Emmi Harward
Executive Director
ex officio member of Board of Trustees

Emmi Harward has served as the Executive Director of ACCIS since January 2017. After serving in that role in a part-time, volunteer capacity for three and a half years, she became the Association’s first full-time employee. As executive director, Emmi is tasked with the day-to-day operations of the Association, whose mission is to support the essential role of college counselors as leaders in independent schools through professional development and support. She is a frequent presenter and panelist at regional and national conferences and a speaker at professional meetings. Emmi’s experience in college admission and counseling spans over 25 years in the profession. Early in her career, she served in the undergraduate admission offices at Emory University in Atlanta and Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Emmi then served as director of college counseling at Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News, Virginia and The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California. It was at Bishop's where she began her involvement in ACCIS as a committee member, chair, and ultimately executive director. She is based in San Diego, California.

Linda Pierre
Director of Member Services and Operations

Linda Pierre joined ACCIS in January 2022 as the Director of Member Services and Operations, where she takes a lead role in association operations, member services and outreach, and managing membership and systems to benefit ACCIS member schools and organizations. Additionally, she is responsible for managing the logistics of the Association’s professional development offerings, along with their respective chairs. Linda has worked with several national associations and higher education institutions and brings more than 15 years of experience in association management, program management, events, and operations. Prior to joining ACCIS, Linda worked with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) as a senior director. She is also a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), holds a Certificate in Exhibition Management (CEM), and Digital Events Specialist (DES). She is based in Maryland.

Leilani Arita-Takayama
'Iolani School, Honolulu, HI 
Board chair (term through 2027)

Leilani Arita-Takayama joined the ACCIS Board in 2023. She served as the New Counselor Workshop and Webinar Series Chair from 2021-2023 and has been on the faculty since 2020. She has been a member of the college counseling team at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi since 2017, serving as Associate Director of College Counseling. Before this current role, she also served as Academic Dean and College Counselor at La Pietra-Hawai`i School for Girls and has spent time in graduate advising at Hawaiʻi Pacific University. She currently serves as Co-Chair for Hawai`i Association for College Admission Counseling's Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee. 

Ashley Armato
The Lovett School, Atlanta, GA
Board past-chair (term through 2026)

Ashley Armato joined the ACCIS Board in 2021 and was named the first chair of the Organizational Accountability for Access and Equity (OAAE) Committee in 2022. She currently serves as the Associate Director of College Counseling at the Lovett School. She was formerly the Senior Associate Director of College Counseling and Co-Coordinator of Equity and Inclusion at Palmer Trinity School in Miami, Florida. Prior to joining the college counseling department at Palmer Trinity in 2010, she worked in college admission at Amherst College. Ashley served on the ACCIS Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee from 2018-2021. From 2017-2019 she served as Co-Chair of the Latinx Special Interest Group for SACAC and served on the SACAC Board from 2019-2022.

Dr. Ashley L. Bennett
Emma Willard School, Troy, NY
Board chair-elect (term through 2028)

Ashley Bennett was elected to the ACCIS Board of Trustees in 2023. She currently serves as Director of College Counseling at Emma Willard School in Troy, NY. Prior to this role, Ashley was Director of College Counseling at KIPP Sunnyside High School and she was a college counselor at St. Agnes Academy in Houston, TX as well. As is often the case in the profession, Ashley spent several years in college admission. She was Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Wiley College in Marshall, TX, and Assistant Director of Admission at Oklahoma City University. 

Frank Cabrera
Brooklyn Friends School, Brooklyn, NY (term through 2026)

Frank Cabrera (he/him) was elected to the ACCIS board in 2023. He is currently the Director of College Counseling at Brooklyn Friends School in Brooklyn, NY. Previously, Frank worked as an Associate Director of College Counseling at the Horace Mann School (NY) and Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, overseeing Latinx recruitment. As a member of ACCIS, he has served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and the Data, Trends, and Analytics Committee. Frank is currently on the advisory board of Scoir and is a reader for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. He has also been an active member of NACAC and NYSACAC, where he has served as a presenter and mentor for their Summer Institute.

Tania Castro Bradt 
Head-Royce School, Oakland, CA (term through 2028)

Chadwick Fulton
St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Austin, TX (term through 2028)

Chadwick Fulton was elected to the ACCIS Board of Trustees in 2025, having previously served on the ACCIS leadership team as the New Counselor Workshop and Webinar Series Chair; he began his service on the faculty in 2020. He has been a member of the college counseling team at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas since 2012 and serves as Co-Director of College Counseling. Before his current role at St. Andrew's, he worked in undergraduate admissions at his alma mater, the University of Tennessee. 

