Board of Trustees - Lincoln Community School

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The LCS Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall health and long-term future of the school. This governance role is essentially strategic rather than operational, with broad responsibility for:

Establishing policies that guide school operations
Maintaining a long-term financial plan and approving an annual budget for the school
Hiring, evaluating, and providing feedback to the Head of School
Ensuring that the school's Mission is reflected in its programs, and is adequately resourced

While they help steer the strategic decisions that chart our school's course, the Board is also part of the LCS community. All current board members are parents with students enrolled at the school. As such, they understand the importance of involving parents, teachers, and staff in decision-making.

The nine member Board of Trustees is made up of four trustees who are elected by parents, two who are appointed by the Board members, and three who are appointed by the U.S. Ambassador.

Governance Structure

The governance structure of the Board of Trustees consists of four (4) standing committees, Finance, Trusteeship, Facilities and Executive. They are made up by a combination of members of the Board, Administration, and members of the community.

The role of the Finance Committee is to exercise oversight over school finances, recommend draft annual budgets for Board approval, and develop a rolling seven-year financial plan for LCS.

The role of the Trusteeship Committee is to sustain an effective Board at LCS to carry out its mission using good governance practices, and to ensure that a strong pool of candidates stands for election each year.

The role of the Facilities Committee is to exercise oversight over LCS school facilities, and make recommendations to the Board on any facility maintenance or development.

The Executive Committee is composed of the four (4) Board Officers and the Head of School, and its role is to facilitate communication between and among Board committees, as well as with Board membership as a whole. As needed, the committee may also serve to support and provide guidance to the Head of School.

In any given year, the Board may create ad hoc committees, to perform specific tasks or goals. Such committees will normally exist for a predetermined period of time but will follow the same guidelines as standing committees.

Members

Katie Cummings, Board Chair

Katie Cummings

Board Chair
Appointed by the US Ambassador

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Katie earned a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan and then a M.S. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. After serving as a high school history teacher in Pennsylvania she left the classroom to be a project manager in standardized testing for the American Institutes for Research in Washington, D.C. At that time her husband, Jason, began his career in the foreign service and they have subsequently been posted to several cities throughout Asia, Australia, and the United States for the past 20 years. Together they have three children ages 17, 15, and 13.

Dean Matlack, Vice-President

Dean Matlack

Vice-President
Appointed by the US Ambassador - American

Dean Matlack assumed his position in the U.S. Embassy as Counselor for Commercial Affairs in August, 2021. He is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service with twenty-years experience in international trade. His past tours include assignments at U.S. diplomatic missions in Kazakhstan, Thailand and Japan, as well as a domestic assignment in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Dean holds a Master of Public Administration in International Management from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Political Science from Weber State University. He is joined in Accra by his wife Jennifer and daughter, a LCS student.

Munish Gupta, Finance Chair & Finance Committee Chair

Munish Gupta

Finance Chair & Finance Committee Chair
Appointed by the Board - Indian

Munish is a Chartered Accountant and Cost Accountant from India. He carries more than 26 years of experience in both finance and business, during which he has handled various roles i.e. Financial Controller, Country Head and Commodity Trader/Business Head in his current and last employment. He has been instrumental in starting new business streams, handling PNL responsibility, risk management, customer relationship management, sustainability projects etc.

Munish also picked up French during his time as the Country Head for Olam in Togo and still uses it well. Munish has been living in Ghana for the past eight years with his wife Nidhi. Munish’s elder son is already in university after graduating from LCS and his younger son is in 12th grade at LCS.

Christal Beeko, Communications Chair & Growth Task Force Chair

Christal Beeko

Communications Chair & Growth Task Force Chair
Elected by the LCS Community - Ghanaian

With 14 years of experience in media and public relations in Ghana, Christal brings extensive communication and marketing skills to the Board. An LCS Alum, Christal is now a proud LCS parent to her daughter in grade 4, her son in grade 1, and hopes to help LCS continue its journey to be the most exciting learning environment in Africa.

Brandon Brooker, Governance Committee Chair

Brandon Brooker

Governance Committee Chair
Appointed by the US Ambassador - American

Brandon joined the Board for the first time last school year, joined in Accra by his wife, son, and daughter, with his daughter currently enrolled at LCS. Prior to arriving in Ghana, Brandon spent more than 13 years working as a professional staff in the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. He has a B.A. in Government from Oral Roberts University, and also a Graduate Certificate in Advanced International Affairs from the Bush School at Texas A&M University.

Johnny Nettey, Facilities Committee Chair

Johnny Netty

Facilities Committee Chair
Appointed by the Board - Ghanaian

Johnny Nettey is a believer in the LCS learning environment and it’s truly multicultural community - having seen the effect on his daughter Naa-Dede.

Professionally, Johnny was responsible for making the case for the first ICANN meeting to be held in Sub-Saharan Africa and in assisting the Gambia, Togo and Liberia with their business cases to attain their connectivity to the Internet.He has been involved in projects for (among others): Bank of Ghana, Electoral Commission, Ecobank and Vodafone.

Having spent his entire working life in information technology, Johnny hopes to bring this perspective to the running and governance of LCS within the nuance of our unique Ghanaian culture.

Michael Cooper, DEIJ/B Task Force Chair

Michael Cooper

DEIJ/B Task Force Chair
Elected by the LCS Community - South African

A highly energetic, passionate, and commercially astute leadership executive with a wealth of broad experience, Michael takes pride in being an open-minded and perceptive leader, using strong interpersonal skills to establish solid relationships and facilitate effective solutions, and leveraging exceptional capabilities to exceed targets in any situation. Michael is in Ghana with his wife and two sons, and joins the Board this year for the first time.

Eddie Mensah

Elected by the LCS Community - American

As a Ghanaian by birth and an American by sojourn, Eddie has enjoyed watching his daughter’s transition into the school last year and was inspired by this to serve and support the work of the Board. Eddie brings his experience as a Head of School to the Board, and his passion and dedication to serve in the stewardship of our Mission driven school.

Rose F. M. Tchewenko

Elected by the LCS Community - Cameroonian

With more than 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian work, Rose has worked internationally since 1999 and held senior leadership roles for more than a decade. The nature of my work requires both strategic and operational ability and agility, and she manages complex, strategic relationships with governments, donors, and other stakeholders locally, regionally, and globally. Rose and her family joined LCS in 2019, and this will be her first year on the Board.

Lesley Tait, Head of School

Lesley Tait

Head of School - New Zealander

Lesley has had a long career in education both in her home country of New Zealand and within the international schooling world. Prior to coming to Accra, she served as the Director of Teaching & Learning and Interim Head of School at the American School of Brasilia in Brazil. She has a Masters degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Apart from focusing on all aspects of educational leadership, she enjoys hiking, traveling and reading. She is excited to continue to work with the LCS Board bringing to life LCS’s amazing new mission, vision and values.