Our Board

As an integral part of Odyssey Charter School, the Governing Board helps shape the learning and educational experience of our students. By providing guidance and oversight, the Board assists in ensuring compliance with the law, strategic planning for the future, and developing balanced and sound budgetary decisions.

Board Member Biographies

Steven Cogswell, Board Chair (Community Representative)
A product of the Los Angeles public school system and California State University at Los Angeles, Steve applied his business management degree to the creation of successful entrepreneurial enterprises in the motion picture production field and later in the creation of what became the nations second largest non-facilities-based cellular telephone service provider, a public utility having a presence in many Western states. He began his career as an advertising executive for a major international daily newspaper in New York City.

More recently, Steve has been engaged in offering management services to major private clients, in particular in the area of real estate investment portfolio management. This has included the oversight of hotel, national chain and local mall retail, and large-scale residential properties. In addition, Steve actively manages a specialized manufacturer of custom electronics used in motion picture production.

He has served on volunteer Boards of Trustees for over thirty-five years, often as President. His wife and he live in the Crescenta Valley area. Their two grown sons are following the family tradition in the entertainment business, one as a Vice President of MTV Networks in New York, the other as an active television director. Steves wife Michelle is on the staff of a small private school in San Gabriel.
Steven is pleased to participate at OCS because he supports the school's philosophy that with proper nurturing and sensitivity to individual talents, all children can attain learning success.

Tammy Godley, Vice Chair (Community Representative)
Tamerlin Godley is a partner in the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, handling complex business litigation matters and specializing in trademark and copyright litigation. She has handled intellectual property cases for many clients, including MGM, ABC, Warner Brothers and its affiliates, Universal, Artists Management Group and 1-800 Contacts. In the course of these representations, she has had the opportunity to work closely with some of the leading scholars in both the copyright and trademark arenas.

Ms. Godley graduated from UCLA with a double major in English and Political Science, obtained a Masters Degree in English from Cal State Northridge, and taught in South Central Los Angeles before going to law school. She received her J.D. from the University of Southern California in 1996, Order of the Coif, where she was a notes editor of the Law Review and a writing instructor for first year law students. Prior to joining Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Ms. Godley clerked for Judge Harry L. Hupp in the federal district court, Central District of California.

Ms. Godley is actively involved in the community, having been elected to the South Pasadena School Board, on which she served for four years.. She previously served on the Primary Center Task Force for the Los Angeles Unified School District, which brought together the expertise of community members and district personnel to build the only school facilities completed by LAUSD in the 1990’s. She also served on the Rampart Independent Review Panel, which investigated and analyzed the Los Angeles Police Department’s discipline and oversight practices and put forth recommendations for improvement after the Rampart Division scandals. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board, a member of the Development Committee for the Pasadena Armory Center for the Arts and involved with the Pasadena Educational Foundation.

Jexy Wadle, Secretary (Parent Representative)
Jexy is a part-time literacy coach at an urban LAUSD high school and was a classroom teacher for 10 years before that. Her son Jacob is in the second grade and this is her family's third year at Odyssey.

Jexy entered teaching in 1993 as a corps member in the Teach For America Program. She is still working at the school at which she was originally placed by Teach for America. In 1999, Jexy earned her National Board Certification as a secondary language arts teacher. As a teacher, she was involved in her school’s accreditation process (similar to a chartering process) and was on the school reform governance committee.

Jexy was one of a small group of teachers who started a “school within a school” that focused on project-based instruction and interdisciplinary team-teaching. In her current job as a literacy coach, Jexy works with teachers to develop strategies and curriculum to improve reading and writing. She is also currently in a master’s program to get her credential in Educational Administration.

Before coming to Odyssey, Jexy was on the board of her son’s co-op nursery school. She was the board president for a year and a half and she was on the personnel committee for three years. Jexy was very involved with all aspects of running the school, including hiring employees, working with state licensing agencies, and serving as a liaison between parents and teachers. Jexy is very interested in seeing Odyssey continue to grow and improve. She feels that her experiences as a public school educator and as a nursery school board member have provided her with a unique insight that she will bring to the OSC Governing Board.

Robert Bravo, Member (Community Representative)
Bob is currently Coordinator in the Charter Schools Division of the Los Angeles Unified School District. In that role he is responsible for ensuring that 22 of the over 140 charter schools in Los Angeles are adhering to their charters and the law. Additionally, Bob assesses Proposition 39 requests for facilities. He is working on a doctoral degree in the UCLA Educational Leadership Program, returning to UCLA after obtaining his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees there in 1990 and 1991.

Prior to their move to Pasadena this year, Bob and his wife Mary Beth lived in the San Francisco Bay area where Bob has been a teacher, high school principal, and assistant superintendent.

Denise Martinez, Board Member (Faculty Representative)
Biography coming soon 

Rhonda Graham, Board Member (Parent Representative)
Bio coming soon

Kathleen O'Sullivan, Lifetime Member (Community Representative)
Kathleen O’Sullivan has served as the National Director of EdVisions Schools, leading the replication of their innovative secondary school model. Kathleen is a dynamic speaker and is known for her ability to inspire and mobilize critical stakeholders to act. She is also considered the ultimate “Resource Choreographer” for her ability to creatively leverage a wide array of resources in new ways to make things happen.

Kathleen’s vision is to bring together education and industry to ensure that our youth have access to 21st Century Learning and multiple pathways to success. Her purpose and passion is to make a difference in how we prepare our young people to compete in an ever-changing world of work. She earned her reputation as a pioneer and leader in the charter school movement as the Founder and past Executive Director of Odyssey Charter School and her legislative advocacy for charter schools statewide. Her commitment and leadership in bringing a new relevance to learning at Odyssey grew out of her experience in the corporate, nonprofit and public sectors in workforce development, her role as a parent and her work with special needs children in foster care and residential treatment. The charter venture demanded endless persistence and diplomacy with a multitude of organizations – federal, state, local and private, as well as elected officials at all levels of government. Her story was one of 13 nationwide chosen to be featured in “Leading on the Ground: Adventures of Charter School Creators.” Kathleen has been a presenter on creating 21st century learning environments at conferences in the U.S., United Kingdom, China and Taiwan.

Kathleen is a recognized leader in her local community. She received a Eureka-Communities Fellowship Award in 2003 in recognition of her dedication, commitment and community service. Kathleen was honored by the YWCA as a Woman of Excellence in Education for 2006. She serves on a number of boards, including the executive board of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Pasadena. Kathleen also serves as a volunteer for W.A.S.C. (Accrediting Commission for Schools).

Ernesto Saldaña, Board Member (Community Representative)
Ernesto Saldaña is the newest member of the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board. As field director for Preschool California, Ernesto develops and executes preschool advocacy strategies across the state. Previously, he has served as the Executive Director for Public Allies Los Angeles; deputy director of constituency services and director of communications at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. In addition, he has had adjunct faculty appointments in the political science departments at Mt. San Antonio College, Glendale Community College, East Los Angeles Community College, and Loyola Marymount University. 

Alongside his extensive professional experience, he serves on the Liberty Hill Foundation’s Fund for a New Los Angeles Community Funding Board, and volunteered for over 13 years with the National Conference for Community & Justice, Los Angeles Office (NNCJ-LA) as a diversity consultant and leadership training facilitator for over 1,300 students of color from across the state. 

Ernesto earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University, Fullerton and law degree from Whittier Law School.  Born and raised in Santa Ana, California, Ernesto is a second-generation Latino born of Bracero farmworker parents.  His hobbies include researching and discovering good film and TV with his life-partner Corina.