Board of Trustees

Anish Aswani is a Managing Director at Florac, a single family office investing the personal wealth of a branch of the Louis-Dreyfus family with offices in Los Angeles and Paris. Prior to Florac, Anish was an investment banker in the Media and Entertainment group at Moelis & Company in Los Angeles where he advised corporate clients and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, growth equity financings and restructurings.

Anish serves on the board of Nexleaf Analytics, a non-profit that partners with countries to ensure they have the data they need to build lasting solutions that improve global health. In addition, he serves on several private company boards.

Anish holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Anish and his wife, Pooja, are the parents of two daughters, Riya ’23 and Mishka ’26.

Sabina Nathanson has dedicated her professional, nonprofit, and community work to advancing children’s causes. She is a founding board member and officer of Baby2Baby, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that provides children in need across the country with basic necessities. For a decade, Sabina served as Chair of the annual Baby2Baby Gala, helping raise millions of dollars in support of the organization’s mission.

Sabina also serves on the Los Angeles Advisory Board of Common Sense Media, which promotes digital well-being for children. She is a former member of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple Leadership Program and Mattel Children’s Hospital’s Today and Tomorrow’s Children Fund.

Sabina is the founder and CEO of PQL Club, the first clothing brand designed to elevate sportswear for the game of pickleball. She is also a founding investor in Angel City Football Club, a professional women’s soccer team committed to equity and representation in sports.

Earlier in her career, Sabina spent over a decade in children’s media at Turner Broadcasting, where she most recently served as Executive Director of Brand Activations and Media Partnerships at Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Syracuse University. Sabina and her husband, David ’94, are the proud parents of three Brentwood students: Nina ’29, Alec ’31, and Nolan ’34.

Justin Griffin is Co-Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, the world’s largest law firm devoted solely to business litigation.  During his 20+ years as an attorney, Justin has litigated and tried complex commercial matters in state and federal courts across a broad range of practice areas including antitrust, fraud, breach of contract, trade secret, patent, and product liability. Justin’s clients include Hyundai Motor America, Kia America, Mubadala, and the Los Angeles Clippers. Prior to attending law school, Justin pursued a career as a professional baseball player—including multiple years in the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) organization. 

Justin holds an AB from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School) and a JD from Stanford Law School.  Justin and his wife, Kelly, are the parents of two Brentwood School students, Natalie ’28 and Nathan ’31.

Dan Stern is Chairman of Reservoir Capital Group, an investment firm which he founded in 1998. Prior to starting Reservoir, he was president of Ziff Brothers Investments in New York and an associate at Bass Brothers Enterprises in Fort Worth, TX. He has participated in building numerous asset management and operating companies in partnership with management teams including Starwood Capital and Starwood Hotels, Anchorage Advisors, Clearlake Capital, Restoration Hardware, and Och Ziff Management, among others.

He has served on both for-profit and not-for-profit boards, and is currently the Chairman of Film at Lincoln Center, a life trustee of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (PBS NY), and a trustee of Film Independent, among others.

Dan and his wife Nanna, a native of Denmark, have a son, Sebastian, who lives in Los Angeles, as well as two daughters, Isabella ’21 (SMU ’25) and Lilah ’32. Dan graduated with an AB in Economics from Harvard College and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Laura Dudley is a strategic and visionary leader with a proven track record of managing complex organizations and executing successful events. She has been planning and managing events for over 25 years. She founded the event planning company, The Big Event and Little Ones Too, which focuses on both nonprofit fundraising events as well as private events. She is also a dedicated community volunteer and has served on the board of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles for 13 years, the Rape Treatment Support Council, and Caring for Children and Families with AIDS, to name a few. Laura is passionate about helping women and children in the community and will roll up her sleeves and get involved any chance she can get.