Sebnem Giorgio
Nightingale-Bamford School, New York, NY (term through 2027)

Sebnem Giorgio joined the ACCIS Board of Trustees in 2024. Sebnem currently serves as the Chief Financial and Operating Officer at The Nightingale-Bamford School in New York and oversees finance, facilities/capital projects, human resources and IT. Sebnem has had similar leadership roles in nonprofit organizations over the past twelve years. In her last role, she was the chief financial and administrative officer of DREAM (formerly Harlem RBI), a public charter school in New York. Prior to transitioning to non-profit organizations, Sebnem spent over ten years as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. She is the Treasurer of the Board of America Needs You, a nonprofit that fights for economic mobility for ambitious, first-generation college students. Sebnem has served as a member of the NYSAIS Business Affairs Council since 2021. 

David Hawkins
National Association for College Admission Counseling, Arlington, VA (term through 2028)

David Hawkins is the Chief Education and Policy Officer for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), based in Arlington, VA. The National Association for College Admission Counseling is a non-profit membership association that represents more than 28,000 high school counselors and college admission officers throughout the U.S. and around the world. NACAC is devoted to making the transition between high school and postsecondary education equitable, transparent, and fair. Mr. Hawkins holds a BA and MA in Government from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. From 1995-1998, he conducted research for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in Washington, DC. From 1998-2000, he served under President Bill Clinton as a Congressional Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Hawkins joined NACAC as Director of Government Relations in March 2000 and over his 25 years with the association has assumed responsibility for leading NACAC’s advocacy, research, education and training, and equity initiatives.

Matt Lane
Branson School, Ross, CA 
Governance and Nominating Chair (term through 2026)

Matt Lane (he/him) joined the ACCIS Board in 2022. He currently serves as Director of College Counseling at the Branson School in Ross, CA. Previously, Matt worked in the college counseling offices of Hopkins (CT) and Loyola Academy (IL) and in the admission offices of Boston College (MA), Babson College (MA), and Providence College (RI). Matt has served in multiple capacities in regional and national organizations, including serving on NACAC’s committees for Admission Practices and the Ad Hoc Committee on Reimagining the National/Affiliate Partnership. Matt co-chaired the ACCIS Summer Institute in 2019. Matt also sits on the national scholarship selection committee for the Point Foundation, an organization that provides scholarship, leadership, and mentorship opportunities for LGBTQ+ college-bound students. 

Amy M. McNamer
The Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (term through 2026)

 Amy McNamer joined the ACCIS board in July 2023.  Since 2018, Amy has been the Executive Director at the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW).  Prior to her work with AISGW, Amy practiced law for twenty years in a variety of contexts in the private and public sectors. She first worked as an attorney with law firms in San Francisco and Washington before joining the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, where she was a Senior Attorney in the Enforcement Division for over ten years.  Amy has also provided strategic consulting to several Washington area non-profits as a volunteer for Compass Pro Bono, assisting non-profit boards with governance issues and strategic alignment matters.  She and her husband, Jim Neill, have three children, all of whom attend or have attended independent schools.

Elizabeth Pili
The Spence School, New York, NY (term through 2027)

Beth Pili joined the ACCIS Board of Trustees in 2024. Before joining the board, she was a member of the ACCIS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and volunteered for ACCIS 360. In 2019, Beth joined the Spence community as Director of College Counseling. She is also a member of the performing arts department as a dance history teacher. Previously, Beth worked in the Horace Mann College Counseling office and was the head of college advising for the Heckscher Foundation for Children. Her career started in higher education, where she worked in undergraduate admissions for Barnard College, Yale University, Columbia University, and most recently as a reader for Colorado College. She is an active member of the Association of Black Admissions and Financial Aid Officers of the Ivy League and Sister Schools (ABAFAOILSS) and serves on the Presidential Advisory Board for Bryn Mawr College. 

Warren Quirett
Episcopal High School, Alexandria, VA (term through 2028)

Warren was elected to the ACCIS Board of Trustees in 2025, and previously served as the Co-chair of the Diversity Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee. Currently, Warren serves as the Associate Director of College Counseling at Episcopal High School (VA). He began his career in higher education, working in undergraduate admission at his alma mater, Louisiana State University, and Miami University. Warren has served as a College Counselor at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (GA) and St. John's College High School (DC). He is active within the profession, as he has served on the Board of Directors for the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling (SACAC) and advisory boards of various colleges and universities throughout the country. He is the Co-Leader of the Black and African Diaspora Special Interest Group for the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and has served in a variety of roles within the organization.

