Board of Trustees
2021-2022
The Waverly School Board of Trustees serves as the guardian of our Mission Statement and is accountable for the financial stability and future of the school.
Primary work and focus:
- In collaboration with the Head of School, the Board engages in long term financial planning and works towards annual goals that stem from the mission statement.
- The Board facilitates financial planning, assumes primary responsibility for the preservation of capital assets and endowments, oversees operating budgets and participates actively in fund raising efforts.
- The Board is responsible to select, support, nurture, evaluate, and set appropriate compensation for the Head of School.
Waverly’s Board of Trustees adheres to a set of by-laws and practices consistent with NAIS Best Practices for Boards and NAIS Best Practices for Trustees.
To contact the Board of Trustees, email boardoftrustees@thewaverlyschool.org.
Waverly’s Board of Trustees strives to maintain a composition that reflects the strategic expertise, resources, and perspectives (past, present, and future) needed to achieve the mission and strategic goals of the school. The Board works deliberately to ensure that it is representative of the diversity that is present in the rapidly changing and increasingly diverse school-age population in our country.
Board of Trustees 2021 – 2022

Anthony Alvarado
Anthony joined the Board in 2021. He and his wife, Desiree Carvajal, and their daughters, Francesca ‘26 and Zoe (currently attending a Meher Montessori School) joined the Waverly community in 2020. Anthony serves as Board Secretary and as a member of the Development, DEI, and Finance committees. He is a licensed clinical social worker with experience in community mental health, serving people with severe and persistent mental illnesses. In the past 27 years, Anthony has held direct service and managerial roles and is currently a Program Manager with Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Contract Management and Monitoring Division.

Jessica Clements
Jessica joined the Board in 2019 and serves as the Board Vice Chair and as a member of the Executive, Compensation, Audit, Development, Finance, and Strategic Planning and Advancement committees. Jessica has been in the music and entertainment industries for over 20 years. She is an E‑Commerce executive who specializes in building out, launching, and scaling E‑Commerce businesses. Jessica, her husband Steve, and their two children, Devin ’26 and Everett ’29, have been part of the Waverly community since Devin started kindergarten. Jessica is honored to serve on the Board and work with the Waverly community.

Lorne Green
Lorne began his Board membership in 2021 and serves as a member of the Development, DEI, Facilities, and Strategic Planning and Advancement committees. Lorne has a background in education, ethnic and Africana studies, as well as being an actor for over 20 years. His work centers on race and the role of Black excellence in education. He has experience in Los Angeles schools and is currently developing an African American heritage school for children. Lorne and his wife Rachel have two children at Waverly, Bennett ’33 and Ceciliana ’35.

Ellen Greenstone
Ellen has been on the Waverly Board for almost 20 years and was the first Board Chair. She currently serves as Chair of the Audit committee and also as a member of the Executive and Compensation committees. Ellen is a private investigator. She is also an attorney who has practiced labor and employment law, representing public and private sector unions. She serves on the boards of the ACLU Southern California and ACLU Southern California Foundation and is a past Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section. Ellen’s daughter, Dory, graduated from Waverly in 2012 and was a “lifer,” starting at Waverly when she was 18 months old, when Waverly had infant care. The original chickens on the Waverly Farm were Dory’s senior project.

John Huber, Interim Head of School (ex officio)
John is Waverly’s interim head of school and is an ex officio member of the Board. John has 15 years’ experience as a Head of School at progressive institutions and over 25 years of experience as an educator in independent schools.

Biz Lawrence, WPO President (ex officio)
Elizabeth “Biz” Lawrence became a trustee in 2021, when she also became WPO President. She serves as a member of the Development, DEI, and Facilities committees. Biz and her family joined the Waverly community when her oldest, Raiden ’27 (formally known as Katy Belle) transferred in the 4th grade. Raiden is joined by their younger sibling, Ellis ’32. Biz and her husband, Stefan, jumped feet first into the Waverly Halloween Haunted House and continue to enjoy a good scare. Stefan works in Pasadena with The Hettema Group as Creative Director. Biz is the creator and host of the comedy podcast about parenting, One Bad Mother.

Debbie Lennon
Debbie has been a Board member for about 18 years. She serves on the Trustee Affairs, Development, DEI, and Strategic Planning and Advancement committees. Debbie worked for 35 years for LAUSD in a variety of positions – her most rewarding being her time in an elementary school classroom. Currently, she is a Dual Language Learner Specialist and part-time faculty at the Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University. Debbie, Lester, and Megan ‘11 came to Waverly when Megan was in Young Kindergarten (now called preschool) and continue to appreciate the gift of progressive education and the enduring friendships formed with the Waverly community.

