Get to know the people behind schoolAbility
The schoolAbility Leadership Team is comprised of highly skilled professionals with expertise in Financial Management and HR/Payroll ERP systems used by most school districts and charter schools in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas.
The schoolAbility Leadership Team includes a Certified Public Accountant, experienced school business managers, Finance and HR/Payroll subject matter experts, and ERP software architects and developers.
Following are the schoolAbility Leadership Team biographies.
schoolAbility Leadership Team Biographies
Alfredo Diaz
Skyward Q Certifications: HR/Payroll
Alfredo has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Alfredo worked at International Business Machines Corp, for ten years, where he held a number of senior technical positions. While at IBM, Alfredo filed three US patents related to software systems architecture (US5566348, US5450384, and US5440686).
After IBM, Alfredo worked on several large‐scale, mission‐critical software projects for Fortune 500 companies, such as Baxter Healthcare and Philips Semiconductors. Alfredo also developed a student tracking system for the University of Arizona and a 401(k) investment performance application for PiperJaffray.
Alfredo founded Apta Software, Inc., in 1997 and was deeply involved in the architecture and design of AptaFund, the first Internet-hosted Financial Management and HR/Payroll ERP system for schools.
By 2007, Alfredo expanded AptaFund’s market share in California and made AptaFund the de facto standard Financial Management and HR/Payroll ERP system for New Mexico charter schools, attaining a market share of 95%.
Alfredo founded schoolAbility, LLC in 2020. In 2022, schoolAbility became the exclusive reseller of Skyward Qmlativ in California, New Mexico, and Texas.
Under Alfredo’s leadership, schoolAbility introduced Skyward Qmlativ to California in 2024, fundamentally changing the competitive landscape by expanding ERP software options for California schools.
Chris Power
Skyward Q Certifications: Customization, Report Manager & Data Mining
Chris received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, graduating with honors (Magna Cum Laude).
Upon graduation, Chris worked at Hughes Missile Systems and Computer Sciences Corporation, and was responsible for leading development, enhancement, support, and maintenance for performance management, human resources, and labor planning systems.
Chris next joined Apta Software, the developer of AptaFund, where he quickly became the subject matter expert in fund accounting software for school districts, with specialization in finance, human resources, payroll, retirement reporting, and regional functionality.
Chris has been working in the educational technology industry ever since and is responsible for the development of solutions to support STRS, PERS, TRS, VRS, PERA, PIMS, EIT/LST, KPERS, NPERS, PSERS, and other systems.
Prior to joining schoolAbility, Chris was responsible for an international team of software developers and testers, responsible for enhancement and maintenance of integrated fund accounting software in use by over 300 school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education in 16 states.
Arin Simonyan
Skyward Q Certifications:
Arin received her master’s degree in International Economics from Yerevan State University. After moving to the United States in 2000, she spent five years teaching economics as an adjunct professor at community colleges in the Sacramento area.
Prior to joining schoolAbility, Arin spent 17 years working in ERP software supporting California educational organizations. Her experience includes support leadership, product management, implementations, customer training, and process improvement—helping customers navigate complex school business and compliance requirements.
Arin brings deep knowledge of California school business operations, including retirement systems, regulatory and tax reporting, payroll, budgeting, ERP implementation, and district workflows such as procure-to-pay and position-to-pay.
At schoolAbility, Arin leads AI innovation initiatives that accelerate customer implementations and strengthen internal processes. She focuses on practical, responsible uses of AI to streamline data
migrations, support workflow analysis and requirements definition, improve documentation and knowledge sharing, advance process standardization, and enable cross-functional teams.
Jacque Eischens
Skyward Q Certifications: Budget & Finance
Jacque graduated from Concordia University, St. Paul with a bachelor’s degree in Management of Human Services and holds a Certificate in Management of School Business from University of Southern California Rossier School of Education.
Early in her career, Jacque spent 3.5 years as a Fiscal Specialist and 6 months as interim business manager at Middletown Unified School District in rural Northern California. She trained site users in attendance reporting, purchasing processes, and managing site-based budgets. Jacque also managed the district budgeting process, attendance reporting, and financial reporting.
Subsequently, Jacque spent 7.5 years with Escape Technology providing support to internal and external customers; streamlining processes; managing a team of developers, support specialists, and quality assurance specialists; assisting with project implementations; and providing internal and external training on the Escape Online 5 software.
Jacque has expertise in California school business accounting, streamlining processes, developing customer support standards and processes, and content development.
