ASF is governed by a 15-member Board of Trustees elected by members of The American School Foundation. Members are elected for three-year terms and may be reelected for subsequent three-year terms.

 

The Board of Trustees holds the school in trust and is responsible for ensuring that the school continues to fulfill the mission adopted by the Board. Through its standing committees, the Board develops and oversees the school's strategic plan, maintains the financial health of the institution, seeks current and long-term philanthropic support, ensures that the physical campus is adequate to support the mission, monitors the progress and success of the educational program and sees to it that the Board follows accepted best practices of non-profit institutional governance.

 

Ten of the members must be U.S. citizens. The majority of current members are parents of students enrolled in ASF. Others are parents of former students and still others are alumni or friends of the school.

 

Ernesto González Garfias (Board of Trustees Chair)

Leonardo Franco Schlesinger (First Vice-Chair of the Board)

Andrew Kenneth Sherr (Second Vice-Chair of the Board)

F. Antonio Pacheco Lippert '90 (Financial Advisor)

Lynnette Rivera Pesquera '90 (Board Secretary)

Christine M.Kenna (Proprietary Trustee)

Frances Elizabeth Ward Patton de Huttanus (Proprietary Trustee)

Gail E. Capdepon Gibford (Proprietary Trustee)

Michelle Troice Martin '01 (Proprietary Trustee)

Ricardo Ganem Castro '83 (Proprietary Trustee)

Carl E. Koller Lucio '88 (Trustee at Large)

César Buenrostro Moreno '85 (Trustee at Large)

Juan Francisco Serrano Kacz '79 (Trustee at Large)

Patricio Gutiérrez Tommasi (Trustee at Large)

Paulina Renata Silva Castellanos '89 (Trustee at Large)

 

Jordan’s educational experience began in his home state of Wisconsin, where he studied at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. He majored in Elementary Education with a minor in Early Childhood. After he graduated, Jordan moved to Las Vegas and taught second grade at John C. Vanderburg. After visiting Mexico during vacation, Jordan applied to ASF and began his career in Mexico in 2007 as a third grade teacher. Jordan also held the position of dean of students.

Jordan also holds a Master’s degree in Science in Multidisciplinary Studies from State University of New York, College at Buffalo, NY and a Master’s of Education in International Administration from Endicott College, Beverly Massachusetts, MA.

Erin Trautman was born in Virginia, but due to her father’s job with Ford Motor Company, moved around the U.S. and abroad for most of her life. After finishing her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood from Ohio University, she moved to Chicago to begin her career. Following teaching in Chicago Public Schools for two years, Erin began working on her first Master’s degree at DePaul University in Reading and Learning Disabilities. After graduating in 1997, she moved to Mexico and began her career at ASF as a resource teacher within the Services for Academic Success department. Following some time off to begin her family in 1999, she returned in 2008 as the reading specialist and interventionist for the Early Childhood Center. During this time, she studied another Master's of Education in International Administration from Endicott College. After serving for seven years as the interventionist in the ECC, she was hired as a Lower School Dean of Students, where she worked for three years. She is currently Head of the ECC. Erin has been a Foundation member for twelve years and is a proud parent of two ASF Upper School students. 

 

Jeff Whittard has been an independent school educator since 2003. He is currently serving ASF (Mexico City) as the Head of Upper School. Prior to this, Jeff served ASF for 3 years as the Head of Middle School. He holds an honor’s co-op degree from the University of Waterloo (2002), with a specialization in biophysical systems, and a second bachelor’s degree in education from Queen’s University (2003).

He also received a Master of Education degree from the University of Toronto (2010), where his focus was Theory and Policies Studies in Education. In recent years, he has received a Diploma in Independent School Leadership (2015) from Canadian Accredited Independent Schools, Principal's Qualification (Independent School Focus) from York University (2019), and he is currently pursuing a certificate in Advanced Educational Leadership from Harvard College’s Graduate School of Education.

 

Alejandra holds a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from the Tec de Monterrey, a Master's Degree in Education from the Instituto.

 

Villanueva (part of Universidad Complutense de Madrid). She also has a certificate in Fundraising by the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Tec de Monterrey. She was part of the team that developed a Fundraising Certificate with official recognition by CONOCER and SEP. 

 

She has more than 16 years of experience in Fundraising and Development offices, working mainly in the field of education. She has been in charge of the Advancement Office in different institutions such as Colegio Monteverde, Universidad Panamericana and Universidad ORT. She has also worked as a consultant in Fundraising and Strategic planning for many national and international NGOs.

Sloane Starke came to the Admission Office in 2021 with 14 years of experience at ASF, working in the Institutional Advancement and Communications Offices prior to joining the Upper School as a faculty member in the English department. Prior to arriving in Mexico and joining ASF in 2007, Sloane worked in journalism in Missouri, Indiana, and Oregon as a newscast producer. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Sloane holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in international politics and two master's degrees, from University of Missouri (journalism) and SUNY Buffalo (interdisciplinary studies). She and her husband have two children at ASF.

Benjamin brings with him twelve years of experience in communications, marketing, and public relations across a variety of industries, including law, food, pharmaceuticals, and fitness wear.  Benjamin most recently served as the National Leader of External Communication and Public Relations for Decathlon, the French fitness apparel manufacturer, where he oversaw digital and influencer marketing strategies, various communications campaigns, and governmental relations.

Prior to that, he was the Senior Coordinator of Internal and External Communication for the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

With a degree in Communications from Iberoamerican University, Benjamin is fluent in English and Spanish. He has led his teams to achieve high-quality results, focusing on supporting each person to be at their very best as they contribute to the overall success of the team. Benjamin is highly organized and uses data to track progress to ensure that he and his team are performing at the highest levels and achieving their collective goals.

 

 

 

 

An educator by vocation, Elisa Penela has more than 20 years of experience in private and public schools in Mexico, at the elementary, secondary and university levels. She has also worked at companies like Telmex and Procter & Gamble. She holds a master’s degree in school administration from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and has participated in continuing education in human resources.

With over twenty-five years of experience in technology in a variety of industries, Ángel has a demonstrated track record of significant success, bringing together both his leadership abilities as well as his technical expertise.

Educated at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico with a B.A in Computer Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, Ángel also holds a Master’s in Science in Public Policy from Georgetown University (DC) and a second Master’s in Regional and Urban Planning from the London School of Economics.

 

Ángel served as the Deputy Undersecretary of Information and Communications Technology for the federal government, supporting the technology needs of the Mexican government across a variety of sectors.  Later, Ángel went on to serve in a variety of roles in banking, with its extremely high need for cyber-security and privacy assurance across multiple platforms. He served as the Deputy Director General in charge of IT and Operations for Banco del Ahorro Nacional y Servicios Financieros, SNC, and then later as the Deputy Vice-President of Innovation and Technology Banco Atlántida de Honduras, for many years the de facto central bank of Honduras, with currency printing rights. 

 

 

 

 

Homero Figueroa joined the school in 2019 after a career in the corporate world. Over the last 21 years, he has held direction positions in companies like Grupo Salinas, Cash Converters and most recently at CIE. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Escuela Bancaria y Comercial and a MBA from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México.