Danielle Collins

President

Danielle co-founded Pulse Percussion, Inc. in 2009 and has served in many roles with Pulse including Performer, Director, Executive Director, and on the board of directors every year since Pulse's inception. Danielle has taught adjunct at CSULA, consulted with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and currently Directs the Music, Media, and Entertainment Technology program at the Academy for Performing Arts at Huntington Beach High School. 

Danielle serves as the Professional Music Lead for the California Department of Education in Career Technical Education and as a Board Member for the Arts, Media, Entertainment Institute. She has served on the Board of Directors for the California Band Directors Association and on the innovations council for California Music Educators Association. She has worked with many thriving DCI groups and WGI groups in the training and development of their organizations. 

Danielle has a Bachelor of Music and Master's Degree in Music Education from CSU Long Beach. Danielle lives with her husband, Doug, and their sons, Bennett and Jackson, in Long Beach, CA.

Danielle@pulsepercussion.org

Matt Lackey

Vice President

Matt Lackey is a media producer and educator with a passion for non-profits. He joined Pulse Percussion’s Board of Directors in 2012 and has served as Executive Director and Vice President.

Matt performed with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps in 2000 & 2001 and Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps in 2002 & 2003. He has designed and taught for numerous programs in Southern California including Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps from 2003 - 2020. He is currently a visual instructor for South Hills High School and El Dorado High School.

Matt teaches video production at Kaiser High School. He is the creator and host of Sequence Break - a podcast featuring conversations with speedrunners, developers, content creators, and everything in-between.

Matt earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Master of Arts in Education from California State University, San Bernardino. He lives in Southern California with his wonderful wife Angela and dachshunds Lily and Paisley.

mlackey@pulsepercussion.org

Joey Martinez

Treasurer

Joey is currently a high school Finance teacher & CTE Department Chair at Clovis West High School in Fresno, CA. He earned his Bachelor’s in Accounting from Fresno State and worked in the field for a short time before pursuing teaching opportunities. He has also earned a Single Subject Teaching Credential & an MBA from Fresno State.  

As a performer, he has experience with BDB, the Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps, the Freelancers, RCC, and Pulse Percussion.

Being a part of Pulse had such an impact on him, he came back (and was lucky enough to be offered) to tech the bassline, a position he held 2014-2021. Though driving down from Fresno every weekend became too cumbersome, he was too much of a wuss to give up being part of this amazing family entirely, so he joined the Board to now help the organization in a different way. For DCI, he has served as the bass tech for Phantom Regiment from 2014-2018, the Blue Stars for 2019, and has been with the Cavaliers from 2020 onward.

José Ledesma

Secretary

José currently serves as the Director of Percussion for Torres High School in Madera, CA. He studied Music Education with an emphasis in percussion at California State University, Fresno, earning a Bachelors of Arts degree in 2019.

José's performance experience includes Sacramento Mandarins Drum and Bugle Corps and POW Percussion. Additionally, José has performed with numerous ensembles during his time at Fresno State including the Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, and Percussion Ensemble.

José's teaching experience includes Washington Union High School, Madera South High School, Beyer High School, and Central High School, and Valley Indendent Percussion (V.I.P.).

José currently resides with his partner in Fresno, CA.

Phil Vallejo

Board Member

Phil is currently the Director of Bands at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He served as the president of the California Band Directors Association from February 2018 until February 2020. Prior to his time as President, Phil served as coordinator for CASMEC, the California all-state Music Education Conference.

He has a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting at ASU. Prior to ASU, Phil served as the Director of Instrumental Music at James C. Enochs High School, Modesto, CA, and as the assistant conductor for the Modesto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Phil holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music Education and a Master of Arts Degree in Music Performance (Conducting), both from California State University, Fresno.

Phil is an adjudicator and clinician for wind bands, orchestras, percussion ensembles and marching bands and has received many accolades for his work in Music Education.

Phil lives in Oklahoma with his wife Courtney and their 27 children.

Doug Steinmetz

Board Member

Doug Steinmetz is the National Sales Director for School Service Dealers of Yamaha Corporation of America in Southern California. He has been active as a music educator throughout Kentucky and Southern California, as well as the former Director of ClipPercussion, the Los Angeles Clippers Drumline.

Doug was a member of the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps and holds both a BM in Music Performance and a BBA in Marketing from the University of Kentucky.

Doug lives with his wife, Danielle, and their sons, Bennett and Jackson, in Long Beach, CA.

Daniel Cook

Board Member

Daniel Cook is currently a Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) where he serves the staff in supporting technology implementation, hosting professional development, mentor new teachers, and provide support with data collection and disaggregation to best support instruction at Camarillo High School and is part of the Oxnard Union High School District Instruction Support Services Department.

Prior, Daniel had served as a music teacher for 12 years, most recently the Music Director at Adolfo Camarillo High School where he helped grow the program from 5 sections and one teacher with a $100,000 booster budget to 2 full-time directors, $200,000 budget, 3 jazz ensembles, 3 wind ensembles, starting a string orchestra, and added a Digital Music Production pathway and the development digital music lab with Sound Engineering and 12 total sections. Daniel is an active judge and has served as a mentor judge for SCSBOA in the Visual Caption and has also been involved in other esteemed organizations like Winter Guard Association of Southern California (WGASC), West Coast Performance Association (WCPA) and independent jazz festivals.  

