Admissions & Advancement
Mikhal Bouganim | 柏美溪, Director of Advancement
Mikhal brings to PKS a 20+ year career in strategic and financial communications, working primarily with non-US companies. She (re)joined the school in 2024, having served as Director of Communications from 2017-2019 during a key inflection point in PKS’s growth: the launch of the Middle School, the transition to a new Head of School, and the $25MM capital campaign for construction of the main campus building. She has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations focused on educational access, workforce development, and civil rights, as well on the PKS Board of Trustees where she led the Development and DEI committees.
Born in Canada and raised in Israel, she has lived, worked, and studied on three continents, resulting in Hebrew fluency, Spanish proficiency, and an appreciation for the diversity of the human experience. She runs half marathons occasionally, but Spelling Bee is her real competitive sport, aiming to hit genius level every day. As the parent of two PKS graduates (pioneer class of 2021, and class of 2023), it can be hard to distinguish between her personal and professional passion for the PKS mission!
November Carey, Associate Director of Communications
[FORTHCOMING]
Anna Huang | 黃健芬, Associate Director of Admissions
Born and raised in San Francisco, Anna grew up in Chinatown, immersed in the heart of the city’s vibrant Chinese culture and community. While Cantonese is her mother tongue, Anna attended Mandarin after school classes throughout her K-12 education. Her fluency in Cantonese and Mandarin allows her to connect with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Anna joined the PKS admissions team in 2018 with a B.A. in Psychology and Communications from UC Davis. Previously, she worked with youth and families at the Chinatown YMCA, supporting mentorship programs and community spaces for low income families and seniors. Her own experience learning and speaking Mandarin and Cantonese has made her appreciate the impact and importance of early language learning. She hopes more children will begin this learning journey early, and in that journey, find joy in the beauty and complexity of language and culture.
Outside of school, Anna enjoys spending time with family and friends, and exploring the city she calls home, with a sprinkle of adventures beyond.
Jenefer Johnson, Director of Admissions
Jenefer grew up in a small town in central Illinois where there were few, if any, opportunities to interact with cultures or languages outside of her own. As a result, she has spent most of her adult life looking for ways to be immersed in language and culture.
Jenefer has an MA in Applied Linguistics and Teaching ESL and spent much of her career focused on supporting English language acquisition for adult non-native speakers of English - as a teacher and curriculum developer; through textbook sales, publishing, and teacher training; and as the director of an English school for international students in San Francisco. She was thrilled to join PKS as the Director of Admissions in 2019, to continue to help others be immersed in language and culture, from an earlier age.
Jenefer is thrilled that her daughter, who has been at PKS since P1, has the language and culture opportunities she didn’t get. Despite many years of her efforts to teach mom Mandarin, Jenefer missed the critical window for retaining or repeating tones. She’d love to chat with you in Italian, though!
Jennifer (Jenny) Luo | 罗家茜, Advancement & Community Engagement Associate
Jenny moved to San Francisco in the fall of 2024, where she was introduced to the city's cultural and language immersion programs while substitute teaching for SFUSD. Having grown up in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, where cultural diversity was excluded from the classroom, she has found it profoundly healing to work in a space where cultural competence is not just studied, but lived.
Jenny has a B.A. in Educational Studies from Vassar College, where she focused on identity formation through education and leisure. She has previously supported communities through dialogue facilitations, social programming, and initiatives that center identity, belonging, and cross-cultural understanding. Jenny's professional journey has allowed her to curate experiences for people from different walks of life. After starting at PKS in the summer of 2025, she is excited to help engage and excite the PKS community.
While art, food, and storytelling are her primary tools for connection, Jenny continues developing her proficiency in Mandarin and Spanish to further expand her world. She welcomes opportunities to create meaningful connections and looks forward to creating beautiful memories with the PKS community.