Faculty & Staff |

Founding Director

Tami Johnson

With a steadfast commitment to student well-being and achievement opportunities for all students, Tami Hester Johnson brings extensive experience as an educator, school counselor, consultant, district leader, trainer, and adjunct professor. Throughout her career, Tami has worked alongside school districts across Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Diego Counties to support inclusive, engaging, and student-centered learning environments. Her connection to InGenius STEM spans more than a decade. She believes students thrive in programs like inGenius because of its dedication to project-based learning and the caring staff who bring joy, creativity, fun, and meaningful learning together.
Tami currently serves as the Coordinator of Child and Family Success with the Transformational Leadership and System Support team at the San Diego County Office of Education. Her work focuses on supporting educators, leaders, and school communities, Mrs. Johnson serves educational leaders and school-based mental health professionals by supporting professional learning, coaching, consultation, and systems-level practices that strengthen student well-being, school counseling, mental health supports, and multi-tiered systems of support.

She is especially passionate about helping schools create environments where students feel a sense of belonging, confidence, curiosity, and connection. She believes students are more likely to take academic risks, solve problems creatively, and see themselves as capable learners when they feel supported and valued. Tami has presented at regional and national conferences, including the Early Years Conference, California Association of School Counselors Conference, Educational Tech Conference, Indiana Department of Education, The Grable Foundation Seminar for School Leaders and Superintendents, and a guest panelist for LEAD San Diego.
In her spare time, Tami enjoys spending time at San Diego’s beautiful beaches with her dogs, exploring new food spots, traveling, and spending time with her family.

inGenius Campus Director@ Canyon Crest Academy
Maria Nesvig has been an Extended Day Program site lead, for the Cajon Valley Union School District since 2018. In her role as an after school program leader she has learned how to ensure student safety and well being, develop and implement engaging activities, and maintain positive relationships with students, families and staff.

She has enjoyed working the last 3 summers at InGenius starting in 2021. In her first summer she taught the cooking class, and had so much fun being creative with cooking in a classroom. During summers 2022 and 2023 she assisted with administrative work, to help provide organization and smooth daily operations. Outside of work Maria enjoys cooking, arts, staying active, and spending time with her family.

inGenius Campus Counselor @ Canyon Crest Academy
Phoua Xiong is an elementary school counselor for the Cajon Valley Union School District. As a native of Merced, she received her B.A. from UC Merced and her M.S. in Counseling from Fresno State University. After graduating, she accepted a position with the Cajon Valley Union School District as a Trauma-Informed Counselor.

It was there that she was able to be in the classrooms to provide lessons for students by helping them develop an emotional vocabulary and intelligence, and teaching students coping skills and strategies. In 2017, she transitioned to one site and has been able to work with students more closely and building relationships with them. Her passion in working with students has carried over into the summer months when she is out of school and teaching students at inGenius. She loves sparking students’ imagination with what is possible and combining this with their interests by giving every child the opportunity to learn and experience joy. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, creating new recipes in the Instant Pot, going to the beach, spending quality time with her partner and friends, and visiting her family in Merced. She loves and looks forward to spending time with her 21 nieces and nephews!

inGenius Campus Counsoler @ Canyon Crest Academy
Alexander Drozda is a San Diego native and has been working in education since 2010. He graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Sociology-Organizational Studies and is in the final stage of his M.Ed. at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Most recently, he has held positions as a visiting teacher within Cajon Valley Union School District and School Counselor within San Diego Unified School District. His educational interests lie in student capacity building, special education, socio-emotional education, restorative practices, ESL development, STEAM, and A-G high school and college preparation. When he is not working with students, he enjoys surfing, backpacking, and traveling.