Ben Scharf
Ben grew up in Cupertino and was active in the music classes at Cupertino High School, which inspired him to pursue music education as a career. He received his BM with emphasis in Music Education from San Diego State University in 2019. While primarily a saxophone player, Ben participated in a variety of ensembles on various instruments including bassoon, french horn, and trombone. During his time at SDSU, Ben was active in the collegiate CMEA chapter, serving as its Vice President in 2019. The chapter helped enrich the development of SDSUs music education students by hosting reading bands, mock interviews, training sessions, and more. During his senior year he had the privilege of student teaching at Marshall Middle School in San Diego as part of the SDSU Music Education Fellowship. He then received his teaching credential from SDSU in 2020 while student teaching at Scripps Ranch High School.
Ben continues to be an active member of numerous music education associations, serving on the boards for the Santa Clara County Band Directors Association and the California Music Education Association Bay Section. Ben has presented at the state music education conference about diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, in the high school instrumental classroom.
Avery Chen
Avery Chen is a passionate community servant and leader. In her four years at Notelove as Executive Director, Notelove grew from one neighborhood to span the entire US. She also spent two summers volunteering for the California Native Garden Foundation as a Data Analysis Intern, providing findings crucial to their grant applications. In high school, she was an active flutist in various ensembles, playing as principal flute in Homestead High School’s Wind Ensemble I and symphony orchestra, the California Youth Symphony Senior Orchestra, as well as participating in the Santa Clara County Honor Band, California All State Honor Band, and Honor Band of America. Additionally, she served as Woodwind Captain in Homeatead’s award-winning marching band. All of these musical experiences have inspired Avery to serve through Notelove, so it can continue to spread the joys of music to students across the country. Currently, Avery is a freshman at UC Berkeley studying computer science.
Jane Park
Jane is a Computer Science student at Penn State University. She has been working with Notelove since its start in September 2018. Initially, she was a ukulele and guitar instructor, then worked as Notelove’s secretary, Executive Director, and finally, Executive Advisor. She was part of Homestead High School's Tri-M as well as the senior sports editor of The Epitaph, Homestead's student run newspaper. In her free time, Jane tutors math, writes music, and draws. She looks forward to seeing Notelove grow, both in impact and in size.
Aidan Lin
Aidan is a dedicated and experienced youth leader in nonprofit organizations, student government, and extracurriculars. He is a co-founder of Our Time To Act United, a 501(c)(3) youth empowerment nonprofit, where he currently serves as Executive Director. Additionally, Aidan studies political science at UC San Diego and participates in the Associated Students of UC San Diego as Government Affairs Director. One of Aidan's many passions is music. In high school he practiced flute, placing as third chair in his school's top Wind Ensemble and second chair in their exclusive Symphony Orchestra, and served as the Woodwind Captain of a nationally acclaimed marching program. As such, he has experienced first-hand the transformative powers of music and is looking forward to supporting the advancement of Notelove's charitable cause.
Nancy Smith
Nancy Smith wears many hats as a political and community leader, technology innovator, environmental protector, mentor for youth, and more. Nancy is author of Virtuous Corporation: Thriving in the Corporate Age (Expected Publication December 2021). She is the founding sponsor of Sunnyvale Youth Public Policy Institute. Since 1998, Nancy has worked at NVIDIA where she is now a Program Manager. From 2016 to 2020, Nancy served on the Sunnyvale City Council. Nancy began her career in technology, and also had a passion for service for her community. She sponsored YPPI to create a place where young people could learn how to define problems, research solutions, and advocate for ideas they care about. She is talking with community members about improving how communities and corporations interact and create thriving cities and towns.