Latin Board
Washington Latin Board of Governors
Washington Latin is governed by an all-volunteer board, responsible for oversight of the school’s academic and fiscal well-being. Our Board of Governors is comprised of a maximum 15 members. The Board currently includes parents of Latin students, who bring this important perspective to our discussions about the school’s current work and future direction. There are four Board-led committees, and the full Board meets several times per year. If you have questions about the board, please contact Peter Anderson, Head of Schools, Ken Merritt, Board President or Brendan Williams-Kief, Board Vice President.
Latin Board Meetings Information
Board meetings are open to the public, and are typically online via ZOOM webinar. To attend a (virtual) board meeting, please register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
We use the Board on Track portal — both for our board members and the general public. All information about our board meetings is posted on our board portal, Board on Track, including meeting dates, agendas, and for past meetings, approved minutes.
2025-26 Board Members
Ken Merritt is the founder and managing partner at Merritt Advisory Group and is a skilled thought leader, facilitator and C-Suite-level advisor. He has over 30 years helping companies align organizational goals, functional capabilities, and leadership gravitas. His progressive experience in strategy and leadership advisory spans across multiple industries, types of organizations, and business functions. Having worked for companies such as Korn Ferry and Deloitte Consulting, Mr. Merritt is a seasoned organizational strategist who has alsos served as a Board Director for both a private operating companies and not-for-profit organizations. He joined the Washington Latin Board of Governors in the fall of 2019.
Brendan Williams-Kief is Executive Vice President of Georgetown Public Affairs LLC where he focuses on assisting clients with media, communications, and government affairs needs, particularly in the areas of education, health care, technology, and economic development policy. He draws on his experiences as a former journalist, at the highest-levels of municipal politics, and for an internationally respected advocacy organization to help clients develop their message and ensure that it is heard. Prior to his time in politics, Mr. Williams-Kief was an evening news editor at NBC Washington, the leading news bureau in the Nation’s Capital. He has also served as Director of Communications for the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), leading media relations and messaging for NCEE’s work around the globe. In addition, he served in a number of critical roles in city politics in Washington DC, including as the Chief of Staff, Communications Director, and Committee Director for the D.C. Council’s Committee on Education. He was instrumental in building winning legislative campaigns, securing critical public policy reforms, and generating positive press coverage in local and national media outlets.
Elizabeth Pollitt Paisner is the Corporate Vice President, Financial Analysis and Feasibility for Quadrangle Development Corporation, a leading full-service real estate developer in Washington DC. Prior to joining Quadrangle in 2014, she worked for the Office of Economic Development Finance for the Government of the District of Columbia. She has been involved in real estate and economic development in DC for over 20 years. Early in her career, she served as a senior consultant to Arthur Andersen. She serves on the board of the Hill Center on Capitol Hill and is the parent of two students at Washington Latin. She has a Masters in Public Policy from University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Business Administration from Villanova University, and was a Fulbright Fellow at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
Lisa Gail Rucker brings more than 25 years of experience in the fields of grants management, youth and adult education, training, organizational development, and nonprofit leadership. She has worked to create community- based programs and city-wide systems to help youth and adults obtain the education, training and other services, opportunities and supports needed to succeed in life. Ms. Rucker served most recently as the Director of the Center for Youth Development at United Way of the National Capital Area and was the founding manager for LEARN24’s (the District of Columbia’s Out-of-School Time Network) Institute for Youth Development. She was the founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Youth Development at the DC Trust, where she also led the Lifelong Learning Initiative and other literacy programs. Her experience includes serving as Friendship House’s Director of Community Services, and Community of Hope’s Youth and Adult Education Program Manager. She has taught SAT, ESL, and GED courses both in Africa and the US and worked with at-risk youth at Upward Bound and the Freedom Youth Academy. Ms. Rucker holds a master’s degree in International Education and Training at the School for International Training, a Graduate Certificate in Adult Education from the University of the District of Columbia, and a BA from the University of Virginia. She resides in Columbia Heights with her husband Souleymane Diallo and their five children; three have graduated and two are currently enrolled at Washington Latin. Ms. Rucker has also served on the DCPS Special Education Parent Advisory Board and is a volunteer for the parent advocacy group, Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE).
Sasha-Gaye Angus is a distinguished leader in affordable housing and community development with over 23 years of experience. Since 2020, Ms. Angus has served as the President & CEO of MANNA, Inc. a leading nonprofit developer of quality, affordable housing in Washington, DC. Under her visionary leadership, MANNA has become a pivotal force in homeownership policy discussions at both federal and local levels. Previously, as Senior Vice President at McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc., Sasha managed large-scale neighborhood transformation projects in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, overseeing the development of over 2,000 affordable and mixed-income housing units. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles with national developers of affordable housing and has served on numerous boards. She has been key in forming coalitions with housing partners and driving a policy agenda that advocates $100 million in government funding for affordable housing. Ms. Angus holds a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from Fisk University and an MPA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. She completed a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence and was named a Young Leader by Affordable Housing Finance in 2015.
