Board of Directors

GISSV is a California nonprofit organization governed by a Board of Directors comprised of GISSV parent volunteers. Elected by its Society, the Board legally represents GISSV, while also establishing the strategic direction for the school. The Board consists of 11 members, each of whom is elected to serve a term of three years. Members of the Board can be elected for up to three three-year terms with a two-year break in services after the second term. The Board holds regular meetings to perform its duties as specified in the By-Laws (amended and restated on October 24, 2025) and in accordance with the Board-adopted Business Rules and Code of Conduct.

Organizational matters are regulated and approved by the Board in coordination with the Head of School. On behalf of the GISSV Board, the Head of School is responsible for the daily management of the school. The GISSV Head of School as well as a representative of the German Consulate General in San Francisco attend Board meetings as non-voting members.

Upon resolution of the Board, additional persons may participate in an advisory capacity during Board meetings, or may be consulted on individual topics on the agenda. Typical guests are the Head of School, the Head of Administration and the Parent Association (PA) presidents or their representatives. The PA presidents present topics related to the school community as discussed at PA meetings for consideration by the Board.

2026-2027 Board of Directors

Shamala Hinrichsen, President
Onur Cinar, Vice President
Zouhair Belkoura, Treasurer
Julian Merten, Vice Treasurer
Brigitte Binkert, Secretary
Keerthi Vishnudas, Vice Secretary
Lisa Gimbel
Matthias Grundmann
Rima Mutreja
Supriya Solbach
Zahar Barth-Manzoori

Electing the Board of Directors
Common Board Tasks

Electing the Board of Directors

Society members will cast their vote in accordance with the by-laws and the election process for Board members.
Each member of the Society (as defined by §3 of the bylaws) has the right to cast a vote for the total number of vacant Board member seats.
Ideally, each campus location has a representative in the Board.
At the first meeting after the Society elected a new Board, the Board of Directors elects a president, treasurer, secretary, and their respective deputies.
Society members are eligible for election to the Board (with the exception of employees of GISSV and their spouses).

Common Board Tasks

Providing strategic direction;
Guaranteeing financial security by adopting sound and balanced budgets and monitoring revenues and expenditures;
Negotiating and signing facility leases and rental agreements;
Supporting marketing and sponsoring efforts;
Deciding on employment-related matters;
Scheduling bi-annual Society meetings;
Admitting new Society members;
Representing GISSV in the greater Bay Area community.

Downloads

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MEET THE 2026-2027 BOARD MEMBERS

Shamala S. Hinrichsen, President

Shamala Hinrichsen is a medical scientist by training having worked in research organizations, corporate, biotechs, and at policy level for governments.

Onur Cinar, Vice Chair

Onur has two decades of engineering leadership experience gained from prominent roles at leading high-tech firms in Silicon Valley, including Google, Skype, Microsoft, and Samsung. He is also recognized for his contributions as an author of several technology books focusing on mobile application development.

Read More about Onur Cinar, Vice Chair

Zouhair Belkoura, Treasurer

Dr. Zouhair Belkoura was born in Germany and raised in Karlsruhe where he attended the European School, an international K-12.

Julian Merten, Vice Treasurer

Julian is a Distinguished Engineer at Mercedes-Benz R&D North America, where he plays a key role in shaping the company’s customer-facing AI product strategy at its Silicon Valley research hub.

Brigitte Binkert, Secretary

Brigitte is currently the owner and principal at Binkert Greene LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in wills and trusts, probates and trust administration in Mountain View.

Keerthi Vishnudas, Vice Secretary

Keerthi is passionate about health, wellness and education and focused on supporting & scaling startup innovation and serves as advisor/mentor at various startup accelerators including Endless Frontier Labs (NYU Stern School of Business) and Springboard Enterprises (accelerator focused on women entrepreneurs).

Lisa Gimbel

Lisa is a CPA with 20+ years of experience at KPMG, DocuSign, Salesforce and is now the Chief Accounting Officer for PubMatic, a publicly traded company.