Laura is the former Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and former Chair of the Brentwood School Parents Association. Prior to that she chaired the fundraising efforts on the PA Executive Board and was the Brentwood Fund Grade Captain for five years. Laura also chaired the Parents Association at Curtis School and co-chaired Annual Giving at Curtis for five years.

Laura received her BA in Communications with a minor in Spanish from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Laura and her husband, Randy, have three children: Jack ’20, Emma ’23, and Nate ’24. 

Adam Fisher is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of the Commonwealth Asset Management.

Over the last 18 years, Adam has successfully built and led numerous investment management practices across both public and private markets. Adam’s experience provides a unique input into the research framework at CWAM, where both liquid and illiquid market indicators are assessed to form a structural macro outlook and view of the cycle. Adam’s high conviction thesis on the digitization of the global economy and philosophy of investing behind durable macro trends spurred the expansion of CWAM’s investment universe to include Digital Assets, Digital Infrastructure and Opportunistic Privates.

Prior to launching Commonwealth, from 2017 to 2019, Adam served as the Global Head of Macro and Real Estate at Soros Fund Management (“Soros”). Prior to joining Soros, Adam founded and served as the CIO of Commonwealth Opportunity Capital (“CWOC”), a global macro hedge fund, from its inception in November 2008 until it began the process of returning capital to investors in July 2017 when the investment team moved to Soros. CWOC had approximately $2.3 billion AUM at its closing and 25 employees across 3 office locations. The firm offered two comingled global macro hedge funds as well as multiple co-investment opportunities in both the liquid and illiquid space.

Before CWOC, Adam co-founded Orient Property Group in 2006 focusing on investments throughout the Asia Pacific region and before that from 2003 to 2006, Adam co-founded Irongate Capital Partners (“Irongate”), a property investment and development firm. Irongate and its predecessor entity were involved in property transactions in Florida, California, Hawaii, Mexico, and Canada. Prior to founding Irongate, Adam worked in New York for two private equity firms, NMS Capital and TD Capital, as well as a risk arbitrage firm affiliated with Reservoir Capital. Well as multiple co-investment opportunities in both the liquid and illiquid space.

Adam holds a JD/MBA from Columbia University and serves on the Columbia University Richman Center for Business, Law and Public Policy Advisory Board. He received his B.S. from Washington University in St. Louis.

Danyelle Freeman is the Founder and CEO of Le Seul, the footwear brand reimagining couture through the lens of comfort and support. Le Seul was born from a deeply personal need: after a life-changing foot injury, Freeman discovered the absence of shoes that successfully combined orthotic innovation with high design. Determined to create a better solution, she developed a collection that merges sculptural silhouettes with hidden comfort features, including cushioned footbeds, sculpted arch support, and molded heel cups, crafted in Italy.

Working alongside Dr. David Hancock — a leading physiotherapist, former Nike Performance Board member, and performance director for the New York Knicks — Freeman integrated medical expertise with luxury craftsmanship. Guided by acclaimed designer Paul Andrew, she launched Le Seul as “comfort-first couture,” redefining what it means to wear heels with confidence.

Before founding Le Seul, Freeman built a pioneering career in media. She was the first non-anonymous restaurant critic at the New York Daily News and became nationally known as “Restaurant Girl,” appearing as an expert on Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America, Beat Bobby Flay, and Dr. Oz. She also served as Food Trends Contributor for People StyleWatch and authored Try This: Traveling the Globe Without Leaving the Table (Ecco/HarperCollins).

A graduate of Harvard College, Freeman serves on the boards of the 92nd Street Y, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, the Freeman Center for JLD at Duke University, and C-CAP. She recently relocated from New York to Los Angeles with her family.

Shakira Gagnier ’97, President of Brentwood School’s Alumni Association, is a seasoned HR, Talent, and Culture leader with a passion for driving organizational excellence and social impact. Most recently, she served as Human Capital & DEI Operating Partner at LightBay Capital, where she supported performance growth across 10+ portfolio companies and led the LightBay Foundation. Her prior roles include VP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Paradigm Talent Agency, Director of Learning & Development at WarnerMedia, VP of People & Engagement at Fullscreen/Otter Media, and Senior Manager of L&D at Universal Music Group.

