About
School Leadership

The Board of Trustees

Polytechnic School is governed by a Board of Trustees who upholds and promotes the mission and vision of the school. The Board also stewards Poly’s long-term financial sustainability, hires and supports the Head of School, and develops key strategic initiatives and goals.

The Board is comprised of Polytechnic School parents, grandparents, alumni, and community members. Our trustees come from many walks of life and professional backgrounds—corporations, charitable organizations, education, law, medicine, finance, art, and media—and volunteer their expertise, energy, and time to the school.

Board of Trustees, 2024-2025

Alexander Hudnut, Chair

  • Mohsin Ansari
  • Koko Archibong ’99
  • Kwame Brathwaite
  • Ezra Callahan '99
  • Rosalina Cardenas
  • Kristin Ceva
  • Henry Choi
  • Annie Deng
  • Jim Franke '86
  • Mark Holdsworth '83
  • Ming Hsieh
  • Jeffrey Keltner
  • Roberto Longoria
  • Lori MacPherson '85
  • Denise Nelson Nash
  • Carol Pomerantz
  • Maricruz Prado
  • Peter Rice
  • Jethro Rothe-Kushel ’99
  • Sonia Singla
  • Amber Tyson '94
  • Courtenay Valenti


Board Officers

Chair: Alexander Hudnut 
Vice Chair: Ezra Callahan '99 
Vice Chair: Sonia Singla 
Treasurer: Mohsin Ansari 
Secretary: Rosalina Cardenas 
Executive Committee: Denise Nelson Nash 
Executive Committee: Henry Choi 

A Message from the Board of Trustees on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

These past seven months have seen tremendous challenges for the Poly community. The COVID-19 pandemic has required all of us to adjust rapidly to a shuttered campus while maintaining standards of academic excellence and community that epitomize Poly. We have also witnessed the agonizing evidence of systemic racism and the continued unjust treatment of Black people that have galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement. Furthermore, a candid exchange of experiences on social media's “Dear Poly,” has required us to examine whether Poly is actually fulfilling its mission of providing an equitable and outstanding learning environment for all of its students and alumni. This confluence of events has deepened our resolve to examine the existence of embedded inequity within the Poly community and to reconfirm our commitment to take concrete actions that eliminate systemic bias of all forms.

As trustees, we express our regret at the pain and hurt that incidents, such as those described in “Dear Poly,” have caused community members. We are entrusted with overseeing the mission and health of Poly and, importantly, with creating a vision for Poly’s future. With this responsibility, we affirm Poly’s commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment for all of our students, their families, our teachers and staff, and to the broader community. Furthermore, we resolve to support and enhance a learning and working environment at Poly that is anti-racist and opposes all forms of bias, discrimination, and hate that exists in our society. 

To undertake our efforts, John Bracker and his team have outlined a series of actions that can be found in a prior message from John and are now encapsulated on Poly’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) page. The webpage outlines Poly’s plan with regard to ongoing community and reconciliation activities; curricular review; education and skill-building; and recruitment and hiring, which includes hiring an inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion by July, 2021.

The Board has also established its own Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, chaired by Kwame S. Brathwaite and Maggie Sabbag ‘87. Reporting to the Board as a whole, this committee will work with the Head of School to develop a long-term strategy to address these important issues. The key components of the committee’s work include establishing and monitoring DEI metrics for the school, interfacing with other Board committees regarding DEI goals, providing leadership within the community, and ensuring anti-racist/anti-bias training and education for the Board.

These times present each of us individually and collectively with unprecedented challenges, but also with new opportunities. As a board, we reaffirm our commitment to a better future for Poly and the members of our community. Fundamentally, Poly is a place of learning and development, and our DEI work will provide each of us the opportunity to grow as individuals and leaders. We trust that the Poly community will welcome this opportunity with our typical keen ardor, goodwill, kindness, and patience. This is important work, and we are in it together. We look forward to updating you as we progress, but for now please know our commitment to improve is deep and strong.

Board of Trustees Committees

The Board of Trustees meets regularly throughout the school year and convenes a number of committees. The following committees engage deeply in topics of importance to the school and make recommendations to the Board as a whole. 

