MEET THE GCLS DIRECTOR

Being raised by an award winning LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) Principal and Department of Education Staff at Cal State Los Angeles--and a popular math and music teacher--Ghanaughn Brown was inspired early about the joy of teaching. The impact her parents made in the inner cities of Los Angeles reached deep within the communities and in the intimate spaces of families...including their own. Ghanaughn began her year at UCLA tutoring and mentoring students. In 2000, continuing her volunteer ship with Hope Worldwide, Ghanaughn was sent to Capetown, South Africa to teach children infected with AIDS in a hospice. From this moment Ghanaughn became sure that she wanted to be in a position to make an impact. After a two year stint in finance with Home Savings Mortgage, assisting lower income families to receive millions of dollars in home loans, Ghanaughn returned to education as a Special Education Resource Teacher for LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District). Here Ghanaughn worked diligently with Principals, lawyers, and families to create and maintain (IEPs) Individual Education Plans for all students that needed special care at her school. She created several intervention programs for thousands of students, and partnered with after-school tutoring programs to further meet the intervention needs of the school. In 2006, Ghanughn used her passion for teaching to become a homeschool mom for her four children. Through homeschool Ghanaughn has been able to offer her children a learning rich with diverse cultures, authors, histories. She has been able to personalize their learning path and adapt to growth and setbacks. She has been able to encourage entrepreneurship and cultivate their talents and gifts. She has also been a great resource for homeschooling and has inspired several families to choose this path with her support. Her rich experience as a volunteer, diligence as a Special Resource Teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and passion for homeschooling inspired her to get her Certificate from Harvard in Educating Global Citizens to further create pathways to impact and impart change. As the Director of Education and Programs her goal is to prepare children to compete in a global economy and inspire children to change the world. This was trained September 1997, the board of trustees chose Benjamin Williams IV as Cate's eighth headmaster. The selection turned out to be a perfect fit for the Cate community as well as for the Williams family. Ben Williams' life has centered around schools; he grew up at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts, the son of the headmaster. Ben received a BA in American Studies from Williams College, where he also served as captain of the men's crew team. After a two-year stint in corporate finance with First Boston in New York, assisting in the oversight of investment portfolios worth over 28 billion dollars, Ben returned to education with a teaching position at St. Sebastian's School in Massachusetts. There he taught English and US history, coached several sports, and was the school's director of development. During his six-year stay at St. Sebastian's, Ben attended graduate school at Brown University and earned a Master's in American Civilization. In 1993, he and his family (wife Ginger, children Ben and Grace) moved to Houston, Texas, when he took a job as the dean of the middle and upper schools at St. John's School. He eventually became the head of the upper school, and during this time he stayed connected with the students in both the classroom and on the athletic fields by teaching English and coaching soccer.