Much of our school's vitality and success may be attributed to the passion and commitment of our faculty along with the leadership and skill of our Board. By working collaboratively with our school community and managing key initiatives our Board helps us achieve our mission.
Our Board of Directors meet once per month in addition to actively participating in various project-based committees throughout the year. Members come from a variety of backgrounds and as a result they bring a wealth of professional expertise to our organization.
If you are interested in serving as a Board Member for PCWS, or would like to learn more, please contact: board@potomacwaldorf.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Zak Butterfield
Director
Zak has been an IT professional for almost 20 years and currently owns J9 Solutions LLC, a professional services company that assists private and federal organizations with their intelligence needs. J9 Solutions provides support at all tiers of the BI stack including requirements, data warehouse architecture, dimensional modeling, ETL, and the semantic/reporting layer. Zak received his BS in Computer Science from UCLA. He has been a PCWS parent for five years and his child currently attends the school.
Kerry Dsouza
board member
Kerry grew up in Bermuda and Ireland. She traveled abroad in the Peace Corps to Niger, West Africa as a community health educator. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University. Kerry worked as a Pediatric Registered Nurse at Children’s National Hospital for 8 years and is currently pursuing her Waldorf teaching certificate from Antioch University. Kerry discovered Waldorf education while leading a Spanish-immersion forest school. She has been a forest school leader for several years in Northern Virginia. When not teaching, Kerry can be found exploring local forests, dancing bachata, and practicing yoga.
Kate Erklauer
BOARD CHAIR
Kate is a lawyer specializing in D.C. real estate litigation and strategic counseling. She represents businesses and individuals in civil litigation, appeals, and administrative cases. Before practicing law, Kate worked as a mechanical engineer in the defense industry. She holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from The George Washington University, as well as a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Kate is also the mother of a grades student at PCWS, where she has served as a class representative and Secretary for the Parent Association.
Josh Hartman
DIRECTOR
Josh is a partner at Merchant & Gould P.C., where he leads the firm's ITC Section 337 practice group. Josh specializes in guiding companies through intellectual property and unfair competition disputes before the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. district courts. His clients are diverse, coming from industries including high-tech, automotive, consumer products, and life sciences. A parent of Grades students, Josh has served on PCWS's Board since October 2019 and as Board Chair since May 2020.
eva Hartman
DIRECTOR
Coming soon!
Jennifer Scotti
Board member
Jennifer Scotti received a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University. While working for the State Department, she traveled extensively and lived in Uzbekistan for two years. She worked on Soviet nationalities and refugee immigration issues, and helped open embassies in Central Asia and countries of the former Soviet Union. Her children began at Potomac Crescent Waldorf School in the first year of the school’s opening, and started in the first year of the Parent-Child class. She received her Waldorf Teaching Certificate from the Nova Institute in Bethesda in 2011. She has been teaching handwork since Fall 2009 and has been the lead Parent-Child teacher since 2011.
Anna Skidmore
board member
Anna is passionate about Waldorf Education and believes each child deserves many experiences of reverence, wonder, play and practical work. She is honored to nurture the social, emotional, and physical development of the children. Anna has been teaching in Waldorf schools since 2007. Starting in Monterey, California, teaching games/movement and aftercare. After receiving her Waldorf teaching certification from the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training in 2013 she was a lead kindergarten teacher in Monterey and then moved to Virginia to join PCWS. At PCWS she taught in the mixed-age kindergarten and music in the grades. She is excited to return, now with two children of her own. In her spare time, Anna enjoys running, hiking, sewing, camping and reading. She holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences from the University of Washington and has completed the first year of the Nurturing the Roots Therapeutic program in Denver, Colorado.
Jesse Tsai
Treasurer
Jesse is a managing director at a large public accounting firm, where he advises companies on special tax projects, particularly renewable energy tax credit financing. He holds a double B.A. in Philosophy and East Asian Studies from the University of Delaware, as well as a law degree from the George Washington University Law School. In addition, he is a Certified Public Accountant. He was born and raised in the Northern Virginia area, where he currently resides with his family. Jesse is a PCWS parent, with a daughter in the Grades program and a son aiming to follow his sister’s footsteps once he is older.