Head of School Search

Peggy Krendl – Search Committee Chair, Trustee

Peggy Krendl is the chair of the Search Committee. She is a Senior Managing Director for Accenture, a leading global professional services company offering consulting, technology, marketing, and operations services. She leads the Global CFO and Enterprise Value practice for the Resources Client Group as well as the offshore finance consulting team of more than 1,000 people in six countries. She is also working to reinvent Accenture’s consulting work with AI.  

In the past, she has served as the chair of the Duke Student Publishing Company and in other board leadership roles, such as the Strategic Planning and Finance committee, for more than a decade. She currently sits on Awty’s Finance and Investment, and its Committee on Trustees (governance/nominating) committee. In addition, she is on the board for Genesys Works, a nonprofit development organization for high school students. She serves as the chair of the People and Programs committee and is on the finance committee. She and her husband, Ergin Aydin, have one son, Jack, who is in the sixth grade at Awty and loves the school.

Maconda Abinader – Board Chair

Maconda graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s in Architecture. She worked as a licensed architect until 2018, when she decided to focus on her family and volunteer efforts. In addition to her service to Awty, Maconda has dedicated her time to the Rice School of Architecture, Discovery Green, the Rothko Chapel, and the Brown Foundation. Prior to serving as Awty’s Board Chair, Maconda served Awty as Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Real Estate Committee, Chair of the Strategic Plan Committee, and Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee. Maconda lives with her husband, two children (both Awty Rams), and two cats.

Mary Jo Pokorski – APPA President

Parent of two in the French section at Awty with a deep-rooted commitment to our school community. I bring a Double MA in English and History (University of Geneva) and a Diploma in Counseling (ECTA) to my work. Following two years as APPA Vice President, I now serve as President, leveraging my background in customer service and counseling to support our families and faculty.

Johanne Gatto – Advancement Committee Chair

Johanne joined the Board of Trustees in 2022 after serving as President of the Awty Parent and Personnel Association (APPA). An Awty parent since 2016, she is deeply engaged in the French program, where her two sons are currently in 5e and 6e. A native of Québec, Canada, Johanne holds a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin. Her professional background includes roles in the Energy Investment Banking division at Merrill Lynch and as an Asset Manager for EDP Renewables North America.

Justin Levine – Trustee

Justin is the founder of JAL Strategies, an independent investment and advisory platform. Prior to forming JAL Strategies in 2026, Justin was President of Levcor, Inc., a full-service national commercial real estate development and investment firm. Previously, at Levcor, Justin was Chief Investment Officer from 2021 to 2024 and Vice President from 2014 to 2021.

Prior to Levcor, Justin was at Blackstone in New York City from 2006 to 2011. Justin also worked in the financial services, technology, and media sectors in San Francisco and Los Angeles between 2012 and 2014.

Since 2015, Justin has been a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he has held several leadership roles, including being Chair of the ULI Houston District Council Management Committee from 2022 to 2024. He is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers. In 2025, Justin became a Board Trustee for The Awty International School in Houston, Texas. 

Justin holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Communication Studies from Northwestern University.

Hesam Panahi – Finance and Investment Committee Chair

Hesam Panahi is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at Rice University's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. An Awty alum, he currently serves on the Board of Trustees as Chair of the Finance and Investment Committees.

At Rice, Hesam was part of the founding team that built the Liu Idea Lab from the ground up and later served as Interim Executive Director during a leadership transition. Over nearly two decades in higher education, he has taught across four colleges and disciplines - business, engineering, industrial design, and computer science - and has designed and led study abroad programs in Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Peru.

Before joining Rice, Hesam founded RED Labs, the University of Houston's startup accelerator, and started his own technology company. He holds a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Houston.

Lucy is a Senior Partner at Perrett Laver and serves as Global Head of the Schools Practice, a business she founded for Perrett Laver in 2011. She has twenty years of professional executive search experience. She has led successful Head of School appointments for independent schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and has advised leading international schools across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Today, Lucy works with a select group of leading independent schools to advise on senior leadership appointments and transitions.

As one of Perrett Laver’s Senior Partners, Lucy sits on the firm’s Executive Management Board.

Lucy holds a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford. She is a qualified Executive Coach and is currently completing an MSc in Coaching for Behavioural Change from Henley Business School.

Erik Jackson is the Managing Partner for Perrett Laver’s work in the USA and has over fourteen years of executive search experience. His experience in senior level executive search includes senior leadership appointments across our Education and non-profit sectors.

Erik chairs Perrett Laver's Employee-Owned Trust and holds a BA in History from Menlo College in California, where he was class Valedictorian and an MSt in History from the University of Oxford. Before joining the firm, he held the position of Business Development Manager for the geopolitical consulting firm Oxford Analytica.

Karmen is a Strategic Process Consultant at Perrett Laver and Head of Project Management. She is Perrett Laver’s most senior process leader and has almost a decade of experience managing processes with a wide range of clients in independent and international schools across the globe. Karmen partners with Lucy and Erik to provide world-class service to our clients and candidates, from process design to handling all of the administrative and logistical elements of the process.

Karmen holds a BSc in Psychology from Cardiff University and an MSc in Work and Organisational Psychology from The University of Nottingham.