Meet Our Team
Mark kersey, president and ceo
Kersey was elected to the San Diego City Council in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016, receiving over 70% of the vote. He was the leading advocate for investing in, and maintaining, the City’s infrastructure during his tenure. Kersey spearheaded the effort to create the Council’s Infrastructure Committee—which he chaired for all eight of his years at City Hall—and led the charge to formulate the City’s first-ever comprehensive multi-year infrastructure investment plan.
His work culminated in the voters’ overwhelming passage of Proposition H in 2016, which created the City’s Infrastructure Fund and dedicated funding for infrastructure maintenance throughout the City—without raising taxes. Mark is an alumnus of Northwestern University and the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He has founded and co-founded multiple small businesses in San Diego, most recently Cask & Coast California Bourbon.
Sarah Schroeder, Policy Director
Sarah Schroeder started as a policy analyst intern for SDCTA’s School Policy and Research Team while completing her Master of Public Policy Degree at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, overseeing the publication of over 20 policy reports on proposed bond measures ahead of the November 2024 election. During this time she also authored an original econometric study on the relationship between public labor agreements and student achievement in San Diego County.
Sarah is passionate about education policy and looks forward to working with local public officials in her new role as SDCTA’s Policy Director to improve outcomes for San Diego students. In her free time she enjoys baking, hiking, playing board games, and traveling.
