The Net Assets Podcast from NBOA

Commonfund Institute Executive Director George Suttles shares with NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields why he's taking on an Ed.D. in education and innovation on top of leadership and board service roles. Diving into trends in independent school investment strategies, they look back at NBOA's 20-year partnership with Commonfund Institute to study independent school endowments and key takeaways from a report analyzing investment practices over that time. Suttles also delves into the "polycrisis" of the current moment and explores why investing with multiple scenarios in mind pays dividends. 

NBOA Advisory Services was launched to meet a need that independent school leaders had voiced for years — a need for school-specific business operations consulting, be it a business office assessment, CFO placement or long-range financial planning. President and CEO of NBOA Advisory Services, James Palmieri, Ed.D., CAE, shares his leadership journey, which includes many roles that hadn't previously existed — from leading strategic initiatives within an established school, to launching a new independent school, to leading this new venture. With NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, Palmieri reflects on the path that led to this moment and the vision behind creating a service dedicated to helping independent schools strengthen their business operations, as well as early lessons from the first engagements. 

The 2025 recipient of the Ken White Distinguished Business Officer Award, Sandi Pierce, shares how her role at Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, California, has shifted from chief business officer to assistant head of school, full stop. In her more than 30 years at Cate, Pierce has handled the full range of operations responsibilities, from response to severe wildfires and other natural disasters, "other duties" as an advisor and dorm parent. Building direct connections with students has critically informed her leadership in school business and operations. 

Assistant Head for Enrollment Kathy Gonzalez leads a team of 12 admissions professionals at Hawken School, which has five campuses around Cleveland, Ohio. But she hasn't always worked in such an expansive program. Gonzalez started out in development at her alma mater, where she built the program from the ground up; moved into teaching and then into enrollment. In previous roles in the Pacific Northwest and now in the Midwest, she has convened enrollment professionals across the independent school community. With NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, Gonzalez shares how she strengthens her relationship with the business office, her involvement with equity and inclusion in the community, and her leadership of the robust enrollment team at Hawken. 

Before joining the NBOA Board of Directors, current NBOA Board Chair Beth Pollard and immediate past Chair Duncan Booth had plenty of experience in the boardroom as independent school business leaders. However, Pollard, who serves as CFO at The Ensworth School in Nashville, and Booth, who serves as COO at The St. Paul’s Schools in Baltimore, gained new perspectives when tasked with governing as opposed to executing board vision and strategy, as they do in their school roles. In this episode, they discuss with host and NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields what they've learned about building trust, moderating honest conversations, and the significant return on volunteer leadership. 

Olaf Weckesser, CFO at The Pingry School in New Jersey, may come up with the best April's Fools jokes on campus, but for him, school strategy is no laughing matter. When Pingry leaders had the opportunity to acquire property from a nearby closing independent school, they seized it, even though they hadn't mapped out all the details. Now the former dorms provide housing for faculty who otherwise would be commuting long distances, while other spaces enrich the day-school and auxiliary program experience, helping Pingry stand out in a competitive market. Weckesser shares the collective efforts to shape the school's value proposition and the business strategy behind it. 

Josh Abrams shares his unexpected journey from math teacher to co-founder and head of Meridian Academy in Boston, where he has led both the academic program and school business for 20 years. An intentionally small, financially accessible school, Meridian has launched creative and cost-effective faculty support programs to retain faculty, including a housing assistance grant. "Teachers are easy to spoil," he says. Abrams also stressed the importance of transparency, flexibility and values-based leadership in building a strong school culture. The school has developed an internal succession plan to ensure seamless school leadership.  

In this episode, John Gulla, executive director of the Edward E. Ford Foundation, shares insights from a remarkable career that has taken him to more than 750 independent schools. Gulla discusses his journey from the classroom to foundation leadership, the transformative power of teaching, and how E.E. Ford’s grantmaking supports innovation and adaptability across the independent school landscape. He also shares what his recent sabbatical taught him about the evolving role of education in society. Independent schools play a critical role in preserving educational freedom and leading change in uncertain times, Gulla asserted.

Kathy Ferguson, partner at Armanino, shares her journey from education to auditing and offers insights on AI in the independent school business office. AI can enhance job satisfaction and transform rote processes, she explains. With host Jeff Shields, Ferguson also explores cryptocurrency, transparency and advancing women in leadership. Ferguson has long supported women in the accounting profession and weighs in on the growing gender pay gap in independent school business offices.

In this episode of the Net Assets Podcast, Grace H. Lee, a partner with Venable, LLP, in Washington, DC, and NBOA’s legal counsel, shares why she got into the legal profession and discusses hot topics in independent school legal affairs with host Jeff Shields, NBOA’s president and CEO. They touch on the evolution of the school counselor and guardrails school leaders should consider, the evolution of HR in schools more broadly, and what Lee might be asked at the upcoming 2025 NBOA Annual Meeting – and how she will answer. 

In the season 2 premiere of the Net Assets Podcast, Jerry Walker, associate head of school for finance and operations at Kent Denver School, shares his school’s strategies for retaining staff talent with podcast host, NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields. A transparent staff compensation system and meaningful raises have fostered staff satisfaction and long-term commitment.

