Board of Trustees, 2011-2012

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Jim Benjamin, chair

Jim is a seven-year parent at Galloway, with one child in Early Learning and another in Middle Learning, and is beginning his fourth year as a trustee. Jim chairs the board of trustees, as well as the executive committee, and is also a member of the search committee. He also serves on the board of the Sanders Buckhead YMCA and as an associate trustee at Lafayette College, where he is chair of the Annual Fund.

Professionally, Jim is a partner at the Brookside Group, a cost management firm. He has a successful record of leading and building strong, motivated teams. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College.

Amy Smith '89, vice-chair

Amy began her relationship with Galloway as a kindergarten student in 1976,  graduating in 1989.  This is her ninth year as a Galloway parent. She has a child in Middle Learning.  In her third year on the board, Amy serves on the executive and diversity committees and as vice chair of the board. She is also a member of the Alumni Council.

During her years at Galloway, Amy has served as Early Learning coordinator and as a coordinator of EL service learning projects.  She has a bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin.  Her professional background is in providing social services for people with terminal illnesses and in social service administration for HIV case management.

Tom Luptowski. treasurer

Tom is the parent of two Galloway alumni ('04 and '08). He was formerly president of the Galloway Tartan Backers. Now in his fourth year on the board, Tom is treasurer of the board, serves on the executive committee, and chairs the finance committee.

Professionally, Tom is a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. He is a certified financial planner and a chartered retirement planning counselor. He has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.

Monisha Longacre, secretary

Monisha has been a Galloway parent for nine years. Her daughter is in Middle Learning and her son is in Early Learning. She is secretary of the board and serves on the planning committee.

Monisha works full time as vice president of portfolio management and strategy at The Weather Channel. She has a professional background in communications, technology and customer experience/product management. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in corporate public relations from Boston University.

Terrence Tracy, Vice President of Finance

Dr. Beth Farokhi, President

Lisa Aman

Lisa has been a Galloway parent for 12 years. Her three daughters are in Early and Middle Learning. This is her fifth year as a trustee, the first two of which she served as president of the Parents Association. She is co-chair of the Search Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. She also serves on the board of the Sanders Buckhead YMCA and Homrich Berg's client advisory board.

Lisa spent her career at Bain & Company, a strategy consulting firm, where she focused on growth strategy, business development and performance improvement. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford University.

Jardon Bouska

Jardon is a 13-year parent at Galloway and in his fourth year on the board. He has two children in Upper Learning and one in Middle Learning, as well as a son who graduated in 2010. He serves on the finance and trustees committees.

Jardon is division President of Fiserv, Inc. He has a BS in business administration and an MBA.

Debbie Britt

Debbie is the parent of two Galloway alumni. Her son graduated in 1997 and her daughter in 2001. She has served on the board for four years and is a member of the development committee.

As an alumni parent, Debbie has a historical perspective of Galloway that goes back more than 22 of the school's 42 years. Professionally, she worked as a business writer. She currently teaches ESL as a volunteer with La Amistad. Debbie has a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University.

Kelly Caffarelli

A parent at Galloway for nine years, Kelly is in her second year on the board. She chairs the external affairs committee and is also a member of the executive committee. Her children are in Early and Middle Learning.

Kelly is president of The Home Depot Foundation and also serves on the boards of Woodruff Arts Center, Piedmont Park Conservancy, National Building Museum, Local Initiatives Support Corp., and Sustainable Atlanta. She has a BA from Williams College and a JD from the University of Georgia.

Gretchen Campbell

Gretchen, who has been a Galloway parent since 2001, has two children in Upper Learning and is in her first year on the board, where she serves on the diversity and external affairs committees.  She has been involved in several capacities at Galloway – Upper Learning contact parent, admissions office volunteer, Founder's Day committee, director of summer camp (2004-2006), and Early Learning admission coordinator (2002-2007).

Professionally, Gretchen has worked in sales and management in both the insurance and education industries.  She is currently an instructional designer with LEAP Leadership, Inc. and the Executive Development Group, both global executive leadership firms.  Gretchen graduated from American Business Institute with a concentration in administrative business operations.

Dave Cole

Dave has been a Galloway parent since 1993 and has a daughter in Upper Learning and another that is an 2009 alum. In his third year on the board, he is chair of the trustees committee.  Dave also serves as a director of other leading for-profit and non-profit institutions, including PRGX Global, Inc, where he formerly was board chair, AmeriCorp, Inc., Goizueta Business School at Emory University, and  The Rotary Club of Atlanta.  He is director emeritus of Junior Achievement of Georgia and has been active with numerous other civic organizations and boards.

During his 30+-year career with Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA), Dave served as board chairman and CEO. He graduated from Auburn University with a BS degree and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, as well as leadership and governance programs at Emory, Yale, and Harvard.

Rupak Das '98, Alumni Council president

Rupak, who was a Galloway student for ten years, is a member of the class of '98. He is serving on the board in his capacity as president of The Galloway School Alumni Council. He is a member of the diversity and search committees.

A 2002 graduate of Vanderbilt University, Rupak holds a BE in electrical engineering. He is a senior engineer at Polytron, Inc.

Mark Dunaway

In his first year on the board, Mark is a member of the trustees and planning committees. He has been an active participant in the community of independent schools in Atlanta, having chaired the board of trustees of Pace Academy. He is a member of Pace Academy Life Trustees.

