Board of Trustees

Overview

Board of Trustees

The members of the Board of Trustees are volunteers from the community who support the mission of Country Day. The Board is responsible for the hiring and support of the Head of School and for leadership in broad policy issues. The Board is accountable for the fiscal health of the school. Board members, who serve three-year renewable terms, meet regularly throughout each year of service. If you are interested learning more about the Board of Trustees, please contact the Board President or the Head of School.

The members of the Board of Trustees are volunteers from the community who support the mission of Country Day. The Board is responsible for the hiring and support of the Head of School and for leadership in broad policy issues. The Board is accountable for the fiscal health of the school. Board members, who serve three-year renewable terms, meet regularly throughout each year of service. If you are interested learning more about the Board of Trustees, please contact the Board President or the Head of School.

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Julie Sloat
President

Julie grew up in Sacramento, attended La Sierra High School and CSU Sacramento, and earned a law degree from McGeorge School of Law. She is a veteran of Desert Storm and operated a KC-135 boom for the 940th air refueling reserve unit. Julie’s work experience includes public relations for PG&E, law and public policy for the California Cable TV association, and general counsel for Nationwide Health Plans of California.

Julie joined the Country Day board in 2015-16 and started her term as president in 2017-18. She is a successful fundraiser for local non-profits and has served on many non-profit boards. She and husband, Kevin, have two children.

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Christopher Levermore
Vice President

Christopher Levermore a California transplant from Richmond, VA received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Howard University,  a Master of Science from DePaul University and Master of Business Administration from Drexel University. He is currently working with Sodexo as a District Manager responsible for the overall financial accountability for the food service program within schools located in the California Central Valley Region.

He and his wife Renee, have two children attending Country Day School. 

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Melinda Levy
Treasurer

Melinda Levy is counsel for the law firm Robards & Sterns, PC. 

She began her career with FedEx, where she started in customer service and ended in senior management after 16 years. While still with FedEx, Melinda attended McGeorge School of Law and subsequently joined the Weintraub Tobin Law Firm as an associate attorney.  In 2004, Melinda joined the Niello Company as in-house counsel where she combined her passions for leadership, business, and sales. Her role at the Niello Company also encompassed HR, compliance, and risk mitigation for all areas of the company. 

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Manish Aggarwal

Manish Aggarwal

Dr. Manish Aggarwal is a  Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, currently working in a private practice setting in Folsom. 

He completed his Child & Adolescent Psychiatry training at Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 2013, where he also was the Chief Fellow in his second year of training. After graduation, he joined the Cleveland Clinic, Department of Child & Adolescent psychiatry as an attending where he worked in pediatric inpatient unit from 2013 to 2015 before moving to Sacramento.

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Norman Colb

Norm Colb received a BA from Brandeis University and his MAT degree from Harvard. He went on to teach English and then serve as the director of Language Arts and English, K-12, in Brookline, MA. Following his years in Brookline, he was the assistant superintendent for curriculum in Newton, MA, and then, for ten years, was the superintendent of schools in Mamaroneck, NY. From1993 until 2013 he was the head of Menlo School in Atherton and, before retiring, spent four years as the head of Reno’s Sage Ridge School.

He enjoys retirement more than he had expected, while his wife Susan, as busy as ever, spends much of her time supporting youngsters in the foster system.

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Billy Downing ‘98

Billy Downing is a proud Sacramento native who attended Sacramento Country Day School and Jesuit. After high school, Billy obtained his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and his graduate degree from the University of San Francisco before returning back home. His extensive non-profit board experience includes working with Wind Youth Services, Positive Coaching Alliance, San Juan Education Foundation, and the YMCA of Superior California. Billy and his wife Jessaca have two children.

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Soyla Fernández

Soyla Fernández founded Fernández Government Solutions LLC in 2004 – now doing business as Fernández Cervantes Government Affairs (FCGA). Her successful firm is experienced in the development of political and legislative strategies to implement effective advocacy programs for corporate and public sector clients. As a former consultant to the legislature and the executive branch, Ms. Fernández is knowledgeable in a variety of political, policy, and budget issues.

