Governance & Leadership

Andy Weiner

A current parent of three Maumee Valley students, Andy is an Senior Vice President with Morgan Stanley. Before moving to Toledo in 2008, he spent 32 years in New England, where he met his wife, Sarah, originally from Toledo. Andy graduated from St. Andrews School, Barrington, RI, and from Unity College in Maine. He subsequently provided consulting services to the commercial banking and lending industry before discovering his passion for working with individual people and families. Andy also serves Aon the Board at Sunset-Otterbein Senior Life, a local non-profit.

Alan Bannister

Alan is the parent of Cranston Bannister ’26. He is the Commissioner of Community Engagement for the City of Toledo. Alan earned a B.A. in Public Administration from Kentucky State University. He is a lifelong Toledoan and serves on the Toledo Fair Housing Board, the United Way of Greater Toledo African American Leadership Council, and is the President of his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. graduate Chapter of Toledo.

His wife Patekka is the Commissioner of Plant Operations for the City of Toledo.

Christa Dewire

Christa Dewire has more than 30 years of experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), and has served clients in the banking and higher education sectors wherein she has had primary responsibility for leadership of multi-disciplined and multi-national audit engagement teams. She also serves as PwC’s MidCentral Banking & Capital Markets Team Leader, where she is responsible for driving the firm’s strategic priorities and leading the banking and capital markets teams across the Midwest and central regions of the United States.

Ms. Dewire is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is a Certified Public Accountant in Ohio and New York. She received her bachelor of science degree in accounting (Summa Cum Laude) from Miami University. She and husband Tony live in Toledo and have two children at Maumee Valley Country Day School.

Reema Ridi

Reema Ridi is in her fourth year on the Board, where she also serves as secretary. She is the mother of two MV students and an alumnus: Sami ’23, Rami ’25, and Jenna ’28.

She grew up in the United Arab Emirates and graduated from Al-Quds University with a major in information systems. Before moving to the United States, she was the office secretary for the first lady of the United Arab Emirates. In 2004, she moved to the United States after she married her husband, Thameen Tim Ridi.

Reema has been part of the MV community since 2015. She served two years as the president of the Maumee Valley Family Association (MVFA). She also served MVFA in the roles of treasurer and vice president, and in the Middle School as a parent representative. Reema is very passionate about helping and volunteering. She has worked on the administrative staff of several schools and is very involved as a community member in the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, where she serves on the Scholarship Committee.

Dr. Arjun Das

Dr. Arjun Das is a practicing nephrologist and physician partner at Nephrology Consultants of Northwest Ohio, where he also serves as medical director of two local dialysis units. Born and raised in Kerala, India, he moved to the United States following medical school. He completed his medical training in both internal medicine and nephrology in Chicago.

He and his wife Sarada met in Chicago and have lived in the Toledo area since 2010. They both love the sense of community, often calling Toledo “The Jewel of the Midwest.” They have two children at Maumee Valley: Aarav ’28 and Ishana ’34.

Dr. Das has served in many leadership roles, including as chair of internal medicine for ProMedica’s Metro Hospitals Division (Toledo, Flower, and Bay Park) since 2020. In this role, he works closely with ProMedica leadership on strategic planning, clinical oversight, and policy development initiatives. And in 2018, he helped to found and later served as president of Toledo Physicians of Indian Origin (TOPI), a nonprofit professional networking and philanthropic organization. The group and its members raise and donate money to local Toledo charities.

He is a passionate, lifelong learner, and enjoys tennis, sailing, and traveling.

Tim Foster ’83

Tim Foster ’83 operates several laundromats in the Toledo metro area. Additionally, he maintains an office in Perrysburg and manages private investments with a focus on the Midwest. Tim is an MV alumnus (1983), donor, parent (Tyler ’24, Wesley ’22, and Alaina ’20), and current chair of the Board of Trustees’ Buildings and Grounds Committee. He also serves on the board of the nonprofit Diabetes Youth Services. His past service as a trustee includes the boards of Stranahan Foundation, YMCA Fort Meigs Branch, and The Victory Center.

Rachel Freeman

Rachel is passionate about strong neighborhoods, historic conservation, and Maumee Valley. She currently serves on the City of Toledo Historic Commission, the Human Relations Commission Neighborhoods and Community Board, and the Westmoreland Historic District Board. She has led the Lower School MVFA for several years. She is the mother of four MV students; Zeke ‘30, Charlie ‘33, Jack ‘34, and Grace ‘34. Previously, she worked in marketing for ADP and was a foster parent. She is a graduate of the University of Dayton with a degree in public relations.

Melanie Gross ’91

Melanie Gross is Senior Director & Associate General Counsel at Genentech, Inc. Melanie joined the Genentech Legal Department in 2008. She has held numerous leadership positions at Genentech. She currently serves on the Global Legal Pharma Leadership Team in Basel, Switzerland, and leads a team of senior attorneys in the United States supporting Genentech’s Public Affairs, Market Access, Patient Access, Advocacy and Corporate Relations Organization. Prior to joining Genentech, Melanie was an Associate in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm King & Spalding in the FDA & Life Sciences Practice Group.

