The NESS Board of Directors

STEVEN ADAMOWSKI, PhD

(2022) Dr. Steven Adamowski is a career education leader who has a long record for creating equity, increasing opportunity, and closing achievement gaps for all students at scale. Steven is presently an Adjunct Faculty member of the Executive Leadership Program at The University of Connecticut, Neag School of Education. Over a distinguished career, Steven has served as Superintendent of Schools in both Hartford and Norwalk and he was the State of Connecticut’s Special Master for low performing school districts. He also served as Superintendent of Schools in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also a Senior Fellow at the American Institutes for Research.

MARK ADAMS

(2018) Mark spent 12 years at Johnson and Johnson in accounting, operations, product management, and then international marketing. In 1993 Mark worked with Warburg Pincus, a venture capital firm, in acquiring a small medical device company as its President and CEO. Mark then worked over the next 20 years with other venture firms such as Bain Capital and First Chicago. Between CEO assignments in 2001, he personally acquired the frozen pizza business of Mystic Pizza.

BRAD AGLE, PhD

(2021) Brad is the George W. Romney Endowed Professor, and Professor of Ethics and Leadership in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University (BYU). He is the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist at Merit Leadership. Previous to his appointment at BYU, he spent 17 years as a professor of Strategy, Organizations, and Environment in the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburg., PhD

KATHERINE BALLARD

(2019) Katherine is the former Dean of Faculty of the Loomis Chafee School. Throughout her 19-year career at Loomis, she served in capacities including being a master teacher of French, Department Chair, and Associate Dean of Faculty.

CAL BUXTON

(2020) Cal is a Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor for UBS Financial Services in New London, CT. He is a former Senior Portfolio Manager at the Private Bank of Bank of America, and has held senior positions at Fleet Bank, The Washington Trust Company, and Peterborough Savings Bank.

KEVIN COSTELLO (Treasurer)

(2018) Kevin is the Chief Financial Officer for Umoja Supply Chain Solutions and serves as an advisor to other high-growth companies. Kevin previously launched the East Region for Metropolitan Capital and worked in corporate strategy with Avison Young, a private-equity-backed commercial real estate services firm.

BILL FOLLETT

(2014) Bill founded and serves as Chairman of Dotcom Distribution a leading e-commerce fulfillment company. He retired from active office duties and moved to Stonington in 2013. Prior to Dotcom, Bill had a successful career as a senior executive in the video communications, replication, and distribution industry. From 1999 – 2006 Bill served as Chairman of Lighthouse International in NYC and in 1982 was a founder of Vision Fund of America, a video industry charity supporting people suffering with low vision.

HELEN ANN GARTEN

(2021) Helen spent 30 years as a law professor at Rutgers Law School where she taught Banking Regulation and Securities Law. Helen previously served on the Westport, CT Board of Selectmen and as Chair of the Board of Finance and is a former trustee of Earthplace, a 26-acre wildlife sanctuary and environmental learning center.

BRIAN GINEO

(2021) Brian is the head of Cost Management for CVS Caremark and has previously held multiple finance leadership roles with the company. Prior to CVS Brian spent 6 years as an Officer in the US Air Force.

CARTER GOWRIE

(2022) Carter is the founding partner of the Gowrie Group, which he started in 1974. He quickly grew GG to become one of the Top 50 insurance agencies and top marine insurance agencies in the nation.  Additionally, Carter was the architect of the highly successful “Burgee Program” which is Gowrie’s specialty insurance for yacht clubs and sailing organizations and today they insure more than 1,000 clubs nationally.

ALLEGRA GRIFFITHS

(2013) Allegra spent over a decade in commercial banking, most recently as a Director of Bank of Montreal’s New York-based media and telecommunications group.

STEVE HAZARD (Vice Chairman)

(2009) Steve is a retired tax attorney now living in Stonington, While practicing law, Steve served as general counsel to mid-sized companies, including non-profits. He was the founder and managing partner of the Pepe & Hazard law firm which grew from three to 85 attorneys before merging with a national firm. Steve has always had an interest in K-12 education. He worked with Dean Kamen in the organization of US FIRST, an entity known for its robotics competitions. Steve is a Trustee Emeritus of Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford.

MICHAEL HENNESSY

(2015) Michael is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley where he has held a wide variety of roles. He is currently the Head of Operational Risk.

ERIC ISSELHARDT, PhD (CEO)

(2022) Eric Isselhardt, PhD, is a senior executive with over 35 years of leadership experience in both non-profit and for-profit education venues as C.E.O., Executive Director, and C.A.O. of education-based organizations. His work mostly focused on inner-city learners, problem-based-learning pedagogical development and delivery, virtual and blended learning, organization culture, and systemic reform—all designed to increase student achievement. His leadership philosophy is based on distributed leadership theory, teamwork, consensus building, and accountability, motivating a shared core mission into tactical actions. He has an education practitioner’s perspective balanced with a practical business understanding that he applies in all of his leadership positions. The use of creative approaches to problem solving, effective strategic planning processes, collaborative management, and a drive for excellence leading to innovative and entrepreneurial market-leading mission-derived programs all characterize his transformational work.

In addition to those professional descriptors, Eric has a PhD and MS in Educational Administration and Policy Studies, and a BA in Chinese Language and Philosophy. Eric grew up sailing small boats, and he lived on his Beneteau 43 for ten years, extensively sailing the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding region with his daughter usually at the helm and their Kerry Blue Terrier getting underfoot at the most inopportune moments.

JANE LEIPOLD

(2017) Jane is an accomplished global executive with well over 30 years of business experience in engineering, operations, and human resources. Currently Jane is president of JAL Executive HR Consulting, LLC. Previously she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for TE Connectivity.

SPIKE LOBDELL (Chairman)

(2004) Spike is the Founder of NESS. He has been President & CEO since 2008 and has been the principal driver of its strategy. Spike was named the Ocean State Chamber of Commerce 2021 Citizen of the Year in recognition of his leadership of NESS. Formerly CEO of XL Capital’s non-insurance operations, Spike worked at JP Morgan for 27 years in various senior management capacities across the firm.

YVETTE RAMOS, Ed.D., MBA

(2023) Dr. Yvette Ramos is a credentialed bilingual high school Math and Science educator, test preparation expert, and administrator with 28 years of experience in public and private schools. Dr. Ramos specializes in curriculum design and has a passion for helping English Language Learners succeed through quality and culturally appropriate instruction. 

Dr. Ramos has served on several boards and currently serves as the Chief Academic Officer and CEO of Innovative Learning Consultants, an education company specializing in curriculum design and development, as well as differentiated instruction. Her mission is to help make exceptional educational opportunities available to all students and professionals in order to enrich their learning journey.

MICHAEL "DUKE" SAVAGE

(2010) Duke is of counsel to the New York law firm of Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference, LLP, specializing in mergers and acquisitions and tax law.

PETER WILD

(2018) Peter Wild is a retired advertising executive and media startup founder, now engaged in the non-profit sector. He currently heads the marketing committee at NESS and serves as executive director of a New Jersey-based foundation. A veteran of distance ocean racing and cruising, he resonates deeply with NESS’s strategy of introducing youth to the water as a medium of enjoyment, camaraderie, and learning. Peter and his wife Kay live in Stonington, which for many years served as his cruising base.