Prior to joining schoolAbility, Jacque spent two years as the CBO for Lakeport Unified School District in California.
Jacque oversees the business office operations for schoolAbility clients in California, including oversight and support of all business office functions, such as budgeting, accounts payable, bank reconciliations, Federal grant management, audit preparation, governing board and California SACS reporting.
Sonia Taylor
Skyward Q Certifications: HR/Payroll & Position Control
Sonia is a CPA and is responsible for managing all payroll services engagements in California. Sonia graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis on accounting.
Upon graduation, Sonia spent 7 years in public accounting, working as an auditor at RSM. She was responsible for supervising multiple financial statement audits simultaneously for clients in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, distribution, insurance, with a specialization in the healthcare industry.
Prior to joining schoolAbility, Sonia worked as an Assistant Controller for a private equity firm as well as a Fund Controller at a global fund administration firm.
Over the past 3 years Sonia has worked in the school financial management software industry. She is responsible for managing payroll processing for several California customers.
Edgar Orozco
Skyward Q Certifications: Employee Access, Time Off, & Time Tracking
Edgar is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in information technology at the University of North Texas at Dallas, with an expected graduation in Spring 2026.
With 15 years of experience in Texas public education, Edgar has held various roles, including Finance Officer for a charter school in Dallas, TX. His responsibilities have encompassed state and Federal reporting, providing training and guidance on student attendance and enrollment, and serving as a School Official. Over the past three years, Edgar has worked closely with the CFO of the charter school, overseeing and processing State and Federal grants, and contributing to successful financial audits.
Edgar joined schoolAbility in September of 2024 and is focused on managing implementation and security.
Before his tenure in education, Edgar worked for a freight brokering company, where he managed accounts payable and receivable processes. He also has extensive experience in customer service-related roles.
Gary Shaw
Skyward Q Certifications: Budget & Finance
Gary has been involved in Texas public education for over 30 years. He served 21 years as the Chief Financial Officer for Springtown Independent School District in Springtown, Texas, overseeing a $34 million annual budget.
Gary oversees the business office operations for schoolAbility clients in Texas.
He is responsible for the oversight of all business office functions, including payroll, accounts payable, bank reconciliations, human resources, Federal grant management, audit preparation, the Texas Public Education Information Management Systems, budgeting, and governing board financial reporting.
Previously, Gary has served as a science teacher at the middle school and high school levels and as a district-level technology director. Earlier in his career, Gary owned and operated a utility construction firm.
Tonya Jones
Skyward Q Certifications: Time Tracking & Time Off, HR/Payroll
Tonya received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from DeVry University and a master’s degree in Accounting and Financial Management with a Certified Fraud Examiner emphasis from Keller Graduate School of Management. Both completed with Honors.
Tonya has worked in the accounting field since 1992 and has been involved in Texas Public Charter School Education since 2012. She served 10 years as the Finance Manager for Leadership Prep School in Frisco, Texas, where see oversaw an annual budget in excess of $12 million and was instrumental in the school’s first bond issuance.
Tonya also served 3 years as a Business Manager/Consultant for School Finance Productivity clients in Texas overseeing business office functions, such as credit card reconciliations, payroll, accounts payable, deposits, bank reconciliations, audit preparation, and bond management.
Tonya oversees all aspects of the business office operations for schoolAbility clients in Texas, including payroll, accounts payable, bank reconciliations, human resources, and assisting with audit preparation.
Fredo Diaz
Skyward Q Certifications:
Fredo is a CompTIA Security+ certified IT professional with over five years of experience in IT operations and support. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Information Technology from Arizona State University, with an emphasis on project management, technical operations, and organizational leadership.
Prior to joining schoolAbility, Fredo spent five years with Starbucks, including serving as a store manager recognized for consistent customer service and team leadership. He later transitioned to Starbucks’ corporate headquarters in Seattle, Washington, where he worked as a Service Desk Analyst supporting retail and non-retail teams across the organization. In this role, he earned Partner of the Quarter awards and the prestigious Partner of the Year recognition for exceptional customer support in 2024.
Fredo joined schoolAbility in 2026 to manage IT operations and cybersecurity initiatives, applying his technical background to strengthen internal operations and client-facing delivery. He also supports the technical aspects of onboarding new customers, including configuring and managing SMTP relays and monitoring SaaS performance.
Over the past year, Fredo has expanded his technical credentials by earning CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications.
