About
Governance

Board of Trustees

Meet Our Trustees

Emma Willard School has a dedicated body of volunteers from within our community—alumnae, parents, friends—who bring their diverse and expert backgrounds to bear in supporting the administration of the school and stewarding its financial and physical resources.

The Board is made up of 25 Trustees, including 23 elected Trustees who serve three year terms. The Head of School, who is appointed by the Trustees, serves as an ex officio Trustee for the duration of their tenure. The President of the Alumnae Association Council (AAC), elected by that association’s membership, serves as an ex officio member of the Board during her tenure in that role.

Our Trustees share a passion for advancing the vision of Emma Willard School with purposeful courage and informed action.

Officers

Elisabeth “Lisa” Allen LeFort ’72
Chair (2020); Chair-Elect (2019), Chair (2015-2017)
Winter Park, FL
Trustee since: 2008
Committees: Advancement, Facilities, Executive, Investment, Governance, Finance and Audit, DEI
Education: BA Medieval History | MS Secondary Education from University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: Trustee International Yacht Restoration School, Member Trustee Council of Penn Women
Megan Toohey Scremin ’00
Chair-Elect (2022)
Denver, CO
Trustee since: 2018
Committees: Advancement, Chair; Executive - Chair-Elect; Governance
Education: BA in Integrated Strategic Communications from the University of Kentucky | MS in Tourism and Non-profit Management from Arizona State University
Occupation: President & CEO at Special Olympics Colorado
Ann Gambling Hoffman ’70
Secretary
New Hope, PA
Trustee since: 2012
Committees: Executive, Secretary; Governance, Finance and Audit
Education: BA from Lake Forest College
Occupation: Former Institutional Municipal Bond Salesperson; Director of Development The Eastern New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy; Senior Managing Director, NYC for Foundation Source
Elizabeth “Betsy” Gifford Gross ’72
Treasurer (2018)
Bethesda, MD
Trustee since: 2017
Committees: Finance and Audit, Chair; Executive, Treasurer; Investment, Ex Officio
Education: BS from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: Former accountant at Baker & Miller, PLLC, former computer programmer for a life insurance company


Trustees


Linda Gill Anderson ’77
Silver Spring, MD
Trustee since: 2021
Committees: Governance
Education: BA Dartmouth College; Executive training Stanford University and Babson College
Occupation: Director of Membership for the American Public
Transportation Association (APTA)
Katharine “Kate” Berry ’76
Boca Raton, FL
Trustee since: 2017
Committees: Facilities 
Education: BS in hotel management from Cornell University, School of Hotel Administration
Occupation: Consultant, former Vice President with The Ritz Carlton Company
Rachel Birnboim ‘93
New York, NY
Trustee since: 2021
Committees: Facilities, Co-chair; Executive
Education: BArch from Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation: Associate Principal, Studio Leader, Senior Project Manager for Perkins Eastman
Karen Brifu-Lacy '04
Mount Vernon, NY
Trustee since: 2022
Committees: DEI
Education: BA Mathematics & Economics from Fordham University | MBA International Business & Information Systems from Zicklin, CUNY Baruch
Occupation: Advisor and Chief of Staff for Market Operations, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
James Dawson
New York, NY
Trustee since: 2020
Education: BS and PhD from State University of New York at Albany
Occupation: Head of School, Professional Children’s School
Stephen Gonick P’16 ’20
Rexford, NY
Trustee since: 2017, Parent Trustee (2015-2017)
Committees: Advancement; Executive; Governance
Education: BS in Personnel and Industrial Relations from Ithaca College
Occupation: Co-Founder, Passport for Good; Co-Owner of The Palette Cafe; Executive and Entrepreneur in Residence at his alma mater, the Ithaca College School of Business
Valerie Gonyea ’82
Novato, CA
Ex-officio member since: 2020
AAC President
Committees: Advancement; Facilities; Finance and Audit
Education: BA in Broadcast Communications from SUNY Oswego | MS in Instructional Technology & Curriculum Design from SUNY Albany | MS in Accountancy from Golden Gate University in San Francisco
Occupation: Certified Public Accountant, Corporate Controller
Wendy S. Graham ’85
Hoboken, NJ
Trustee since: 2020
Committees: Advancement; Finance and Audit
Education: BA Bates College | MBA Cornell University
Occupation: Vice President Human Resources and Business Partner, Wiley Publishing
James Hackett P’20
Milton, MA
Trustee since: 2019
Committees: Finance and Audit; Investments
Education: BA from College of the Holy Cross | JD from Cornell Law School
Occupation: Jim worked at the law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston for 20 years, where he was a partner. He then served as General Counsel and VP of Business Development of Crane & Co., Inc., until the sale of the company. He is currently the General Counsel and Head of Acquisitions of Creation Technologies Inc.
David Howson
Westport, NY
Trustee since: 2022
Committees: Facilities; Finance and Audit
Education: BA and MLA from University of Richmond | MFA Theater Management from David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University
Occupation: Senior Teaching Professor and the Arthur Zankel Executive Director of Arts Administration at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs

