Upcoming Events
Mark Your Calendars
Heads Roundtable (Zoom)
Tuesday, March 7 at 4 p.m. ET
Heads Roundtable (Zoom)
Tuesday, May 16 at 4 p.m. ET
2023 Annual Conference
Sunday, November 12 – Tuesday, November 14
2022 Conference Program
HMAE 2022 Conference
Sunday, November 6 – Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Sunday, November 6
12:00 – 3:45 p.m.
Registration and check in: Front Lobby of the Chauncey Center
4:00 p.m.
Welcome: Susanna Jones, HMAE Board Chair and Head of School – Holton Arms School (Stony Brook)
4:15 p.m.
Session I: Mirna Valerio: “She Did it With Her Might.” The epically independent journey of a shy girl from Brooklyn — from student to teacher to trustee to trend setter. Mirna is a former educator and coach, ultramarathoner, cyclist and newish skier, and author of her memoir: A Beautiful Work in Progress.
Introduction: Kathleen McNamara
5:30 p.m.
Annual Meeting: Susanna Jones
- Revised Mission Statement and Unveiling of
New Association Name - Election of Board Officers and Members
- Approval of By-Law Changes
- Membership Report
- Finance Report
- Memorial Resolutions
Announcements: David Harman, Executive Director
Book Signing in Lobby: Mirna Valerio
6:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception
7:15 p.m. Dinner (assigned tables)
Post Dinner C Bar Open for Social Gathering (cash bar)
Monday, November 7
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
Session II: Fireside Chat: Inclusive Hiring and Retention Practices: A Conversation with Sherry Coleman, Ed.D and Nanci Kauffman (Brodsky Gallery)
Sherry Coleman, Ed.D. is the principal consultant of Coleman Strategic Consulting and the Managing Director for Storbeck Search, an executive search firm.
Sherry is an experienced recruiter and search consultant with a strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is the founding director of the Independent School Consortium (ISC) of Greater Philadelphia, an organizational resource that focuses on the recruitment and retention of faculty and administrators of color.
Sherry is the recipient of several awards and acknowledgements for her work in DEIBJ. She is a proud graduate of Cheyney University, the nation’s first HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). She holds a master’s degree from West Chester University and a doctorate degree from The University of Pennsylvania.
10:30 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m.
Session III: Panel Discussion: Advice for Membership at Large: How to Cultivate the Future Leaders of Color in Our Own Communities (Stony Brook)
Panel: Bodie Brizendine, Aléwa Cooper, Autumn Graves and Lisa Waller
Moderator: Daryl Ford
Introduction: Fran Bisselle
12:15 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m.
Session IV: A conversation with Joan Countryman, hosted by Ken Aldridge (Brodsky Gallery)
Introduction: Ann Sullivan
Joan Countryman was the Head of Lincoln School, Providence, RI, the Founding Head of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, and also served as the Interim Head of the Atlanta Girls’ School in Atlanta, GA. As the first African American graduate of Germantown Friends School, Joan subsequently earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, an M.A. from Yale University, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London School of Economics. Joan holds honorary degrees from Bowdoin College, Moore College of Art, Roger WIlliams University, and Sarah Lawrence.
3:00 p.m. Break (walk, read, rest, visit Princeton)
6:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner
Post Dinner C Bar Open for Social Gathering (cash bar)
Tuesday, November 8
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m.
Session V: “Ulysses at 100” – Paul Muldoon
Introduction: Kimberly Field-Marvin
Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1951. A former radio and television producer for the BBC in Belfast, he has taught at Princeton University for thirty-five years. He is the author of fourteen collections of poetry and the recipient of too many awards to mention here. Paul is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and letters. (Stony Brook)
Book Signing in Lobby: Paul Muldoon
10:00 a.m. Adjournment
10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Board of Directors Meeting
Thank you for attending our 2022 conference!
