Board of Directors

About the TES Board of Directors

As a charter school, The Expedition School is governed by its own Board of Directors, a local, volunteer group comprised of education professionals, business leaders, former K-12 teachers, parents, and community members. They share a passion for K-12 education and a deep commitment to seeing TES succeed to its highest potential. The board of director’s primary responsibilities are:

Assure the school follows the mission as written in the charter
Assure financial accountability and financial stability of the school
Make spending choices and set salaries
Hire and Evaluate the Director of Education and Curriculum
Create and revise school and board policies
Fundraise and develop partnerships for the school

Please note the board is not responsible for the day to day operations of the school. Please address classroom and operational issues with your child’s teacher, administration, or other appropriate school personnel.

Click here to review the TES Board's Strategic Goals for 2020-2025.

Board Meetings

Board Meetings are usually scheduled every third Thursday at 6:00 PM. If the third Thursday falls on a holiday, then the board meeting will be the Thursday before. Due to COVID-19, the TES Board currently holds its meetings via Zoom. Please use THIS ZOOM LINK to access the meetings. Public comments can be submitted via this form, and must be received 24 hours before the meeting.

Committee Meetings are held regularly throughout each month. Please refer to the schedule and meeting links for more information.

Meet the TES Board

Sevy Kueber (Chair) | Hillsborough, NC

Sevy grew up in New Orleans and came to North Carolina in 1988 to attend Duke University. After graduation, she returned to Louisiana for medical school, returning to the Triangle for good in 1997. Sevy practiced Internal Medicine until 2004, when she returned to school to complete Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Regional Planning (MRP) degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill as well as training in Preventive Medicine at UNC Hospitals. After working in research on urban planning and physical health, she joined real estate firm Scientific Properties in 2007, where she became Chief Executive Officer, overseeing and implementing the redevelopment of multiple properties in downtown Durham, including Golden Belt and Venable Center. Sevy has served on the Board of Directors for Preservation Durham, Downtown Durham, Inc., and Habitat for Humanity, worked on neighborhood organization efforts for communities in Durham, and is the author and developer of Open Durham, a community history / architectural history web platform, which she donated to Preservation Durham in 2016. Sevy currently works as a career and life coach, focused on career transitions, and maintains real estate and general contracting licenses. Sevy moved to West Hillsborough in 2015. She enjoys gardening, woodworking, photography, hiking as well as playing Legos and making up stories with her child, who is a TES student.

Lisa Bakale-Wise (Vice Chair) | Hillsborough, NC

Lisa Bakale-Wise is an attorney who has spent the past fifteen years representing death-sentenced indigent defendants throughout the South. This work has informed her perspective on how the educational system interacts with children facing trauma, poverty, and other adverse childhood experiences. Prior to moving to Hillsborough, she lived in New Orleans where she was a founding board member of a trauma-informed charter school for at-risk children. She earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her B.A. in sociology and political science from the University of Michigan. She lives in Hillsborough with her husband and two children.

Gavin Jocius (Treasurer) | Durham, NC

Gavin Jocius is an executive with over two decades of experience in information technology, operations, strategy and eCommerce marketing. His most recent prior role was as the Executive Vice President of Art for Circle Graphics, a leading online retailer of custom and licensed works of art that employed over 200 staff members and generated over $80 million in annual revenue. Gavin was the Director of Information Technology and Web Services at Duke University Alumni Affairs and the Global Marketing Director at lulu.com, an online publisher in Raleigh, North Carolina. Gavin holds a Master of Arts and MBA from Duke University. As the father of an EC child at TES, he is passionate about promoting and supporting neurodiversity.

Stephanie Irvine (Secretary) | Durham, NC

Stephanie Irvine is an education consultant with more than 15 years' experience supporting leaders at the district, state, and federal levels to implement policies and programs that serve children and youth at every stage of their education. She has led or co-led initiatives in areas including student attendance and engagement, school-based mental health, and out-of-school time learning. Previously, Stephanie conducted education policy research at non-profit organizations, including the Education Trust - Midwest and Common Core (now Great Minds). Stephanie graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in English and political science and holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Michigan. She lives in Durham with her husband and two children, both of whom are students at TES.

