Trustees & Board

“Generations of Christian Education”
Psalm 89:1
Heritage Christian School has elected a Board of Trustees to oversee the formulation and continuing operation of the school. The administrator will report to the board, while faculty and staff members shall report to the administrator.
The Board of Trustees is comprised of six Christian men and women from the community. They are business leaders in the community and parents committed to Christian education. They have a vested interest in the success of Heritage Christian School.
Board of Trustees

Nancy Doaifi – President
Nancy Doaifi has a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Loma Linda University. Her focus was in public health and school nursing. She practiced as an RN at Corona Medical Center for 14 years. The last four years of her tenure were served as the Nursing Administrator specializing in eating disorders and women’s special needs. Nancy, along with her husband Peter, now own one of the largest dry cleaning companies in Orange County, Power Cleaners in Lake Forest. Nancy’s treasures are her two children, Kevin and Crystal, who were both blessed to be under the tutelage of Mr. Gay since the second grade. Nancy has a genuine love of others and desires to use all of her capabilities to make Heritage Christian School a safe and successful environment for children and families.

George Gay – Principal
Our founding principal, Mr. George Gay, has been in Christian Education for over 35 years. Mr. Gay has founded two other successful Christian schools and has consulted with many other schools in several states. Mr. Gay has implemented and directed excellent curriculum and instructional Christian School programs, which have received accreditation from ACSI and WASC. Mr. Gay’s passion is to daily nurture, train, encourage, challenge, and love kids, all for the glory of God. Mr. Gay received his B.A. from California State University, Fullerton. His teaching credential is from Southern California Christian College and his Masters in Educational Administration from Concordia University. Mr. Gay has been married to his wife Edie for over 40 years. He and Edie have 4 daughters & 11 grandchildren.

Don Swaim
Don Swaim has been passionately involved and led numerous Christian ministries throughout his adult life. As an active believer since 1975, Don has followed his life motto ‘nobody can do everything but everybody can do something’. Don’ s first ministry involvement was working at Calvary chapel Costa Mesa in their evangelism department. He was also a columnist for their newspaper. He also was the founder and director of the award winning Orange county fellowship day at Anaheim stadium. Don served on the staff at Mission Hills church in Mission Viejo for 5 years, overseeing community outreach and men’s ministries. He also served with his wife Sue as the director of a camp for abused children for 7 years. In 1988 Don authored the motivational tape series titled ‘the power and the passion’. Don is considered America’s most popular speaker on Living Trusts having conducted over 10,000 seminars on the topic. Don is married to his lovely wife Susan and his greatest joy is his 4 awesome children.

Jeff Davidson
Jeff Davidson comes to Heritage with a passion for building strong foundations for growth and is honored to help pave a path for our expanding school ministry. He brings over 25 years in operational business leadership with companies ranging from Fortune 50 to startup. Most recently, he was the executive leader of a strategic division of Ingram Micro. Previously, he led Global Operations at Microsoft. Early in his career, he started entrepreneurial businesses and held management positions at growing companies. He recently completed Executive Leadership and Finance programs at Stanford and Columbia Universities to complement his Bachelors in Business. Jeff is an active in faith-based charitable organizations helping those most in need. He and his wife Christina live in San Juan Capistrano. They proudly love their 4 children and 3 grandchildren, one of which attends Heritage (and more coming).

Stacey Taylor
I have been affiliated with Heritage Christian School since 2008 when my son started attending in the 3rd grade. I was a School Board Member for 5 years and was instrumental in starting the school lunch program, organizing and helping with many events, as well as being a room mom. For 4 years I helped with the auditioning, staging and costuming of the HCS musicals. I am a retired Lieutenant after a 27 year career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. I am also a certified Holy Yoga Instructor and teach classes at Saddleback Church. Every week I volunteer as part of Pastor Rick Warren’s security detail. I am thrilled to be part of the Board of Trustees for this wonderful school. I look forward to participating in the growth and vision for HCS and am excited to see where God is going to take us next!

Beverly Peever
Mrs. Peever loves the Lord and has been a Christian since childhood. She studied at LACC and then spent several years working for two Big 8 accounting firms in both tax and audit. She later received her real estate license and sold residential property for Century 21, specializing in relocation clients. Beverly has worked as an Admissions Advisor for two private colleges and as a teaching assistant for a Christian pre-school. She has a passion for education and a loving heart for children. She is a mother of one daughter, a graduate of Heritage Christian School, and remains committed to the growth and future of our school. Beverly enjoys Bible studies, volunteering, fund-raising, and special events. Both, she and her husband are part of the Heritage founding families and have served the community through their business since 1997.
School Board
“Generations of Christian Education”
Psalm 89:1
Heritage Christian School has elected a Board of Trustees to oversee the formulation and continuing operation of the school. The administrator will report to the board, while faculty and staff members shall report to the administrator.
The Board of Trustees is comprised of six Christian men and women from the community. They are business leaders in the community and parents committed to Christian education. They have a vested interest in the success of Heritage Christian School.

