LAEF Officers & Board Members

Board members as of April 10, 2008

Jill Myers — President
Term ends: 2012
Jill Myers, of West Amwell, earned a degree in Human Development and Counseling from the University of Rhode Island.  Jill worked as a Human Resources Generalist for Opinion Research Corporation, in Princeton, and Mary Kay, Inc., in Somerset, before deciding to become a full-time homemaker.  In 2001, she moved from South Brunswick to West Amwell with her husband, Todd, and their three children, Amanda, now in 8th grade at South Hunterdon Regional, and twins Jack and Eric, now in 5th grade at West Amwell School. Jill’s volunteerism has included work with the West Amwell School PTO, which she served as President for two years, service as Co-Chair of the Community Outreach Committee during the 2005 South Hunterdon Regional referendum campaign and extensive activities with the LAEF.  Currently, Jill works as a fitness instructor.   

Kathy Ferry — Vice-President
Term ends: 2014
Kathy Ferry is a 2nd grade teacher with a Masters degree in Elementary Education. Her husband, Will, is a social studies supervisor and a member of the LPS Board of Education. She has two children, Patrick and Shannon, who attend Lambertville Public School. Kathy is a strong supporter of innovative educational programs and has been an LAEF board member since 2000. In addition to her activites with the Foundation, Kathy also devotes time to the Lambertville community by coaching cheerleading, teaching religious education, leading her daughter?s Brownie troop and as an active member of the PTA.

Michelene Assad — Vice-President
Term ends: 2014
Michelene Assad is Senior Director of Total Data Solutions at Ventiv Sales and Marketing, based in Somerset, New Jersey, where she has continued to build on a long, successful career in management, data analysis, and business problem-solving. A graduate of Rutgers University where she earned a BA in Sociology with a concentration in Business, she went on to earn an AAS in Computer Information Systems from DeVry University. Michelene moved to West Amwell with her husband Richard in 2001. They have two daughters, Jasmine and Vanessa Jade, who both attend West Amwell Elementary School. Michelene brings her extensive experience in data management to her work with the LAEF board.

Rich Tettemer — Treasurer
Term ends: 2013
Rich Tettemer was raised in Lambertville and attended both Lambertville Public School and SHRHS. After living together in Lambertville for six years, Rich and his wife, Deborah, moved to West Amwell in 1989. They have two sons, Zachary, who attends SHRHS, and Nathaniel, a student at West Amwell Elementary School. Rich works as an Operations Manager at Dendrite International in Bedminster, NJ, where he administers client relationships for all functional areas, services and projects for select corporate clients. He has an AAS degree in Computer Science and Data Processing from Mercer County Community College and is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute in Pennsylvania. Rich joined the LAEF in 2004 in order to work together with our schools to provide an exceptional learning experience for all the children in our community. In his capacity as the Foundation's treasurer, Rich issues checks for grants and tracks the flow of financial data.

Kathrine Hunt — Secretary
Term ends: 2012
Katherine Hunt, of Stockton, is an environmental attorney for the State of New Jersey. She grew up on Long Island before attending Hood College and Western New England College School of Law. She and her husband Tom, a Lambertville native, have lived in Stockton for 11 years. Their children attend Stockton School, Leah in 6th grade and James in 3rd grade.

Gina Davio
Term ends: 2014

Gina Davio is Program Director of Social Services at Fisherman's Mark, located in Lambertville, NJ. Gina graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in Psychology.  It wasn’t until many careers later, that she accepted the position of Latino Outreach Coordinator at Fisherman's Mark, where she found her niche in community building programs and Latino Culture. Gina lives in Lambertville with her daughter Isabella, who is a third grader at LPS.  Free time is spent enjoying the town of Lambertville on bike and visiting the many local farms in our area.  Gina brings her passion and experience in Community Building, Non-profits, and Latino Culture to the Foundation.