Wendy Lopata
Wendy has been on the Board since 2012 and serves as Chair of Facilities and Co-Chair of Trustee Affairs. She is also a member of the Executive, Compensation, and Finance committees. Wendy is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice, specializing in depression, anxiety, sexual trauma, and eating disorders. She has worked at USC and Caltech and continues to work with college and graduate students in her private practice. Wendy, her husband Bradley, and their two boys, Nolan ’22 and Murray ’25, have been part of the Waverly community since Nolan was in preschool.

Noah Mayer
Noah joined the Board in 2016 and served as Chairman from 2019 to 2021. Noah’s three children are all students at Waverly. His oldest child, Lucy ‘28, has been at the school since she started in the preschool in 2012. Noah earned an MBA and MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Portfolio Manager at Hotchkis & Wiley, an investment management firm, and is Co-Chair of the Board’s Finance committee and Chair of Strategic Planning and Advancement. Noah also serves as a member of the Executive, Compensation, and Audit committees.

Keseh Morgan
Keseh joined the Board in 2020 and currently serves on the Audit, DEI, and Facilities committees. While she has been an active WPO parent for many years, she is excited to dig in and make some meaningful change through Board service. She is a Production Designer, working in film and television. Keseh and her daughter Asha ‘24 have been a part of the Waverly community for ten years.

Vijay Natraj
Vijay joined the Board in 2020. He is Co-Chair of Development and serves as a member of the Executive, Finance, and Trustee Affairs committees. Vijay is a Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on the remote sensing of Earth and planetary atmospheres. His research interests extend from studying climate change and air pollution to looking for biosignatures on planets outside our solar system (exoplanets). Vijay, his wife Sowmya, and their children, Avantika ’31 and Siddarth (Sidd) ’33, have enjoyed being a part of the Waverly community since 2018.

Shelby Ottengheime
Shelby ’18 began her Board membership in 2022 and serves as a member of the Development and DEI Committees. She is a Waverly lifer and soon-to-be Pitzer College alumna.

Stephen Rountree
Steve joined the Board in 2021. He is Co-Chair of Development and serves as a member of the Audit, DEI, and Finance committees. In more than two decades of leading nonprofit arts organizations, he has been CEO of the Center Theatre Group, from which he retired in 2018; the Music Center of Los Angeles County; and the Los Angeles Opera, as well as the chief operating officer of the Getty Trust. Steve currently also serves as chair of the Occidental College Board of Trustees, as a trustee of The Ahmanson Foundation, and is a trustee of Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. He and his wife, Carol, reside in Sierra Madre and are active in the lives of their two daughters and five grandchildren, all Pasadena-area residents. Grandson Charlie Arredondo ’23 has been a proud Waverly Raven since the 4th grade.

Nadine Tanio
Nadine’s Board service began in 2018. She co-chairs the Board’s DEI committee and also serves on the Executive, Compensation, and Trustee Affairs committees. Nadine recently completed her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA focusing on informal learning at the intersection of disability studies and critical media literacy. Nadine and her family have been part of the Waverly community for over 11 years.

Joanne Toll
Joanne has served on the Board of Trustees since 2010. She has served as the Board Treasurer and co-chair of the Finance Committee since 2015, and served as Board Secretary for three years prior to serving as Treasurer. She is also a member of the Executive, Compensation, and Strategic Planning and Advancement committees. Joanne is a television producer, mostly in comedies, including Better Things for Fx, Grace and Frankie for Netflix, Atypical for Netflix, Enlightened for HBO, and the occasional drama, such as In Treatment for HBO. Joanne and her wife, Gloria, have a son, Jamie ‘22. Jamie is a ‘Waverly lifer’ who started in Young Kindergarten (now called preschool) with Marina and Cheenu. She considers herself a ‘Waverly lifer’ too, and is honored to serve on the Board of Trustees.

Serita Young, Chair
Serita has been on the Board since 2017 and serves as the Board Chair, a Co-Chair of the DEI Committee, and as a member of the Executive, Compensation, Trustee Affairs, and Facilities committees. Serita is an attorney and represents public agencies in a wide range of governmental issues. Serita, her husband Brian, and their two sons, Riley ’28 and Aaron ’29, have been a part of the Waverly community for over five years.