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Ben Gumpert

Ben Gumpert is the President & Chief Operating Officer of Sacramento Republic FC. In his role, Ben oversees the full range of Republic FC’s operations and leads the effort to bring MLS to Sacramento under the direction of ownership, including oversight of all business and soccer operations for the club since 2017 as well as a focus on prospective MLS operations and new stadium development.  Sacramento Republic FC has set records across its league in sales, attendance, retail and marketing categories and has reached the playoffs in every season. 

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Amy L. Johnson ‘95

Amy Johnson is the Co-Founder and CFO of SkyLine Scaffold, Inc., a Sacramento-based family-owned scaffolding company.  Currently, she is President of the Scaffold and Access Industry Association Education Foundation, a 501c3, and a member of Vistage International, Inc., a CEO Peer Advisory Board.

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Loren Kaye

Loren grew up in Del Mar, in north San Diego County, and attended UC San Diego, graduating with a bachelor’s in political science. He is president of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, a think tank affiliated with the California Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife, Cassie Gilson, have a daughter who attended both lower and middle school at Country Day.  Ellery now thrives in the CIVITAS and band programs at Rio Americano High School.  Loren served two terms previously on the Board at Country Day School, including several years as treasurer.

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Jenna Magan

Jenna is a partner in the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and specializes in municipal bond financings for public entities and 501(c)(3) organizations. She grew up in Visalia, California, where her family had a trucking and farming business, then moved to Southern California to attend UCLA.  She and spouse, Luke, have two children who attend Country Day.

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Louay Owaidat

Mr. Owaidat is the President and CEO of Odin Construction Solutions, Inc., a national environmental and infrastructure construction company with headquarters in Rocklin, CA and offices in Atlanta, GA, Denver, CO, Salt Lake City, UT, Charlotte, NC, and Bordentown, NJ. As President of Odin Construction Solutions, Inc., Mr. Owaidat oversees the planning, operations, development, marketing and finances of the company. Also, he provides input to design, planning, and execution of complex geotechnical and infrastructure projects at sites nationwide.

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Patrice Ratinoff

Patrice was raised in Los Angeles and graduated from California State University, Northridge with a degree in business administration and accounting. She moved north after her apartment was declared off limits following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Patrice’s career path has taken her from an accountant with Ernst & Young to marketing and sales at Tiffany & Co., and Baume and Mercier.  She retired from her most recent position as a fundraising consultant with Lester Consulting Group and is currently involved as a community volunteer.  Patrice and her husband, Eric, have two children that attended Country Day from Pre-K through 8th grade and now attend Webb School in LA.  Patrice previously served five years on the Board and headed the Advancement Committee.  She looks forward to finishing out her last term and helping the Committee again.  She also has a wealth of fundraising experience, especially in the area of Capital Campaigns.

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Emily Stephenson

Emily was born in San Francisco and graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a bachelor’s in sociology and a double minor in European history and physics/biology. She is retired from her position as a senior executive producer at the Intel Corporation and currently is the managing director of Stephenson Medical Consulting, Inc. She and her husband, Topher, have a son who attends Country Day.

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Winnie Ward (‘81)

Winnie Ward is a founding partner of the law firm of Stewart, Ward and Josephson, LLP.  She specializes in commercial real estate transactions.  Winnie represents institutional tenant clients throughout the United States, as well as real estate developers in Sacramento and the Bay Area. 

Winnie attended County Day from the 1st through 12th grades, graduating in 1981.  She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University, and her J.D. from UC Davis School of Law. Winnie previously served on the boards of The Friendship Club, a Nevada City-based nonprofit group dedicated to providing services for girls in sixth through twelfth grades, Sierra Forever Families (now Stanford Sierra Youth & Families) and ACRE (the Association of Commercial Real Estate). Winnie and her husband, Dale, own MindWinder Aviation, an aerial firefighting company based in Reno, Nevada. 

In their spare time, Winnie and Dale spend time with and serve at the beck and call of their animals – three cats and a dog.

General information

Honorary Trustees
In Memoriam

  • Baxter Geeting
  • Herbert H. Matthews
  • Nancy O’Neil
  • James O’Neil