Save the Dates: Please mark your calendars
Heads Roundtable (by Zoom)
Tuesday, March 7; Tuesday, May 16
2023 Annual Conference
Sunday, November 12 – Tuesday, November 14
Chauncey Center, Princeton, NJ
2021-2022 HMAE Board Members
Susanna Jones, Holton Arms School, President
Robert “Bo” Lauder, Friends Seminary, Vice President
Kolia O’Connor, Treasurer
Ann Klotz, Laurel School, Memorial Resolutions
Ken Aldridge, Wilmington Friends School, Former President
Mo Copeland, Oregon Episcopal School, Member
Sharon Lauer, The Unquowa School, Member
Nancy Mugele, Kent School, Member
Sarah Pelmas, Winsor School, Member
David Harman, Executive Director
2022 Conference Planning Committee
(with great appreciation)
Kimberly Field-Marvin, Co-Chair, Louise S. McGehee School
Kathleen McNamara, Co-Chair, The Seven Hills School
Fran Bisselle, Hathaway Brown School
Nanci Kauffman, Castilleja School
Ann Sullivan, Holy Child (former head)
2022 Speaker
Mirna Valerio
Mirna Valerio is a native of Brooklyn, NY, a former educator and cross-country coach, ultramarathoner, cyclist and newish skier, and author of the memoir, A Beautiful Work in Progress. She began running in high school, recommitted to the sport after a health scare in 2008 and started her blog Fatgirlrunning—about her experiences as a larger woman in a world of thinner endurance athletes— while training for her first marathon. Mirna’s athletic story has been featured in the WSJ, Runner’s World, on NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in the viral REI-produced documentary short, The Mirnavator. Her writing has been featured in Women’s Running Magazine, Self Magazine Online, Outside Online, and Runner’s World Magazine. In 2018 she was chosen as a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, and in early 2020 appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show and Access Daily, and most recently was featured on the Today Show. Her partners include LLBean, Lululemon, and InsideTracker. She currently lives and trains in Vermont and is wholeheartedly enamored and obsessed with downhill skiing.
2022 Speaker
Sherry Coleman, Ed.D.
Sherry Coleman, Ed.D. is the principal consultant of Coleman Strategic Consulting which includes an advisory and coaching practice with a variety of school leaders, as well as school governance. She is also a consulting Managing Director for Storbeck Search, an executive search firm. She has extensive expertise in working with college, universities, independent, charter schools and non-profits. Sherry brings extensive experience in public and private education at the K-12 and post-secondary levels, having held positions as an administrator, teacher, and adjunct professor. She is also an experienced recruiter and search consultant with a strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sherry understands the challenges and opportunities faced by the most senior managers in schools, especially regarding hiring, retention, supporting DEI and other strategic initiatives.
Sherry has supported, placed, and guided numerous teachers, mid-career administrators, senior administrators, and Heads of School through her more than 27 years of search and consulting work. She was the founding director of the Independent School Consortium (ISC) of Greater Philadelphia, an organizational resource that focused on the recruitment and retention of faculty and administrators of color. What began as a three-year DeWitt Wallace Readers’ Digest grant with five schools grew to include over 20 schools and became a trusted source of support for administrators and faculty of color for more than 17 years. ISC became a sustaining and vital link to many successful educators of color in independent schools. Many of those placements are still in education. This initiative led to her moving to nationwide recruitment and search consulting work, and Sherry has built an extensive and diverse network of contacts throughout the country.
Sherry is the recipient of several awards and acknowledgements for her work in DEIBJ. She is actively involved in national and community organizations, and she has served as a trustee for independent, charter schools and non-profits. She is a proud HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) graduate, Cheyney University, the nation’s first HBCU. She holds a master’s degree from West Chester University and doctoral degree from The University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the Mid-Career Alumni Council. Her research and writing have focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging in the workplace.
2022 Speaker
Joan Countryman
Joan Countryman was Head of Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 2005. After leaving retiring Joan served as a consultant and then Founding Head of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. From August 2007 until June 2008 she led the Atlanta Girls’ School in Atlanta, Georgia, as Interim Head. Previously, Joan had served as Assistant Head for Academic Planning and Director of Studies at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia where she taught mathematics from 1970 to 1993. During that time she also taught in the teacher education program at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. She served as a board member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools as well as a Trustee of Sarah Lawrence College, a member of the Board of Managers of Haverford College, and a member of the Board of Overseers of Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
In retirement Joan has served as a board member and chair of the Kendal Corporation and Chair of the Board of Directors of Rhode Island Public Radio. She is currently a member of the School Committee of Germantown Friends School and the Board of Trustees of Lincoln School. She also serves as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the Secretary of the Board of Friends Fiduciary, and a member of the Board of Cliveden of the National Trust.
Joan grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and was the first African-American graduate of Germantown Friends School. She earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a Master’s Degree from Yale University, and she studied at the London School of Economics as a Fulbright Scholar. She has received honorary degrees from Bowdoin College, Moore College of Art, Roger Williams University, and Sarah Lawrence College.