George Gay
Principal
ggay@heritagechristianschool.com
Our founding principal, Mr. George Gay, has been in Christian Education for over 35 years. Mr. Gay has founded two other successful Christian schools and has consulted with many other schools in several states. Mr. Gay has implemented and directed excellent curriculum and instructional Christian School programs, which have received accreditation from ACSI and WASC. Mr. Gay’s passion is to daily nurture, train, encourage, challenge, and love kids, all for the glory of God. Mr. Gay received his B.A. from California State University, Fullerton. His teaching credential is from Southern California Christian College and his Masters in Educational Administration from Concordia University. Mr. Gay has been married to his wife Edie for over 40 years. He and Edie have 4 daughters & 11 grandchildren.

Karyn Johnson
School Board Member
Karyn and her husband Tom are blessed to be part of the Heritage family. She says that her family is her greatest gift from God. Their son and daughter are in elementary school and have been part of HCS since the school opened. The Johnson family has been actively involved in school activities ever since. Karyn works at Saddleback Church on the Human Resources team. She loves that she can be involved in ministry and her work at the same time. Karyn started attending Saddleback in 1994 when she moved to Lake Forest and is currently volunteering as a kid’s small group leader. She is an avid reader and enjoys doing anything outdoors. Karyn is honored to be able to assist the school wherever and whenever needed.

Diane Pinto
School Board Member
Diane and her husband Steve have two children Alexi Grace and Nathan Canaan who have attended Heritage Christian School since preschool age and are now in elementary grades. The kids love Heritage! Diane has worked for the Orange County Health Department for 25 years, and has seen how health related topics are being packaged to bring a liberal worldview to public schools. “As a parent it brings piece of mind knowing that when your kids are at school, what they are learning is in line with the truth of a Christian worldview.” The family attends Faro Church, a multi-cultural bilingual congregation in Lake Forest where Steve is the Associate Pastor. Diane serves alongside her husband in ministry, teaching discipleship classes, and serving in various other aspects of ministry. Diane feels blessed to serve on the school board at Heritage and hopes to be a voice for the parents.

Cynthia Pearson
School Board Member
Cynthia states that first, she is a Child of God. She has been married for 14 year to Preston who is her long time best friend. Her daughter Prestina, is in the elementary school and has been attending Heritage since June 2015. The Pearson family has been attending Saddleback Church since 2001 and has been serving in The Children’s Ministry since 2012. As a family, theysupport many organizations with our time and money such as Up for Down, Autism Awareness, March of Dimes and Saddleback Church to name a few. Cynthia has been in the banking industry for 23 years and is currently the Regional Operations Manager for Bank of the West. Cynthia enjoysspending time with her family, friends, church and small group. She is looking forward to serving on the Board, becoming more involved in the School, as well as being a part in the growth and success of Heritage Christian School.

Genevieve Olson
School Board Member
Genevieve and her husband Brad have been Heritage parents since their oldest daughter Paige was in preschool. Her daughter and son both attend Heritage now in the Elementary and Preschool programs. Along with her family, Genevieve enjoys being outdoors and can often be found camping and hiking. She had the blessing of attending private Christian schools herself from preschool through college and is so thankful that she is providing that same opportunity for her own children. Both her and her husband played soccer for Concordia University where they met. Genevieve attended both Concordia University and Cal State University Fullerton to obtain her teaching degrees and credentials. Genevieve started teaching preschool back when she was working on her Bachelor’s degree and is now starting her 15th year in Elementary Education, having taught 2nd and 3rd grade. Genevieve strongly believes in the importance of Christian education and giving students the foundation and skills needed to be successful young adults.

Shane Stevens
School Board Member
Shane is originally from the Midwest. When he was 5 years old, his Mom packed up and moved to San Diego, California. After High School, Shane enlisted in the United States Marine Corpsand then stayed in Orange County after his service. Shane metErin, the woman of his dreams in 2009 and married her in 2011. In 2014, they were blessed with the greatest gift of all, their daughter Piper. The Stevens family attends Santiago de Compostela church in Lake Forest. In 2010 Shane attended the church’s Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) classes was baptized. He has also volunteered as an RCIA sponsor to others in their parish. When he is not working, Shane loves to attend outdoor concert events with his wife. He is honored to be selected as a Board member at HCS and looks forward to lending a helping hand where needed.

Ruth Dignadice
School Board Member
Ruth, her husband Jon, and three of their children have been part of the Heritage Christian School family since 2015. She cherishes the blessing of having staff who value their calling in ministering to the children and their families through education. Her favorite moments at HCS include hearing the children pray and sing praise songs together during chapel, cheering kids on during athletic games, and praying with other parents. Having experienced being homeschool parents in the past, Ruth is thankful for the small class setting and HCS’ encouragement for the students to interact with other grade levels during the day. Her daily prayer is that the children’s experiences at HCS would encourage them to desire to love the Lord their God with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind and to love others as they love themselves.

A ministry of New Beginning Family Worship Center
North River Christian Academy
1785 McFarland Blvd, Tuscaloosa, AL 35406
(205) 349-4881
(205) 349-3246 (Fax)