ADVISORS
Cheryl Fitzgerald
Occupation:
Vice President of Customer Strategy and Solutions, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Education:
BBA, Texas A&M University; MBA, The University of Texas at Austin
As Vice President of Customer Strategy and Solutions at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Cheryl is responsible for a dynamic team within the Federal Employee Program Operations Center (FEPOC), a subsidiary of CareFirst, focused on Enrollment, Relationship Management, Benefits Administration, and Audit, Compliance, & Risk for 35 Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, while overseeing the strategic development, transformation, and communications of program-wide functions for the Federal Employee Program.
In her previous role as vice president of Field Operations at NeighborWorks America, Cheryl Fitzgerald was responsible for ensuring accurate and efficient distribution and reporting of grant funding to NeighborWorks America’s network of more than 240 member organizations and non-network recipients. She also led the affiliations process by which organizations join the NeighborWorks network.
Fitzgerald discovered a passion for community development when she joined the Fannie Mae Foundation in 2001 as director of the Community Development Loan Fund. She subsequently oversaw all national grantmaking for both Fannie Mae and the Fannie Mae Foundation. And, during the housing crisis of the mid 2000s, Fitzgerald led consumer market outreach efforts to help reduce the growing number of foreclosures for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Making Home Affordable Program.
Fitzgerald brings additional experience in strategic implementation, change management, commercial lending, and real estate structured finance. A native Texan, she holds a master’s degree in business administration with a focus in corporate finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Texas A&M University. She is also a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner.
Angela Garcia
Occupation:
Head of School, Friends Community School
Education:
BA, Brown University; M.Ed, University of Pennsylvania
Angela joined FCS as Head of School in the 2019-20 school year, bringing over 25 years of experience in K-8 education. Angela was previously the Assistant Head of School at The Fessenden School, a private pre-K–9 boys’ school in West Newton, Massachusetts, and the first Head of School at the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys, a tuition-free Episcopal school in Washington, D.C. Her educational roots are in Quaker schools, having attended Haddonfield Friends School and Westfield Friends School. She has taught in both public and independent schools, most notably at Shady Hill School, a leading progressive school in Cambridge, MA, where she now serves on the Board. Angela also serves on AISGW’s Member Services Committee and is on the Leadership Council of the Epiphany School in Boston. In her spare time, she enjoys running and is learning to play the drums.
Rob Connor
Occupation:
Head of School, Friends Community School
Education:
Morehouse College; PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Rob Connor was selected as Head of School in July 2009. Rob holds a PhD. in Educational Policy and Management from the University of Pennsylvania and is a proud graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He began his career working at the Center for the Study of Evaluation and Educational Policy at Boston College while pursuing a graduate degree in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation. There, he examined various policy issues related to standardized testing and minority achievement and received the Outstanding Graduate Studies Award for his academic contributions. After completing his master’s degree, Rob worked at Beaver Country Day School (BCDS), an innovative Boston independent school. Over eight years at BCDS, he worked as a history teacher, department chair, interim Upper School Director, and Assistant Head of School.
As a doctoral student he worked on a number of action-oriented projects related to teacher evaluation and retention, instructional technology, urban policy and early childhood assessment. His dissertation research focused on the turnover and retention patterns of private and public school educators. After completing his course work, he was awarded an Education Pioneer Fellowship to study social entrepreneurship, before returning to BCDS to serve as the Assistant Head of School. As the Assistant Head of School he led a number of initiatives related to classroom instruction, professional development, evaluation, technology, and teacher recruitment.
Rob lives with his wife, Sushama and their two boys, Lekh and Rowan. Sushama is a proud graduate of Fisk University and Harvard Divinity School. Before moving to New Jersey, she served as the Protestant Chaplain at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
Chad Bridges
Occupation:
Assistant Head of School, The Pennington School
Education:
BA, Drew University; MS Ed., University of Pennsylvania
Bridges has spent the last 15 years employed at The Pennington School. Bridges has served in various capacities during his time at the school. He is currently in his eleventh season as head coach of the boy’s soccer team. However, Bridges also holds several other positions including dean of students, assistant headmaster for community life and director of residential life. Occasionally he still teaches classes.
In 2000, Bridges graduated with degrees in sociology and political science from Drew University where he was a four-year starter for the soccer team in addition to playing on the basketball team throughout his four years. Bridges was accepted into several law schools, but he decided to forego being an attorney. For almost five years after college, he worked in securities law for Bloomberg. In the meantime, together with friend Rob Marino a decade ago, he co-founded Next Level Soccer Academy, a travel club for boys and girls from Mercer, Bucks and Hunterdon counties.
Bridges currently lives in Pennington with his wife, Erica, and two children. Erica is a co-founder of Pretty in Paint Parties, a business that supplies canvases, art supplies and an artist for parties, letting attendees relax and enjoy each other’s company as they paint. The couple’s daughter, Skye, is six years old and will be going back to Toll Gate Elementary School as a first grader. Bridges’ son, Drew, is 12 and will be starting sixth grade at The Pennington School.
Sheila Maith, JD, PCC
Occupation:
Chair of Board of Trustees, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
Education:
AB, Duke University; JD, Harvard Law School & Harvard Kennedy School of Government
After a fulfilling career as an executive in the nonprofit and public sectors, for the past several years Sheila has enjoyed working directly with the leaders overseeing and directing mission-driven programs and organizations as both a nonprofit management consultant and executive coach.
As a consultant, she called on her executive experiences with organizations such as the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation to help leaders articulate the organization’s vision for success and develop strategic frameworks and measurable outcomes to advance the organization’s mission and goals. As an ICF-certified coach, she partnered with executives to manage and develop themselves and their teams to innovate and manage change in a dynamic nonprofit environment.
Among her favorite engagements and projects include:
- Working with a team overseeing a 100+ title Journal publishing program for national scientific and professional society to design and facilitate workshops to clarify priorities and better manage resources for greater impact.
- Coaching executives to effectively lead change to transform their organizations, as an executive coach for the NeighborWorks’ Achieving Excellence Program.
- Virtually coaching leaders in a community development financial institution to build management and strategic skills to grow the organization’s leadership bench.
- Being engaged by a regional foundation to co-lead a local child care task force through a visioning and group planning process, which led to a funding plan that increased access to child care in the region.
Outside of work, Sheila has served in the community through participation on several nonprofit boards, including her current service as chair of the board of trustees for St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. A highlight of her board experience has been leading an effort to build a pipeline for board recruitment, which has led to the most diverse board in the school’s history.
Our 2022 theme….
Creating More Racially Integrated and Equitable Experiences in Independent Schools that Promote Safety, Trust, Wellness, and Belonging.
HACKBAC 2022 is a collaboration between the Black Alumni Collective, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the D! Lab, and The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning – all based at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland.