Introduction to the Board of Directors

​What does the Board of Directors of AISL do? The role of the Board of Directors is to adopt and maintain the school’s mission, vision and strategic goals and establish policies and plans that reinforce them. Its work can be divided into two main components, being:

• Fiduciary: The Board is the steward of the school’s resources and is accountable for the institution’s long term financial stability. It sets budgets and financial goals, and ensures robust oversight of the school’s financial status and performance.
• Strategic: The Board works with management to set the institution’s course by grappling with and resolving the strategic issues determining the school’s long-term success and providing foresight and oversight to ensure the institution is on course.

A related, less understood role of the Board is generative governance, whereby the Board engages in exploring root causes of issues affecting the school, and exploring values, options, and new ideas that can influence future strategy.
Finally, a key role of the Board of Directors is the selection, hiring and evaluation of its only employee, the Head of School.

What does the Board of Directors of AISL not do?
The Board does not get involved in the day-to-day decision-making at the school. It does not intervene in the employment of teachers, the constitution of classes, the grading of students, sports activities and all the other operations of the school that are the responsibility of the Head of School and his management team.

Who is on the Board of Directors?
The Articles of Association of the school dictate that all Directors need to be members of the School Association, which is constituted of parents and legal guardians of children enrolled in the school. Two of the seven Board Directors are appointed directly by the US Ambassador to Zambia, one of which is appointed as Chairman of the Board. Another two Directors are elected by members of the School Association from a slate of candidates consisting of US Government employees or their spouses, and three are elected from a slate of candidates consisting of other members of the Association. The current Board of Directors is made up of:

• Frank Monticello – Board Chair
• Sipho Phiri – Vice Chair
• John Boos
• Joseph Gibson
• Katrina Simon-Agolory
• Rob Munro
• Aki Georgiou

How do parents engage with the Board of Directors?
As a general rule, parents have no need to engage with the Board of Directors. If there are concerns to be raised or feedback to be given regarding anything at the school, parents should first discuss it with the most relevant person to the issue at hand, be that a teacher or a coach. If they do not feel that the issue has been dealt with satisfactorily, the next level of contact is the Principal, and finally the Head of School as the ultimate point of contact for all operational decisions.

However, there are opportunities for parents to interact with the Board. There are five Board Meetings in the year that are ‘open’, at which parents have a chance to have input into some of the strategic topics being discussed by the Directors. The agenda of the open Board Meetings is published in the Leopard’s Tale in the week before the meeting. Parents must understand that time is limited and any contributions must stay on topic.

​Parents, in their role as Association members, also play a key role in the election of Board Directors, which takes place during a General Meeting of the Association in May of each year.​