The Board of Trustees is the governing body of the Stevens Cooperative School, as in all independent schools. Where Stevens differs is that parents in the school elect trustees every April, rather than trustees electing themselves, as is the case on the typical independent school board.
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The trustees serve staggered two year terms, and in a typical year, the board functions with roughly 15 trustees. Any parent can run for the board of trustees, as long as they are a member in good standing of the cooperative. Parents can also nominate other parents for the role. Trustees frequently serve more than one term, and are encouraged to do so. It is hoped that after trustees have served some time on the board that they will take on an officer position. The officers of the board form its executive committee and include: the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Vice Chairs of Development, Jobs, Membership and Strategic Planning.
The Board also can have up to four non parents; they are called community trustees. This group may include educators, community leaders, alumni parents, and local businesspeople.
Below is a list of trustees serving in the 2011-2012 school year:
Board of Trustees Biographies 2011-2012
Jan Abernathy, Chair Jan Abernathy has served as a trustee of Stevens Cooperative School since 2003. She was elected Vice Chair, Jobs in 2004 and Vice Chair, Membership in 2006. She is the senior editor of two real estate trade publications, and the education columnist for The Parent Paper. Her previous board experience includes being a board chair of the Open Housing Center of New York, and founding chairman of Dreams Into Action, a non-profit mentoring organization for teen girls in New York City. She also served on the advisory board of The Door, a youth services agency, and is currently a member of Northwestern University’s Alumni Admissions Council. Her daughter Noe is in 8thgrade and her son Sam is in 4th grade.
Dave Carty, Treasurer Dave Carty was first elected a trustee in 2002, and became Treasurer in 2003. He has worked for several small and large companies in various management positions. Most recently he was an International Business Development Manager for Bestfoods Corporation, now a part of Unilever, with sales, marketing, budgeting, forecasting, and product development responsibilities. Dave has an MBA in finance and marketing from NYU. He is currently a stay-at-home dad and an active volunteer in the community. Dave is a den leader with the Cub Scouts, a religious education instructor with Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Hoboken, an assistant coach with the Hoboken Little League, and an assistant basketball coach with the Stevens Cooperative JV team. Dave's children Max and Caroline graduated in 2011 and his daughter Clare is in the 5th grade.
Kathleen Gallagher, Secretary Kathleen was elected Secretary of the Board of Trustees in 2008. Prior to being elected to her current role on the Board, she served as a general trustee for the 2007-08 school year. Kathleen is currently an elementary school teacher in the Jersey City Public Schools and she has a number of years of experience as a social worker in the area of disabilities. Her daughter, Cara, is currently in the 8th grade and her son, Andrew, attends 3rd grade.
Cordelia Chansler, Community Trustee Cordelia Chansler was elected a community trustee in November 2009. She is a graduate of the first 6th grade class of the Stevens Cooperative School, as well as a graduate of the Spence School and Wellesley College. Cordelia brings governance experience to the board of trustees, having served as a student representative on the Investment Committee of the Wellesley College Board of Trustees. Cordelia lives in Washington, D.C. where she works as a Program Associate at the non-profit Partnership for Public Service.
David Lowry, Community Trustee David Lowry was elected a community trustee in September 2008. He is the Head of School at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey. David received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology as well as a Master of Science from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Haverford College. David has worked in the field of education for more than 40 years and his experience includes extensive work in accreditation. Dr. Lowry is currently the President of the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS). Additional professional affiliations include membership in the Country Day Headmasters Association of the United States, as well as the Accreditation Commission of the National Association of Independent Schools.
Cynthia Tavlin, Community Trustee Cynthia Tavlin was elected a community trustee in July 2009. She is the parent of two Stevens alumni and was a member of Stevens Cooperative from 1999-2009. Cynthia served on the StevensBoard of Trustees from 2003 to 2008, four of those years as secretary. Cynthia is currently an associate creative director at Erbach Communications Group, where she works with many non-profit organizations and educational institutions on branding, marketing efforts and aligning communication plans with strategic goals. She resides in Hoboken, N.J.
Emily Arnone, Emily Arnone is currently a VP in Financial Operations at MTV Networks. Her degree is in accounting and she has worked at both public accounting firms as well as at major media companies in a process improvement/ internal audit capacity with an emphasis on the television production process. She has three children at Stevens. Her sons, Hudson and William, are in the 5th grade and 1st grade, and her daughter, Presley, is in PreK.
Bobby Chowdhry, Bobby Chowdry is a certified public accountant. She has over eight years of experience with a boutique accounting firm in New York City. For the past year, she devoted her time volunteering for Computers For Youth, a non-for-profit organization, which tries to improve home learning environment for low income families. Currently, she is a stay-at-home mom and offers Hindi (Indian language) classes to young kids two days in a week, the proceeds of which are donated to non-for-profit organizations. Originally from India, she moved to the United States with her husband, Sheru, ten years ago. Her daughter Ria is in 2nd grade and her son Yash goes to a play school. She has been associated with Stevens for almost two years and has worked with the Harvest Festival Committee.