Meg Eichman
Term ends: 2012
Dr. Meg Eichman is a Family Physician at Phillips Barber Family Health Center and Faculty Physician for Hunterdon Medical Center. She was born in Philadelphia and attended St. Joseph's University and Jefferson Medical College before doing her residency at the University of Cincinnati. She assumed her position at Phillips Barber in 1992 and moved to Stockton in 1993. Meg and her husband, Tom Emge, a Rutgers University chemist, are the parents of James Emge and Maggie Emge. She has focused most of her own volunteer activities on youth, including leadership of Girl Scout troops and work with the Stockton School Parent Teachers Organization, where she served as a member for ten years, some of that time as president.

Audrey Frankowski
Term ends: 2010
Audrey Frankowski joined the LAEF board in 1996, serving initially as Treasurer and currently as Chair of the Program Committee, which reviews grant requests from teachers. She received her undergraduate degree in Theater Arts and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Performing Arts Management. After working in NYC and on-the-road with theater productions, Audrey and her husband, Rich, a theatrical technical director, settled in Lambertville. Their daughter is now a graduating senior and their son a 7th grader at SHRHS, and often over the years all four members of Audrey's family have worked together on the same school production. Through LAEF grants, this is Audrey?s fifth year directing 3rd and 4th grade LPS students in a play by Shakespeare for performances before the entire school and community. Audrey recently directed an outstanding performance of Gilbert and Sullivan?s The Pirates of Penzance at SHRHS. Though her main reason for joining LAEF was to help fund ?wish list? experiences for our students that could not be funded in the traditional way, her strong belief that the arts are critical to a child?s education has led her to focus particularly on bringing excellent opportunities to experience the arts to our schools.

Cynthia Jahn
Term ends: 2012
Cyndy Jahn is assistant executive director and general counsel of the New Jersey School Boards Association in Trenton. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, she moved to the Lambertville area in 1983 and to her current home in Lambertville in 2006. Cyndy was educated at the State University of New York at Albany and Rutgers University School of Law at Camden. She worked for the Legal Aid Society of Mercer County and in private practice before assuming her present position at the School Boards Association, an organization that works on behalf of all school boards in the state. Her daughter, Caitlyn Shoemaker, is a student at South Hunterdon Regional High School.

Dana Kurtbek
Term ends: 2009
Dana Kurtbek became an LAEF board member in 2000, and since that time she has been instrumental to the success of many Foundation projects. She currently serves as chair of the Transition Subcommittee of the Program Committee and, in that capacity, she helps facilitate teacher-generated grants focusing on the transition grades, i.e. 6th through 8th grades. 

Nora Lewis
Term ends: 2012

Phil Mackey
Term ends: 2011
Phil Mackey helped found the LAEF, and he is a charter member of its board. An education researcher, consultant and writer, he has lived in Lambertville for 18 years. Phil received a Ph.D in History from the University of Pennsylvania, taught at Rutgers University and was an executive with the New Jersey School Boards Association before becoming a private consultant. His many books include Your Public Schools: What You Can Do To Help Them and three editions of New Jersey?s Public Schools: A Biennial Report for the People of New Jersey. Phil brings his extensive knowledge of educational issues and his passion for excellence to his work with the Foundation. He is also a member of the Lambertville Zoning Board of Adjustment. Phil currently serves as Chair of the Public Relations Committee.

Chris Morgan
Term ends: 2010
Chris Morgan has lived in the Lambertville area since 2005, most recently in West Amwell. He has four children, including two school-aged children who have attended both LPS and West Amwell Elementary. Chris is a graduate of Lehigh University and the President and CEO of Corbeau Technologies, Inc., the software consulting firm that he founded to provide services to the financial industry. In addition to activities related to LAEF, Chris serves as a Trustee on the Hunterdon Medical System Board and volunteers his time coaching youth sports. The beneficiary of a great public education, he hopes to leverage his experiences to enrich the education and lives of  others.

Andrew Nowick
Term ends: 2014
Andrew Nowick lives in Lambertville with his partner Paul Scoggins and their three boys: Emerson, Henry and Riley. The family recently moved from West Amwell where they lived for seven years and where Andrew served on both the Open Space Committee and the Environmental Commission. Two of the couple’s children are at LPS: Emerson is in 3rd grade and Henry is in 2nd grade. Their son Riley will begin Kindergarten in 2012. Andrew is a Massachusetts native who earned a BA in English from Hunter College in New York City. Education has always been a high priority of his and he hopes to set a good example for his children and his community by working tirelessly with the LAEF to further the educational enrichment of our children as well as support our local educators and administrators.

