CS&A is pleased to welcome several new team members!
David Chojnacki, Senior Consultant
David brings a lifetime of engagement in, leadership of, and networking within independent and international schools to our International Practice Group.
David has held headships at the International School of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, West Africa), the Karachi American School (Pakistan), the American Embassy School in New Delhi, and Cairo American College. For 20 years, he served as the Executive Director of the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools, and he has served on numerous boards including the Association of International Schools in Africa, the Association for the Advancement of International Education, NAIS, and the U.S. Fulbright Commission in Greece. Particularly noteworthy is that he edited the original international version of the NAIS “Trustee Handbook” and is currently working on a revision.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and his master’s in education and administrative credential from the University of Wisconsin.
Peter O'Neill, Senior Consultant
Peter brings years of experience to CS&A in leading and advising a wide range of independent schools and school leaders. For two decades, he served as Head of School of Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, Maryland.
With a leadership style grounded in collaboration and communication, he also served as Head of School at Wooster School and as Interim Head of School at Rutgers Preparatory School, Whitby School, New Canaan Country School, and most recently at The Hotchkiss School.
Recognized as one of the country’s most outstanding school heads in 2006 by The Klingenstein Center at Columbia University, Peter has served as president of Association of Independent Maryland Schools, and served on the boards of the National Coalition of Girls Schools, National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls, and Connecticut Association of Independent Schools. He serves on the board of the Chatham Conservation Foundation and as the vice chair of the Board of Trustees for The Ethel Walker School.
He is a frequent speaker for professional organizations, including NAIS, CASE-NAIS, and the Association of Independent Maryland Schools, and has chaired and served on numerous school accreditation committees. Peter was elected to membership in both the Headmasters Association and the Country Day School Headmasters Association, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Graduate School of Professional Studies, where he created and taught a course on independent school governance. Peter received his B.A. from St. Michael’s College and his M.A. from Trinity College, both in American Studies.
Lisa Parsons, Search Associate
Lisa brings a wealth of knowledge from a robust career in independent school admissions and development and more recently from her work with the search firm Spencer Stuart in Boston.
Lisa attended Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, CT, and earned her B.A. from Middlebury College in Vermont. She began working in development first at Harvard University then also at Salisbury School in Connecticut. She then transitioned to admissions work, holding positions at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, The Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut, Groton School in Massachusetts and The Rivers School in Massachusetts.
Lisa has extensive experience serving on search committees for key administrator positions while at The Loomis Chaffee School and Groton School. While at Spencer Stuart, she facilitated national Head of School searches, conducted targeted candidate recruitment, and worked strategically to drive each search to completion.
Karen Whitaker, Search Consultant
Karen’s strong roots in California bring a vast West Coast network to our Search Group.
After receiving her B.A. from Stanford and her California Teaching Credential from University of California, Berkeley, Karen began her career in teaching at the Bay Area public schools before joining The Branson School as an English teacher. Karen remained at Branson as Freshman Dean and Director of Studies before serving as Assistant Head of School and Academic Dean for more than 10 years.
She currently serves as a Trustee at Marin Primary & Middle School in Larkspur, CA. She was a Leadership Fellow and Administration Community Discourse at the California Teacher Development Collaborative, and has presented on Women in Leadership at the NAIS Annual Conference.