations, exceptional students, human resources & board governance.
Prior to her work at the League, Teresa spent 10 years with a charter school network in Arizona, Legacy Traditional Schools. At Legacy, she served as Human Resources Director for 7 years , hiring and supporting all human resources needs for seven new schools from the ground up. In her final three years with this charter network, she was the Chief Operations Officer, focusing on growth strategies and efficient building design while overseeing eight operations departments including: HR, Marketing, Compliance, Finance, IT, Food Services, Facilities & New Construction. During Teresa’s tenure with Legacy Traditional Schools, the organization grew from one school with 400 students to twelve schools with over 12,000 students and 1000 staff, while overseeing preparations for expanding out-of-state.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University. When not sharing her passion for charter schools, Teresa enjoys time with her husband and three children.
Kat Ling
Community Representative
Kat Ling (she/they) is a queer, Asian American leader who serves as Interim CEO for Moonshot edVentures, an organization dedicated to surfacing and supporting a diverse pipeline of leaders to launch innovative learning environments in Metro Denver. Prior to her current role, Kat served as Chief Program Officer and Chief of Staff, where she led programming and alumni services for a 68+ alumni network, >80% of whom identity as People of Color and >60% who identify as women or non-binary. Kat began her career as a 4th-grade teacher in rural Mississippi and later worked at Teach For America, launching the Arkansas region, designing and executing diversity, equity & inclusiveness programming for staff and educators, and coaching K-12 teachers to improve their effectiveness and culturally responsive practices. Kat served as the Board Chair of Teach For America’s national Asian American Pacific Islander Resource Group and currently serves on the TFA National LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Kat graduated from Cornell University, where she studied English and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and conducted an honors thesis on cultural responsiveness in the Young Adult fiction genre. She received a Masters through the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, through which she designed a racial equity fellowship for chapter leaders at GLSEN, a national LGBTQ+ educational equity organization.
Ousman Ba
Community Representative
Ousman Ba is originally from Senegal, and was raised in Denver, Colorado. A first generation college graduate at Colorado State University with a degree in political science and international studies. Upon graduation, Ousman committed to a year of service with Americorps City Year, where he worked at Miami Central High School preparing students with the social, emotional, and academic skills and mindsets to succeed in school and in life. After City Year, he moved back to Denver and worked in the banking industry as a treasury management representative with FirstBank. During his time at FirstBank, he volunteered with African Leadership Group(ALG) as the Youth Empowerment Program facilitator. After two years as a volunteer, he joined the ALG team as a Program Coordinator. Past graduate of the Leadership Africa Program with African Leadership Group and currently is part of Leadership Aurora class of 2023. He sits on the Board of Ednium Collective. Ousman is passionate about serving the community, loves sports, reading, traveling and enjoys time with family and friends.