List of 5 items.

  • Advancement

    Chair: Sonia Singla

    • Oversees and coordinates all fund-raising activities of the school, including establishing policies relating to gifts received by the school. Separate committees may be established for specific fund-raising activities, e.g., capital campaigns;
    • Recommends to the Finance Committee the financial goal of the annual fund-raising campaign, to be included in the annual operating budget, and monitors the progress of that campaign;
    • Oversees school communications and activities related to friend-raising and fund-raising;
    • Coordinates and facilitates the inclusion of all trustees and other volunteers in fund- and friend-raising activities.

  • Audit and Risk

    Chair: Michelle Kerick

    • Recommends the independent auditor for board approval;
    • Oversees the annual audit;
    • Reviews the recommendations for improving internal controls as noted in the auditor’s management letter;
    • Monitors the implementation of the recommendations of the management letter;
      Reviews and approves the IRS and state tax returns prior to issuance;
    • Considers potential risks that may significantly impact the school and avenues for the school to mitigate those risks.
     

  • Committee on Trustees (COT)

    Chair: Priya Desai

    • Develops criteria for board members as necessary to implement the Strategic Plan and school mission;
    • Identifies, cultivates, and recruits new board prospects, and recommends new nominees to the board;
    • Re-nominates current trustees;
    • Recommends a slate of officers for election by the board, following the procedure adopted by the board for nomination of officers;
    • Conducts board self-evaluation;
    • Coordinates orientation of new trustees and continuing education of all trustees.
    • Reviews and updates bylaws as appropriate.

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Co-chairs: Kwame Braitwaite and Maggie Sabbag '87

    • Develop Poly’s long term DEI strategy in partnership with the Head of the School for Board approval;
    • Supports monitoring and identification of key DEI metrics; 
    • Provide high-level leadership within the Poly community, including alumni, in a manner that is supportive and cognizant of the Head’s role; 
    • Interface with other board committees (e.g., COT, advancement, head compensation and evaluation) on issues related to DEI; 
    • Implement an anti-racist curriculum and training for board members.

  • Facilities

    Chair: Stanley Liu

    • Oversees the development and implementation of the Master Plan for the school’s buildings and grounds;
    • Oversees major building projects, including monitoring the process used for soliciting bids and choosing architects and contractors, but does not act as the project manager;
    • Oversees management’s overall plan for preventive maintenance and capital replacements and determines, in connection with the Finance Committee, the adequacy of budgeted resources;
    • Oversees management’s plan for facility-related safety measures.

List of 4 items.

  • Finance

    Chair: James Terrile

    • Oversees development of the annual operating budget, particularly tuition rates, enrollment, annual fund, endowment draw, salaries/benefits, and financial aid.  Recommends the tuition rate increase and operating budget to the board for approval;
    • Monitors implementation of the annual operating budget throughout the year;
    • Oversees long-range financial planning and identification of long-range issues.  Brings relevant items to the board for consideration and approval;
    • In coordination with the Investment Committee, evaluate historical returns on the endowment to determine reasonableness of the annual endowment draw; 
    • Educates the board on nonprofit financial reporting and trends affecting the school’s finances.

  • Head Compensation

    Chair: Alec Hudnut

    • Conducts the evaluation of the Head and recommends to the board for approval the Head’s compensation and benefit package; 
    • Reviews the Head’s recommendation for CFO compensation and recommends to the board for approval.  

  • Investment

    Chair: Kristin Ceva

    • Develops and recommends to the board for its approval the long-term investment policies for the endowment;
    • Advises on the investment of other funds (such as capital fundraising); 
    • Decides how the endowment will be invested and engages and manages any professional advisors;
    • Monitors the investment portfolio’s return, including setting investment objectives, and makes periodic reports to the board about the endowment’s performance; 
    • Advises the Finance Committee on the appropriateness of the annual endowment draw used in the annual operating budget.

  • Legal and HR Advisory

    • Ad hoc committee convened to review legal and human resource issues relating to the school

Important Links

1030 E. California Blvd
Pasadena, Ca 91106
626-396-6300
communications@polytechnic.org

Resources

Policies

©2024 Polytechnic School. All Rights Reserved