Priya Jayachandran is the CEO of National Housing Trust (NHT), which is committed to the preservation of home, opportunity, and dignity through affordable housing. In her role as CEO, Ms. Jayachandran leads NHT’s engagement in public policy, lending and energy sustainability. She previously led Housing Development at Volunteers of America (VOA), where she managed the strategic direction, acquisition, and development of rental housing for VOA. From from 2014 until 2017, she served in the Obama Administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development as Senior Policy Advisor, Director of the front office of Multifamily Housing, and ultimately as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs. Before joining HUD, Ms. Jayachandran spent more than 15 years in community development real estate banking in New York and Washington, DC. She led client teams delivering debt and tax credit equity for affordable housing and charter schools during that time. Under her leadership, the mid-Atlantic market at both Citi and Bank of America were the top production offices in the country, and she is a recognized industry expert on affordable finance deal structuring. Ms. Jayachandran has also worked for women’s microcredit organizations in La Paz, Bolivia; at Credit Suisse as an investment banking analyst; and at California State Treasurer Kathleen Brown as a Capital Fellow. She earned her BA from the University of California and her MPA from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
Fabiana Sofia Perera is a Senior Faculty Associate at Defense Security Cooperation University. She is a political scientist whose work and research focuses on security and defense issues relating to Latin America and to resource-dependent countries in particular. Prior to joining the Perry Center, Dr. Perera was a Rosenthal Fellow at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary for Policy, Western Hemisphere Affairs. She has experience both public and private sectors, including a research associate at Mitsubishi International Corporation focusing on Latin America and the energy and infrastructure sectors. She also has experience serving at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Dr. Perera holds a MA in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University and a PhD in Political Science from The George Washington University. Fieldwork for her doctorate was completed fieldwork in Venezuela and Ecuador. Her research and analysis have appeared in numerous publications including The Washington Post, CNN.com, and War on the Rocks. She grew up in beautiful Caracas, Venezuela and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Carl McFadgion is a partner in the full-service Real Estate Construction, Property Management and Investment solution company, Affinity Group LLC and the Director of Strategy & Logistics for the District of Columbia Public School’s only 100% Special Education School, River Terrace Education Campus in Northeast DC. He has over 18 years of experience in facilities, operations, management, and construction as well as entrepreneurship that equip him with a solid knowledge of all faucets of business. He has held senior positions in operations and management for a range of organizations, including having direct responsibility for the overall administration, including directing and coordinating the activities of both direct and support personnel. Mr. McFadgion is most proud of his work to rebuild the Boys to Men mentoring program at the New Samaritan Baptist Church in Washington, DC. His efforts helped to improve the visibility, processes, systems implementation, and management of the program. He received his BA in Communications from Howard University.
Margie Yeager is the Managing Partner at Education Forward DC, a local philanthropic organization focused on supporting excellent outcomes for students in Washington DC. She was drawn to this work because she believes deeply in supporting equity and opportunity for students to access excellent education, seeing the incredible potential of students across DC. Prior to joining Education Forward DC in 2018, Ms. Yeager was the Director of Advocacy and Policy for Chiefs for Change, where she supported a bipartisan coalition of state and local leaders working to drive transformational systems-level change for students. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to the DC Deputy Mayor for Education. Ms. Yeager started her career as a second-grade teacher with Teach for America at Simon Elementary in DC Public Schools (DCPS). Margie earned a BA summa cum laude in Psychology and Sociology from Tufts University and an MPP with honors from Harvard Kennedy School. She was born in Santiago, Chile, raised in Maryland, and currently lives in the Palisades neighborhood of DC with her husband and three sons, two of whom attend Washington Latin’s Cooper Campus. She joined the Washington Latin board in 2024.
Aswathi Zachariah is the Chief Legal Officer for the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation (ACF), which connects resources and communities to advance social impact investing. Prior to joining ACF, Aswathi served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Aswathi also served as General Counsel for the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) and as Associate General Counsel for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Early in her career, she practiced law at the DC firm Arent Fox, where her focus was real estate and corporate transactional law. Aswathi has deep experience with public charter school governance and oversight as a former member of the Two Rivers Public Charter School Board of Trustees for six years, holding the position of Chair and Secretary during her tenure. She also continues her work in arts advocacy as a Senior Advisor for Americans for the Arts. Aswathi is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and worked in the audit practice at PwC with a focus on quasi-governmental clients and those in the financial sector. She earned her law degree from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Leeds School of Business.
