Board of Directors

Barbara Hodges, EdD, serves as Executive Director of the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS), appointed on July 1, 2010. FCIS provides accreditation, professional development, and advocacy to 159 independent schools in Florida.  Barbara has a B.S. degree in math education from Appalachian State University, an M.A. degree in Educational Leadership from Covenant College, and a Doctorate in Educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Barbara served as Head of School of Holy Comforter Episcopal School, Tallahassee, for 17 years. Barbara has served on various nonprofit boards in her career. Currently, she is the President of the Florida Association of Non-Academic Schools (FAANS), a member of the State Council of American Private Education (State CAPE), and a member of the Independent School Association Network (ISAnet) Executive Board. Prior to being named the FCIS Executive Director, Barbara served as chair of the FCIS Standards and Accreditation Committee, the President of the FCIS Board of Directors, a board member of Board of Regents of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, a board member of the Florida Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-CASI), the Chair of the Board of Killearn Methodist Preschool, Tallahassee, and an officer of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE). In addition, in 2001, Barbara was appointed by the Governor of Florida to serve on the Commission to create Voluntary Pre-kindergarten (VPK), which provides preschool at no charge for every four-year old applying to the program in accepting private schools.

Betsy Johnson Hunroe, Executive Director of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS), has dedicated over 30 years to her career in education. She was a middle-school teacher (science, drama, technology, leadership) and administrator (middle school, development, and alumni) at St. Michael’s Episcopal School in Richmond for seventeen years, before joining VAIS in 2005 as its first Director of Accreditation. Following a national search, Hunroe was named Executive Director in 2014. Hunroe holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in educational administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also earned a certificate in Nonprofit Board Consulting from BoardSource. Previously, she spent several summers in administration at the Governor’s School for Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts at University of Richmond and served as an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School for Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, teaching a course in Organizational Behavior. Her engagement in independent education extends to the state and national levels. Leadership positions for the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE), include serving on the Accreditation Committee, chairing the Advocacy Committee, and serving as Secretary and Vice President.

Carole Everett became the Executive Director of the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS) in July 2010.  Carole oversees the accreditation program at NJAIS.  She has chaired and served on numerous accreditation committees for NYSAIS and Middle States Association of School and Colleges.  At NJAIS, Ms. Everett also oversees professional development for faculty, administrators, and Trustees across the State, and advocates for independence for nonpublic schools in Trenton.  Carole also serves the NJAIS Leadership Institute and regularly consults and presents to Boards of Trustees for schools and other non-profits. She earned her bachelor’s degree cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University, and holds an advanced degree from the Universita di Siena, Italy.  She also studied at Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music. Carole Everett’s career in independent schools includes teaching Latin, music, and public speaking, serving as the Director of College Counseling, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Diversity Coordinator, Director of Development, Assistant Head for External Affairs, and Head of School.  She also worked in college admissions at Barnard and was the Director of Admissions at The Juilliard School. As an international educator, Mrs. Everett co-founded and was the Co-Director for seventeen years of the Spoleto Arts Symposia, a series of summer workshops in Spoleto, Italy. She serves on the Board of Trustees for The Episcopal New Yorker and the Advisory Board for Noodle.com.  Prior Board experience includes serving the Greenwich Philharmonic Orchestra, and as Vice-President on the Spoleto Arts Symposia Board.  She was just recently appointed to the Board of the Smithsonian Science Education.

Mark Lauria has been the Executive Director for the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) since 2009.  NYSAIS is the second largest state association of independent school in the United States with 196-member schools and organizations serving 81,000 students.  Dr. Lauria earned his B.A. in literature and psychology from Claremont McKenna College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in educational administration from Claremont Graduate University. Prior to his work with NYSAIS, he served for 13 years as Head of School at a Southern California independent school.  In addition to his work as a Head of School, he was the President of the Board of Trustees for the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS).  Before beginning his independent school service, Dr. Lauria worked in the Ontario-Montclair School District where he was an assistant superintendent, director of certificated personnel, principal, assistant principal, and teacher.  He is actively involved on three non-profit boards currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Educational Records Bureau (ERB), The Parents League of New York, and the Cloud Forest School Foundation in Costa Rica.

