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.

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.

ELIZABETH (LIFFY) FRANKLIN’s career has spanned both the private and public sectors. She was Vice President of Product Management at Wall Data, where she also held leadership roles in marketing and service sales. Prior to Wall Data she had marketing roles and was a systems analyst at Digital Systems. She was Chief of Staff to the Chancellor at Indiana University/Purdue University Fort Wayne and for five years led the largest community arts festival in the state. Liffy has served on the Boards of the Seattle Public Library Foundation and non-profit affordable housing developer, Common Ground. Recently, she has been an active member of the University Prep Parent Council. She chairs UPrep’s Trusteeship & Governance Committee and sits on the Executive Committee. Liffy received her B.A. from Duke University and her M.B.A. from Indiana University. Liffy and her wife, Jennifer Cast, have twin sons, Will and Carter Cast ’23.

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.  

JARRAD HARFORD is the Paul Pigott-PACCAR Professor of Finance and Chair of the Finance and Business Economics Department at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. He grew up in Pennsylvania, earned his B.S. from Penn State and his Ph.D. in Finance at the University of Rochester. Jarrad currently serves as a Managing Editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He and his co-authors are working on the 6th Edition of their textbook, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance. Jarrad was a long-serving member of the University Child Development Center (UCDS) Finance Committee and a member of the UCDS Board of Trustees for six years. He and his wife, Katrina Strand, are the parents of Evan ’24 and Cole ’25.

PATRICIA LANDY is a founder of University Prep, and has served the school in numerous capacities including French teacher, language department head, dean of students, and a member of the school’s first Human Resources Committee.  She has chaired the Education Committee of the Board, the Faculty Development Committee and Instructional Council, and was a member of the Technology Task Force. Pat retired from teaching at University Prep in 2011. She serves on University Prep’s Human Resources Committee. Pat and her husband, Mike, are parents of Stephanie ’02 and Rachel ’03.

SCOTLAND NASH, EdD has worked in education and education support services for over 20 years. She has had the role of high school social studies teacher, education director, instructional leader, adjunct professor, and consultant in the Chicago area and in Seattle.  Currently, as the Director of Education for the ADL PNW region, she works with schools, districts, and their community to learn about identity and diversity, to practice anti-bias strategies for communication, and act as allies for social justice.   She earned her undergraduate degree from Bucknell University, her master’s degree from Northwestern University, and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University. At UPrep, she currently serves as a parent ambassador.  She has also participated in planning UPrep Together, served as co-chair of the parent education committee and participated in the Next Generation Learning committee.  Scotland, and her husband Christian Schofield, are parents of Aidan ’24 and Oliver ’28.

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.

DANIELLE RUTHFIELD is a strategic financial advisor to individuals, families, and companies in transition. Previously, she was a marriage and family therapist and the head of Northwest Family Therapy, served in leadership and development roles at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and was a program manager at Amazon. Danielle has also served as the chair of the Board of Trustees of The Evergreen School. While serving on this Board, she helped deliver a successful $20M capital campaign as the chair of the Development Committee. She is a fellow in the Wexner Heritage Program, a worldwide Jewish leadership initiative. She has a BA from University of Puget Sound and master’s degrees from Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University. Danielle her husband. Scott, and two daughters Mica and Nava ’25 live in Shoreline.

ANDREA THORESON was born and reared in Seattle.  After a K-12 education at The Bush School, she attended Boston College where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Art History.  Following the birth of her second child, she resigned her position at Charles Schwab and concentrated on community service. Andrea has held many leadership positions at non-profit organizations.  She is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Seattle Art Museum, where she chaired the Development Committee.  Andrea has been on the board of the local Seattle ARCS Chapter for 10 years, and has chaired many committees including chapter president.  She also serves on the ARCS National Board as the VP of Philanthropy.  Andrea was a former trustee at the Epiphany School.  She was Co-Chair of the Puma Fund for two years and currently serves as the VP of the Advancement Committee. Andrea has two children, Griffin ’21 and Paige ’23. 

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.

CHRISTINA ZEMBRUSKI received her BA from Fordham University and previously taught math at The School At Columbia in New York City. She has been a math teacher at UPrep since 2015.