Board of Trustees

Leigh Anne Baxter

Leigh Anne graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science in 1987. She played professional tennis for three years and in 1990 married her husband, Mike. Leigh Anne and Mike have three children: a 12th grader at Brentwood, a 10th grader at Harvard-Westlake, and an 8th grader at Brentwood. This is Leigh Anne's fourth year as a Village School Trustee. Her primary role has been to Chair the Annual Fund Committee, working closely with the Development Committee. Over the past fifteen years she has been involved with a variety of charitable organizations. Currently she is active with a group raising money for women's cancer research, as well as an organization that provides grants to benefit children’s causes in the Los Angeles area. Leigh Anne recently joined the work force as co-owner of Fred Segal Couture. She joined the Board in 2004.

Steve Berman

Steve Berman, a native of Los Angeles, attended UCLA and then California State Northridge. Steve has worked in the music industry since the age of 17 and now serves as President, Marketing and Sales, of Interscope Geffen A&M. Steve is married to Frances Berman. Together, they have two daughters, a 6th grader and a 1st grader, both of whom attend Village School. Steve and Frances are very active in the community, supporting their temple and church as well as local charities, including Cedar-Sinai’s Pink Party and L.A. Family Housing. They are also active members of the National MS Society and Seeds of Peace. Steve joined the Board in 2006.

Lani Fauvre

Lani Fauvre received her BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She spent her career as a retail executive developing new business and marketing strategies for several children's and youth companies, including Gymboree, Esprit and etoys.com. She also worked in designer apparel with Carolina Herrera and Donna Karan. Lani and her husband, Brad, reside in Pacific Palisades and have two children that attend Village School: Grey in 6th grade and Maia in 4th grade. The Fauvres are involved with several charitable organizations, most specifically Homeboy Industries. Lani has been an active member of the Village School community serving on several VSPA committees and the Strategic Planning committee. She joined the Board in 2009.

David Freitag

David grew up in the Los Angeles area and graduated from University of Southern California with a BS degree in Business in 1984. He resides in Pacific Palisades with his wife, April, and their two children who attend Village, Siena in 5th grade and Sloan in 2nd grade. David is an Executive Vice President/ Principal and the Branch Manager for the Los Angeles office of DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services, one of the oldest industrial commercial real estate companies in Southern California. He is recognized as one of the top commercial brokers in the Los Angeles region and is an active volunteer for the City of Hope. At Village, David has served on the Marketing Committee, is currently serving on the Finance and Facilities committees, and is chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. He became a Trustee in 2008.

Thomas Gilder

Tom received a BA in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara and an MS in Educational Administration from Pepperdine University. He has been Windward’s Head of School since 1987. Tom joined Windward's faculty in 1982 to teach and serve as Assistant Head of School. Prior to 1986, he served as the West Coast Coordinator of Johns Hopkins University's CTY Program (Center for the Advancement of Academically Talented Youth). He currently serves on several professional boards. Tom and his wife, Lori, have two children who attended Village School. Their son is now a sophomore at UCSB; their daughter is in 11th grade at Windward. Tom joined the Village Board in 2003.

Rachel Jeffer

Rachel and her family have lived in Pacific Palisades for 12 years. Her daughter, a graduate of Harvard-Westlake, attended Village School from 1998 - 2003. Rachel served on the Village School Parent Association Board for two years and has served as a Trustee for eight years, seven as Development Chair. Rachel graduated from Pepperdine University with a BS in Management. She brings to her position on the Board over 25 years' experience as a business professional with a strong background in human resources management and organizational development. Rachel owns and operates a business that provides personnel services to the legal community. Rachel also brings to her position on the Board a life-long commitment to community service. She is past President of Kehillat Israel and also serves on a variety of nonprofit boards and advisory committees, including Prototypes and the Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition. Rachel joined the Board in 2001.

Carolyn Jordan

Carolyn was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended UCLA, earning her BA, magna cum laude, in 1983 and her JD in 1986. She is a partner of the law firm Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, working in the transactional areas of practice, and was named a "California Super Lawyer" in 2007. She has been an involved member of the Village School community, having served in a number of leadership roles within the Village School Parent Association, including as its President for two years. Ms. Jordan and her husband, Daniel, have two children, both of whom graduated from Village School and are now attending Brentwood School. Carolyn Co-Chairs the Committee on Trustees. She has served on the Board since 2007.