Liz Groo Liz Groo is currently a Director in the Banking Book Portfolio Management group at Citi, where she heads the Risk Mitigation Strategy team. Prior to joining Citi in 2010, her most recent previous professional experience included running a Credit Trading Desk at WestLB New York and as an equity research analyst covering the Media sector at UBS and Salomon Smith Barney. She is a CFA Charterholder and earned an MBA degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1999 and a B.A. degree in French from the University of Rhode Island in 1994. Liz and her husband Matt have lived in Hoboken since 2000 and have been members of the Stevens Community for three years. She has two children – a four year-old daughter, Megan, and a son, Patrick, who is currently in the 2nd grade.
Donna Garban, Donna Garban was elected in 2008. She also has served on the School’s Investment Committee since 2007. She was elected Trustee of The Jubilee Center in Hoboken in 2007. A Vice President at Goldman Sachs until 2007, she has also volunteered as a Girl Scout Leader. She has three children attending Stevens. Her daughters, Penelope and Petra, are in 7th and 5th grades, respectively, and her son, Perrin, is in 3rdgrade.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones, Trustee Djenaba Johnson-Jones is an award-winning, brand building, promotions and marketing expert with almost 12 years of experience joining interactive entities with their print counterparts to maximize marketing relationships and enhance corporate reputations. She has been the Integrated Marketing Director for W Magazine since November 2009. Prior to working at W, she had her own consulting company, which specialized in developing website business plans and multi-platform marketing programs for magazine publishers. Past clients include W Magazine, Town & Country Magazine, Metrocorp Marketing and the Condé Nast Bridal Group. Djenaba was elected as a Trustee in 2010. Djenaba earned a masters of business administration from Clark Atlanta University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas. Her previous board experience includes serving as the Financial Secretary for the Essex Hudson Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. In addition, she chaired the Stevens Harvest Festival in 2008 and 2009. Her son Mason is in the 4th grade and her daughter Nora is in kindergarten.
Rebecca Kramnick, Rebecca Kramnik is a lawyer and senior manager at the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDCo), a nonprofit in the South Bronx. WHEDCo develops affordable, green housing and provides social services to community residents. Rebecca joined WHEDCo in 2005 after serving for four years as a senior staff attorney at Lawyers Alliance for New York, a nonprofit law firm which advises New York City’s community-based organizations. At Lawyers Alliance, Rebecca specialized in advising nonprofits on employment law matters and liability issues affecting youth-serving nonprofits. Rebecca has lectured frequently to groups on legal issues affecting nonprofits. She is a co-author of The Volunteer Workforce: Legal Issues and Best Practices for Nonprofits. She currently serves on the Board of the Grand Concourse Academy Charter School, a top-performing public charter school in the South Bronx recently reaccredited by New York State and is a founding board member of Ibis Reproductive Health, an international nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA. Her daughter Madeline is a graduate of Stevens and her daughter Anna is in 6th grade. She has been a member of the Cooperative for eleven years, and was elected as a trustee in 2009.
Kim Lew, Kim Lew was elected a trustee in 2007. She is the Director of Investments at The Carnegie Corporation of New York, the first private foundation in the United States. She Chairs the Audit and Interim Head Search Committee and has served on the Bylaws, Space and Head Review committees here at Stevens. Her previous board experience includes the Port Liberte Condominium Association, Aljira, an art gallery in Newark, New Jersey and Treasurer of the Essex Hudson Chapter of Jack & Jill of America. She also currently serves on the Investment Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union. Her daughter, Kalli is in 6th grade, and her daughter, Kaamila is in PreK.
Elysa Lyons, Elysa Lyons is currently on hiatus from her career as a financial broker. She recently spent two years as co-chair of the Stevens Cooperative School Auction. Elysa has a daughter, Sami, who graduated Stevens in 2011, and a son Jason, in 5th grade. Elysa has been a member of the Cooperative for 10 years.
Laura Miani, Laura Miani is a Senior Vice President of Equity Sales/Trading at Miller Tabak. She has been an active member of Stevens Cooperative serving as co Chair and Chair of the Golf Committee in 2008 and 2007. Prior to that, she served in various roles on the Auction Committee. Laura was elected as a trustee in 2009. Laura and her husband Rich have a son Matthew in the 7th grade and a daughter Caroline in 2nd grade.
Ron Russell, Ron Russell is currently on the school’s Space Committee member and will be chair starting in September 2011. He is a principal at LWDMR & Associates, PC, a Jersey City Architectural and Engineering firm with extensive experience in school design & historic preservation. Ron was a member of the Jersey City Historic Preservation Commission for 10 years, two of which he was chairman. His son, Ian, has attended Stevens for two years and is currently in the 7th grade.
Manika Sood, Trustee Manika Sood is the Founder & CEO of Saturn Wireless. Founded in 2002, Saturn Wireless is leader in offering wireless solutions to companies nationwide. Originally from India, Manika has now lived in the US for about 10 years. Manika and her husband Prashant have 2 daughters, Kiara (7 years) and Amara (4 years). Kiara is in 3rd grade and Amara is in Kindergarten. Manika has an MBA from Columbia University. She was elected as a Trustee in 2010.
Anthony Uva, After years of allowing his wife Jean to fulfill all co-op job obligations for the family, Anthony Uva joined the school’s Space Committee in 2009. When not reviewing leases for the Space Committee he negotiates leases for Foot Locker, Inc. His son John is in the 7th grade and his son Nicholas, Class of 2010, is now attending Trinity High School in New York.