Cal-ISBOA News

April 2, 2025

There’s still time to nominate your colleagues for the 2025 Martha Ambros Community Impact Award!

**Deadline extended**: Nominations must be submitted by midnight on April 9.

Named after Cal-ISBOA’s founding Executive Director, the Martha Ambros Community Impact (MACI) Award is given to a member of the California independent school community who has distinguished themselves through their engagement in professional development activities, their connection with fellow members, and their impact within the Cal-ISBOA community. Consistent with Martha’s leadership, recipients will have transcended their role as an employee of an independent school by furthering the hallmarks of our association: collegiality, connectedness, integrity, and friendship within and across school communities.

Inaugurated last year, the Martha Ambros Community Impact Award will be presented annually at the Cal-ISBOA annual meeting. Angela Oliver, HR Director of Sage Hill School, received the 2024 MACI Award in recognition of her distinguished service to her school, to Cal-ISBOA, and to the independent school community.

Angela Oliver is the founding Director of Human Resources at Sage Hill School, where she is in her 24th year of service. Becoming a member of Cal-ISBOA in 2012, Angela was the very first non-financial officer to serve on our Board of Directors from 2013 to 2018. She was a key member of the planning committee for the first statewide Cal-ISBOA conference held in 2013 in LA after the North and South branches of our organization merged. She was instrumental in developing the HR programming and awareness at Cal-ISBOA and helped to launch the HR Workshop and Roundtable gatherings, where she remains a frequent presenter and valued participant.

Opposite: Cal-ISBOA Past President Nick Hernandez and Current President Manuel Pardo present the 2024 MACI award to Angela Oliver at the Garland Hotel in North Hollywood.

About winning last year’s MACI Award, Angela says, “When I received the 2024 Award, I felt so lucky. To me, this award is not only about the work I do, but about everyone else in our community and how I get so much more than I give. There is no better honor than to be recognized by your peers! They are in the trenches with you, and they truly understand what you do, so this is such a special honor. Thank you!”

Angela joins the Board of Directors and Cal-ISBOA staff in encouraging nominations for the 2025 Martha Ambros Community Impact Award. She says, “All of us in the business office work behind the scenes, and many don’t know what we do, but we’re actually the backbone of why independent schools function. We aren’t the reason students or their parents select our schools—-but we are an important part of how independent schools survive and thrive to serve their students. This important service deserves recognition! Nominate your colleagues to honor our community’s service to each other and to our schools.”

Angela joins the Board of Directors and Cal-ISBOA staff in encouraging nominations for the 2025 Martha Ambros Community Impact Award!

To be eligible for this award, individuals must demonstrate active involvement in our community through engagement in the Listserv, conferences, and other programming offered by Cal-ISBOA. Current Board members are not eligible.

In the spirit of celebrating service in our community, the Board invites all Cal-ISBOA members to nominate members worthy of this prestigious recognition. 

NOMINATE

Our nomination form will collect some basic information to facilitate our award administration as well as a simple statement about why you believe the nominee deserves this recognition based on the award description.

We will announce the recipient of this year’s Martha Ambros Community Impact Award at the Annual Meeting on Monday, May 5, 2025. We hope to see you there!

Please send any questions about this award to Executive Director Scarlett Vanyi at scarlett.vanyi@isboa.org.

March 28, 2025

The Cal-ISBOA Board of Directors has announced the 2025 slate for new and returning Board members, and the election is now underway. The primary contact at each member school has received emails with instructions about how to cast a vote on behalf of their school. Electronic voting will close on April 30, and all member schools yet to cast a ballot will have a final opportunity to vote in person just prior to the Annual Meeting on Monday, May 5. Please contact Executive Director Scarlett Vanyi if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you to the following candidates for their willingness to serve our community:

Board Officers:

• President: Nicole Pennington, Los Encinos School, Encino
• Vice President: Ken Parr, Carlthorp School, Santa Monica
• Vice President: Erik Paxman, Silicon Valley International School, Palo Alto
• Treasurer: Steve Bajc, Chinese American International School, San Francisco
• Secretary: Jane Davis, The Archer School for Girls, Los Angeles

Second Term Board Members:

• Sheba McCoy, The College Preparatory School, Oakland
• Deepika Nabar, Archbishop Mitty High School, San Jose
• Erik Paxman, Silicon Valley International School, Palo Alto
• Rebecca Rowland, Campbell Hall, North Hollywood
  

New Board Members:

• John Amussen, Chaminade College Preparatory, Chatsworth
• Terry Lee, The Nueva School, Hillsborough
• Jennifer Macias, Sonoma Country Day School, Santa Rosa
• Eleazar Madrid, Redwood Day School, Oakland

Election results will be announced during the Annual Meeting, Monday, May 5.