Deep Dives

Heather Hoerle

Executive Director and CEO, The Enrollment Management Association (EMA)

Heather Hoerle is the executive director and chief executive officer of The Enrollment Management Association, a nonprofit membership association serving independent school enrollment and admission leaders through the best science, research and training. A thought leader in enrollment management, Hoerle personally led the charge for the professionalization of the admission and enrollment professional, demanding that industry colleagues mobilize to reposition the work of enrollment management as both strategic and foundational to institutional success. Prior to her work at EMA, Hoerle spent a combined 23 years with The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) and The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

Jeff Shields, FASAE, CAE

President and Chief Executive Officer, National Business Officers Association (NBOA)

Jeff Shields, FASAE, CAE, has served as president and CEO of the National Business Officers Association (NBOA) for more than 10 years. NBOA is the premier national association serving the needs of business officers and business operations staff at independent schools. The association has grown from 23 founding member schools in 1998 to over 1,300 U.S. member schools, plus member schools in Mexico, Canada and 20 other countries around the globe. Shields serves on the board of directors of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and as a trustee for the Enrollment Management Association (EMA). Previously, he served as a trustee for One Schoolhouse, an innovative online school offering supplemental education to independent schools, and Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC.

Jennifer Osland Hillen, CPA, CGMA

Chief Learning Officer, NBOA

Jennifer Osland Hillen is NBOA's chief learning officer. She serves as a strategic partner to the president and CEO and leads the delivery of the association’s broad and diverse portfolio of programs, industry guidance and resources to members and constituents. She serves on the NBOA Board of Directors’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion task force and leads NBOA’s volunteer Business Officers Council. Hillen also serves on the teaching faculty for the Master of Education in Independent School Leadership program at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. She previously worked at Harpeth Hall School and for Ernst & Young, LLP. Hillen serves on the boards of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Renewal House and the Junior League of Nashville.

James R. Palmieri, Ed.D.

Executive Vice President, National Business Officers Association (NBOA)

James Palmieri is the executive vice president at NBOA. In this role, Palmieri serves as a partner to the president and CEO in carrying out strategic initiatives as directed by the NBOA strategic plan, and he supports program and product expansion in partnership with members of the senior staff. He supervises the Communications and Research team, which produces Net Assets Magazine and manages the Business Intelligence for Independent Schools (BIIS) data platform. Prior to NBOA, Palmieri served as assistant head of school at Trinity Hall, where he began his work as a founding consultant and the school's first employee, and had primary responsibility for school finance, facilities and business operations. Previously, Palmieri served as director of strategic initiatives and faculty at Kent Place School. Additionally, Palmieri is currently president of the One Schoolhouse board of trustees.

Patrick Schuermann, Ed.D.

Patrick J. Schuermann is an assistant professor of the practice of educational leadership and public policy at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Schuermann has authored numerous articles, commissioned reports and books on leadership, including “Successful School Leadership: Planning, Politics, Performance and Power,” and most recently, “Data Fluency,” a practical text on effective data communication. Schuermann served as the founding co-editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Education Online and in 2014 won an Emmy Award for Best Educational Piece for his documentary “A Matter of Principles.” He created and directs the Master of Education in Independent School Leadership program at Peabody College and directs Vanderbilt’s leadership development program in Abu Dhabi. He contributes to a Gates Foundation project studying how teacher effectiveness data impacts critical human capital decisions and has developed several related policy manuals and tools. He previously worked in public policy and as an educator at elementary, middle and high school levels.

Taylor Hastrich

Assistant Vice President, First American Education Finance

Taylor Hastrich serves as a consultant for First American Education Finance, a lender helping independent schools achieve their vision and deliver the best education possible to their students. He advises business officers nationwide on emerging industry trends and how to successfully execute on long-term financial planning goals. Hastrich works with schools to implement customized programs that not only meet budgetary needs but create opportunities for innovation and future success.

Howard Teibel

President, Teibel Education Consulting

As the founder of Teibel Education Consulting, Howard Teibel works with administrators and academics to cultivate exceptional teamwork in support of their shared mission. As a public speaker and writer for numerous education associations, Teibel contributes to the national discourse on emerging trends in the industry. Additionally, his podcast “Navigating Change” has brought leaders together for the past ten years to discuss innovations and new practices that can transform how teams in academia and business work together. Teibel is passionate about guiding school business leaders to create constructive discourse on regional and global issues facing our country.

Brandie Melendez, SPHR, M.S. Ed.

Director of Equity and Inclusion, The Berkeley Carroll School

Melendez is a nationally recognized equity practitioner exploring the intersections of identity, systems and more equitable and inclusive learning and working environments. She currently serves as the director of equity and inclusion at The Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, New York. Her work builds and sustains efforts to strive toward living their mission of the school to prepare students for “a life of critical, ethical, and global thinking.” She has led anti-racist and anti-bias curriculum development, hiring and retention efforts, adult and student programming, policy creation, board engagement, as well as teaching equity and justice-centered courses. Melendez is an Oliver Scholar Alumna, a graduate of the Horace Mann School, and holds an M.S. Ed. in school leadership from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

Michael J. Bergin, MBA

Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Miss Porter's School

Michael Bergin has served as the chief financial and operating officer at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, since 2008. A recognized thought leader in independent school finance and operations, Bergin is a frequent presenter at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) and NBOA. Prior to joining Miss Porter’s School, he held senior leadership positions at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Georgetown University. He currently serves on the boards of Grace Academy Hartford and TABS. Bergin earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational behavior from La Salle and his master’s degree in business administration from American University.

Katherine G. Windsor, Ed.D.

Head of School, Miss Porter’s School

Katherine G. Windsor, Ed.D. is the head of school at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. Prior to her tenure at Miss Porter’s School, she served as the head of The Sage School. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Klingenstein Visiting Fellow at Columbia University. She holds a master’s degree from the College of Notre Dame and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester. Windsor serves on the boards of Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges: Commission on Independent Schools, the Student Participatory Action Research Collaborative and The Parents League of New York. She also serves on the University of Pennsylvania Executive Committee for the Independent School Residency Program.

Derrick Gay, Ed.D.

Educational Consultant, Derrick Gay, LLC

Derrick Gay, Ed.D., is an internationally recognized consultant to schools, businesses and nonprofit and arts organizations on issues of strategic inclusion and equity. Over the past 24 years, he has partnered with more than 500 organizations to deepen their diversity and inclusion capacity; attract, hire, and retain the best talent; and maximize business and education goals. In addition to his direct work in the preschool-grade 12 world, Gay has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post and NPR and has produced two TEDx talks. He taught in several independent schools before launching his consultancy. In his keynote, Gay will reframe conventional definitions of diversity to include individuals from all backgrounds while also increasing awareness and deepening empathy to foster inclusive independent school learning communities.