A D VANC I N G FENN
Jim Kitendaugh Named New Board Chair The Fenn Board of Trustees has unanimously and enthusiastically elected Jim Kitendaugh to be its next chair, succeeding Mary-Wren vanderWilden, who stepped down in June. This will be Jim’s second stint on the Board. He served from 1999-2005 and then agreed to re-join the Board in 2015. Jim brings a wealth of experience around strategic planning. He helped write Fenn’s previous Strategic Plan, which guided Fenn so well from 2000 to 2010. More recently, as a consultant from The Wayland Group, Inc., he worked with the Board to craft the School’s current Strategic Plan. Jim’s experience, knowledge, leadership skills, and good sense of humor are the perfect qualities to lead Fenn in this next phase of implementing the Strategic Plan, according to Mary-Wren. After graduating from Harvard College and receiving an M.A. in theater from Tufts University, Jim worked as a high school English and drama teacher. He then entered the
world of performing arts, serving as the first managing director of the Boston Shakespeare Company and then as general manager of the Boston Ballet. In 1984 Jim founded The Wayland Group, Inc., a consulting firm advising non-profit organizations on fundraising, planning, and leadership development. Jim is married to Lynne Cavanaugh and they are the proud parents of two Fenn graduates: David ’97, who serves on the Alumni Council, and Ben ’05. “It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as chair for the past three years,” said Mary-Wren, who is retiring from the Board after nine years that began with her term as an ex officio trustee while serving as Parents Association president. “The Board’s work ensures Fenn’s continued fulfillment of its mission and I have full confidence that Fenn will benefit from Jim’s excellent leadership and devotion to the School,” she said. Mary-Wren “has had a distinct leadership role throughout her time
on the Board,” said Headmaster Jerry Ward, noting that she chaired the School’s Strategic Planning Committee beginning in 2010 and guided Fenn to the plan’s final approval in 2012. She was an active member of the Board’s Diversity Committee. Mary-Wren is an educator who helped plan and taught at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, MA. She is the mother of three Fenn alumni: Andrew ’09, Peter ’11, and Ethan ’13. “Mary-Wren has been among the most dedicated and loyal parents and trustees I have ever had the true pleasure of knowing,” said Jerry, adding that Mary-Wren demonstrated “transparency, courage, and warmth as a leader.” Her “leadership in crucial roles, particularly as Strategic Planning Committee chair and subsequently as chair of the Board of Trustees, has been marked by an instinctive understanding of Fenn’s mission as a boys’ school in the elementary and middle school years,” he said. The Fenn community and Jerry in particular are deeply indebted to MaryWren for her service.
“The Board’s work ensures Fenn’s continued fulfillment of its mission and I have full confidence that Fenn will benefit from Jim’s excellent leadership and devotion to the School.” – Mary-Wren vanderWilden
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fenn magazine
7/5/16 11:20 AM