Board of Trustees

JENNIFER ZELL earned a BA in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Washington Business School.  After graduate school, she worked for Moss Adams Advisory Services as a financial analyst performing valuations of privately held companies and earned her CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation. She retired after the birth of her first child. Jennifer served on the Meridian School Board for six years as a regular trustee, and was Treasurer for two years and Chair for three. She was also an Emeritus Trustee for two years and continues to serve on the Finance Committee.  Jennifer served as the Co-President of Parent Council, where she has previously served two years as a Sports Booster and one as Treasurer. She is a Parent Ambassador and also volunteered for two years as a Class Agent for the Puma Fund. She has been on the Finance Committee for three years. She currently serves as president of the Board of Trustees.  She and her husband, Mike, have three children. Courtney ’19, Mitchell ’21, and Trevor ’23.

MARK BRITTON was the CEO of Avvo which he founded in 2006. Mark was the executive vice president of Worldwide Corporate Affairs of InterActiveCorp Travel (IACT) and Expedia, Inc. He was also Expedia’s first general counsel. Mark received his law degree from George Washington University. He holds a degree in finance from Gonzaga University and serves on Gonzaga’s Board of Regents. Mark’s previous board service includes multiple years serving on the board of the Bertschi School.  He is currently the Board Treasurer and chairs University Prep’s Finance Committee. He is a co-chair of the Board Capital Campaign. Mark and his wife, Brigid, have three children – Brock ’19, Latham ’21 and Walker ’24.

LISA BONTJE spent her professional career at Deloitte & Touche and then Microsoft. She later redirected her efforts toward family, philanthropy, and photography. Lisa provides photography services to many local and international non-profit organizations, including Social Venture Partners, Child Care Resources, Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, and University Prep. Lisa is the Co-President of the Parent Guardian Association, where she previously served as Advancement Liaison, Parent Education Committee Co-Chair and Grade Level Parent Representative. She serves on the Advancement committee and Co-Chaired the 2020 UPrep Together event. Lisa has also served as a Parent Ambassador. She and her husband, Norm, are the parents of Nate ’19 and Alex ’22.

RIC ANDERSON graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in mechanical engineering, and earned his MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles. He has worked in real estate and construction for nearly 30 years. Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Washington Holdings, a real estate investment firm, he is responsible for day-to-day operations and oversees all of its investment opportunities. He is a member of the Executive Managing Board of the company, as well as of the firm’s Investment Committee.  Prior to forming Washington Holdings, he was a partner at Lowe Enterprises Northwest, a real estate pension fund advisor, where he was responsible for business development, project development, acquisitions, leasing and construction. An active supporter of numerous charities, Ric currently serves as a board member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and of the Pacific Real Estate Institute. He is a former Trustee of the Seattle Emergency Housing Group. He will be chairing the UPrep Building Committee.  Ric and his wife, Kaylene, currently have one remaining student at UPrep, William ‘27, and their two daughters, who both graduated from UPrep, Ava ’21 and Audrey ’19, are attending Wake Forest and Vanderbilt University, respectively.

As Chief Operating Officer, JULI COOK oversees NBBJ’s global operations across 12 offices and manages the firm’s administrative, financial, legal, information technology and human resources functions. Cook is widely credited with introducing innovative new business models across a range of professional services and creative industries. Prior to joining NBBJ, she served as executive vice president of Corbis Images managing media products & global operations. Prior to her role at Corbis, she was vice president of product management at Washington Mutual, where she was responsible for developing new products and services for retail bank customers, and also held management roles at Deloitte Consulting and Sotheby’s. Juli holds a BA in Art History and a BFA in Painting from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County, where she serves on the Executive Committee, and previously served on the Board of Directors for Artist Trust, and Artist Trust’s Executive and Finance Committees. Juli and her husband, Andy, have two children – Max ‘26 and Zander ‘28.

