BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Gwynedd Friends School is governed by a Board of Trustees, comprised of a majority of Quakers. The board is the guardian of the School’s mission. It is the board’s responsibility to ensure that the mission is relevant and vital to the community it serves and to monitor the success of the school in fulfilling its mission.
Adrienne Aiken is native New Yorker, who currently works as the Division Director at Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania in Bucks County. Adrienne has over 25 years’ experience in Early Intervention and Special Education. In 1992, she worked at United Cerebral Palsy (Blossom) as an educator. She has been at Easterseals since 1999. Adrienne is also the Core Leadership Administrator for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) at her school, which focuses on providing children, with social, emotional and behavioral support and giving families tools that can be used in all environments.
Adrienne has participated in non-profit fundraisers and events including Easterseals’ ‘Walk with Me” at the Philadelphia Zoo, the Multiple Sclerosis Society's “Climb to the Top” at Rockefeller Center and “Bike MS” in New York City. She currently lives in Wyncote.
Adrienne has spent her time on the board learning the many facets of Gwynedd Friends School, its programs and examining the ways she and the board can offer their support.
Mason Barnett grew up around Quakers and began attending Durham Friends Meeting in 1984. She was later active with German Yearly Meeting. When she returned to the Philadelphia area in 2009, she transferred her membership to Gwynedd Friends Meeting.
Mason is executive director of Northwestern Stables, Inc., an equestrian facility located in northwest Philadelphia, dedicated to connecting people with horses to benefit the community. Mason’s professional background is in organizational development, with a focus on strategic planning, governance, and philanthropy. She is delighted to serve on the School’s board.
Elizabeth Blowers-Nyman, MPH and her husband were fortunate to send their son to Gwynedd Friends School for four years. During that time, they saw their son grow and learn in immeasurable ways. The supportive community was the key thing that kept them at Gwynedd Friends through Kindergarten. Elizabeth and her husband want other children and their families have the same supportive and foundational experiences.
In her professional life, Elizabeth is Executive Director, Global New Products Policy for Merck Vaccines. Since starting this role in August 2020, Elizabeth is responsible for leading global efforts to create an enabling environment for sustained access to Merck’s new and innovative vaccines. Previously, Elizabeth served as Executive Director, U.S. Vaccine Public Policy and Government Relations for Merck.
Elizabeth holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree with a concentration in Health Policy and Management from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Boston College.
In addition to the Gwynedd Friends School Board of Trustees, Elizabeth also serves as a National Advisory Board member for Amigos de las Americas (“Amigos”). She has previously served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Foundation for Amigos, and as a member on the International Board of Directors for Amigos.
Marie Hubbs is married and lives with her husband in Lower Gwynedd Township. She has two grown children, and is active in her granddaughters' lives.
Marie is a retired circulation manager at the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, where she was employed for over 30 years. This position offered her great satisfaction while helping the public and working with the library staff. She is a member of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting and has served on a number of committees and as a Trustee for the Meeting.
Volunteerism has been an important part of her life. Among other commitments, she served for over 25 years on the Board of the College Settlement Camps in Horsham, which offer a camping experience to underprivileged children. She is currently on the Board at Foulkeways.
Marie has had the opportunity to watch the School grow from very small to its current size, while continuing to offer a high quality caring and learning environment for children.
Heather O’Malley and her wife, Erin, moved to Ambler in 2014, seeking a strong, positive, and engaged community in which to raise their family. When it came time for their daughter to begin school, they sought a warm and nurturing place that reflected their values - equity, love, and acceptance - and sought a place where all students are welcomed for who they are.
A graduate of St. Joseph’s University with a degree in Elementary & Special Education, Heather believes that how children learn is as important as what they learn. From the very first day Heather visited Gwynedd Friends School, she was drawn to the school’s mission and to the energy of its faculty, its leadership, and especially its children.
Heather is a lead stylist at Vanity Salon in Philadelphia. Community participation and outreach are important to Heather. Over the years, she has worked with the homeless in Philadelphia, on AIDS outreach initiatives, and with juvenile delinquency programs designed to teach self sufficiency. She has been a long-time advocate for the underserved and excluded.
