Board Members
Bradly Byykkonen – bradly.byykkonen@
Bradly Byykkonen is a middle school English teacher who has been with Yinghua Academy for over ten years and has been teaching English in junior high and high school for over twenty years. He is from the upper peninsula of Michigan and first started working in education as a teacher’s aide at a school for at-risk youth. From there, he taught in Florida for six years before moving to Minnesota. In his spare time, he likes to read and write science fiction and fantasy.
Colleen Ebinger – colleen.ebinger@yinghuaacademy.org
Board Chair
Colleen Ebinger is a strategy and business consultant who specializes in housing, real estate, public health, and climate resilience with clients spanning the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She holds a B.A. from the College of Saint Benedict and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University. Fluent in Spanish, Colleen has lived in Spain, Honduras, and Nicaragua and especially appreciates immersion education for its impact on raising multilingual, multicultural citizens. Colleen is a parent to three current Yinghua students and a Yinghua alum. She has served as a classroom coordinator for multiple grades, contributed to two separate strategic planning processes, and coaches the school’s cross country team. Go Dragons!
Jessica Griffin – jessica.griffin@
Bryan Huang– bryan.huang@yinghuaacademy.org
Fundraising Committee Chair
Bryan Huang is a dedicated parent of four children attending Yinghua Academy, including two of his own and two nieces. With a professional background as an expert in Supply Chain and Procurement, Bryan brings valuable skills in negotiation and resource optimization to the school board. Originally from Taiwan and fluent in Mandarin, he offers cultural insights and support for organizing enriching social events for the school community. Bryan is committed to enhancing the educational experience for all students by focusing on fundraising, particularly corporate fundraising. His passion for educational excellence and practical expertise will help drive improvements and advancements at Yinghua Academy.
Chris Klisch – chris.klisch@yinghuaacademy.org
Board Treasurer
Chris Klisch is a proud Yinghua parent and a resident of Northeast Minneapolis. He currently works at Jellycat as Vice President of Finance. Chris also serves on the YACA board as their Treasurer. He is dedicated to ensuring fiscal responsibility and sustainability within the school’s operations and committed to upholding transparency, accountability, and prudent financial management to safeguard Yinghua Academy’s
long-term viability and growth.
Paul Landahl – paul.landahl@yinghuaacademy.org
Paul Landahl is a parent to two elementary school boys who attend Yinghua Academy. He lives in Northeast Minneapolis and works as a Quantitative Equity Research Analyst for a Minnesota Financial Services Firm. Paul has experience serving on various multi-family housing boards and is committed to board service, good governance and Yinghua’s mission of preparing students to be engaged and productive global citizens.
Cindy Moeller – cindy.moeller@yinghuaacademy.org
Personnel Committee Chair
Yinghua community member Cindy Moeller is now retired after a varied and interesting career. After earning a BA from Northwestern and an MSW from Western Michigan University, she served for four years as a school social worker in Battle Creek, MI. She then pursued an MBA at Northwestern followed by 20 years of work in various human resource leadership positions, including more than eleven years at General Mills. Her work at General Mills included serving as the Director of Human Resource Development and as an Innovation Leader. In 2003 she pursued her long-time interest in having an impact in public education. After participating in the year-long New Leaders for New Schools program in Chicago, she returned to Minnesota to direct a new charter school. Though that school was not able to attract enough students to open, she had the opportunity to take what those school founders had achieved (a charter, an authorizer, and a federal grant) to create Yinghua Academy. She served as Yinghua board chair for the first five years of the school’s existence and has helped in various ways over the years. She served again on the board starting in June 2019 and was elected board chair in December 2023.
Pamella Stommes (杨老师) – pamella.stommes@yinghuaacademy.org
Fundraising Coordinating Committee Chair
Pamella Stommes grew up in Taipei, Taiwan and moved to the US when she was 15 years old. She has a BA in mathematics and an MA in teaching with a tier 4 license in 5-12 mathematics. Pamella joined the Yinghua faculty in early 2012 and has led the MS math department since 2014. She is the parent of two students, one graduated in spring 2025 and the other one is entering 4th grade.
Board initiatives: Support Yinghua in becoming even more inclusive—a nurturing environment for all students, teachers, parents, and staff—and a place that embraces transparency, cultural authenticity, and a strong focus on academic excellence. Ensure Yinghua’s practices and policies reflect the evolving needs of all stakeholders.
Catherine Wang Yang – catherine.wangyang@yinghuaacademy.org
Catherine Wang Yang is a Canadian-born Taiwanese who has moved around the world during her childhood years and experienced the importance of learning different languages and building community.
As a parent of two young boys (one in Class of 2033 at Yinghua Academy and the other who will enroll in a couple of years), she cares deeply about the wellbeing of the school and believes in Yinghua’s mission and values.
With her marketing background (across a variety of industries – retail, consumer packaged goods, and medical device) and MBA, she has been able to help lead projects at several non-profit organizations in the community over the years.
She hopes her background and work experiences will bring a unique perspective to help ensure the ongoing viability for Yinghua to continue to prepare students to be global citizens.
Yinglu Zeglin – yinglu.zeglin@yinghuaacademy.org
Board Secretary
Yinglu Zeglin earned an M.A. majoring in education administration and minoring in teaching second language and cultures, from the University of Minnesota in 2011. Yinglu has been teaching Chinese in an immersion setting since 2010 at multiple different schools. She also has been leading a middle school Chinese immersion program since 2014. In the Summer, Yinglu has been the dean of Sēn Lín Hú, a Concordia Language Village Summer Camp, serving in this role since 2016. Starting the 2021 academic year, she serves as Associate Principal and Teacher-On-Special-Assignment for the Hopkins Online Royal Academy. Yinglu is passionate about inclusion and equity. She is committed to helping Yinghua Academy to be a welcoming school for everyone to feel that they belong.
Ying Zhang – ying.zhang@yinghuaacademy.org
Dr. Ying Zhang is a data scientist at Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, University of Minnesota. She uses her computer skills to study brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, hoping to find ways to prevent or treat them. Having grown up bilingual in Chinese and English, she understands the profound impact of a good immersion program on our next generation. Since her son started at Yinghua in 2021, she’s volunteered often at school events like field trips and cultural festivals. Over the past few years, she’s served as a classroom coordinator, which opened her eyes to the pressure teachers face, especially those in special education who often require extra resources to meet each student’s individual needs. This experience also highlighted the school’s financial challenges. Unlike district schools that receive funding from property taxes, Yinghua doesn’t have that option. Therefore, she joined the board in hope to advocate for the school, especially the special education teachers, and to contribute her knowledge on data science.
You may contact all board members by emailing board@yinghuaacademy.org.