Board of Trustees

Leigh Anne Baxter

Leigh Anne graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science in 1987. She played professional tennis for three years and in 1990 married her husband, Mike. Leigh Anne and Mike have three children: a 11th grader at Brentwood, a 9th grader at Harvard-Westlake, and a 7th grader at Brentwood. This is Leigh Anne's fourth year as a Village School Trustee. Her primary role has been to Chair the Annual Fund Committee, working closely with the Development Committee. Over the past fifteen years she has been involved with a variety of charitable organizations. Currently she is active with a group raising money for women's cancer research, as well as an organization that provides grants to benefit children’s causes in the Los Angeles area.

Steve Berman

Steve Berman, a native of Los Angeles, attended UCLA and then California State Northridge. Steve has worked in the music industry since the age of seventeen and now serves as President, Marketing and Sales, of Interscope Geffen A&M. Steve is married to Frances Berman. Together, they have two daughters, a fifth grader and kindergartener, both of whom attend Village School. Steve and Frances are very active in the community, supporting their temple and church as well as local charities, including Pink Party. They are also active members of the National MS Society and Seeds of Peace.

David Freitag

David grew up in the Los Angeles area, and graduated from University of Southern California with a B.S. degree in Business in 1984. He resides in Pacific Palisades with his wife, April and their two children both whom attend Village, in 4th Grade and 1st Grade. David is an Executive Vice President/Principal, and the Branch Manager for the Los Angeles office of DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services, one of the oldest industrial commercial real estate companies in Southern California. He is recognized as one of the top commercial brokers in the Los Angeles region. David is an active volunteer for the City of Hope, and at Village he has served on the Marketing Committee. He joined became a Trustee in 2008.

Thomas Gilder

Tom received a B.A. in Political Science from U.C. Santa Barbara, and a M.S. in Educational Administration from Pepperdine University. He has been Windward’s Head of School since 1986. Tom joined Windward's faculty in 1981 to teach and serve as Assistant Head of School. Prior to 1986, he served as the West Coast Coordinator of Johns Hopkins University's CTY Program (Center for the Advancement of Academically Talented Youth). He currently serves on several professional boards. Tom and his wife Lori have two children who are alumni of Village School. Their son is now a freshman at UCSB; their daughter is in 10th grade at Winward.

Jane Gutman

Jane did her undergraduate work at Trinity College, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania. She holds Master's Degrees from Dartmouth College and Antioch University. Jane is a former Middle School teacher, and worked for the University of Pennsylvania for thirteen years as the Associate Dean of Admissions, and in LA as the Western Regional Campaign Director. While raising her two sons, an 11th grader at Harvard-Westlake and a 9th grader at Windward School, she has worked part-time as an independent college consultant and counselor. Jane has devoted a great deal of volunteer time to the University of Pennsylvania, and continues to serve in leadership roles on the regional and national levels. Locally, Jane is on the board of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association. She also happily devotes her time, primarily in areas relating to service learning, at both her synagogue and her sons' schools. At Village School she has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2001, and serves as the co-chair of the Community Outreach Committee and the Committee on Trustees.

Rachel Jeffer

Rachel and her family have lived in Pacific Palisades for ten years. Her daughter, is a 12th grader at Harvard-Westlake, attended Village School from 1998 - 2003. Rachel served on the Village School Parent Association Board for two years and has served as a Trustee for eight years, seven as Development Chair. She currently serves as the Capital Campaign Chair. Rachel graduated from Pepperdine University with a B.S. in Management. She brings to her position on the Board over 25 years' experience as a business professional with a strong background in human resources management and organizational development. Rachel owns and operates a business that provides personnel services to the legal community. Rachel is also brings to her position on the Board a life-long commitment to community service. She is the immediate past President of Kehillat Israel and serves on the Board as Advisor. She also serves on a variety of nonprofit boards and advisory committees, including Prototypes and the Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition.

Carolyn Jordan

Carolyn was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended UCLA, earning her B.A. magna cum laude in 1983 and her J.D. in 1986. She is a partner of the law firm Christensen, Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro, LLP, working in the transactional areas of practice, and was named a "California Super Lawyer" in 2007. She has been an involved member of the Village School community, having served in a number of leadership roles within the Village School Parent Association, including as its President for two years. Ms. Jordan and her husband, Daniel, have two children, a daughter who graduated Village School and is now attending Brentwood School, and a son who is a sixth grader at Village School. Carolyn co-chairs the Committee on Trustees.

