Board of Directors
A board of directors governs Chicago Friends School. The executive committee includes two co-clerks (co-chairs), a recording clerk, and the board’s treasurer. Subcommittees of the board carry out the school’s business in governance, finance, marketing, and advancement. The board holds online meetings every other month. The meetings are open, by appointment, to Chicago Friends School parents, staff, committee members, and friends of the school. The board adopts school policies and is legally responsible for the financial health and operation of the school.
Director Biographies
Denise Coffin is a Quaker educator who grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago, the daughter of two public school teachers. A member of Bethesda Friends Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, Denise has a deep curiosity about the intersection of a Friends education, academic/artistic/athletic excellence, and Quaker practice. She has facilitated professional learning with several Quaker schools around the country as they explore ways they might tap into their own Quaker identity as a powerful teaching and learning tool. Denise is also a member of the Project Zero (Harvard Graduate School of Education) faculty, teaching and coaching online courses that focus on building school and classroom cultures of thinking. In this role, she works with teachers around the world as they learn about the power of making thinking visible, documentation, and teaching for understanding. Denise has been a kindergarten teacher at Sidwell Friends School for 20 years, where she also serves as the Quaker education clerk.
Rebecca Conant is a Chicago-area educator and lifelong Quaker. She was born into the 57th Street Meeting and raised in Quaker meetings around Chicago. She is a member of Clear Creek Friends Meeting in McNabb, Illinois. She has spent most of her professional career in the field of education at museums and other nonprofits (including Grande Prairie Public Library, The Field Museum, The Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Adler Planetarium, and the Lincoln Park Conservancy). She also had her own classroom at Near North Montessori, where she taught middle school science. Rebecca has a BS in geology, art history and studio art, an MS in environmental biology, and an MPA in nonprofit management.
Jane Fremon (Co-clerk) grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, the youngest of four children in a family deeply committed to education. A 1975 graduate of Princeton University, she was a member of the second class of women ever to matriculate there. Her master’s degree is from Bank Street School of Education. After working as a teacher, Jane spearheaded the effort to bring a Friends School to Princeton and served as head there for 31 years. She now works as a consultant to schools and serves on the board of Friends Council of Education. Jane’s writings on Quaker education and pedagogy have been published by Friends Council on Education, Friends Journal, and Independent School Magazine.
Hamish Fyfe (Treasurer) grew up on the East Coast, attending Princeton Friends School in the elementary and middle school years, and Brooklyn Friends School for high school. Hamish graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in philosophy, then got an office job and was shocked to discover that he enjoyed accounting. He bounced around audit, tax, and industry for a decade before focusing specifically on finance at nonprofit organizations. He received his MBA from John Carroll University and serves as the financial controller at Howard Brown Health. Hamish lives in Rogers Park with his husband and daughter.
Mary Ellen Isaacs (Co-clerk) is a retired educator and a Quaker. She has been a learning disabilities teacher, educational diagnostician, and non-profit executive, with a primary focus on literacy acquisition. She completed a masters degree in Learning Disabilities at Northwestern University (1979), and a Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Studies at University of Texas at Austin (1996). For 25 years, until her retirement in 2022, she directed Literacy First in Austin, TX, a bilingual early literacy intervention program that ensures all students are proficient readers by third grade. Literacy First engages national service (AmeriCorps) volunteers and adults from the school communities as highly trained literacy tutors for K-2nd grade students in low-income schools. Mary Ellen and her husband, Ted, live in Wilmette, IL. They have been members of Quaker meetings in Brooklyn, NY; Durham, NC; and Austin, TX.
Neil Lichtman, who grew up in the Jewish faith, attended Quaker schools in New Jersey; Haddonfield Friends School through 6th grade, and Moorestown Friends School through 12th grade. He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. A Unitarian Universalist, Neil has been president of the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church and co-chair of their capital campaign, and he is co-chair of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Generosity Network. His business career was primarily in advertising, marketing, and business strategy, with 23 years at Leo Burnett and eight years at Maddock Douglas.
Alyssa Vejendla is a former teacher who was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. Her time at DePaul University receiving her teaching degree cemented the desire to stay local to her roots, largely informed by her experience working with youth in neighborhoods across the city. Alyssa taught in charter, public, and independent schools over her career — most recently at Chicago Friends School. Alyssa likes to think that she is still teaching, as she has joined the family business in helping seniors navigate the Medicare process. Alyssa does not currently have a religious affiliation, but learned a deep appreciation for Quakerism during her time at CFS and is passionate about progressive education. Alyssa resides in Chicago with her spouse and is regularly involved in the Chicago Friends School community.
Anne Walchak is a former middle school teacher and assistant principal who works as an instructional coach for teachers and school leaders across several Chicago schools. Anne holds a BSEd from Loyola University Chicago and an MA from DePaul University. Her work in different education settings – public, private, outpatient hospitalization programs, and step-down programs – has made her a strong supporter of progressive education models. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Youssef, and child, Rami. Theirs is an interfaith family, but Anne and Youssef feel very connected to Quaker values.
John Zimmerman has been working in Friends education for almost 25 years, the majority of his time being spent at Princeton Friends School in a variety of jobs, from after-school to Director of Admissions. He is currently the Head of School at Scattergood Friends School in West Branch, IA. John also has an extensive background in theater and brings his creative collaborative approach to bear on the problems facing small Quaker schools.