Tommy Adams — Director

Tommy Adams is the current head of school at Grosse Pointe Academy (MI) and has over 20 years of experience in independent school admission. A graduate of Avon Old Farms in Connecticut and the son of a former head of school, Tommy received his bachelor's degree from Roanoke College in Virginia as well as a master's of science in Education with a focus on Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Tommy has been the recipient of the William B. Brettnal Award, which is given each year to a leader and educator who has made significant contributions to the field of admission. He has been a regular presenter at national events, such as TABS and The Enrollment Management Association Annual Meeting, and was a member of the ASSIST School Retention Task Force.

PETER GILBERT — co-director

Peter is a 30-year veteran of boarding schools with 25 years of experience in middle and secondary school admissions work. For his first ten years, Peter worked in coed schools, both boarding and day: The Rectory School, Collegiate School and Tilton School. Peter has been with Salisbury School since 1998. For most of his time at Salisbury, he has filled the role of Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, traveling extensively in the United States and abroad promoting the Salisbury experience.

Peter is active with various professional admissions leadership positions including the Admissions Leadership Council, Character Skills Snapshot G32, North American Boarding Initiative Advisory Council and the Erdmann Council. He also presents often on various admissions related topics at NAIS, TABS, SSATB, and IECA conferences. Peter's talks have been published in the Moffly Media Independent School Guide 2013, The Art of Admissions to Educate the Whole Child, The Yield Magazine, SSATB, Spring 2015 SAO Report, 3d Lacrosse Prep Showcase and Salisbury School Magazine.

Peter has been recognized for his professional accomplishments by being awarded The Enrollment Management Association William B. Bretnall Award Recipient 2016, For Exemplary Contribution to the Field of Independent School Admission.

CARINNE BARKER

Carinne has over 30 years of experience working in a variety of educational institutions, ranging in grades from preschool to higher education. Originally from New York, Carinne began her career in education working in admission for David Erdmann at Rollins College (FL), her alma mater. She worked for 25 years at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California, a K-12 independent school, where she served as Director of Admission and Financial Aid and then served as Senior Director of Professional Development for The Enrollment Management Association (formerly SSATB), before returning to independent schools. Carinne now serves as the Director of Enrollment and Strategic Marketing at St. Matthew’s School in Pacific Palisades, California, a co-ed Preschool-Grade 8 independent school.

Carinne served on the NAIS Financial Aid Advisory Task Force led by Mark Mitchell, as well as on the Program Committee of A Better Chance. She has chaired several regional associations, including the Los Angeles Area Independent School Consortium, and the Financial Aid Administrators’ Association of Southern California (fa3). Carinne received her undergraduate degree from Rollins College, and earned a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from California State University, Northridge.

PAM MCKENNA

Pamela has spent more than 25 years working in various segments of education including higher education and elementary and secondary schools at both single-sex and co-educational institutions. She began her professional career as an attorney and then moved into the corporate world as a managing editor at a legal publishing firm. Feeling a pull toward education, she moved on to become the Director of Admission at New York Law for six years before moving into the independent school arena. Pam was the Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut, an all-girls, pre-school-12 grade independent school, for 9 years before moving to her current position as Director of Enrollment and Strategic Marketing at Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut, a co-educational institution serving grades 7-12.

Pam currently serves as a member of the NAIS Financial Aid Advisory Task Force under the leadership of Mark Mitchell. She is a past-President of the Fairchester Admission Director’s group, a consortium of more than 40 independent schools in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York and is a past member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools Committee on School Advancement. In addition, she serves on the Erdmann Advisory Council for the Erdmann Institute for Enrollment Leadership. Pam received her bachelor’s degree in English from Duke University (NC) and her Juris Doctor degree from Washington University School of Law (MO).

Erdmann Council Members

Sheila Bogan - Middle and Upper School Admission Director and Director of Financial Aid, Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Christian Donovan - Assistant Head Of School & Director of Strategic Research, Head-Royce School, Oakland, CA, USA

Ben Douglass - Senior Associate Director of Admission, Episcopal High School, Alexandria, VA, USA

Teddy Wenner - Dean of Admission, Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ, USA

Nancy Cleary - Director of Admission and Financial Aid, Loomis Chaffee School

Ray Cross - Director of Community, Equity, and Belonging, St. Andrew's School

Bruce Keyes — Associate Director of Admission, St. Andrews College

Other Staff

The Erdmann Institute will feature some of the best independent school minds in the country, including a representative from The Enrollment Management Association. Guest workshop leaders, which vary each year, may include current heads of school, deans of enrollment from higher education, experts in independent school financial aid, or one of a variety of other professionals that have much to add to the enrollment conversation.