These pursuits are balanced by Heather’s absolute mandate that life must be fun! She enjoys bringing her high-spirited energy to Gwynedd Friends School.
Faith Paulsen Having come to Gwynedd Friends Meeting for the first time as the parent of a Preschool child, Faith Paulsen found a spiritual home here, eventually becoming a member. She has served on every Parent Association of every school her three children have attended, including several terms as President of the Parent Associations at Oak Lane Day School and Solebury School, and also on the Board of Oak Lane Day School.
A native New Yorker with degrees from Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and Drexel University School of Library and Information Science, she has worked as systems analyst and technical writer, and on a freelance basis as writer of technical, travel, parenting and general interest materials. She has written and published fiction, personal essays and poetry in a number of journals and anthologies. Her day job is in the family insurance business. She lives in Norristown with her husband Barton Sacks.
Diane Pilch is a pediatric physical therapist currently working with preschool-age children in Lower Bucks County. In 2003, she worked with a preschooler at GFS, and began attending Gwynedd Meeting, and becoming a member in 2011.
She has served on many committees: Preschool, Child Safety Policy, Peace Camp, and Wales Youth Exchange, to name a few. Her career and most outside interests are focused on children and youth. In addition to Quaker activities, she also practices martial arts, trains regularly, and teaches classes to the junior division (5-11 years).
She is married and has two college-age children who attended Gwynedd Meeting, First Day School programs, and Peace Camp, as well as participating in the Wales Exchange. Watching all of “her” children develop and grow into adulthood, using their individual skills to make the world a better, more loving and caring place, is one of her greatest joys.
Laura Taylor, along with her spouse and three children, chose to become Quakers in 1988 and transferred their membership to Gwynedd ten years later. First educated as a music therapist, and later as a school counselor, Laura has dedicated her working and volunteer life to helping others acquire well being--emotionally, physically and socially.
At Gwynedd, she has been active in committee work, especially Peace Camp, Preschool, the Wales Exchange, and Peace and Social Action. For over twenty years, Laura worked on Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Nonviolence & Children Committee, regularly providing monthly meetings and schools with workshops on the topic of Nurturing Peacemaking in children. Laura is an active facilitator in the Alternatives to Violence Project at SCI Phoenix, co-facilitating frequent workshops inside the maximum security prison for men. Currently Laura is the School Counselor at Media Providence Friends School, and following a deep commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. She is active in that work both at Gwynedd Meeting and at her school.
She believes that it is so important to nurture young persons in the way Gwynedd Friends has done since its inception. Being a member of the Board allows Laura to contribute to the well being of the GFS students and their teachers.
Neil Trueblood traces his family roots on both family branches to the origins of the Society of Friends in England and was born into membership at Gwynedd Friends Meeting, but along the way, chose to become active in many facets of Meeting life. Starting with attending Gwynedd Friends Preschool as a young student and then sending his own two daughters to the School, participation grew to include terms as Gwynedd Trustees Secretary, Clerk of Property Committee, Clerk of the Meeting and now a member of the School Committee.
Growing up nearby and then leading the local family construction business allowed for years of volunteer property work at the Meetinghouse. A school career also included the local public schools, Germantown Friends and Kenyon College. A commitment and appreciation for supporting the spirit of community Quakerism promotes, informs his sense of stewardship for the renewed Gwynedd Friends School.
Currently, employment includes specialty construction management, real estate sales and work on various Meeting committees. In addition, Neil’s non-profit activity includes a fifteen-years long board membership role on the Foulkeways Board of Directors and serving as its Property Committee Clerk and nearly a decade of board membership on the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association.
Lauren Wilson began her education in a Quaker setting and therefore felt passionate about nurturing her two children’s early development in a similar space at Gwynedd Friends School. During her tenure at GFS, Lauren has fallen in love with the school and been active member of the GFS Community.
Lauren has a diverse professional background with experiences in Audit and Consulting, Corporate Finance, and Commercial Insights across multiple industries.
Lauren lives in North Wales with her husband Greg and their two children. Lauren is proud to serve on the GFS Board and contribute to the continued positive impact of the school.