JASON FROGGATT, a partner with the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, practices employee benefits law, advising clients on employee retirement plans, plan qualification and plan fiduciary duties. Jason regularly counsels group health plans and their plan sponsors with respect to ERISA, COBRA and HIPAA compliance, and represents employee plans and plan sponsors with the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. Jason is the immediate past president of the Seattle Chapter, Western Pension & Benefits Council, and has served on the ArtsWest Board of Trustees. Jason chairs UPrep’s Human Resources committee.  He is a 1987 graduate of University Prep. He and his wife, Wendy, have two children, Sadie and Henry.

MICHELLE J GOLDBERG is a venture investor and board member for both startups and established public companies.  As a partner at Ignition since 2000 she invested in consumer and enterprise software technology companies.  She is now a Venture Partner at SoGal Ventures investing in how the next generation works, plays and stays healthy.  Michelle has sat on public, private, and not for profit boards and has expertise in audit, risk management, activism, ESG and M&A.  Michelle has been a public board member for Legg Mason, Taubman and Plum Creek, all of which completed M&A transactions.  Michelle is a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and is an advocate and fundraiser for women in tech. Michelle was awarded a Master’s degree from Harvard University, and holds an undergraduate degree from Columbia University.  Michelle is chair of the Investment committee at UPrep and a member of the Finance Committee.  

NINEVAH LOWERY worked in the computer software industry for 15 years as a technology consultant, sales engineer, and marketing communications leader. Taking time off to care for her children as a stay-home mom, she has been a consistent school volunteer, having served in various parent leadership roles. During this time, she has also held numerous executive board seats and served on regional and national committees in member-based community organizations. She is committed to excellence and approaches her work with passion. Ninevah holds a BS from The University of Alabama, with a major in Management Information Systems, and an MBA from University of Detroit Mercy. She and her husband Bryant have two children, Bryant, II ’24 and Neva-Nataia ‘26.

SUJAL PATEL is currently Founder & CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology. In 2001, Sujal founded Isilon Systems, an enterprise data storage provider. After Isilon was acquired by EMC in December 2010 for $2.6 Billion, Sujal served as the President of EMC’s Isilon Storage Division from the acquisition until November 2012. Sujal holds numerous patents in the areas of storage, networking, and media delivery, is a well-known speaker on entrepreneurship, and has received a variety of industry awards. Currently, Sujal serves on the board of directors at Qumulo and is a trustee of Rainier Scholars and Bertschi School. Sujal and his wife, Meera, have twin sons at UPrep, Avi and Niam ’26.

TIM RICHEY is a designer and project architect at SRG Partnership with a focus on 21^st century learning environments. A graduate of the Syracuse University School of Architecture, Tim spent seven years living and working in Europe before settling in Seattle. He is currently the co-chair of the American Institute of Architects Honor Awards program and serves on the UPrep Building Committee. Tim and his wife Charlotte are parents of Jacob ’17 and Aida ’24.

ANDREW SELBY spent 20 years working in investment banking at companies based in Hong Kong, London, and Johannesburg, with a culminating stint at Barclays Capital, setting up the Africa Investment Banking operations. After retiring from banking, Andrew founded a sporting events company. The Selby family moved from Cape Town to Seattle in August 2018, with Aleksandr ’22 and Matthew ’24 settling in at UPrep. At the children’s previous school, Andrew chaired its finance committee, launched a major fundraising campaign for capital expansion, and founded the Extra Term initiative, which provided an opportunity for current parents to sponsor and mentor children who needed financial assistance. He currently serves on the Advancement, Finance, and Investment Committees at UPrep.

MANDIRA VIRMANI is a former Group Program Manager at Microsoft, and is currently managing partner at CVG Partners, where she drives business development and manages consulting projects for the company. She serves on the board of the Seattle Art Museum, where she is also a docent, chair of its Diwali Ball, and provides strategic leadership for South Asian art, programming and community engagement. She is on the Development Committee for Sunaayy, a school for children of the slums in Delhi, India. At UPrep, she has served on Parent Council, and on the #WeAreUPrep Committee. She currently serves on Advancement, Building, and Next Generation Learning Committees as well as on the Technology Advisory Board. Mandira and her husband Ajay are parents of Malvika ’19 and Siona ’22.