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Board of Trustees

As the guardian of the school’s mission, the Board is responsible for ensuring the mission remains relevant and vital to the community. The Board is made of up nine members who come from various professional backgrounds to support the school’s mission and strategic goals. As a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Lake Tahoe School Board adheres to NAIS’ standards and procedures. The Board’s work is long range, strategic and carried out by various committees and task forces. The Board sets the vision and goals for the school and provides oversight for the Head of School, who executes the operational strategy to achieve these visions and goals. In short, the Board is responsible for the long-term health and strategy of the school. The Board is not responsible for curriculum nor operational matters.

Board of Trustees Officers 2024-2025

James Sohn, Chair
Jenny Molinelli, Vice Chair
Kendra Wong, Treasurer
Amanda McLeod, Secretary

James Sohn, Chair

James Sohn has served the Los Angeles Unified School District, City College of San Francisco, New York City Housing Authority and the State of New York. He holds degrees in educational facilities management, business, war studies and political science. He is a partner in a small governmental consultancy based in New York. James is father to Elijah and Genevieve and spouse to Marsha. They are long-term Incline Village residents.

Jenny Molinelli, Vice Chair

Jenny is the SVP of People & Operations at Ridgeline, a FinTech company headquartered in Incline Village. Prior to Ridgeline, Jenny spent 7 years at Facebook, where she led teams and programs for scaling engineering and infrastructure. Her other experience includes roles with Dell and Schreiber Foods. Jenny earned a B.A. in Engineering from Lafayette College and an MBA with a concentration in Supply Chain Management from Penn State University. Jenny and her husband Joe joined the Incline Village community in 2016 and have one son who is enrolled at Lake Tahoe School. Seeing the impact of her mother who taught 1st Grade for over 40 years and her sister who is a high school instructional design coach, Jenny is excited to contribute to the long-term success of LTS as part of the Board.

Kendra Wong, Treasurer

Kendra Wong is currently the Principal Accounting Officer at LENSAR, Inc. Prior to joining LENSAR, she served as the Assistant Corporate Controller, Subsidiary Operations for PDL BioPharma, Inc., at the time, based in Incline Village, and LENSAR’s former parent company. Prior to PDL, Kendra served as a finance and accounting consultant for pharmaceutical companies. Kendra began her career at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP providing audit and business advisory services, primarily in the life science and venture capital industries. She is a Certified Public Accountant and an Associate Professor Emeritus at University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe, formerly Sierra Nevada University. Kendra received a B.S. in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis and an M.B.A. from Arizona State University. Kendra and her husband, Ethan, met at the Mountain Course and have lived in Incline Village for over 20 years.

Amanda McLeod, Secretary

Amanda McLeod is the Director of Revenue Operations for Karbon, a practice management software company founded by her husband Stuart. Originally from Australia, Amanda earned a Bachelor of Arts (Chinese)/ LLB (hons) from Melbourne University and was an attorney specializing in International Tax and Transactions with a focus on mergers and acquisitions in Melbourne Australia. Amanda, her husband Stuart, and their children moved to the Bay Area in 2012 and they have been members of the Incline Village community since 2018. Her children Georgia, Martha, and Archibald are all current students of Lake Tahoe School.

Amy Berry

Amy Berry is the CEO of the Tahoe Fund, where she leads efforts to secure private funding and support from individuals, foundations, and corporations for environmental improvement projects that will restore and enhance Lake Tahoe. Prior to joining the Tahoe Fund, Amy was director of marketing and communications for the North American arm of renewable energy giant ACCIONA. In this role, she was a member of the management committee and responsible for corporate branding, internal communications, and product marketing. She earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University before moving to New York City to start her career in advertising. In 2003 she wised up and moved West to Lake Tahoe. She can often be found outside enjoying the hiking, biking and ski trails of the area. Amy has one daughter who is an LTS alumni.

