Hiring as Networking

Mike Vachow is a managing director at Gowan Group, a full service consultancy to independent schools. Before becoming a consultant, Mike worked in independent day schools for 30 years, first as an English teacher and coach at the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans before moving on to administrative roles. He continued in school leadership as a division director at Lake Forest Country Day School, and for ten years as head of Forsyth School in St. Louis, and as interim head at Peoria Academy. Mike also maintains his own consulting brand, Knuckleball Consulting, for small projects and from which he publishes his monthly newsletter, Ahead in the Count. During his years serving independent schools in the Midwest, Mike chaired the board of the Independent Schools of St. Louis, and served ISACS as a member of the accreditation review committee, and as an accreditation team leader and mentor in the New Heads Network. Mike’s consulting work has focused on enrollment strategy, strategic planning, governance, and leadership searches. He has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. from Middlebury College.

Vanessa Alpertis in her 11th year as the director of human resources at Pembroke Hill School, a co-ed, PreK – 12 school of 1,200 students on two campuses in Kansas City, MO. Before coming to Pembroke Hill, Vanessa worked for 16 years as a specialist and generalist leader in human resources for both large corporations and medium sized companies. Her industry experience in human resources spans for profit and nonprofit organizations, retail/service, manufacturing (union and non-union environments), health care, and education. She was an adjunct teacher at Park University in the M.B.A. program for two years sharing knowledge and expertise in her field. Vanessa received her B.B.A. and M.B.A. at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.