Melanie is passionate about the personal and professional development of others. She motivates, inspires, challenges, and supports the people she leads and helps them grow, learn, and thrive. On her own initiative, Melanie has championed diversity and inclusion, sponsoring programs to increase awareness of unconscious bias and helped form and chaired the Legal Department’s diversity committee, IDEAL (Inclusion & Diversity: Excellence & Action in Legal). Melanie has been an active member of the Genentech Women Professionals organization. Her leadership was recognized in 2018 when she received the GWP Emerging Leader Award.

Prior to attending law school, Melanie worked in the non-profit sector where she led community development projects designed to address various public health issues in Houston, TX, including working with health care systems, patient advocacy groups, and underserved communities to help raise awareness about the importance of breast cancer screening and treatment. She co-founded the former Houston-based non-profit breast health screening and resource organization called My Place, A Women’s Health Resource Center.

During her 16-plus years in the Bay Area, Melanie has been active in the Oakland and global communities. Melanie currently serves on the Silicon Valley’s executive board of How Women Lead and is a board member and treasurer for the Food and Drug Law Institute based in Washington, DC. She also finds time to pursue her passion for global development by serving as a global advisor to three women-led NGOs in Rwanda and South Africa. In 2014, through the Firelight Foundation Inc., based in Santa Cruz, she served as a fundraiser for two CBOs (community-based organizations) in Lusaka, Zambia, that provide HIV treatment and prevention services for women and their families. She is an active member of the MV Alumni Council and a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Melanie received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and a master’s in public health from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Most notably, Melanie is a 1991 graduate of MVCDS.

Dr. Raj Kattar

Dr. Raj Kattar was born in India and raised in Wisconsin. He moved to Toledo in 1998 and joined the cardiology group of physicians which today is called Promedica Physicians Cardiology. He was Chief of Staff at St Luke Hospital from 2014-2016 and is currently President of the Promedica Heart institute, overseeing the cardiology service line for the entire system.

Raj and his wife of 30 years Rajitha have two sons that graduated as “lifers” from MV, Nihal ‘13, and Sahil ‘18. Raj is a talented singer and an avid fan of sports and music.

Adam Levine

Adam M. Levine, the Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey director of the Toledo Museum of Art and a scholar of ancient art, is a transformative leader with a deep conviction that art inspires and museums are change agents. Levine is the 10th director of TMA since its distinguished founding in 1901.

Prior to embarking on his directorship at TMA in 2020, Mr. Levine was the George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs director and chief executive officer of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida. Under his leadership at the Cummer Museum, Levine oversaw numerous strategic initiatives, including the reconstruction of its historic gardens, expansion of its educational offerings and the implementation of innovative membership and audience development programs with dramatic gains in visitorship.

Levine originally joined TMA in 2012 as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, a two-year post-doctoral program designed to prepare the next generation of museum leaders, and went on to increasingly senior management roles at the museum, ultimately serving as deputy director and curator of ancient art. During his six-year tenure at TMA, Levine curated a diverse range of exhibitions, advanced the Museum’s first campus master plan and shared oversight of TMA’s $16 million budget and 250 employees.

Levine graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College, where he majored in anthropology, art history, and mathematics & social science. He continued his studies as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, where he earned his master’s degree with distinction and D.Phil. in the history of art. He publishes widely and is a frequent presenter on topics ranging from ancient art and interpretive strategies, to museum and management practices.

Combining his interests in mathematics and art, in 2009 he co-founded Art Research Technologies, a data and research company that was purchased in 2016 by a London-based finance company. He has founded or advised several other start-ups, including the Center of Visual Expertise at the Toledo Museum of Art. Levine has consulted widely for museums, universities, art market business, and think tanks.

Kevin Prater

Kevin Prater, Principal, has led RKP Group since its formation more than 20 years ago. He guides the development, construction, and property management of more than 5MM square feet of space throughout his career. Kevin has participated in a wide range of diverse, new, and adaptive reuse development and construction projects throughout Michigan and Northwest Ohio, including active developments within the downtowns of Detroit, Toledo, Flint, and Lansing since 2005.

Driving RKP Group’s growth, Kevin’s portfolio includes more than 25 mixed-use properties situated within central business districts, including luxury apartments, parking, and Class A commercial space housing distinguished office tenants and award-winning nationally recognized restaurants. Kevin seeks out historical properties in neglected urban locations and brings them back to life, restoring convenience, economy, and community to prime downtown locations and has years of active progress ahead.

Marc Savage

Marc Savage is the chief executive officer and founder of Emprise Technologies. He earned a bachelor of science degree in physics for Bowling Green State University and a master of science in physics from The University of Toledo. After completing his education, Mr. Savage taught math and science in the Fiji Islands as a Peace Corps volunteer. He then returned to Toledo to begin his professional technology career.

