Patricia McCarver (1st term July 1, 2019, Term Ending - June 30, 2025) - Board Chair

Dr. Patricia McCarver lives in Prescott and has been a District Governing Board member at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona, since January 2005. She is currently serving as a senior faculty member in the Teacher’s College at Western Governors University, teaching Educational Psychology and Research Writing to graduate and undergraduate students.

Dr. McCarver has a broad background of experience and knowledge of higher education.

She has presented at many professional conferences, on topics related to education, student services, transformative learning and group development. Dr. McCarver has also provided training for the Yavapai College Board as an internal consultant and presented at the Association of Community College Trustees meetings on her Board’s practice in Policy Governance.

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Chuck Namit (1st term, July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2025)

Chuck Namit is an education and nonprofit consultant and is president of Strategem, LLC, governance and leadership group that provides training, facilitation, board self- assessment, CEO and superintendent evaluation, CEO coaching, and governance training services for the public schools and the community. The firm provides governance training in Values Governance®, board governance, CEO coaching, development training, and conference presentations. Chuck has a Master’s degree in communication from Michigan State University and an MBA degree from the University of Puget Sound. He is author of the book Now Elected, Now What? The Path to Successful School District Governance (Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, 2017).

Chuck is in his seventh four-year term as a member of the North Thurston Public Schools Board of Directors, a council member on the Thurston Regional Planning Council, and has been a board member of the WSSDA. 
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 Harry Nijkamp, Wezep, Netherlands (1st term, July 1, 2018, Term Ending – June 30, 2024)

Harry Nijkamp has over 25 years’ experience as a lawyer and a consultant. He started his career as lawyer advising educational organizations. He became head of a legal service organization that is active nationwide in the educational field. Later on he switched towards consulting in strategic affairs, cooperation and mergers between non profit organizations as a managing consultant by one of the greatest consultancy firms within education. His specialization became governance consulting within the field of primary and secondary education. In 2014 he started his own consulting firm advising boards and supervisory boards in the non-profit sector. Being inspired by Policy Governance thinking, he followed the Policy Governance Academy by the Carver in London in 2010. He served in several boards within the non profit sector and was several times chair of a church organization in the Netherlands. 
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 Elaine Vandale (1st term, July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2024)

For twenty years Elaine supported the Red Deer College (RDC) Board with its implementation and practice of Policy Governance. She served as a professional resource/advisor providing governance advice on key issues as it matured in its application of the model. Working in the Government of Alberta’s post-secondary (PS) sector, she provided input on various items including the impact of proposed legislation on the Board’s governance model and practices. As a member of the Provincial Post-Secondary Institution’s Governance Network, she provided feedback related to online orientation modules for PS boards within the Province. Serving as the Executive Director, Board & Corporate Relations at RDC, she played a strategic/liaison role in the implementation and maintenance of the Board’s Government Relations Strategies and provided direction in the corporate communication strategy. In 2016/2017 Elaine successfully completed IPGA’s accredited Policy Governance Proficiency Program.
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Chantal Ouelette , (1st term July 1, 2020, Term Ending - June 30, 2026)

Chantal Ouellette joined the GOVERN for IMPACT Board of Directors as at July 1, 2020.  Chantal is very familiar with Policy Governance. She graduated from the Policy Govern Proficiency Program in 2018.

Chantal Ouellette has been serving as board administrator of a non-profit organization since 2012 that serves Francophone School Boards in New Brunswick, Canada. She is coaching the boards in their implementation of Policy Governance (PG) and assisting the chairs in the interpretation of their roles, and the roles & responsibilities of their boards, in conformity of the Education Act and PG. She is also collaborating to develop a Board Member Manual explaining the fiduciary role of a School Board and its members, and how to work within the Policy Governance Model. She believes PG has the capacity to empower Boards to create a better future for humanity.

Lindsay Grillet (1st term July 1, 2021, Term Ending - June 30, 2024)

Andrew Bergen (1st term July 1, 2023, Term Ending - June 30, 2029)

Andrew is a facilitator and coach, incorporating elements of problem solving skills, group dynamics, and thinking tools to assist groups in strategic planning and stakeholder input. His training includes brain-based coaching, processes and tools for effectively working with conflict, assisting parties to come to collaborative solutions. He is also educated in effective team process, including the use of the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory.For most of his career, Andrew Bergen was involved in the education sector in several different ways. Beginning as a teacher in inner city schools, he developed a passion for helping people learn, develop their potential, and find those “aha” moments. His career developed to involvement mostly in the adult education sector, from teaching in a university in St. Petersburg, Russia to a college in rural Saskatchewan. Following this portion of his professional life, he became involved in local school board governance. It was in this role that he began to study the work of Dr. John Carver, the inventor of the Policy Governance® Model.

Andrew introduced the board of the School Division to the Policy Governance® Model and chaired the board during its implementation of the model. Serving in that capacity, he was able to learn and develop practices for the hands-on application of Policy Governance®. Andrew has received advanced training at the Policy Governance© Academy SM and regularly participates in professional development regarding the Policy Governance® Model. Andrew currently holds a contract with the Saskatoon Health Region as the lead consultant in strategy for both leadership coaching and development, as well as conflict resolution.

Steve Schroeder  (1st term July 1, 2023, Term Ending - June 30, 2029)

Steve Schroeder has served on the Sun Prairie Area School District Board of Education since 2012 with five years as vice president and six years as president. In this role, Steve has assisted the district with its move to a form of Policy Governance, passing three referenda totaling more than $250M, developing a new strategic framework, and ensuring a focus on equity and meeting the needs of every child.

Steve Schroeder serves as the Director of Administration at the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA).  In this role, Steve oversees all internal operations for AWSA as well as strategic planning and continuous improvement initiatives.  He also develops and facilitates leadership training for school leadership around the state.

Steve has a true passion for working with others through servant leadership, collaboration, and shared vision. He received his B.A. and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Edgewood College.

He and his wife Erin, a high school math teacher, are the proud parents of two girls.  In his free time, Steve enjoys yard work, reading, skiing, and being a dad.