2022 Speaker
Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh in 1951. He now lives in New York. A former radio and television producer for the BBC in Belfast, he has taught at Princeton University for thirty-five years. He is the author of fourteen collections of poetry including Howdie-Skelp, published by FSG and Faber and Faber in 2021. Among his awards are the 1972 Eric Gregory Award, the 1980 Sir Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award, the 1994 T.S. Eliot Prize, the 1997 Irish Times Poetry Prize, the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, the 2003 Griffin International Prize for Poetry, the 2004 American Ireland Fund Literary Award, the 2004 Shakespeare Prize, the 2006 European Prize for Poetry, the 2015 Pigott Poetry Prize, the 2017 Queens Gold Medal for Poetry, and the 2020 Michael Marks Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
2021 Conference Program
HMAE 2021 Virtual Conference
Sunday, November 7, 4-6:30 PM EST
Monday, November 8, 2-4:30 PM EST
Dear HMAE Membership,
We have decided, regrettably, to hold our 2021 annual conference in virtual form. Too many of our members felt uncomfortable traveling and meeting in person. The board agreed that it is better ultimately to err on the side of caution and safety.
Fortunately, our indefatigable and fabulous conference planning committee began preliminary work on a virtual conference late in the summer and locked in our two outside speakers, while retaining essential traditional and important parts of our annual conference, which we look forward to every year.
Many thanks to co-chairs Lise Charlier and George Zeleznik and their inestimable committee: Liz Duffy, Kimberly Field-Martin, Kathleen McNamara, and Sarah Pelmas.
Exact details of the conference and an online program will be forthcoming soon. In the meantime, please “save the date” for two sessions: Sunday, November 7 (end of daylight savings time) 4:00 – 6:00 PM (EST) and Monday, November 8, 2:00 – 4:30 PM (EST).
Please make every effort to participate in both sessions. We will have dynamic and interactive sessions with our two terrific speakers, Ali Michael and Romy Toussaint, welcome our many new members, honor several past members in the Memorials, and engage in a critically important session led by president Susanna Jones and consultant, Clifford Lull, to chart the future course of our association.
I hope all of you are well and that your respective schools are off to a healthy start that approximates a return to a sense of normalcy.
The annual dues invoice will be sent soon. There will be no charge for our virtual conference.
Best wishes,
David
2021 Keynote Speaker
Ali Michael
2021 Speaker
Romy Touissant (AKA Energy Queen)
2020 Conference Program
Sunday:
Welcome, Ken Aldridge – President
Introduction of New Members
Business Meeting
Approval of 2021 Board Slate
Introduction for Chelsea Clinton – Bo Lauder
Monday:
Introduction for Donna Orem – Nancy Mugele
2019 Conference Program
Leadership in Volatile Times
November 10-12, 2019
Sunday, November 10
1:00 – 3:45 p.m. Registration: Front Lobby of the Chauncey Center
4:00 p.m. Welcome and Introduction: Ken Aldridge, HMAE Board Chair and Head of School – Wilmington Friends School and David Harman, Executive Director HMAE
4:30 p.m. Session I: Keynote Speaker: Kurt Landgraf, President, Washington College
Introduction: John Lewis
Kurt Landgraf, President of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, former senior executive at Dupont and 13 year President and CEO of Educational Testing Service (ETS).
5:45 p.m. Roll Call, New Member Introductions
Business Meeting
Memorial Resolutions
6:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception
7:15 p.m. Dinner
Post Dinner C Bar Open for Social Gathering (cash bar)
Monday, November 11
7:45 a.m. Breakfast
8:45 a.m. Veterans Day Remembrance, David B. Harman
9:00 a.m. Session II: Keynote Speaker: Elizabeth Duffy, President, International Schools Services
Introduction: David B. Harman
Liz can think of few endeavors more significant than educating students to become thoughtful, global citizens in today’s interconnected world. Before joining ISS in 2015, she served for 12 years as Head Master of The Lawrenceville School (NJ). She also previously worked for three educational foundations and led a college-based community service program.
10:30 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. Session III: Small Group Forums: Third Rail Issues: “What Keeps Us Up at Night.” – Specific Leadership Issues and Challenges for Heads of School in these volatile times
We will begin together in one large group, divide into five small discussion groups with a facilitator, and then report back salient points when we reconvene as a large group.
Possible topics:
- “I am presently dealing with…”
- “How might you respond to…”
- 2020 Election
- Transgender students, staff, and faculty
- Me Too Movement
- Black Lives Matter Movement
- The mediocre teacher or administrator: How to move along.
- Problematic Board member
At registration members will be invited to write down on index cards issues pertinent to them and for which they seek help, support, good counsel, and advice. These will form the list of topics to be discussed in the small group forums.