Julie Proulx
Term ends: 2014

Melissa Ruby-Horan
Term ends: 2013

Melissa Ruby-Horan joined the LAEF this year.  She is a Senior Fragrance Development Manager for Firmenich, Inc., a Global Flavor and Fragrance company, based in Geneva, Switzerland, where she has worked for the past fifteen years managing multinational product development projects.  She has a Sociology degree with a Human Services Concentration from Rowan University.  Melissa has lived in Lambertville with her husband Karl since 2001.  They have two children: Zoe (1st grade LPS) and Oliver (age 3).  Melissa currently sits on the LPS PTA Board as the Liaison to the LAEF.  Melissa brings the passion she has for philanthropic causes to the LAEF agenda.

Megan Ruf
Term ends: 2013

Former Presidents

Ed Berchtold
Ed Berchtold grew up in Pennington, New Jersey and moved to Lambertville with his wife, Pam in 1982. Their two children attended Lambertville Public School and are currently in college. Ed was the Charter Treasurer of the LEF and also served as President from 1995 to 1999. He became a board member in the hope of helping to fund new and innovative technology programs unavailable to the school at that time. While successful in these efforts, Ed's two favorite grants during his tenure on the board were Dolores Dragan's "String of Pearls" and the all-school production of "Fiddler on the Roof". In 1999, Ed left the Foundation to serve a three-year term as a member of the Lambertville Board of Education.

Bob Dahl
Bob Dahl joined the LEF board in 1994, and he served as its President from 1999 to 2002. He has lived in Lambertville with his wife, Barbara Fordyce, and their two children since 1986. A life-long New Jersey resident, Bob received a BA from Princeton University and an MS from Rutgers University. He and his wife run a mapping company, which they formed in 1985. In addition to his years of service on the Foundation board, Bob has served in numerous volunteer roles, including as a Big Brother and a Peace Corps member. He retired from the LAEF board in 2005.

Jim Mastrich
Jim Mastrich joined the LAEF board in 2000, and he served at its president from 2002 to 2007. His long-standing belief in the ability of community members to make a real difference has led Jim to become an advocate for enriching public education in this community and to establish sports programs to develop character in children. Jim also serves as a board member of the Kindness Counts Foundation, and he is a former board member of the Riverside Symphonia. Since 1987 Jim has been a resident of Lambertville where he lives with his wife, Kathryn, and their two elementary school-aged boys, Zachary and Devin. An author, licensed psychologist and certified sports psychologist, he is listed in the USOC sport psychology registry. Jim earned his doctorate from Rutgers University in Counseling Psychology and has a private practice in Kingston.

Gail Richardson
Gail Richardson was the Charter President of the Lambertville Education Foundation. She has been a resident of Lambertville for more than 35 years. Gail and her husband Michael Hendricks raised two daughters, Abby and Taylor, who attended Lambertville public schools. Gail is a strong proponent of public education. She is a past appointee to the NJ Governor's Advisory Council on Volunteerism and Community Service and is a former VISTA volunteer. She has served on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern NJ. and the NJ Women's Summit. Gail is employed as a Union Representative for The Communications Workers of America Local 1034. She received her BA in Psychology from The College of New Jersey and her MSW in Social Policy Analysis from Rutgers University.

Honorary Board Member

Gerald Stern
Gerald Stern, the first Poet Laureate of New Jersey is the newly elected Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. He has taught at Temple University, New York University, and, for 14 years at the acclaimed University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop. Gerald is the author of 14 books of poetry, including This Time: New and Selected Poems, which won the National Book Award fro Poetry in 1998. He is the recipient of numerous poetry prizes and fellowships, and in 2005 received the Wallace Stevens Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of American Poets. His poems are said to be "not only great poems, memorable ones, but ones that get into your heart and stay there". Gerald lives in Lambertville with his partner and fellow poet, Anne Marie Macari, and believes strongly in the importance of arts in education and in the work of the Lambertville Area Education Foundation.