At LightBay, Shakira launched a financial literacy initiative in partnership with Rock the Street, Wall Street, connecting women leaders in finance with students at the beloved Brentwood School and GALA (Girls Academic Leadership Academy). At Paradigm, she created Agents of Change, spotlighting BIPOC entrepreneurs in emerging fields like esports.  At WarnerMedia, she co-led key organizational efforts, including talent placement for the HBO Max streaming leadership team and the delivery of virtual development training to 20,000+ employees globally during COVID.  At Fullscreen, she launched IGNITE, a leadership accelerator that achieved 50% gender parity among emerging digital media leaders. At Universal Music Group, she served on the Women’s Network board, representing 500+ women across multiple labels. Deeply committed to community impact, Shakira serves on the boards of Project Optimism, which connects mentors with at-risk youth, and Open Paths, which provides mental health services to underserved communities.

Andy Howard '94 is Co-President, Partner, and a member of the Executive Committee of Shamrock Capital, a $7 billion asset manager focused on the media, entertainment, communications, sports, and education sectors. He currently serves on the boards of Nth Degree, Religion of Sports, Gate 52, Pixellot, and Branded Cities, and oversees several of Shamrock's current portfolio investments, including SpotOn, Canopy Spectrum, and Omega Wireless. Throughout his career, he has served on over a dozen other private company boards across the technology, media, wireless, and entertainment sectors. A strong advocate for health, wellness, and education, Andy serves on the boards or advisory councils of several organizations, including the Ronald McDonald Houses of Southern California, the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Foundation Board, the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and previously, the Independent School Alliance and the Stanford Alumni Association. He also currently sits on the advisory boards of the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology Sports Management program and the University of Southern California's Sports Next Level program.

A graduate of Stanford University, Andy lives in Brentwood with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children: Josh '24, Ryan '26, and Brooke '30.

Tamara Horwich is co-founder and co-director of the UCLA Women’s Cardiovascular Center, which focuses on clinical care, education, and research pertaining to heart disease in women, and medical director of UCLA’s Cardiac Rehabilitation program. She has ongoing research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and private foundations, studying topics such as stress and obesity in heart disease; these projects allow her to work with and mentor high school and college students who are interested in a career in medicine. 

A Los Angeles native, Tamara received her undergraduate degree in History from Brown University and her MD from Columbia University, then returned to Los Angeles for residency training at UCLA. Since finishing residency and fellowship, she has been a practicing cardiologist and faculty member in the school of medicine at UCLA. Tamara's husband, Gerry Lipshutz, is a physician scientist at UCLA, and they have two children, Zach ’25 and Jessica ’27.

Kate Ivers is a Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the GP Strategic Capital Investment Team. She shares broad responsibilities on the investment team, focusing much of her time on managing investor relationships.

Before joining Blue Owl, Kate was a Partner and Head of Business Development and Investor Relations at Antara Capital, an event-driven hedge fund manager. Prior to Antara, she spent over 11 years at Anchorage Capital Group, where she was a Managing Director and was responsible for business development and investor relations efforts across the US and APAC (Asia-Pacific) regions. Kate began her career at Lehman Brothers, in the Special Investments Group within the Investment Management Division.

Kate graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Public Policy. She is a member of the Komen Los Angeles Advisory Board. She and her husband Tim have two children: Jackson ’36 and Niki ’38.

Sherman Ma attended the University of Pennsylvania for both undergraduate and graduate studies after which he worked as a fixed income analyst and management consultant associate before founding a financial services business. He has experience with nonprofit organizations including as an independent school trustee and an emeritus member of an executive board at his alma mater. He and his wife have five children including three who are currently attending Brentwood School.

