Catalyst Alternative Private High School Boulder, CO

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rudy Fettig, President
Rudy is Vice President/General Counsel of Colorado & Santa Fe Real Estate Company and has over twenty years of experience in all phases of commercial real estate transactions, real estate finance and leasing, as well as serving as counsel for the three non-profit foundations formed by the company’s CEO. Rudy received his B.S. in finance and real estate from the University of Colorado and received his J.D. from the University of Denver School of Law.
James Roome, Vice President
Jim is an assistant principal at Eaglecrest High School, in Cherry Creek Public Schools.  He has been in education for 21 years. Before moving into administration, Jim spent 17 years in the classroom as a Social Studies teacher. Jim received his BA in Social Sciences from Colorado College and his MBA in Administrative Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon University. This is his first experience as a member of a Board of Directors and he enjoys every minute of the experience.
Carl P. Gentzel, Tresurer
Carl is a certified public accountant and the owner of Flatirons Tax Service. He has 21 years experiences a CPA. Annually, Carl prepares tax returns for six nonprofit organizations, and he services as a board member four non-profits. Carl has a B.S. in Accounting/Finance from the University of Colorado.
John Schwartz
John is the Founder and President of J.P. Schwartz, Custom Network Designs, a computer and networking services company that specializes in supporting businesses in the ever changing information technology world.  Mr. Schwartz has been acting as a consultant and Sr. support engineer for organizations ranging from very small home offices up through federal contracts on a national level for the past 10 years.  Since the opening of Catalyst High School, Mr. Schwartz and his team have donated support time and expertise to allow the school to install and maintain a computer network that helps provide a learning environment for students and administrative functions for staff.  Mr. Schwartz has had prior experience with board operations while taking minutes for Rocky Mountain Rescue Group in Boulder.  Mr. Schwartz has provided long term support and assistance to meet the long term IT planning needs for over 100 organizations in a wide range of industries.
Nana Jacquemard
Paul Plache
Paul is the Founder, President and CEO of Velocity Dynamics, Inc , a Louisville-based manufacturer of water treatment equipment. Paul has lived in Boulder for almost 40 years, is married with two children, and has been active in the business community for over twenty years.  Prior to starting Velocity Dynamics, Paul took on his most challenging project as President of Enpro Technologies, a Lee’s Summit, Missouri-based company.  Under Paul’s direction and leadership, Enpro tripled sales in just two years and turned to profitability. Prior to Enpro Technologies, Paul worked for Fluid Dynamics, Inc., a company founded by his father, Boulder entrepreneur Kurt Plache.  His career at Fluid Dynamics spanned seventeen years beginning in the shop as an assembler and culminating as Vice President and General Manager. It was at Fluid Dynamics that Paul learned the lessons of building an organization by first building a team.  Paul has a passion for building organizations and views Catalyst High School as a unique opportunity and resource that will  contribute to building our next generation of leaders.

William Thorvilson
William is the CEO of RocHenge Capital, which invests in real estate and private equity for high net worth individuals and institutional investors. Mr. Thorvilson is also Vice-Chairman of RocHenge Group, which consists of real estate brokerage, property management, wealth management, construction, land development, as well as granite, tile and cabinet companies. He owned his own real estate company in Boulder, which he sold after accepting an appointment as a Deputy Treasurer for Boulder County. In addition, Mr. Thorvilson serves on the Board of Directors for Stone Craft, Inc. and the Board of Directors for Cheetah International, Inc. He also serves on the Board of Directors for several non-profit agencies, including the World Hope Foundation, whose mission is to help provide education to indigenous people. He also serves on the board of Directors Invitational Ski Classic, an annual pro-am ski race that raises money to benefit local ski programs. Mr. Thorvilson is licensed to practice law in the State of Colorado and has been a licensed real estate broker for more than 25 years. He received his Master of Science Degree in Communications from the University of Denver and his JD from the University of North Dakota.
Gerald Hertz
Gerald is a research biologist, most recently specializing in computational biology. He is also the father of a Catalyst student. Gerald has a BS in Biology from MIT and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin.
Dodie Udall
Dodie has been involved in both public and private education for over thirty years.   Her experience in education began with the Colorado Outward Bound, where she worked as an instructor and course director, leading young adults into the wilderness areas of Colorado and Utah. She has also taught for over ten years in the classroom, at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale and the Graland Country Day School in Denver.  Dodie is currently employed at the Alexander Dawson School, where she works in the field of development.   Her son is a student at Catalyst.  Dodie holds a BA from the University of Arizona and holds a current Colorado teaching certificate.   Dodie has significant personal experience with the challenges of educating students with special needs, as well as fund raising, admissions and  curriculum development.
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