Courtney Skerritt
Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH (term through 2027)

Courtney Skerritt joined the ACCIS Board in 2024. Prior to joining the board, she served as co-coordinator of the ACCIS 360 Program from 2020 – 2024 and co-chaired the 2018 Summer Institute at Trinity University. She began her service to ACCIS as coordinator of  Community Outreach from 2007 – 2013. Courtney has been an Associate Director of College Counseling at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire since 2019. Prior to joining the faculty at Exeter, she served as Director of College Counseling at The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas and at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. In addition to volunteering with ACCIS, Courtney served as the Professional Development Co-Chair for the Texas Association of College Admission Counseling and co-chaired the New England Association of College Admission Counseling Summer Institute, while also serving on faculty.

T. Peaches Valdes
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA (term through 2028)

David Weisbord
Winchester Thurston School, Pittsburgh, PA
Treasurer and Finance Chair (term through 2026)

David Weisbord joined the ACCIS Board of Trustees as Treasurer and Finance chair in 2023. David currently serves as the Director of College Counseling at Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Prior to moving to Pittsburgh in 2018, David served as Associate Director of College Counseling at George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania. David worked in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Columbia University for 11 years in a variety of leadership roles and started his admission career at Susquehanna University. David is an active member of NACAC and PACAC and previously served as PACAC Treasurer/Chair of Finance & Budget.

Timothy L. Cross
The Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, NJ
Membership Co-chair (term through 2028)

Tim Cross (he/him/his) joined the ACCIS leadership team in 2025 as Co-Chair of Membership after serving as Co-Chair for ACCIS's Mentoring & Volunteers Subcommittee since 2023. Currently, he is an Associate Director of College Counseling & Lower School Level Director at the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and has served as a university-assigned mentor for Penn GSE's School Leadership Program for the past three years. Tim has been an ACCIS member since 2015, when he started working as a college counselor at the Kent School in Connecticut. Before working in boarding schools, he was an Associate Director of Admissions & Coordinator of Transfer Admissions at Trinity College in Connecticut. 

Katie Frink
Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, Houston, TX
Data Trends & Analytics Chair (term through 2027)

Katie Frink joined the ACCIS leadership team in 2024 as the Data Trends & Analytics Chair. She is the College Advising Co-Director at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, TX. Katie pioneered the regional model as an Associate Director of Admission for Rhodes College, and in that capacity served as Vice Chair of DARN and member of the TACAC Government Relations Committee. Her additional experience includes teaching at the high school level and serving as a Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Holy Family School in McKinney, TX.

Joaquim Hamilton
Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, PA
New Counselor Workshop and Webinar Series Chair (term through 2028)

Jazmin John
McDonogh School, Owings Mills, MD
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Co-chair (term through 2026)

Jazmin joined the ACCIS Leadership Team in July of 2023 as the Co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee. Currently, Jazmin is Associate Director of College Counseling at McDonogh School and previously served as the Associate Director of College Counseling & DEI Coordinator at Friends School of Baltimore. Jazmin began her career in college admissions at both Hood College (MD) and her alma mater, Notre Dame of Maryland University (MD). After working in higher education, she began her journey to independent schools working in admissions at Garrison Forest School (MD) and then at Friends School. During Jazmin's time as a college counselor, she has been extremely active as the Co-Leader of the Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS) College Counseling group, and an active member on the ACCIS DE&I Committee planning the first Equity & Innovation Summit. In 2023, Jazmin was awarded AIMS Counselor of the Year Award. 

Lesley Klecan
St. Mary's School, Medford, OR
Annual Conference Chair (term through 2026)

Lesley Klecan joined the ACCIS leadership team in July 2022 as the Annual Conference (formerly Summer Institute) Chair after co-chairing for two years. She is the Director of College Counseling and Head of Academics at St. Mary’s School in Southern Oregon. Lesley was a member of the Counselor Advisory Board for the University of Oregon, an Executive Board member for PNACAC, and the Chair of the Inter-Association Committee. She’s presented at state, regional, and national conferences as well as volunteering her time with local community-based organizations.

Berta Liao
`Iolani School, Honolulu, HI
Communications Chair (term through 2027)

Berta Liao joined the ACCIS leadership team in July 2024 as the Communications Chair after having been a member of the committee since January 2023. Berta joined the `Iolani School college counseling team in 2020 as an Associate Director of College Counseling, and previously spent a decade as the college counselor at Hsinchu International School in Taiwan. While in Taiwan, Berta was a member of both the Communications and Professional Development Committees of International ACAC. In addition to volunteering with ACCIS, Berta is an active member of Hawaiʻi ACAC and NACAC. 

Stevi Schuknecht
Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX
Membership Committee co-chair (term through 2028)

Brian K. Smith
Marlborough School, Los Angeles, CA
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Co-chair (term through 2028)