Robert Bryan

Robert (Bob) Bryan is a career independent school teacher and leader. Except for the time he attended graduate school followed by a year of teaching English and American Culture in Sichuan, PRC, he has served six independent schools in a variety of capacities. As a leader, Bob has been a department chair, division head, director of studies, and assistant/associate head, and brings a wide-angle perspective to the business of school leadership. Currently, as Associate Head of School, Bob sits on the Finance, Building and Grounds, and Strategic Visioning Board committees at Viewpoint School. He earned his BA in Comparative Religion from SMU, and his MA in Modern Chinese History from UW-Madison. Bob and his wife Joyce live in Woodland Hills, California, not far away from their son Benjamin who also resides in the LA area.

Pete Garcia

Pete Garcia is currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO), of ALX Oncology Holdings Inc. Prior to ALX Oncology, he was CFO of PDL Biopharma, Inc., at the time, the only publicly-traded company located in Incline Village. He has over 25 years of experience as a CFO having raised over $2 billion for public and private biotechnology companies. Prior to becoming a CFO, he was a senior finance executive with Amgen Inc. Pete holds a B.A. in economics and sociology with honors from Stanford University and an MBA with an emphasis in finance and accounting from UCLA. He is the chairperson for Stanford University’s Northern Nevada OVAL program which interviews prospective high school applicants and previously served as Site Council chair and other volunteer positions in the Palo Alto Unified School District, and as Director of Palo Alto National Junior Basketball.

Pete and his wife, Kim, lived in Palo Alto for 17 years prior to moving to Incline Village in 2013. They have 3 adult children, all of whom reside in California.

Ryan Hyslop

Ryan currently serves as Managing Partner at Sierra Pacific Wealth Management, based out of Incline Village, NV, with offices throughout the southwest. He holds the CFP designation and currently serves as the Finance Committee Chair. Prior to the wealth management industry, Ryan spent 12 years on active duty in the United States Navy serving as a Naval Aviator. He completed two combat tours serving aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) during Operation Enduring Freedom and aboard USS HARRY S TRUMAN (CVN-75) during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In his military career, Ryan amassed nearly 3,000 flight hours and 256 carrier landings in the F-14, C-2, and T-45. Ryan fully retired honorably from the United States Naval Reserves after 21 years of service.

Ryan graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a B.S. in Finance and Economics. He completed his graduate work at the Harvard Business School and is an active member of the HBS Alumni Association. Ryan and his wife Carly live in Incline Village, NV, with their two young daughters, who have attended LTS since PreK. In his free time, you may find Ryan hiking or running with his two Old English Sheepdogs, Archie and Ruby. In addition, Ryan is an avid skier, cyclist and golfer.

Zary Tavakoli

Zary Tavakoli, MD is a Family Physician with a diverse background and extensive career in medical education. Born in Tehran, Iran, her family migrated to Europe in 1979, and she received her early education in various countries, including Spain, England, Austria and the United States. Zary graduated from Ross University School of Medicine in 2001, completing her residency in 2004 and serving as Chief Resident in her final year. Upon completion of her residency at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Zary joined the Department of family Medicine at Drexel University as assistant professor of Medicine. In 2010, Zary moved to Lexington Kentucky, where she became the first female Clinical Director at a Federal medical center. In this role, she held numerous leadership positions, including Chairwoman of over 14 medical bodies and departments. She also managed a significant budget, allocation and managing approximately $36M. In 2020-2021, Zary returned to medical training and completed a fellowship in Hospice Palliative Medicine, demonstrating her dedication to lifelong love of learning, service and community. Presently Dr. Tavakoli works at the VA in Reno where she is passionate about delivering quality primary care to the veteran population. She is presently obtaining specific certification in Geriatric Medicine. She lives between Reno and Incline Village with her husband "Coach E" Eric Ostertag, MD, PhD. and their daughter Kora Ostetag, a student at LTS.

Robert E. Graves (ex officio)

Head of School at Lake Tahoe School, Bob Graves has been involved with independent school education for over forty years in locales as diverse as California, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Virginia, and Nevada. Beginning his career as a history teacher and coach, he has also been a Dean of Students, and Upper School Director, prior to his tenures as Head of School. Mr. Graves holds both B.A. and M.A.T. degrees in history from the University of California, Davis.