Trent Christensen
Trustee - Board Chair

Trent was born and raised in Des Moines, IA and attended the University of Iowa where he graduated with a degree in finance. After graduating, he moved to San Francisco and began working for a private equity firm and then spent 8 years at a startup. After 13 years in SF, he, his wife Sarah and son Henry decided they were ready to try a different lifestyle and moved aboard a sailing catamaran, called the S/V Upside Up. After nearly 4 years exploring the Eastern Caribbean, Trent and his family found Del Mar Academy and moved permanently to Nosara for a new chapter of adventure.

Hayley Macmillian-Ord
Founder/Trustee

Hayley (with her husband and young daughter) moved from the Cayman Islands to Costa Rica in 2002 intending to move her private practice of Acupuncture and TCM to Nosara.  Both were put on hold as she turned her focus to co-founding Del Mar Academy and raising 3 children whom all attend DMA. Their daughter was the first IB graduate from Del Mar in 2018.  Currently she can be found supporting the different needs of Del Mar Academy as it continues to expand its programs and student or teaching Aerial Yoga classes at The Nosara Performing Arts Academy she co-founded with her friend Adrienne.

Jessica Sheffield Zamora
Founder/Trustee

A Costa Rican Fulbright Scholar and Ashoka Fellow with a Master Degree in Environmental Resource Management and a Bachelor Degree in Marine Biology. She is a co-founder of Del Mar Academy and the founder of the Guardians of Nature Movement. In 2012, through an entrepreneurial competition, Jessica’s “Sustainable Homes ” idea was adopted and implemented nationwide. She is the author of The Guardian of Nature children’s book series.  Jessica is also a co-founder of the Nosara Recycling Association. She lives in Nosara with her husband, Bram and her children, Kai and Lucia. Jessica’s dream is to see the “Guardians of Nature” initiative and strategies be implemented worldwide.

Iain Ord
Founder/Trustee

Born and raised in the UK, Iain owned a successful construction business in the Cayman Islands for 20 years prior to moving to Nosara full time in  2008. He is co-owner of Pacific design group here in Nosara and a co-founder of Del Mar Academy. When not building or renovating homes in Nosara, (Inky) can be found 3 times a week coaching the local NFC futbol team ‘Maniacs’ with his co-coach Bram.

Carlos Castro
Founder/Treasure

Carlos was born and raised in San José, Costa Rica and moved to Nosara in 2003. He has a Bachelor´s degree in Pharmacy and a Master of Science in Commercial Management in Marketing from the University of Barcelona, Spain.  He currently works for Century21 as a real estate agent. Carlos, his wife Natalia and their three young boys have made their home in Nosara. All of their boys attend Del Mar Academy. He is one of the original co-founders of Del Mar Academy.

Andrés González
Trustee

Born and raised in San José, Costa Rica where he graduated from law school in 2003. Arrived for the first time in Nosara in the year of 1985, when he was only 6 years old and since then himself and his family fell in love with the town. In 1993 the family decided to build their second home in Guiones Beach. In the year of 2007 he decided  to move permanently  to Nosara and opened the law firm IBL Consultores, then in 2011 he converted his old family house into the Nosara Beach Hostel with the purpose of giving an affordable option for ticos and foreigners to come to surf at Playa Guiones without paying outrageous prices. Andres and his wife Alessandra have 2 young daughters and live permanently in Nosara.

Úrsula Gamio
Trustee

Ursula is from Peru but has moved around a bit, attending middle-school in the Netherlands, earning a BA in Texas, and working for Microsoft Latam in Florida. Ursula was a Design Director at La Victoria Lab in Peru, a human-centered consultancy co-founded with IDEO. Passionate about learning, she’s led transformative projects for Innova Schools, a network of 70+ schools across Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador; and designed Beca Cometa, a unique scholarship program for undergrads at top US universities. In 2022, Ursula moved to Nosara with her Mexican husband Alfredo and two daughters, Tania and Gia, who attend DMA.

Macon Clarkson
Trustee

Macon was born and raised in Richmond, VA and attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a BS in Commerce (finance).  After graduation, she moved to New York City and worked in investment banking for six years before returning to Virginia and shifting her focus to investment management for the following 15 years.  She has been living in Nosara with her husband and two daughters, who attend Del Mar, since 2022.  Before their family relocated to Costa Rica, Macon was an active volunteer at her daughters’ prior school, serving as president of the endowment board, chair of the board of trustees, chair of the board’s finance committee and co-chair of the most recent Head of School search committee.  

Ryan Tognazzini
Trustee

Ryan has been living with his family in Nosara since 2021. Originally from San Francisco, Ryan and his wife Brooke lived in Austin, TX where they had daughters Edie (4th grade) and Marlo (3rd grade). They moved to Pelada 2 years ago, and are full-time residents in Nosara. Ryan began his career in sales and general management in business services. Following that, he joined a boutique management consulting firm where he helped B2B companies with growth strategies, and ran their private equity business. Ryan was also the CEO of an enterprise software company for 4 years. He currently works as an advisor to his prior firm, as well as a private equity firm based in Princeton, New Jersey.

Anne Greenhaw
Trustee

Anne moved to Nosara from Boulder, Colorado in 2014, and her son Judge has attended Del Mar Academy since Casa kindergarten and is now in grade 8. Before relocating to Nosara, she was a marketing leader at various software start-ups in the areas of cybersecurity, project management tools, and video conferencing. She serves as a board Marketing Advisor for Refugee Projects, a non-profit that provides legal services to asylum seekers around the world, a board Communications Advisor for non-profit Las Huacas Community Association, and a teacher for the children’s program at the Biblioteca David Kitson.

Andrew Weinstein
Trustee

Andrew and his family moved to Nosara from Washington, DC in late 2017, and his two children, Athena and Lincoln, have attended Del Mar since then. He is the founder of Ridgeback Communications, a media relations and communications firm, and he has worked in top communications roles in presidential politics, government (US Congress, SEC), and the corporate world (AOL, LivingSocial, CrossFit). Andrew served on the boards of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Washington Humane Society, and he is actively involved with several local not-for-profit organizations in Nosara