He and his wife, Kim Edwards, have four children attending Maumee Valley Country Day School.
Deposit is non-refundable.

Nazarene Tubman

Nazarene Tubman is a first-generation Liberian-American. Due to the civil wars in Liberia, her family sought refuge in the United States where she grew up in Gaithersburg, Md.. She holds her degree in public policy analysis with a concentration in health policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nazarene is a director of vaccine clinical development overseeing global zika, chikungunya, flu, and COVID/flu combination vaccine studies. Her global full-scope project management work has led to FDA approvals treating and/or preventing illnesses including hepatitis b, pediatric seasonal flu, major depressive disorder, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Her personal life has also followed this trajectory of dedication to positively affecting public health. Nazarene has spent time volunteering in Cape Town, South Africa, working with multiple organizations assisting persons living with HIV/AIDS. She volunteered at the Rocklands Clinic providing pre-testing counseling and with the Treatment Action Campaign providing training to the trainers and campaigning on access to care for those living with HIV.

Nazarene also worked to organize medical mission trips to Liberia, West Africa, to provide free health care in remote areas. Other highlights of her work include collecting and shipping medical supplies to Liberia during the Ebola crisis. She also serves her community locally as an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The Links, Inc., and Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Nazarene currently serves on the McLaren St. Luke’s Foundation Board and the Toledo Museum of Art’s Development Committee.

Her mother, former Superintendent of Maryland County, Liberia, and her late grandfather, Liberian President William VS Tubman, inspired Nazarene’s dedication to public service and philanthropy. This lineage of public service continues with her 9-year-old daughter Leila who founded the non-profit Leila’s Promise to empower and encourage youth voices in service.

Siyuan (Sy) Zhang ’10

Sy currently serves as the head of investor relationships at Balance Capital, a real estate private equity fund headquartered in Seattle, WA. At Balance, Sy works closely with fund investors and homebuyers to constantly meet their capital needs as well as property management and related duties.

Before joining Balance, Sy accumulated four years of bilateral real estate work experience with commercial real estate developers in New York and a Chinese real estate developer in Beijing. Sy earned his BBA from the George Washington University with a concentration in Finance and Real Estate.

Sy resides in Beijing, China, where he is father to 4-year-old George and husband to Emma.

Lynn Casto

Lynn D. Casto was named Head of School in October 2017, with the appointment being effective July 1, 2018.

She joined Maumee Valley from the Sanford School in Hockessin, DE, where she has served as Upper School head since 2013.

She brought an impressive background in independent school education to Maumee Valley. She attended the Columbus (OH) School for Girls, discovering a dual love for athletics and the arts. At Davidson College (NC), she earned a bachelor of arts degree in art history while playing NCAA Division I lacrosse. She went on to earn two masters’ degrees in education: one in arts education from The Ohio State University (where she also was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society) and the other in private school leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Prior to Sanford, she held faculty and leadership roles at Charlotte Country Day School (NC) for 13 years. She also served as head of the school’s Department of Fine Arts from 2007 to 2013. She began her teaching career at Brookwood School (GA), where she served as the Middle and Upper School art teacher in addition to teaching AP Studio and AP Art History. She also coached softball and soccer teams.

She was recently appointed to the 20-person Heads Circle, new think tank created by Independent School Management to help independent schools around the country become more effective and sustainable. She is also a member of the Ohio Association of Independent Schools Board of Trustees.

Angela McCray-Hancock

Robin Wheeler

With over three decades of experience in private K-12 education, Robin Wheeler brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our community. Her diverse background includes roles as a teacher, principal, and director, providing her with a comprehensive understanding of the educational landscape.

Most recently, Robin served as the Lower School director at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, WA, where she made a significant impact on student learning and community engagement. Her dedication to fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment aligns perfectly with our values here at Maumee Valley.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to join the Maumee Valley Country Day School community,” Robin said. “During my recent visit, I was truly touched by the warm welcome I received and the dedication of the faculty. Instantly, I felt a profound connection to Maumee Valley’s program, as it perfectly aligns with my core beliefs. I firmly believe that experiential and place-based education lays the groundwork for lifelong curiosity and resilience, equipping students to tackle challenges with confidence. I am thrilled to step into the role of interim director of Lower School Director and contribute to a community that shares these values.”

Robin’s extensive international experience, including teaching and leadership roles in Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia, further enriches our global perspective and enhances our commitment to fostering cross-cultural understanding.

In her previous positions at Vail Mountain School, Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro, The Overtake School, and Eastside Preparatory School, Robin demonstrated her passion for empowering students to reach their full potential. Her dedication to creating meaningful learning experiences and nurturing each child’s unique talents will undoubtedly have a profound impact on our Lower School community.

Robin holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Emporia State University, a master’s degree in K-12 administration from Michigan State University, and an advancing leadership certificate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.