Lick-Wilmerding High School
Leadership
Administration
Using their capable "heads and hands," the administrative team is committed to ensuring that all operations of the school run smoothly and that the needs of the students and their families are met on a daily basis. But the real "heart" of what they do is implementing the LWHS mission in the day-to-day running of the school.
Administrative Leadership Team
Board of Trustees
The LWHS Board of Trustees (BOT) reflects the school's diverse community and draws its expertise from many areas.
The hard-working body includes members from the fields of education, law, finance, and the service professions. The board is comprised of current parents, parents of alumni, alumni of LWHS, and community members. Trustees serve on various working committees (see below) that focus on strategic initiatives for the long-term health of the school including finance, investment, strategic planning, and governance.
About
The volunteer BOT holds the school “in trust” for future generations, and as in most independent schools, is the highest-level decision-making authority. The BOT does not intervene in the daily affairs of the school, such as curriculum development, admissions, or personnel.
Instead, the BOT focuses on three areas critical to the success of any independent school:
- It selects, evaluates and supports the Head of School, to whom it delegates authority to manage the school;
- It develops broad institutional policies that guide the Head in running the school; and
- It is accountable for the financial well-being of the school.
In the conduct of its official business, the BOT acts only as a whole; individual Trustees, including the Board President, have no authority to act unless specifically authorized to do so by the BOT acting as a whole.
Trustees are asked to serve two three-year terms and serve on two committees. The Governance Committee continually identifies and evaluates Trustee candidates from the parent, alumni, and wider communities using a matrix of skills and experience currently required by the BOT, to ensure diversity of experience, perspective, and skills. Members of the Governance Committee meet with candidates and speak with those who know them to determine their strengths, experience serving on previous BOTs, alignment with the mission, and interest in sharing their time, talent, and treasure. The committee makes recommendations of highly qualified candidates to the BOT, which elects trustees each May for the following school year. The full board meets six times a year (on Tuesdays at 5pm) plus a full-day retreat, all posted on the public school calendar. Minutes for each meeting are available in the Head of School’s office. Trustees are also expected to attend Board Visiting Day, THE Event, and other major events at the school, to better serve as ambassadors for the school.
Advisory members of Board committees are non-trustees who are invited to serve on LWHS Board committees such as Development, Endowment, and Campus Stewardship to provide needed expertise and historical perspective to the activities of the BOT. Identification of advisory members with needed expertise or other qualifications usually come from conversations with Admissions, Development, Finance and/or Head of School, or emeritus trustees expressing a willingness to serve. Advisory members are voting members of committees and are asked to serve a three year term and sign a standard Conflict of Interest disclosure form.
Board of Trustees Commitees
- Audit Commitee
- Campus Stewardship Committee
- Development Committee
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee
- Investment Committee
- Executive Committee
- Finance Committee
- Governance Committee
Audit Commitee
The Audit Committee assists the Board of Trustees in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities.
- It makes recommendations to the Board concerning the hiring, retention, and termination of an independent auditor, negotiates compensation of the auditor and conducts a review of LWHS’ annual audit and form 990. It determines whether or not to accept the audit and provides an avenue of communication among the school’s independent auditors, Administration, and the Board.
Campus Stewardship Committee
The Campus Stewardship Committee advises on the sustainable maintenance of the site to support program.
- Campus Stewardship reviews campus physical plant, capital improvements and planning issues in support of the Chief Financial Officer; and advises on off-campus real property assets in coordination with the Endowment and Finance Committees.
Development Committee
The Development Committee is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of the School’s development efforts, and working with the Director of Development and Development staff to support the program. It is also the role of the committee to keep the Trustee’s ongoing development responsibility in mind.
- The Development Committee assists in the establishment of all development policies and operating plans, and works with the development office to create short and long-term goals. In addition, members of the Development Committee help connect with, cultivate, and solicit prospective donors.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee works to educate the Board of Trustees and to ensure that the Board and its committees adopt best practices around diversity, equity and inclusion. The Committee is charged with benchmarking the school’s DEI efforts and partnering with the Head of School to fully realize the DEI goals of the Strategic Plan.
- The Committee provides best practices guidelines for committee chairs.
- The Committee creates and maintains a DEI dashboard to provide data to the Head of School and Board of Trustees around the effectiveness of the school’s DEI related programs.
Investment Committee
The Board of Trustees has the final responsibility for the stewardship of the endowment and approval of the Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
- The Investment Committee supervises and monitors the Endowment in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the LWHS IPS. Activities include making recommendations to the full Board as regards to needed changes in the IPS, including the Distribution Policy, the Asset Allocation Policy and the selection of investment managers. In addition, the committee reviews the endowment balance, investment strategy, and performance.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee consists of the President, Vice President, and Secretary of the BOT and the Finance, Governance, and Development Committee Chairs.
- The Executive Committee coordinates the work of the Board, serves as a sounding board for the Head and the Board President, and makes recommendations to the full Board on important issues. Tasks include creating Board meeting agendas and annual Board goals.
Finance Committee
The Board of Trustees has primary responsibility for the long-term fiscal health of the school.
- The Finance Committee provides prudent oversight of the financial operations of the school, to review the fiscal impact of proposed new Board initiatives, and to make recommendations to the Board on financial decisions. The committee oversees the annual budget planning process and insurance coverage, and periodically reviews the teacher homebuyer assistance and flexible tuition program.
Governance Committee
The Governance Committee ensures that the Board of Trustees provides effective governance for the school. The Committee:
- Identifies, cultivates, recruits, recommends for election and orients new Trustees
- Designs programs for Trustee nurturing and bonding, including mentoring program
- Re-nominates current Trustees to additional terms
- Nominates Board officers
- Is responsible for succession for the Board President and Committee Chairs
- Identifies Board’s need for education and designs vehicles to meet those needs
- Organizes recognition of individual trustees
- Ensures currency and accuracy of bylaws and other Board policies
- Monitors and manages issues relating to Conflict of Interest Policy
- Considers policies and activities with respect to Emeritus Trustees
- Facilitates Board self-assessment and Head of School evaluation
- Monitors the overall health of the Board and Board relationships
Board Members 2024–25
Lina Garcia
Board President, Parent, PAL
Raj Mundra
Head of School
Lydia Alexander
Parent, PAL
Andrea Evans
Parent
Claire Fisher '09
Alumni
Jessica Flemming
Parent, PAL
Beth Goya
Parent, PAL
Larry Kane
Parent, PAL
Jason Kilar
Parent, PAL
Jeff King
PAL
Steve Kim
Parent, PAL
Shabnam Koirala Azad
PAL
Melissa Ma
Parent
Diksha Makan
Parent, PAL
Miranda Martin
Parent, PAL
Anupam Mishra
Parent
David Mitchell '91
Alumnus, Alumni Board President
Eric Niles
Educator
Yvonne Perez-Sallaberry
PAL
Venk Reddy
Parent, PAL
Sunny Ryan
Parent, PAL
Mark Selcow
Parent
Jenny Wilson '97
Alumna
Charlie Wyman
Parent, PAL
Rich Yang
Parent, PAL
Cameron Yuen-Shore '05
Alumnus
If community members have any questions or comments about the BOT, or are interested in nominating someone to the BOT, they are encouraged to contact:
Raj Mundra
Head of School
Lina Garcia
Board President
Additionally, as a school that prides itself in working in ways that are consistent with best practices, if at any time you believe there is known or alleged misconduct, please follow the procedures outlined in the school’s Whistleblower Policy.