Daniel resides in Camarillo, CA with his wife Nicole and their daughter’s Bailee Rae, Ruth Jude, and Golden Retriever Ella.

Nathan medina

Board Member

Nathan is currently the Director of Planning and Materials for Plug Inc., a provider of hydrogen fuel cell turnkey solutions focused on proton exchange membrane (PEM), fuel cell and fuel processing technologies, fuel cell/battery hybrid technologies, and associated hydrogen and green hydrogen generation, storage, and dispensing infrastructure.  Prior to this, he has worked within different companies such as within Vans Corporation and Tesla Inc.; holding multiple roles within their supply chain organizations.  He received his bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Cal Poly Pomona  Polytechnical College in 2014 and completed his APICS CSCP certification in 2017. 

Nathan’s teaching experience spans across many southern California schools such as: Rancho Cucamonga High School, Ayala High School, Rowland High School and many more.  He was a member of the Impulse (2005-2006), Santa Clara Vanguard (2007-2008) and Bluecoats (2009-2011) Drum and Bugle corps as well as the section leader of Pulse Percussion from 2009-2011.

Nathan lives with his girlfriend and their daughter in New York City, NY.

Kyle Carter

Board Member

Born in New York and growing up in South Florida, Kyle Carter was introduced to the sport of Winter Percussion in 1999 with the 3 time Scholastic A world finalist Olympic Heights High School 'Black Magic' Drumline out of Boca Raton, FL, of which he was a member throughout his high school career.  With his love for the sport continuing after high school, Mr. Carter was a member of the inaugural year of the now Independent World Class Ensemble Stryke Percussion in 2002-2003.  

Moving to Southern California in 2004, Mr. Carter was a member of the inaugural year of Pulse Percussion in 2005 and again in his age out year in 2007 as an auxiliary percussion player in Pulse's front ensemble.  

Currently residing in Laguna Hills, CA, Mr. Carter has been involved in several non- profit organizations benefiting youth in Southern California since 2008.  In 2014 Mr. Carter, along with his business partners founded Sustain Recovery out of Irvine, CA, a for profit treatment center serving adolescents with substance use disorder and other co-occurring mental disorders.

Mr. Carter has a passion for helping youth and emerging aduts as well as a passion for the sport of Winter Percussion.  Being a part of the Pulse Family since 2005, Mr. Carter looks to bring his passion for the sport, youth, and business expertise to the table to help Pulse Percussion Inc. continue to be a World Class Championship organization for many years to come.

Russell M. Tanakaya

Board Member

Russ is a self-described marching music fanatic!  He is a staff writer and photographer for “Drum Corps World” and annually works multiple shows, travelling across the United States with Beth, his wife of 34 years.  Both Mr. Tanakaya’s children play cymbals and snare drum in winter drumline.  His son Christopher was a member of POW in 2013 and was one of the upside-down snare drummers for Pulse in 2014.  As a southern California fan, Russ takes hundreds of photos for his beloved Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps each year as one of their volunteer photographers.

Mr. Tanakaya has a degree from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel Management of the University of Houston.  He is a businessman, spending the last 40 years working in the hospitality industry.  Russ is the recipient of multiple awards from the Hilton Corporation including Food & Beverage Director of the Year, and General Manager of the Year.  His present position as General Manager of the Embassy Suites  Los Angeles / Glendale is his main passion, in addition to his adjunct instructor position at Glendale Community College in the Hospitality/Tourism department.   

Russ has been elected to and appointed to multiple Board of Director positions.  Some of the organizations he represents:  Executive Committee Verdugo Workforce Development Board of Directors, Vice President Glendale Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Brea Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Japanese American National Museum Board of Governors, Board of Directors Glendale Sunrise, San Diego North, and Brea chapters of  Rotary International.

Richie Sebastian

Board Member

Richie Sebastian is the Visual and Performing Arts Teacher on Special Assignment for Garden Grove unified school district. He has been a credentialed music educator since 2009, at Los Alamitos HS and La Quinta High School from 2012-2023.

Richie studied Music Education and Computer Science at Pasadena City College where he received his A.A. and A.S., and then transferred to California State University, Northridge where he received his Bachelor’s of Arts in Music Education and his Single Subject Teaching Credential. He studied tuba under Doug Tornquist and his performance experience is with the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band and was even the Drum Major of the group for the 2001 Rose Parade.

Richie has worked with students from all levels of music including Elementary, Middle, High School and Community College. Richie has been a visual instructor, percussion instructor, music arranger/composer, Drum Major instructor, tuba instructor, and Program Coordinator for schools including: Toll Middle School, Crescenta Valley High School, Temple City High School, Pasadena City College, San Marino High School, El Rancho High School, and Los Amigos High School. Along with being a full-time music director, Richie designs marching band, winter guard, indoor drumline, and indoor winds drill for multiple groups in Southern California. He was a Director of Pulse Percussion from 2012 to 2015.

Richie lives in Westminster, CA.