The opening speaker at the 2025 NBOA Annual Meeting will be Kyle Scheele, who is known for cooking up wild ideas that many people back for laughs and for learning. NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields discusses with Scheele the process behind some of his outlandish projects and about being creative in the workplace. “I don’t want people to be like me,” said Scheele. “I want them to tap into their own creativity, wherever they may be working.” That might be anything from devising a financial plan to reconsidering the organizational chart. In addition to being a celebrated speaker, Scheele has published four books, one for adults: How To Host a Viking Funeral: The Case for Burning Your Regrets, Chasing Your Crazy Ideas, and Becoming the Person You're Meant to Be, one for teens: We Put A Man On The Moon: Thoughts on Living a Better Story, and two children’s books.The Net Assets podcast is a partnership between NBOA and Teibel Education Consulting, with hosts NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields and Teibel Education President Howard Teibel. This show is made possible thanks to the generous support of Community Brands.You can also read a web article based on an excerpt of this podast episode, published in November 2024.

At Stevenson School in picturesque Pebble Beach, California, the school’s data operations team is turning technology on its head. Rather than building business processes around available technology, they’re harnessing technology to facilitate more efficient and strategic business processes. As a result, more staff can access the data they need when they need it, and the school is primed for enterprise-wide AI data analysis. CIO Nathan Gault speaks with hosts Jeff Sheilds and Howard Teibel about his journey from the hallowed halls of Yale to industry, specifically in higher education software, and now to the independent school world, where he’s drawing on his experiences in each sector to drive the transformation of school business processes.This episode expands on the Net Assets magazine article, “One Record To Inform Them All: Streamlining Data Operations,” which was published in the September/October 2024 issue.The Net Assets podcast is a partnership between NBOA and Teibel Education Consulting, with hosts NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields and Teibel Education President Howard Teibel. This show is made possible thanks to the generous support of Community Brands.

When crisis strikes, school leaders often feel pressure to make a statement and move on. But in the latest episode of The Net Assets Podcast, Jeff Sheilds and Howard Teibel speak with a school head taking a radically different approach.Kalyan Balavan, head of the Dunn School in Santa Barbara County, is leading his community through an authentic dialogue about the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. Rather than taking sides, Kal has worked to facilitate open and curious conversations, bringing in diverse perspectives to educate students about this complex geopolitical issue.As a classroom teacher turned administrator, Kal believes schools have a responsibility to help students make sense of controversial events, not shy away from them out of fear. He argues the real crisis is one of ignorance—and educators must seize opportunities to combat that.But being a facilitator rather than the "sage on stage" requires a new mindset. Kal vulnerably shares how he's navigated pushback and assumptions along the way. His commitment to the hard work of inclusion over virtue-signaling statements is refreshing and thought-provoking.This is a conversation about courageous leadership in polarized times. Jeff and Howard explore with Kal what it takes to create a learning community that embraces tough questions—and why that matters now more than ever.Links & NotesThe Cost of Protest • Kalyan Balaven, Dunn School

When Louisville Collegiate School was offered a once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand its campus within a tight urban landscape, school leaders rejoiced. Despite thorough due diligence, they had to adjust course when parts of the community objected to what seemed like a win-win situation. CFO Deana Paradis shares how the business leader played an important role managing change, which has resulted in a more unified campus with less traffic congestion and stronger community partnerships. Jeff Shields, NBOA President and CEO, and Howard Teibel, President of Teibel Education Consulting, explore with Paradis lessons learned and successes earned in navigating campus growth. This show is made possible thanks to the generous support of Community Brands.Links & NotesLouisville Collegiate School

We are thrilled to present this episode of the Net Assets Podcast, a partnership between NBOA and Teibel Education Consulting, with NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields and Teibel Education President Howard Teibel.This episode marks the first in what we hope will become a collection of some of the best and most illuminating interviews dedicated to you, independent school business leaders. As NBOA grows into its new brand identity, we have the great privilege of launching this podcast with a conversation about an institution unafraid of telling the story of what makes them great, a school unburdened by the weight of telling the stories they think the public wants to hear. And who better to share that story than the extraordinary leaders of the Lakefield College School themselves?Lakefield College School is a coeducational boarding and day school in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada, for students in grades 9 through 12. Today, Jeff and Howard are joined by Anne-Marie Kee, Head of School since 2017, and Tim Rutherford, Associate Head of School and Chief Financial Officer since 2014.If you've ever wondered what it takes to be authentic in your mission, elevate faculty, staff, and students, and transform enrollment growth along the way, you need to check out this conversation.This show is made possible thanks to the generous support of Community Brands.

Welcome to the Net Assets Podcast, a partnership between NBOA and Teibel Education Consulting.Each episode will serve to expand on a popular article in NBOA's Net Assets magazine. We'll delve into the most pressing issues in independent school business and operations and we'll hear from chief financial and operational officers alongside other leaders of school business as they share what inspires and challenges them, what motivates them to solve their most challenging problems, and what fuels their engines of innovation. The Net Assets Podcast is brought to you by NBOA, the only national nonprofit membership association focused exclusively on fostering financial and operational excellence among independent PK-12 schools.Join our hosts, Jeff Shields, NBOA President and CEO, and Howard Teibel, President of Teibel Education Consulting, and get ready for the most human of stories behind the magazine and beyond.Our first episode will be available in April 2024.