Morgan J. Mallory ’01 is a Deputy District Attorney employed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, prosecuting serious felony cases that include sex crimes, child abuse, domestic violence, and gang-related violent crimes. Seeking justice on behalf of victims is what she finds most rewarding about her job. While at Brentwood School, in addition to a focus on academics, Morgan participated in sports and student leadership throughout her Middle and Upper School experience. 

During her senior year at Brentwood, Morgan was on the varsity soccer team and was Senior Class President. She matriculated to the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2005 with a B.A. in Diplomatic History. While at Penn, Morgan was elected to serve on numerous university committees, served as a mentor, was a member of the Black Student League, and studied abroad for a semester in London. Morgan graduated from Loyola Law School in 2010 and while there was Co-President of the Black Law Student Association, served as a mentor in the Young Lawyers Program, studied abroad in South Africa, and received awards both from the law school and local bar associations. While in law school, Morgan volunteered for many organizations and government entities including the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, the United States Attorney’s Office, The United States District Court, The California Court of Appeal, Bet Tzedek Legal Services, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

As a practicing attorney, Morgan has worked as a volunteer prosecutor for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, and was a staff attorney for Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, where she represented parents in Juvenile Dependency matters. Currently Morgan serves on a number of boards for nonprofit and legal organizations; she is president of the board of the nonprofit Friendly House, which seeks to save and improve women's lives. Morgan enjoys spending time with her family, including her brothers, Brentwood alums Ryan Mallory ’04 and Cody Boulware ’08, and loves traveling around the world with her husband, Kevin.

Mickey Mandelbaum is currently one of 17 partners at Prosek Partners, a 450-person, privately held communications firm that works with some of the most prestigious financial and business services clients in the U.S. Mickey runs Prosek’s Los Angeles office and works with a wide range of clients to help them communicate effectively and clearly both on a day-to-day basis and during times of change or crisis.

Prior to Prosek, Mickey was the President of Muirfield Partners, a strategic corporate and financial communications firm which he founded in 2001 and ran until it was acquired by Prosek in 2016. Muirfield worked primarily with financial services-focused clients and on a wide variety of special-situation assignments, such as litigation support, M&A, restructuring, and other types of company-altering events. The firm’s clients included hedge funds, private equity firms, and traditional money managers, as well as a number of energy, technology, real estate, and manufacturing companies.

Before Muirfield, Mickey was the General Manager of the New York office of Connors Communications, a national technology-focused public relations firm. Prior to that he was a Vice President at Banco Santander in New York, where he helped run the bank’s U.S. corporate communications group and investor relations activities for the bank’s Latin American operations. Mickey began his communications career in 1990 in New York as an Associate at Kekst and Company, one of the nation’s leading financial communications and crisis firms.

Mickey holds a BA from Tufts University and a JD from Brooklyn Law School.

Spencer Neumann was named CFO of Netflix in January of 2019, applying his finance, strategy, and accounting experience to media, entertainment and service-oriented companies and continuing to build on the company’s track record of success and innovation.Spencer was previously CFO of Activision Blizzard and prior to that CFO and executive vice president of Global Guest Experience of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, among other positions at The Walt Disney Company (including executive vice president of the ABC Television Network and CFO of the Walt Disney Internet Group). Spencer also worked at the private equity firms of Providence Equity Partners and Summit Partners. He holds a B.A. in economics and an M.B.A, both from Harvard University.

Spencer brings more than 30 years of business experience across finance, operations, and investing, primarily within the entertainment industry. He has participated in both private and public for-profit boards, including nine years (completing his term limit) with Make-A-Wish America. His eldest son is a senior at Brentwood

Dr. Ana F. Ponce has served as the Executive Director of GPSN since 2019, leading the organization's efforts to ensure the Los Angeles public school system prepares all students to lead thriving adult lives.

