Board of Trustees

Blake's Board of Trustees is charged with ensuring Blake's long-term strength, growth and vitality. The board provides fiduciary, strategic and generative leadership and helps steward the mission and values of the school into the future. The board works closely with the Head of School. See Board of Trustees qualifications.

Blake's Board of Trustees for the 2023-24 School Year

Kelly Baker is executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Thrivent. Prior to that, she served as chief human resources officer at Pentair and led human resources at Patterson Companies and General Mills. She serves on the board of the Children’s Theater Company, where she leads its Diversity, Inclusion and Human Capital Committee. Kelly received a B.B.A. from Howard University and an M.B.A. from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Mosi Bennett, Vice Chair, is a partner and senior consulting cardiologist specializing in heart failure and transplantation at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. Before joining the group in 2013, he trained in cardiovascular medicine and advanced heart failure at the Cleveland Clinic. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, received a B.A. and B.A.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Neil Bizily is a senior portfolio manager at Thrivent Asset Management in the high yield and leveraged loan group. His past work experience includes positions in private equity with Madison Dearborn Partners in Chicago and in investment banking with Deutsche Bank in New York. He previously served on the board of advisors for Arete Academy, an independent school supporting students who learn differently. He holds a B.A. in economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Jill Bollettieri is senior vice president, general counsel and external relations at Post Consumer Brands where she focuses on marketing and advertising law, food labeling and regulatory, litigation, antitrust, commercial contracts, corporate ethics and charitable giving. Previously she has served as assistant general counsel at General Mills, as a litigation attorney at Leonard, Street and Deinard, P.A. (now Stinson LLP) and as a judicial clerk to Chief Justice A. M. Keith of the Minnesota Supreme Court. She currently serves on the board of directors of Second Harvest Heartland, and chairs the board of directors for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Jill attended Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Katie Goldstein '04, Parent Association Liaison, has worked with low income and special-needs children as a social worker. At Blake, she serves on both the Alumni Board and Parent Association Executive Committee. Katie received an M.A. in social work from the University of St. Thomas and a B.A. from Macalester College.

William (Bill) Miller is a partner and leads the Upper Midwest Assurance practice at Ernst & Young (EY), where he has worked since 1989. He has led EY's Upper Midwest Strategic Growth Markets practice and the firm's Entrepreneur of the Year program. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota Orchestra and previously served on the board of directors for the Washburn Center for Children. He served for eight years, including five as treasurer and one as president, on the board of directors for the Minikahda Club. Bill earned a B.A. in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from the University of St. Thomas.

Kevin Myren is CFO at the American Academy of Neurology. Prior to that, he was CFO and vice president of CommonBond, the largest nonprofit provider of affordable housing in the upper midwest. He has served as CFO at Augsburg College and CFO at Madison Area Technical College and for various firms as a certified public accountant. Kevin earned his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

David Oxford, Treasurer, is a partner at Game-Mill Publishing. He has held various leadership positions in the video gaming industry, most recently serving as executive vice president and as general manager of publishing for Activision Blizzard. He is an advisor to several technology companies and serves on the boards of for-profit and non-profit entities. He earned a B.A. in economics from the University of North Dakota.

Lisa Saul Paylor is a perinatologist with the Minnesota Perinatal Physicians (part of Allina Health) and president of the Mother Baby clinical service line of Allina. She serves on the advisory board for Square Roots and the board of directors for the Guthrie Theater. Lisa has a B.A. from University of California-Berkeley, an M.D. from the University of California-San Diego, and an M.B.A. in Healthcare from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Art Rodriguez is vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Carleton College. Prior to joining Carleton, he was dean of admissions and student financial services at Vassar College. He serves on the board of directors of the Common App. He received a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.A. from Harvard University.

Nedda Noori Salehi '02, Alumni Board Liaison, is associate general counsel at ServiceTitan. Prior to that, she was counsel at Lowenstein Sander and practiced with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati and Olson Zaltman Associates. She serves on Blake’s Alumni Board. Nedda received a B.S. from George Washington University and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.