Susan “Susie” Hunter ’68
Vero Beach, FL
Trustee since: 2015 (Board Chair 2017-2020)
Committees: Finance and Audit, Governance
Education: BA from Smith College | MSW from Rutgers University Occupation: Board of Overseers at WGBH in Boston, Board of The Learning Alliance, a literacy program in Vero Beach, FL
Samantha Jones '92
Stamford, CT
Trustee since: 2022
Committees: Governance
Education: BA in Political Science from Williams College | MBA in General Management from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Occupation: Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at Pitney Bowes
Sharon Khanuja-Dhall ’89
Katonah, NY
Trustee since: 2015
Committees: Advancement; Finance and Audit
Education: BS in Information Sciences & Technology from Syracuse University | Executive MBA from the University of Connecticut | MA in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University
Occupation: Chief Information Officer at Kroll
Wendy Shuang Liu ’95
New York, NY
Trustee since: 2018
Committees:  Investment, Chair; Finance and Audit, Ex Officio
Education: BA in History from Columbia University | MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: Business Development Group Lead, Rare Disease at Pfizer
Eleanor H. Lumsden ’94
Lisbon, Portugal
Trustee since: 2021
Committees: DEI, Co-chair
Education: BA Princeton | JD NYU Law
Occupation: Attorney, Founder of Eleanor Lumsden Consulting
Sarah “Sally” Klingenstein Martell ’85
New York, NY
Trustee since: 2020 (previously 1998-2012)
Committees: Advancement; DEI, Co-chair; Executive
Education: BA Tulane University | MFA Stony Brook University
Occupation: Executive Director, Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation
Denise Mormino
Slingerlands, NY
Trustee since: 2013
Committees: Finance and Audit
Education: BBA from Siena College | MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Occupation: Chief Accounting Officer at St. Peter’s Health Partners
Betts Howes Murray ’73
South Dartmouth, MA
Trustee since: 2016 (previously 1994-1997)
Committees: Advancement; Governance, Chair
Education: BA in history, Brown University | JD Boston College Law School
Occupation: Retired Executive Director/Program Director at Cohasset Maritime Institute and Duxbury Bay Maritime School |  Former attorney at Ropes & Gray, Hutchins & Wheeler
Elizabeth “Lisa” Radcliffe ’82
Brooklyn, NY
Trustee since: 2014
Committees: DEI, Co-chair; Governance
Education: BA College of William and Mary | MBA Baruch College
Occupation: Founder and CEO of PunkinFutz, Director & Chair of the Board of Powered by Inclusion
Jennifer Schmelter ’85
Boston, MA
Trustee since: 2016
Committees: Facilities; Finance and Audit
Education: BA Barnard College | MBA Boston University 
Occupation: Investment Professional
Roger Tennent P'24
Brooklyn, NY
Trustee since: 2022
Committees: Investments
Education: BA in English Literature from Dartmouth College | Executive MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: Head of Counterparty Risk for Millennium Management

Timothy Winstead
Durham, NC
Trustee since: 2015
Committees: Facilities, Co-Chair
Education: BArch and BEDA (Environmental Design in Architecture) North Carolina State University
Occupation: Regional Director
 



Honorary Trustees

Jameson "Jamie" Adkins Baxter '61
Anne N. DePrez ’73
Thomas S. Halsey
Douglas E. Hart P'01
Wendy Pestel Lehmann '64
Erica Ling '75
Ian B. MacCallum Jr.
James E. Morley Jr. P'87
Kendra Stearns O'Donnell '60 P'88
Linda Glazer Toohey '66 P'00 P'03
Michal Colby Wadsworth '65
Victoria "Vicky" Thompson Winterer '61
285 Pawling Avenue, Troy, NY 12180 | P: 518.833.1300 F: 518.833.1815
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Welcome to Emma Willard School, a private day and boarding high school for girls in Troy, NY, and a leader in girls' education for over 200 years. 

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