Previously, Ana was CEO of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, a network of six charter schools and an early education center serving over 3,600 students in central Los Angeles. Her achievements led Forbes magazine to name her one of the world's seven most powerful educators in 2011.

The youngest daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first in her family to graduate college, Ponce holds degrees from Middlebury College, Columbia University, UCLA, and Loyola Marymount University.

She serves on numerous educational boards and organizations spanning Latino advocacy, inclusive education leadership, charter school support, and educational innovation, including UnidosUS, EdLoC, Advanced Education Research & Development Fund, Catholic Education Council of Los Angeles, California Charter Schools Association (CCSA), National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), and Brentwood School. 

Rebecca Rich is the Chief Administration Officer at Teach For All, a global network dedicated to fostering collective leadership to ensure every child reaches their full potential. She leads the organization’s legal, financial, technology, and human resource functions. Previously, Rebecca led the Network Growth team and served as Chief of Staff to the CEO. Early in her career, Rebecca served as a 6th grade teacher through Teach For America and subsequently worked at the New York City Department of Education.

Rebecca holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science in Teaching from Fordham University, and a Master of Public Policy with a focus on education policy from Georgetown University. 

Scott Sandler ’92  is a Senior Vice President and Private Wealth Advisor for Capital Group Private Client Services. Scott has over 18 years of financial services industry experience and joined Capital Group in 2014 in his current role. Prior to that, he was an Associate Director at ICG Advisors and a Vice President at Zenith National Insurance Corp. A former college basketball coach, Scott holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia Business School, an M.S. in Advertising from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.  Scott served as President of the Brentwood School Alumni Association from 2019–21 and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles and Center Theatre Group. His wife Betsy teaches 6th grade at Brentwood and they have two children. 

Elana Rodan Schuldt serves as President & CEO of the Rodan Family Foundation, where she leads strategic, evidence-based giving toward the foundation’s goals. Elana serves on multiple nonprofit boards, including EarlyJ, the Jewish Community Foundation, and Visionary Women. Before this, Elana worked for nearly 10 years at skincare brand Rodan + Fields, with a focus on digital marketing. Elana and her husband Eli have two children — Ella ’32 and Harlan (Brawerman ’35). Elana holds a BS in Human Development from the University of California, Davis.

Allison Abell Schwartz ’97 is the Brentwood School Parents Association Co-Chair for the East Campus. She has served previously as the West Campus Co-Chair of the Parents Association, the Parents Association President and its Vice President of the Lower School, and as a member of the Parents Association Executive Board for the last six years. Allison also served on Brentwood’s Alumni Executive Board. She is the founder and owner of All Sorted Organizing, a company dedicated to assisting individuals and businesses declutter and improve their organizational systems. Earlier in her career, Allison was a financial reporter for Bloomberg News, covering publicly traded apparel companies. She also served as a financial systems sales representative and managed a team in the financial analytics department of Bloomberg LP. 

Allison received a B.A. in English Literature from Columbia University. She served on the Board of Trustees of University Synagogue for four years, and as the Vice President of Education for two of those years, overseeing programming, advancement, and parent involvement for the preschool and religious school. Allison and her husband Matt have two children, Dylan ’28 and Lexi ’31.

Ricky Seung ’93 is the founder and President of Kousa International, a Los Angeles-based umbrella company which houses and runs three major divisions. The Paper Division is one of the largest traders of paper products in North America, trading in excess of 200,000 tons annually. The Wind Energy Division is a leading global supplier of wind towers, supplying steel tubular towers to most of the major wind turbine manufacturers around the world. The Logistics Division is a freight forwarding company providing global logistics services, handling a capacity of over 1,000 containers a month.

Additionally, Mr. Seung serves as the Managing Member of JR&K Properties, a real estate development, investment, and management company focused on multifamily properties in Southern California.