Bob Levitt

Bob Levitt received his B.A. from Brown University. He is married to Alicia Brandt Levitt, who is extremely active with the Village School Parent Association. They have four children, all Village Schoolers: a junior at NYU/Tisch, a 9th grader at Harvard-Westlake, a 6th grader, and a 4th grader. Bob is the Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and runs the Los Angeles office and Business Services practice. He has been a leader on the Village Board for more than ten years, serving on the Finance Committee, as Treasurer and as Chair for the past nine years. Bob is involved with his children's many activities, and has also spent two years on the Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board, as a driving force in raising $1 million dollars to rebuild the fields.

Connie Robinson

Connie Robinson is a graduate of the University of Houston with a BBA degree in Accounting and Taxation. She is presently the VP of Financial Systems for Fox Television Stations Inc. In addition, Connie is active in the community supporting causes relating to childhood obesity and Sickle Cell Anemia. She serves on the Executive Board of the Jack and Jill of America - Los Angeles Chapter. Connie and her husband Donny are the parents a 4th grader at Village school. For several years Connie has been an active member of the Outreach Committee, which she now Co-Chairs, and she joined the Village Board in 2008.

Michael Rosen

Michael earned his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Tufts University, and Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts/Harvard). He and his wife, Linda (the current President of the VSPA), have two children at Village School: a fifth grader and a third grader. For more than twenty years Michael has worked as an institutional portfolio manager, investment strategist, trader and investment consultant. He has also been an Adjunct Professor at both Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine Universities. Michael currently serves at President of the Board of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and as a trustee at Kehillat Israel. He has been on the Village School Finance Committee for several years and became a Trustee in 2008.

Bob Sacks

Bob is the managing partner of the Los Angeles office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. For the past twenty-five years, his law practice has involved in complex commercial litigation, first in Sullivan & Cromwell's New York office and, for the past eighteen years, in Los Angeles. Bob is a 1979 graduate of Harvard and a 1982 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. He and his wife Anne have three children, all of whom attended Village School: a senior at Williams College; a sophmore at Barnard College; and an 11th grader at Harvard Westlake. At Village School, Bob was for many years the Secretary of the Board and for the past five years has served as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee.

Frankie Stabler-Sholem

Frankie was born in Los Angeles and attended Beverly Hills High School. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree at UCLA in English Literature and a Master of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from California State University Northridge. She taught elementary school for Los Angeles Unified School District for eleven years, teaching in both regular and "mainstream" classrooms. Frankie married her husband Barry in 1990 and they have two children who attended Village School and are currently in 10th and 7th grades at Brentwood. She now spends time devoted to several charitable organizations as well as quite a bit of time working at both of her children’s current schools. Her entire family lives in the West Los Angeles area; parents, brothers, sister, and many nieces and nephews. Frankie has contributed extensive time and expertise to the Vilalge board for the past seveal years.

Ruth Sorotzkin, M.D.

Ruth received her BA from Stanford University in 1985 and her MD from UCLA in 1989. She completed her Family Medicine residency at Santa Monica Hospital and currently maintains a private practice in Santa Monica. In addition, Ruth teaches medical students from UCLA and the Santa Monica Family Residency Program, volunteers at the Venice Family Clinic and work to develop and present health programs at her children's schools. She and her husband, Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, have three children, two of whom graduated from Village School (one now a freshman at Washington University, the other a 10th grader at Brentwood) and one of whom is currently a 6th grader there. Ruth chairs the Marketing Committee.

Andy Starrels

Andy Starrels was born in Los Angeles, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Geography from the University of California at Berkeley, and Juris Doctor and Master of Regional Planning degrees from Cornell University. He has been a member of the California Bar since 1985, and has specialized in transactional issues surrounding real estate and finance throughout his career. Andy worked in private practice with Loeb and Loeb, then as in house counsel with The Travelers Realty Investment Company. Currently, Andy is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Casden Properties LLC, a preeminent developer of multifamily residential communities. Along with his wife Dorinda, two children(a 7th grader at Brentwood, who graduated from Village, and a 4th grader at Village School), Andy lives in Pacific Palisades.

Neil Wertlieb

Neil is a partner at the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, where his practice focuses on business transactions, primarily acquisitions and finance and advising boards of directors. He is also an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law, where he teaches a course on business transactions. Neil attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the business school and his Juris Doctor degree at the law school. He is the former Chairman of both the California State Bar’s Business Law Section and its Corporations Committee, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Los Angeles Arts Association. Neil and his wife La Donna have lived in Pacific Palisades for twelve years, and have three children at Village School: a fourth grader, and identical twins in first grade. Neil has served on the Finance Committee and joined the Village Board in 2008.