Board Member Profiles

Gary K. Lym, President

A native Alamedan, Gary Lym attended Otis Elementary, Lincoln Middle, Alameda and Encinal High Schools and attributes his commitment to public education to his experience in AUSD schools.

He first began attending Board of Education meetings as Lincoln Middle School student as a result of a civic assignment for social studies. “My attendance at these meetings allowed me to understand the important role the school board played in shaping policy for the district,” he says, and also the importance of public service.

Mr. Lym received his undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley and his MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.  He has worked as an accountant, a professor of accounting, a Director of Finance, and a Controller for several companies.    

As a parent, Mr. Lym has served as a room parent, math tutor, lunch supervisor, PTA board member, and member of School Site Council, Principal Selection, and English Language Advisory Committees. He also co-founded a local basketball and volleyball club that provides year-round sports opportunities for more than 300 Bay Area youths and has served as a Board Member and President of his local homeowners’ associations.

In 2022 he was elected to his third term as a Board Member.

Ryan LaLonde, Vice President

Elected to the Alameda Unified School District’s (AUSD) Board of Education in November of 2022, Ryan LaLonde become the first openly LGBTQ person elected to any office in the city of Alameda. Ryan was endorsed by Alameda’s school employees and teachers, local trade unions, the Alameda County Democratic party, Victory Fund and a host of education leaders from across California. 

Ryan’s is an active AUSD parent, husband/father, artist, LGBTQ+ and foster youth advocate, author and PTA leader. Ryan has worked most of his life to create better outcomes for those in need ranging from work in HIV/AIDS prevention in tribal communities to reducing stigma around children’s mental health. Ryan has been active in local school leadership for more than 5 years and is proud of the work the community has done to make our schools stronger, more inclusive safe havens for our students, teachers, staff and families. 

Ryan co-led the passage of Alameda’s Measure B in June of 2022. The bond provides more than 300 million dollars to modernize middle schools, fully renovate high schools, and upgrade sports and arts facilities.  

Ryan works full-time as an illustrator, designer and mixed media artist with an active studio in Alameda. Ryan’s creations are a reflection of his love and passion for color, nature and storytelling. His current works are an exploration of layering of color in acrylic in whimsical depicts of people, animals, nature and still-life.  

Ryan also volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for youth in foster care and was recently appointed to the County Measure A Oversight Commission and elected as a Director on the Alameda County Fair Board. Ryan grew up on the family farm in rural Michigan and honed his art at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design with a BFA in 1997. Ryan currently resides in Alameda, CA with his husband of more than 28 years, Chris and their son Farber.

Heather Little, Board Clerk

Board Clerk Little received a BA in Psychology/Communications from Miami University, Oxford and a MEd in Special Education from California State University Sacramento. In her master’s work, she focused on students with moderate to severe disabilities. 

Ms. Little currently works at Alameda Family Services, a community-based organization that offers premier mental health services, early childhood education, and family support. She is the agency's Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for supporting the agency's infrastructure efficiencies, including overseeing the Quality Assurance Department, the day-to-day administrative functioning and ensures agency projects are strategically integrated to meet client and community needs.

Previously, Ms. Little was the Systems Director for First 5 Association, a nonprofit membership organization that focuses on building early childhood systems and supports to ensure that California’s young children are safe, healthy, and ready to succeed in school and life. She also worked for 16 years with the Seneca Family of Agencies, a non-profit that provides vulnerable students with a continuum of community and school-based services, including mental health, education, permanency, and juvenile justice programs. As a teacher, principal/assistant, and quality assurance assistant director at Seneca, Board Member Little says, “I gained a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of children's social-emotional development and well-being, and students' education experiences.”

Ms. Little joined the Board of Education because “I am passionate about education and I am committed to making Alameda schools a place where ALL students learn and thrive, and where teachers and staff are fulfilled and supported,” she says. “I am deeply committed to my community and to engaging with stakeholders in a way that will allow us both to realize the opportunities born out of this struggle with COVID-19 and use the lessons learned to improve education in Alameda.”

Jennifer Williams, Liaison for Local Revenue Measures

Board Member Williams received her BA in 1990 in political science from the University of California, Riverside, and her juris doctorate in 1993 from McGeorge School of Law.  She currently serves as an administrative law judge for the San Francisco Human Services Agency.

From 1999 to 2012, she was a Deputy City Attorney for the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. She initially served as trial counsel for the San Francisco Human Services Agency, and then became General Counsel to the Agency and served in that capacity for more than 10 years. She also handled all appeals and writs generated from the City Attorney’s juvenile dependency unit. As General Counsel, Ms. Williams provided legal advice regarding the administration of the dependency division, all public assistance programs, including General Assistance, CalWORKS, and Food Stamps, and the San Francisco Adult Protective Services division. She also worked with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on legislation impacting the populations served under these programs.

Ms. Williams began her career in 1994 when she started handling dependency cases in the Riverside County Counsel’s office at both the trial and appellate levels. She then worked for the Administrative Office of the Courts under a federal grant to improve statewide compliance with Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. There, she spent time in multiple California counties, working with social services agencies, probation departments, and juvenile courts, improving compliance with federal requirements in juvenile matters.

Ms. Williams has argued before the California Supreme Court and on numerous occasions before California Courts of Appeal, and has provided training statewide for agency attorneys and staff handling juvenile dependency matters and public assistance programs. She continues to consult on dependency writs and appeals.

For over a decade, she has been a contributing author to Seiser and Kumli on California Juvenile Courts, Practice and Procedure.  In 2016, she was elected to a four-year term serving as a Trustee on the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education, and in 2020, she was re-elected to another four-year term.