Prior to founding Kousa International in 2005, Mr. Seung was a Vice President of the Castling Group, an e-business accelerator that has helped build leading internet businesses. In his capacity as Vice President of the Castling Group, Mr. Seung was responsible for business development and investment efforts in the internet and technology industries. Mr. Seung was also a member of CIBC World Markets’ Real Estate Investment Banking Group in New York City, handling transactions in corporate merger and acquisitions, equity and debt offerings and other real estate and corporate advisory assignments. Mr. Seung began his career as a member of Lehman Brothers' mortgage back securities sales and trading group.

Mr. Seung plays an active role in the community, with a focus on community health. He is the Vice Chair and Chair of the Finance Committee on the Board of Directors of the Kheir Clinic, a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center that provides services at five different locations in five different languages for the underserved and uninsured. He also sits on the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Board of Governors Leadership Cabinet and their Board of Counselors. Additionally, Mr. Seung is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, a worldwide leadership network of chief executives.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Mr. Seung was raised in Los Angeles. He attended Brentwood School and Boston College, graduating with a BS in finance and computer science. He is married to Christine (Lee) Seung, and they are parents to a daughter, Téa Lee Seung. They reside in Century City and are members of Hillcrest Country Club.

Nina Zinterhofer Stanford was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Rumson, NJ.  She graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nina began her career in finance in New York at J.P. Morgan in the mergers and acquisitions advisory group. After graduating Harvard Business School, she became Director in Corporate Development at BMG Entertainment, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG.  Subsequently, she joined Allen & Company, focusing on investing the Firm’s capital as well as advisory mandates. 

After having children, Nina and her husband relocated from New York to San Francisco.  She took time off to focus on raising her two daughters, and then began investing, mainly in early stage technology companies. Nina co-chaired the Bay Area Advisory Council of Common Sense Media and served as a Trustee for The Hamlin School. Nina and her husband Scott moved with their girls to Los Angeles in 2018. Nina recently joined the Board of Governors at Cedars Sinai. She has also become involved with the XPRIZE Foundation.

Nina and her husband Scott currently live in Brentwood with their two daughters, Chase '22 (UPenn '26) and Chloe '24 (UPenn '28). Nina enjoys skiing, playing tennis, golf, traveling, and spending time with family on both coasts.

Tal K. Taylor serves as Brentwood School Parents Association Co-Chair for the West Campus and previously served as President and Vice President of the Lower School. She has also been a member of the Parents Association Executive Board for the past three years and the Advancement Committee for the past four years. Tal is an employment attorney, advising employers on developing effective workplace policies and mitigating risk. She also acts as a neutral third-party workplace investigator, probing allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Tal previously spent 20 years as a litigator, focusing on employment, business, medical malpractice, and general liability matters throughout California.

Tal earned her B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego, and her J.D. from Loyola Law School. She and her husband Matt have two children attending Brentwood School.

Jeremy Wenokur is partner and co-founder of Lightbox Ventures. Lightbox is an early stage venture fund focused on Indian consumer technology companies. Additionally, Jeremy is a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School teaching classes on Venture Capital.

Previously, Jeremy led Corporate Development for Google and was responsible for its acquisitions, investments, and new business initiatives. He co-founded Newhoo/ODP, one of the first user generated content businesses which he sold to Netscape/AOL.  

Jeremy is a graduate of the NYU School of Law with an LLM in Taxation, the University of Michigan School of Law, and the University of Utah. He and his wife, Hila, have two sons at Brentwood.

Sam Yadegar is a manager of multiple LLC’s in his family office. Since 1996 he has invested in and is responsible for all aspects of acquisition, development, repositioning and management of residential and commercial properties throughout Los Angeles County. He received his JD from Whittier Law School and obtained a BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Sam and his wife Tracy live in Brentwood. He is actively involved in the neighborhood as he serves on the Brentwood Community Council. They have three children, Audrey ’25, Alexa ’28 and Asher. Sam enjoys spending time with his family and loves to ski, swim, bike, hike and play tennis.