About me
About Geetha, and why I'm running
My kids made me care about this. My work taught me what to do once I started asking questions.
In the thick of it
I'm in the thick of it, too.
When people talk about reading, screens, recess, teacher support, mental health, school money, or what AI means for kids, I'm not watching from a distance. Those conversations happen in my own kitchen.
These are the years when confidence, curiosity, reading, math, friendships, and independence take shape. They don't come back. So the questions feel urgent to me, the way they do to a lot of families here.
Looking for real answers is how this website started.
“Good information should be easy to get, not something you have to chase.”
That's why I started sharing it now, not after Election Day.
NextMom firstMom first
Being a mom comes first. Whatever else is going on that day, I'm there for pickup, for dinner, and for bedtime. That time isn't squeezed in around the rest of my life. The rest of my life is built around it.
It's also why I care about getting this right. Good public schools are what let a parent show up fully at home and still build something outside the house. I want that for every family here, not just mine.
These years don't come back
Elementary school is a short window. Reading, math, confidence, curiosity, friendships, a healthy relationship with a screen. All of it takes shape now, and these years don't come back.
That short window is exactly why it matters to address these things at the elementary school level. There's no later version of fourth grade to redo the foundation. If a kid leaves this stage without confidence in reading or a real curiosity about the world, the district doesn't get another shot at it — the child does the catching up instead, and that's a much harder way to learn the same material.
So I started asking ordinary questions. How is reading taught here? What happens when a kid falls behind? Where does the money go? Are teachers supported, or just told to manage?
Simple questions. The answers were hard to find, and harder to understand. That bothered me more than any single answer would have.
Why public school
Public school never let me pick who sat next to me. That's the point. I grew up next to kids who didn't look like me, didn't think like me, and had nothing in common with me -- and I had to learn from them anyway. Nobody chooses that. Public school hands it to you.
Science works the same way. The breakthroughs almost never come from the experiment that goes right -- they come from the one that fails, and a scientist curious enough to ask why instead of walking away. That's the same instinct public school built in me: stay curious about the person you don't understand instead of tuning them out. That instinct is where my love of critical thinking comes from. It's why I'm running for this board.
I believe this is how incredible humans get made -- but the recipe doesn't survive on good intentions. It needs the funding to keep classes small, teachers great, and programs real, and I'll fight for every dollar of it.
Where I have worked, and on what
I have led teams inside health and technology organizations, advised companies and investors, and served on industry advisory boards, including as a product and strategy advisor to a well-known venture capital fund. The work has always continued long after the meetings ended.
I started in tech, learning the discipline of agile software development. I left to pursue investigative journalism with a burning passion for storytelling and the hard work of staying objective. After a few years as a broadcast journalist at CNN and CBS 46, I returned to health technology. Since then the work has included:
Building and scaling new health programs
From early ideas into services that reached real patients.
Leading product and operations through change
Acquisitions and major company transitions, with teams to steady along the way.
The largest clinical-grade stepped-care mental health program in the country
Built during the pandemic, and designed so every person could get care even when providers were scarce.
Telemedicine for clinics run by one of the country's largest retailers
Reaching patients nationwide, using AI so providers could work at the top of their license and keep visit costs lower.
A care-delivery business through bankruptcy
At a well-known consumer genetics company, making the tough decisions needed to keep patients supported through its financial crisis.
Today I work in biotech, leading teams that use AI to speed drug discovery and increase access to new treatments.
NextWhat it taught meWhat the hard moments taught me
The hardest moments taught the clearest lessons. When things are uncertain, slogans do not help. What helps is looking at the real numbers, naming actual risks, asking difficult questions, and turning decisions into plans that can be carried out.
I have seen ideas succeed, stall, and fail. The failures made one thing plain: lasting improvement rarely starts with a brand-new vision. It starts with a clear understanding of what is already happening. Real change is usually slower and steadier than people first hope. That is the approach I bring — understand the current reality first, then make careful, continuous progress.
A school district is a complex organization with a human mission. Budgets must be balanced, people supported, buildings maintained, contracts managed, and children counted on adults to get the big decisions right. That requires financial discipline, clear accountability, and the willingness to ask hard questions before small problems grow.
Why I think about teachers so much
I have seen the same pattern in healthcare that many now see in education: the people closest to the work often carry the heaviest load. Supporting them is what improves outcomes for the people they serve.
I will treat educators as the experts on teaching and learning. I will visit schools, listen to teachers, principals, and families, and keep their real experience at the center of decisions.
My focus is creating the conditions — resources, clarity, accountability, and stability — so the people closest to students can do their best work.
How I work
I dig into details with a level of precision that often reveals what others miss when looking at the same information. I ask the tough questions — directly, respectfully, and in a way that usually leaves everyone better informed.
I believe the best decisions happen when everyone has clear information and can see the real trade-offs for themselves.
I am not offering a drastic overhaul. What I offer is steady judgment, the habit of explaining trade-offs in plain language, and the investigative discipline to see what is actually there.
If you want to see who's backing this campaign, that's on the Endorsements page. If you want the numbers, they're on the Data page. Endorsements · Data & Explainers
So what would I actually work on?
Honest answers, and a plain note about the trade-offs.