12:15 p.m. Lunch
1:30 – 6:00 p.m. Free Time: Check in with your school, nap, exercise, or choose to join us for a group walk, shopping in Princeton or a tour of Princeton University by a student admissions tour leader.
6:00 p.m. Cocktails
7:00 p.m. Dinner
Post Dinner C Bar Open for Social Gathering (cash bar)
Tuesday, November 12
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
Board Executive Committee Meeting with Conference Program Chairs for 2019 and new chairs for 2020 conference.
8:30 a.m. Session IV: Karen Richardson, Dean of Admissions, Princeton University
Introduction: David B. Harman
Karen Richardson brings a wealth of both educational and college admissions experience to our conference. Karen was appointed Dean of Admission at Princeton University on July 1 of this year. In this capacity, she is a member of the president’s cabinet and is responsible for articulating the University’s mission to prospective students and families. Prior to this appointment, Karen was the Dean of Admissions at Tufts University, Deputy Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and Assistant Dean for undergraduate admissions at Princeton, focusing on diversity recruitment efforts.
10:00 a.m. Adjournment and Boxed Lunches
10:30 a.m. Board of Directors Meeting
11:30 a.m. Adjournment
2018 Conference Program
Developing Democratic, Civil, and Civically-Minded Citizens in an Age of Partisan Polarization
November 11-13, 2018
Dear Friends,
We are excited to share with you the theme for the 2018 HMAE Conference in Princeton, NJ on November 11-13. As we considered various options, the challenges presented by our nation’s current political environment rose to the fore. Raising citizens prepared to participate in our democracy is part of our responsibility as educators. However, navigating the intensely partisan waters of today’s culture make doing this challenging. As Heads of School, how do we lead our institutions through these turbulent waters while remaining committed to democratic values? This question led us to our theme for this year’s conference: “Developing Democratic, Civil and Civically-Minded Citizens in an Age of Partisan Polarization.”
We are very excited that Sally Kohn, CNN political commentator and columnist and author of The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity, will launch us on Sunday afternoon. Kohn spent years doing social justice work before becoming a writer and speaker, with credits now from virtually every major news organization. Before CNN, she served as one of Fox News’ few progressive contributors. As this assignment would suggest, she is someone who successfully works across political and ideological divides. We’re confident she will be inspiring and offer much food for thought – plus she’s funny.
On Monday, we will have the pleasure of hearing from Peter Kuriloff, Ed.D., Research Director for the Center for the Study of Boys’ and Girls’ Lives at Penn and Charlotte Daniels, Ph.D., Associate Director, Independent School Teaching Residency, also at Penn. Dr. Kuriloff and Dr. Jacobs are authors with Shannon Andrus of Teaching Girls: How Teachers and Parents Can Reach their Brains and Hearts. Also on Monday, Rob Bohrer, Ph.D., Associate Provost/ Dean of Public Policy at the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College will present to the group. The Eisenhower Institute uses President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s legacy of leadership as a foundation to promote nonpartisan discourse and critical analysis of issues of long-term importance. They offer fellowships to college students and have also begun partner programs with schools.
Responding to the popularity of last year’s Executive Forum sessions, we will again offer this opportunity for heads to share challenging issues with colleagues. For those who did not attend last year’s conference, the Executive Forum offers a structured format for presenting and discussing a topic. Participants can share experience and advice and generally offer support from which both the presenters and others can benefit. We are looking for Heads who have an issue they would like to share during the Executive Forum session. The topic could be related to the conference theme or not. Please reply to Diana Beebe if you are interested.
Finally, will finish on Tuesday morning with a panel of Heads representing different levels of experience. The panelists will share wisdom they have gleaned relevant to their particular cohort, beginning with someone who has been head for five years or less progressing to someone with over twenty years of headship experience on the cusp of retirement.
We will also honor Stephanie Balmer’s life, enduring legacy and impact on our craft. Stephanie, in addition to being a member of Headmistresses and a valued friend and colleague, was a member of our planning committee.
We hope that you are as eager to dive into this important topic as we are. We look forward to seeing you in November and hearing from you in the meantime if you have a topic you would like to raise for the Executive Forum sessions. We think we can all agree that the opportunity to engage in collective thinking and dialogue around significant and often thorny issues is invaluable for us as leaders. We look forward to discussing and learning with all of you.
Warmly,
Bodie Brizendine, Kathy Jamieson, Penny Evins, Susanna Jones, and Suzanne Fogarty