Bob Levitt

Bob Levitt received his BA from Brown University. He is married to Alicia Brandt Levitt, who is extremely active with the Village School Parent Association. They have four children, all of whom attended Village School: Brandt, an honors graduate at NYU/Tisch, a 10th and 7th grader at Harvard-Westlake and a 5th grader at Village School. In February, Bob retired after 26 years as an investment banker. He has been a leader on the Village Board for more than 11 years, serving on the Finance Committee, as Treasurer and as Chair for the past nine years. Bob is involved with his children's many activities, and has also spent two years on the Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board as a driving force in raising $1 million dollars to rebuild the fields. Bob has been a member of the Village Board since 1998.

Connie Robinson

Connie Robinson is a graduate of the University of Houston with a BBA degree in Accounting and Taxation. She is presently the VP of Financial Systems for Fox Television Stations, Inc. In addition, Connie is active in the community supporting causes relating to childhood obesity and Sickle Cell Anemia. She serves on the Executive Board of the Jack and Jill of America - Los Angeles Chapter. Connie and her husband, Donny, are the parents of a 5th grader at Village school. For several years, Connie has been an active member of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity, which she now co-chairs, and she joined the Village Board in 2008.

Michael Rosen

Michael earned his BA, magna cum laude, from Tufts University, and an MA in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts/Harvard). He and his wife, Linda (the current President of the VSPA), have two children at Village School: a 6th grader and a 4th grader. For more than twenty years Michael has worked as an institutional portfolio manager, investment strategist, trader and investment consultant. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at both Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine Universities. Michael currently serves as President of the Board of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and as a trustee at Kehillat Israel. He has been on the Village School Finance Committee for several years and became a Trustee in 2008.

Frankie Stabler-Sholem

Frankie was born in Los Angeles and attended Beverly Hills High School. She received a BA from UCLA in English Literature and an MA in Elementary Education from California State University Northridge. She taught elementary school for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 11 years, teaching in both regular and "mainstream" classrooms. Frankie married her husband, Barry, in 1990 and they have two children who attended Village School and are currently in 11th and 8th grades at Brentwood School. She now spends time devoted to several charitable organizations as well quite a bit of time working at both of her children’s current schools. Her entire family lives in the West Los Angeles area; parents, brothers, sister, and many nieces and nephews. Frankie has contributed extensive time and expertise to the Village Board since she joined it in 2005.

Ruth Sorotzkin, M.D.

Ruth received her BA from Stanford University in 1985 and her MD from UCLA in 1989. She completed her Family Medicine residency at Santa Monica Hospital and currently maintains a private practice in Santa Monica. In addition, Ruth teaches medical students from UCLA and the Santa Monica Family Residency Program, volunteers at the Venice Family Clinic and works to develop and present health programs at her children's schools. She and her husband, Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, have three children, all of whom graduated from Village School (one now a sophomore at Washington University, an 11th grader at Brentwood and 7th grader at Archer). Ruth chairs the Marketing Committee and has served on the Board since 2005.

Andy Starrels

Andy Starrels was born in Los Angeles and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Geography from the University of California at Berkeley, and JD and Master of Regional Planning degrees from Cornell University. He has been a member of the California Bar since 1985 and has specialized in transactional issues surrounding real estate and finance throughout his career. Andy worked in private practice with Loeb and Loeb, then as inhouse counsel with The Travelers Realty Investment Company. Currently, Andy is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Casden Properties, LLC, a pre-eminent developer of multifamily residential communities. Along with his wife, Dorinda, two children (an 8th grader at Brentwood, who graduated from Village, and a 5th grader currently attending Village), Andy lives in Pacific Palisades. He joined the Board in 2004 and has served many years as its Secretary and as the Chair of its Facilities Committee.

Craig Wadler

Craig graduated from Indiana University at Bloomington with a BS degree in 1992 and earned an MBA from Columbia University in 1996. He began his career in accounting at Price Waterhouse and then took a position as an Associate at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. Up until a recent move to Credit Suisse as a managing director (regional management of the Americas), Craig worked as managing director at UBS Investment Bank. Craig and Cindy live in the Palisades and have two children who attend Village, a son in 4th grade and a daughter in 1st grade. For the past two years, Craig has served as a member of the Finance Committee. Craig joined the Board in 2009.

Neil Wertlieb

Neil is a partner at the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, LLP, where his practice focuses on business transactions, primarily acquisitions and finance and advising boards of directors. He is also an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law where he teaches a course on business transactions. Neil attended the University of California at Berkeley where he earned his B degree at the business school and his JD degree at the law school. He is the former Chairman of both the California State Bar’s Business Law Section and its Corporations Committee, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Los Angeles Arts Association. Neil and his wife, La Donna, have lived in Pacific Palisades for 13 years, and have three children at Village School: a 5th grader and identical twins in 2ndgrade. Neil serves on the Finance Committee and joined the Village Board in 2008.