Geetu Sharma is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of 95 Impact Partners, LLC, as well as the founder and investment manager of AlphasFuture, LLC. In these roles, she provides investment solutions and services to individuals, family offices and foundations. Previously she has worked at Pictet Asset Management in Switzerland, with Credit Suisse and Standard & Poor’s in the U.K. and with the ICICI Bank Group in India. Geetu earned a bachelor's degree in commerce from Delhi University, completed a graduate program in finance at the Management Development Institute in India, and earned an M.B.A. from the London Business School.

Molly Simmons is a partner with McFarland Partners, where she is focuses on business advisory and private capital investments for large families and founder-owned businesses. Her past career work includes private equity fund partner roles at Tonka Bay Equity and Gemini Investors, focused on growth capital and buyouts, as well as investment management at a large single family office, Pohlad Companies. She has served on the boards of over 20 public and private companies across diverse industries, along with the boards of industry associations such as Association for Corporate Growth and Small Business Investors Alliance. Molly also serves on the board of Microgrants. She earned a B.S. in education and social policy from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Christopher (Chris) Smith, Chair, is president and CEO of Kipsu, a technology company he co-founded in 2010. He has worked as a venture capitalist with Coral Ventures, an associate with IBM's venture capital group and a consulting manager with Accenture. He co-chaired and co-founded Minnesota Comeback, a nonprofit addressing the educational achievement gap in Minneapolis. He has served on the board of advisors of the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University and on boards for a number of for-profit venture-backed technology companies in Silicon Valley. He received a B.S. from Syracuse University and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where he was an IBM Venture Fellow.

Anne Stavney, President, has served as Head of School at Blake since 2012. She came to Blake from the Lakeside School (her alma mater), where she served in several leadership roles, including assistant head of school. Since joining Blake, she has led the school in a successful $80 million comprehensive campaign; overseen seven capital projects including a new science wing, entry hall, dining commons and Early Learning Center; developed a global immersion program and a computer science program; and significantly revised the school’s curricula in world languages, literacy, and mathematics. She serves as a board member on the Children’s Theatre Company of Minnesota and chairs its Education Committee; as a trustee and vice-chair of the School Year Abroad board; and as a member of the Independent Schools Association of Central States (ISACS) board where she also serves on the ISACS Accreditation Review Committee. She holds a B.A. in government from Smith College and a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington.

Larissa Stockton is an architectural interior designer and business strategy consultant. She serves as chair of the Wayzata Planning Commission. She began her career with Andersen Consulting, New York. Larissa founded L. Stockton Design LLC and L. Stockton Kitchens LLC in London and worked as director of business development for Christopher Guy, Singapore. She received a B.S. from Cornell University and a M.A. from the University of Wales/Inchbald School of Design, London.

Mary Sue Vorbrich, Secretary, is founder and owner of solVo, LLC, a provider of mediation and arbitration services for commercial disputes. She previously was a shareholder and trial lawyer at Fabyanske, Westra and Hart P.A. in Minneapolis. She lived in Japan for five years where she studied Japanese, architecture, culture, religions and taught English. She serves on the board of trustees for the Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota chapter of the Nature Conservancy and is on the Vestry (board of directors) at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Edina. She has a B.A. from Albion College in philosophy and political science and is a graduate of the Ford Institute of Public Policy. She earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Adebisi "Bisi" Wilson '97 is a partner at Ward & Wilson, P.C., a firm that focuses on neutral investigations, family law and litigation. Prior to Ward & Wilson, she was vice president of Innocent Technologies, an organization that enhances student-teacher relationships to close the achievement gap and worked as a litigator at Blackwell Burke P.A., where she practiced product liability, toxic tort, commercial and other litigation. She is experienced in education, affirmative action compliance and has developed training, spoken at conferences and authored articles on diversity in the workplace. She is president and co-founder of the Minnesota Mother Attorneys Association. Bisi holds a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from New York Law School.