Jefferson Burnett is senior vice president at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Jefferson Burnett leads the Global Initiatives Team, which develops products and services related to global education and international students at independent schools. He also designs, directs, and implements NAIS’s engagement strategy, oversees its partnership outreach, and manages the organisation’s foundation relationships. Jefferson provides thought leadership on governance as well as national and global trends and challenges relevant to the independent school community, including the Fourth Industrial Revolution, school business model transformation, and demographics. Since joining NAIS in 1992, Jefferson has overseen its government relations work as well as the organisation’s advocacy, environmental and financial sustainability initiatives, and the Commission on Accreditation. Jefferson is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Washington International School (Washington, DC), serving as its vice chair, co-chair of the Governance Committee, member of both the Strategic Initiatives Task Force and the Board’s Red Team, and liaison to the school’s Alumni Council. He is also a Board member of Independent Schools Association Network (ISAnet), and the International Council for Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA) as ex officio (voting); he is a past trustee of the Edmund Burke School (Washington, DC). Jefferson also serves on the Professional Development Collaborative of the Washington International School (Washington, DC) Advisory Council and the Advisory Board of the Klingenstein Center at Teacher’s College, Columbia University (New York). Jefferson has an A.B. in anthropology from Columbia University, Columbia College (New York) and an M.Phil. in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge, King’s College. Jefferson is a graduate of St. Michael’s Country Day School and St. George’s School (RI) as well as Sherborne School (England). 

Peter Baily has served as the Executive Director of AIMS MD&DC since the summer of 2015. He has had a varied career as teacher, coach, and administrator in independent schools of diverse configurations and missions, in Vermont, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. Prior to his work at AIMS, he served for 15 years as head of Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Peter is a graduate of  Germantown Friends School, Nasson College and has an M.A. in English from Bryn Mawr College.  

Throughout his years in independent schools, Peter has actively sought involvement in regional associations, school organizations, and peer schools.  He has served as President of the Headmistresses Association of the East, on the Commission on Accreditation of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS), and as a board member of the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS), the Pennsylvania Association of Private Academic Schools (PAPAS), the Friends Council on Education, and several independent schools.  During his career, he has chaired 15 accreditation visits for the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) and NYSAIS.

Scott Griggs has been the Executive Director of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) since 2018. ISAS serves over 90 schools and 56,000 students in the six-state region of Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.  Mr. Griggs earned his B.S. in physics from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and his M.A. in educational administration from The Ohio State University. Prior to his work with ISAS, Mr. Griggs served as a teacher, coach, and administrator at independent schools in Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, and Texas. His most recent position was as Head of School at Greenhill School in Dallas, Texas where he served for 18 years. During his time at Greenhill, Mr. Griggs served as chair of the ISAS Standards Committee, President of the ISAS Board of Directors and chair of five accreditation visits. He is active on two non-profit boards currently serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) and One Schoolhouse.

Patti MacDonald became the Executive Director of the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) in August 2017. CAIS pursues continuous whole school improvement in its 90+ member schools through accreditation, exemplary leadership development, research and data collection, and national collaborative initiatives. As ED, she develops and implements the Association’s strategic direction and ensures the value and relevance of the CAIS accreditation process and other programs. Before coming to CAIS, Patti MacDonald was a member of the leadership team at The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto for a decade, spending eight years as the Principal and two years as the Vice Principal of the Junior School. She was a teacher in the classroom for over 20 years before transitioning into a leadership role. Patti’s career has spanned involvement in public, independent and university-affiliated schools in Canada and the U.S. Patti completed her B.A. in Psychology from Glendon College/York University, her E.C.E. from Seneca College, her B.Ed. From Brock, her M.Ed. from OISE/UofT and is currently a PhD Candidate in Applied Psychology and Human Development at OISE/UofT. Patti has a passion for educational research and innovation and is committed to continual professional growth using alternative pedagogies. Patti facilitated the elementary education group at the Klingenstein Summer Institute, part of the Klingenstein Centre for Independent School Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University for 5 years. 

Jane Larsson, Executive Director of the Council of International Schools (CIS), has served the international education community for 20 years, with a focus on the development of collaborative partnerships to enable and support educational exchange and the development of international and intercultural perspective. Prior to her CIS appointment, Jane was Direc­tor of International Partnerships with the Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she led outreach to promote international educational exchange, establishing relationships with minis­tries of education, universities, internation­al schools, and educational associations.  She began her career in international education as the Director of Educational Staffing and Publications for International Schools Services (ISS) providing recruitment services and resources to international schools.

Jane has been an active member and contributor to global and regional international associations, speaking at conferences around the world on critical aspects of international education that enable school communities to improve their effectiveness. She currently serves as Chair of the International Task Force on Child Protection. 

Bonnie J. Ricci began as the Executive Director of ICAISA in the summer of 2019.  Throughout her career, she has held numerous positions within independent schools including teacher, advisor, coach, and head of school. Bonnie’s passion for accreditation as a tool for growth was sparked when she served on several accreditation visiting teams.  Following this passion, she spent a decade providing leadership within the areas of accreditation, professional development, and governance at the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE). Bonnie holds degrees from Williams College and Worcester State University. Analytical by nature, Bonnie is intensely service oriented, and derives deep satisfaction through supporting others in assessing challenges and solving problems.  Using these skills, Bonnie has dedicated her career to serving the educational community as a board member, conference presenter, facilitator, consultant, and enthusiastic advocate for accreditation and independent school education.