Board of Trustees

Shani Delaney

Chair

Shani joined the Perkins Board of Trustees in 2019. She is originally from San Francisco and moved to Seattle in 2009. Shani is a high risk obstetrician at the University of Washington Medical Center. She is also an educator for the UW medical school and Ob/Gyn residency, as well as the associate director of the UW high risk obstetrics fellowship program. She serves as the Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council for the Ob/Gyn Department at UW Medicine. Her daughter, Yael, started at Perkins in 2017 and her son Ari started in 2020. When not delivering babies in the middle of the night, Shani can be found hiking and camping around the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Rumeena Bhalla

Secretary

Rumeena has two daughters who love being students at Perkins. One is now an alumnus and one who is a current student. She has been on the board since 2019.  A film maker, health coach and physician with over 15 years’ experience in health education and behavior change, Rumeena specializes in making complex medical information accessible through films and coaching. Rumeena moved to Seattle from London, England with her family in 2015. In her free time, she loves to play tennis, tap dance and sing jazz. 

The Perkins School – Nikhil Haldavnekar

Nikhil Haldavnekar

Treasurer

Nikhil is father to a Perkins student, Aahna, and joined the Board of Trustees in 2019. Nikhil holds M.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Florida and MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. He has spent most of his career in Corporate Finance in Technology industry. When not working, Nikhil loves to travel with family and enjoys playing tennis.

 
 

Alissa Agnello

Alissa joined the Perkins Board of Trustees in 2022. Since 2007, Alissa has worked at North Seattle College in several roles, including Dean of Math & Science, director of a regional center on nanotechnology education, and tenured faculty in chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology.  She's been involved in assessment, accreditation, Inclusion Advocacy for search committees, and mentoring of administrators, faculty, and students. A "Perkins parent" since 2017, Alissa's three children attend Perkins. She enjoys music, baking, and watching her kids play sports.

 

Chrissy Sinclair

Chrissy is an administrator at another local independent school. She earned her BA in Government from Colby College and her Masters in Elementary Education from Lesley University. She recently completed the Pathways to Leadership program for aspiring female school leaders. Chrissy spends as much time as possible outdoors with her husband and twin daughters, Soundview alumna, backpacking, biking, and playing Ultimate Frisbee.

David Coffey

David Coffey joined the Perkins Board of Trustees in 2023.  He is the Executive Director of Recovery Café which operates two sites in Seattle and supports the Recovery Café Network, with 60 sites around the country and in Canada. He also serves as the Chair of the Board of the Washington Recovery Alliance and as Board Secretary for Consejo Counseling and Referral Services.  He holds a BA from Colorado College and a master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University. David is profoundly grateful for the Perkins community. He is an avid rugby fan, cheering on the Seattle Seawolves whenever he has a chance, and he aspires to be an author of children's books. 

Jennifer Chapman

Jennifer joined the Perkins Board of Trustees in 2020. Jennifer is a CPA and works with accounting and financial systems at Seagen, Inc., a local biotech company dedicated to developing targeted therapies with real impact. Her daughter, Celia, started at Perkins in 2017. In her spare time, Jennifer is an avid baker determined to show the world that “gluten free” is a good thing. Jennifer is also a musician who plays the cello with orchestras around town (pre-Covid…) and an active troop leader with the Girl Scouts.

Sarah Clifton

Sarah joined the Perkins Board of Trustees in August 2022.  She is a managing real estate broker with Windermere Real Estate and has wide-ranging experience in a variety of real estate disciplines, including real estate sales, portfolio management and maximization, development analysis and property management.  However, Sarah’s most treasured profession is mother to her two children (both Perkins students).  Sarah enjoys travelling, spending time with her husband and family, and learning about new things – she always has a mini research project in the works!

Sonja Everson

Sonja joined the Board of Trustees in 2022. She is currently the Director of Admission and Enrollment Management at a local independent school. When beginning her professional life, she quickly realized a talent and passion for teaching at the elementary school level, which she proceeded to do for 15 years before moving into school administration. Her favorite activities include hiking through dense forests, coaxing green tomatoes to turn red, and along with her husband, maintaining an unending optimism for a Mariners' World Series championship.

Steve Fortney

Steve is a father to a Perkins student, Gabriella, and joined the Board in 2022.  He is originally from the Seattle area, left for a decade, and returned in 2011.  He is an attorney at Microsoft, working deals related to the Microsoft cloud and R&D.  Steve holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from Northwestern University.  Steve loves living in Seattle, eating at our restaurants, coaching his kids' sports teams, traveling, golfing and cheering for the Huskies and Mariners.  

 
 

Ian Mensher

Ian joined the Board of Trustees in 2023. A life-long Seattleite, Ian has two children at Perkins—1st and 4th grade—who delight in the rich educational environment the teachers and staff work tirelessly to create. Ian is an attorney and a career law clerk to a federal judge. When not trying to unwind complex problems, Ian delights in riding and racing bicycles, baking bread, and trying to keep up with his kids. 

 
 

Justin Brooks

Justin joined the Board of Trustees in 2023.  He is a Perkins parent - the father of two girls; one at Perkins, and the other just a few years behind.  Justin works at a small investment bank facilitating Mergers & Acquisitions for wineries and vineyards in the Northwest, and also owns and operates a hospitality business in Walla Walla and a financial consulting firm focused on wineries.  In his free time, Justin enjoys being outdoors with his wife and girls, reading, tending his tiny garden, and rooting for all the Seattle sports teams.

 
 

The Board of an independent school has the ultimate responsibility for the institution.

School heads and trustees come and go: only the Board is permanent. The Board is responsible for the integrity of the school, the standing and reputation built by its founders and those who have labored over the years. The Board holds in trust the school’s future as well as its present; the Board’s collective judgment will affect how the institution can serve constituencies to come.

The Board has four principal responsibilities:

  • To organize and manage itself so as to fulfill its duties to the school

  • To plan, develop, and establish policy and to assess the school’s performance

  • To oversee the school’s financial condition and physical plant

  • To select the head of school and work cooperatively with that person

A guiding document of the Board is the Strategic Plan, which sets the long term direction for this work. In 2018, Perkins updated it’s Strategic Plan. You can see the full text of it by clicking: The Perkins School Strategic Plan

To contact the Board of Trustees with questions about governance or the Strategic Plan, email BOT@theperkinsschool.org