Meet Our Board of Directors
Barbara Rita Jenny
Barbara Rita Jenny is a practicing studio artist and an adjunct in the Fine Arts Department at Great Bay Community College where she teaches the first-year seminar on Growth Mindset & Financial Literacy. She previously taught at Heronfield Academy as Instructor in Visual Art where she designed the school’s visual art curriculum with an emphasis on cross-curricular learning in art and math. Barbara also served there as Secondary School Advisor, and coordinator in the school’s first NAIS accreditation assessment. Prior to Heronfield, Barbara taught for 10 years in the Art Department at Phillips Exeter Academy.
Barbara manages a family commercial real estate business, with properties in Maine and New Hampshire, and also sits on the Portsmouth Music & Arts (PMAC) Visual Art Advisory Committee and the Seeds of Wonder Board of Directors.
Barbara’s two sons, Indigo and Sage, attended Brixham from the age of three into the Upper Elementary Program.
Will Richardson
Will Richardson, MBA, has a background in education and spent twelve years in the admission offices of various independent schools. Prior to moving to Maine in 2021, he spent five years as Dean of Admission at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ. Stemming from a desire to move closer to family, Will created The Richardson Advisory Group, an educational advisory firm focused on helping families find the right boarding school fit. Will is excited to serve on the board of Brixham and be engaged in such a vibrant school community.
Will's daughter, Lila, is a recent graduate of the Primary Program and his son, James, is in his second year of the Primary Program.
Anna Yates
Anna Yates, MPH, has a background in environmental and social impact consulting and business development throughout the Asia Pacific region. Anna works in business development at Impax Asset Management and the Pax World Funds in Portsmouth, which specializes in sustainable investing.
Anna’s two boys Arthur and Arlo are both Brixham students in the elementary programs. After falling in love with the Montessori approach at the boys’ first preschool in New Zealand, the whole family was thrilled to join the Brixham community on relocating to the area where Anna grew up.
Alex Valhouli
Alex has been a part of the Brixham community for four years. His sons, Demetri and Andreas, attend Brixham in the Primary and Toddler groups, respectively. He and his wife Kellan operate a creative studio in Kittery where they specialize in branding, web design and creative strategy. Alex will be completing his MBA at UNH in May. He and his family love to spend time at the beach, in the mountains, and anywhere friends and extended family are congregating. Alex also coaches soccer at Traip Academy and has worked as a youth soccer coach for the past 12 years. He is honored to join the board at Brixham!
Sadie Baker
Sadie Baker has been in major donor fundraising for nearly 15 years. She got her start in Colorado politics where she worked extensively to raise millions for a variety of organizations statewide. After a stint in Washington, D.C. working on the hill, she returned to Colorado where she ultimately started Culture of Giving Back, a consulting firm that specializes in philanthropic donor advising for individual families along with raising money for high-impact causes and non-profit organizations nationally.
Sadie and her family recently moved to Kittery Point from Denver, Colorado and they couldn’t be happier to call Maine their new home. Sadie heard about Brixham on their first exploratory mission before moving and the experience has far exceeded her expectations. Sadie is excited to be a part of the board and looks forward to strengthening her relationships with this exceptional community. Sadie’s daughter Eleanor recently finished her first year in the toddler program and will be moving into the primary program for the ‘23-’24 school year.
Jenn Reilly Gorman
Jenn Reilly Gorman, MA, EdM, has worked in education for over 15 years, each place shaping her passion for healthy, innovative learning and teaching communities. The first seven years of her career was focused on supporting those communities from the “inside” - as a teacher, dean, varsity coach, dorm head, and instructional leader at an independent boarding school. In 2015, she went back to school to study at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and education. Discovering more about how and why powerful learning happens led to her transitioning to support educator professional development by creating learning experiences to meet the needs of teachers and leaders across thousands of school communities in the US and around the world. She worked with Higher Education faculty in the fields of Medicine and Education designing learning at scale, consulting with experts and shaping programs and products that allowed them to share their knowledge and practice beyond their home communities. Recently, Jenn has started as an independent consultant. Her work is aimed at supporting organizations through a personalized learning approach, offering support with learning design and implementation, program development, and organizational leadership, strategy, and operations.
Having grown up in York, Jenn and her husband, Bobby, moved back to Maine in 2020. She's thrilled to be back in the area and honored to serve on the board at Brixham. Jenn and Bobby's son, Jack Gorman, attended the toddler program and is currently in his first year of the Primary Program.
Become a member
If you have interest in becoming a member of Brixham’s Board of Directors fill out the form below. We seek a diverse group of individuals who can bring expertise, experience, perspective, and a passion for Montessori education to our community, and welcome grandparents, alumni, and business leaders to join our dedicated members.