OUR STAFF
As the nonprofit for the Palm Springs Unified School District, the Foundation builds public-private partnerships to strengthen our schools and create opportunities for students to achieve.
The Foundation’s vision is to mobilize individual investors, businesses, teachers, parents, and community leaders to ensure the success of all our students. By tapping into passion and power, we unite our community members and join forces to fulfill the promise of public education and prepare every student for success.
The Foundation’s first program awarded mini-grants to classroom teachers. Today, we operate initiatives at any given time, ranging from small grants programs to large-scale school improvement initiatives, all aimed at increasing student achievement and enabling academic excellence.
Ellen Goodman
Foundation Director
Ellen joined the team at Palm Springs Unified School District (PSUSD) in October of 2013 as
the Foundation Director of the school district’s foundation.
Ellen is the driving success with educators, community stakeholders and families in the
Coachella Valley, resulting in PSUSD emerging as a leader in innovative and scalable
programing, aligning stakeholders with school based programs, college and career readiness
initiatives, and facilitating vibrant dialogues on education reform.
Ellen has led the most innovative and creative initiatives and organizations, bringing with
her a systematic and strategic approach. Ellen’s past successes include Playworks San
Francisco, Variety Children’s Charity of Northern California, National Minority AIDS Council,
various non-profit board membership, civic volunteerism – both domestically and
internationally.
Javier Sanchez Jr.
Organizational, Development Coordinator
Native of the Eastern Coachella Valley and graduate of Coachella Valley High School, Javier joined The Foundation staff in November of 2013 as the Administrative Secretary. As of July 2019, Javier has moved into a management role as The Foundations Development Coordinator.
Javier acquired his Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Business Administration at San Diego State University and then relocated back to the Coachella Valley to work at Martha's Village and Kitchen where he gained knowledge of common Non-Profit Organization practices and decided he wanted to continue on the course of helping others.
Edgar Gutierrez
Office Administrator
Edgar joined The Foundation in 2019 as the Office Administrator. He is a PSUSD alum and has lived in the Coachella Valley his entire life.
He received his Bachelor’s Degrees in Public Relations and Mass Communication from California State University, San Bernardino in 2015 where he also minored in Spanish.