Professionally, Mark is one of the managing partners of The Atlantic Partners. He has been the CEO/chair of CMT Technologies, British Telcom North America, PNI Technologies, The Beeper Company, A Beeper Company, A Cellular Company and Inteletix Technologies. He was also chair of Friend Technologies and served on the boards of Cypress Communications, Dial Page/Dial Call, Corda Technologies and QSI Corporation.

Kelley Ellman

Kelley is in her seventh year at Galloway and her second on the board. She has a child in Early Learning and another in Middle Learning.

Kelley previously taught high school English at an independent school with an educational philosophy similar to Galloway's. As a trustee, Kelley is co-chair of the diversity committee and also serves on the search committee. She holds a BA in classics from Brown University.

Katie Felts

Katie has been a Galloway parent for 15 years, with one daughter in Upper Learning and another in Middle Learning. She has chaired various events and committees at the school, including Elliott’s Run and the silent auction. She has served on the development committee for many years and has been involved in Tartan Backers. In her first year on the board, she is serving on the development and external affairs committees.

Katie’s professional background was as an executive in sales and business development in the telecommunications field.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering  from the University of Notre Dame.

Mark Frank

Mark has been a Galloway parent for seven years and has a daughter in Middle Learning.  In his first year on the board, Mark is a member of the planning committee and is chair of the development committee where he has served the last six years. 

Professionally, Mark is Vice President of Corporate Property Advisors, Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage and investment firm.  Mark earned a bachelor's degree in real estate from the University of Alabama.

Gino Gabianelli

Gino, who is in his second year on the board, is a Galloway parent with two current students and one recent graduate. He is a past member of the finance committee and currently serves on the planning and search committees. His family hosted the first Galloway ASSIST exchange student, Jaime Sanchez, from Spain during 2009-10, and his wife Nancy has been an active volunteer at the school for many years. Gino is a strong believer in Galloway's student-based, experiential academic philosophy.

Gino is the founder and managing partner of Georgia Eye Partners, a multisubspecialty eye group with several offices in Atlanta. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Italian language and literature and from medical school at Washington University in St. Louis.

Jeff Galloway

Jeff is thoroughly steeped in the Galloway philosophy and tradition. His sons are '00 and '02 alumni of the school. Formerly a parent volunteer and community coach at Galloway, this is his second year as a trustee. He serves on the board's planning committee.

A well-known expert in running, Jeff has coached thousands of people during his career. He is the owner of Phidippides Running Store and president of Galloway Productions. Jeff earned a BA in history from Wesleyan University and an MS in social studies at Florida State University.

Katie Melkonian, Parents Association president

Katie serves as president of the Parents Association and is in her first year on the board.  She has two children in Early Learning and has been at Galloway for seven years.

Katie is co-owner of Breadwinner Cafe & Bakery and manages the company's marketing, sales and business development. Previously, she was a senior marketing manager at Cartoon Network and has also worked in investor relations and financial communications for Turner Broadcasting.  She holds a BS from Vanderbilt University.

Ruth Parker

Ruth has four children who attended Galloway for a total of over 50 years. Three of them are alumni ('04, '09, '10). This is her first year on the board and she is serving on the finance and planning committees.

Ruth has been a professor of medicine and public health at Emory University for the last 23 years.  She is actively involved in teaching, faculty development, clinical research, and health policy.  She holds a BS from Davidson College, attended the University of North Carolina Medical School, and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania prior to joining Emory’s medical school faculty.

James Poindexter

James has been a Galloway parent for 13 years. His son is in Upper Learning and his daughter is a Middle Learning student. This is his fourth year on the board; he serves on the executive and finance committees.

James has been in private medical practice for 25 years, specializing in vascular
surgery. He earned a bachelor's degree at Northwestern University and a medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Subhash Sarda

Subhash is the parent of two 2009 alumni. This is his third year on the board where he brings expertise in financial and business management to the finance committee and serves as chair of the audit committee.

Subhash is a senior financial manager in the life sciences industry. He has an MBA from Temple University and is a Certified Management Accountant as well as a Chartered Accountant. He is affiliated with Financial Executives International and TiE, a global network of entrepreneurs and professionals.
Subhash is a senior financial manager in the life sciences industry. He has an MBA from Temple University and is a Certified Management Accountant as well as a Chartered Accountant. He is affiliated with Financial Executives International and TiE, a global network of entrepreneurs and professionals.

Kelli Spencer

A past president of the Parents Association, Kelli has been a Galloway parent for eleven years. Her children are students in Middle Learning.

Kelli is in in her sixth year of service on the board and is chair of the planning committee. Professionally, she is an independent product marketing consultant. She earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Tennessee and has also studied the educational needs of gifted children.

Donna Walter

In her second year on the board, Donna is co-chair of the diversity committee and a member of the trustees committee. Her daughter is a 2011 graduate of the school.

Donna is principal associate with LFLE, Inc., a minority-owned company specializing in consultation and training to help organizations provide effective, outcome-based services. She has successfully built programs from the start-up phase using teamwork skills to enhance productivity and morale.

Donna previously was a board member at The Friends School of Atlanta. She holds a BSc from the University of Miami, an MSW from the University of Georgia, and is currently pursuing a doctorate of education from UGA.