Kiersten Fitzgerald | Hillsborough, NC

Twenty-three years ago after graduating from Clarkson University with a Bachelors of Science, Kiersten left her home in upstate NY to pursue a career in the aluminum industry here in North Carolina. After starting her career in operations management, she eventually became one of the owners of the company, Permatech. In this new role, she expanded her focus to managing all aspects of sales and business development, P&L management, and mergers and acquisitions. She and her business partner sold the company to Vesuvius where she is now a Global Product Director. With her experience in the STEM field she is able to bring her background in finance and business to the Board. She, her two daughters (both students at TES) and their dog live in Hillsborough. The whole family is often found hiking the MTS trails throughout the community or on the soccer field whenever possible.

Ryan Nilsen | Hillsborough, NC

Ryan Nilsen is an educator working in community engagement at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he advises project-based fellowships and scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students and teaches courses through the Department of Public Policy and the School of Education. Ryan also works as a facilitator with Outward Bound Professional programs through the North Carolina Outward Bound School and served as a founding board member of the Holler Creek School of Appalachian Ecology. He grew up in the Triangle and graduated from NCSU with a double major in English and international studies and a minor in mathematics before completing a Master of Theological Studies degree at Duke University and a graduate certificate in nonprofit leadership through the UNC School of Social Work. Ryan, his partner, and their daughter keep a lively flock of chickens at their home in Hillsborough and spend much of their free time hiking, hunting mushrooms, paddling, and playing along the Eno River.

Paul Roithmayr | Hillsborough, NC

Paul Roithmayr is an Organization and Leadership Development consultant with over 30 years of experience helping organizations and their leaders create value, grow, optimize, and adapt. He is the Managing Principal of Same Page Solutions LLC, which he founded in 2008. Paul has a wide range of contextual experience (e.g., in multiple industries, working internationally/cross-culturally, and in most any organizational circumstance); bringing people with diverse backgrounds together to achieve great things in challenging situations is fun and rewarding to him. Paul brings expertise in strategic planning and execution, culture change and transition, leadership development, team and cross functional effectiveness, and participative improvement methods to the board. His previous positions include VP of Organization Development (OD) at Gemstar-TV Guide, Director of OD and Training at 20th Century Fox Films, and various domestic and international OD roles at Intel Corp. Early in his career, Paul contributed to basic and applied research in the areas of aircrew performance, airline accidents, the effects of training and personality on interviewing, and the high-technology market. Paul holds a master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology (with a certificate of specialization in OD and Leadership) from the University of West Florida and a bachelor's degree in Psychology (with a minor in Business) from the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Hillsborough with his wife (an audiologist/speech language pathologist/advocate for those challenged by adversity) and two wonderful children.

Pamela Calvo-Velez | Hillsborough, NC

With over 3,000 citations in peer review journals and a novel technology patent, Pamela Calvo-Velez is a leader in applied science and technology. She is an avid advocate for woman in science and has been portraited and recognized as leader in professional societies such as: American Society of Agronomy (ASA), American Phyto-pathological Society (APS), and Seed World; as well as in private organizations. She has more than 15 years of experience in project management and product development. She currently works as a Global Strategic Manager for chemical company BASF. An immigrant, originally from Peru, whose passion for science took shape while working for the globally recognized CGIAR International Potato Center in Lima. She holds a PhD in plant Pathology from Auburn University and a BsC in Biology from the National Peruvian Agricultural University (UNALM). She lives in Hillsborough with her husband (Also a PhD from Auburn University) and their two kids, Samantha (5) and Matthias (2).

Board Committees

TES Board Committees are small and instrumental working groups with a board member that serves as chair, as well as a second (and sometimes third) board member as a participant. Internal and external community members with expertise in the committee’s area of focus are at times recruited to serve on Board committees.

Contact the Board

To contact the board of directors, e-mail [email protected]

Recent Board Communication

Trust, credibility, transparency, and communication are key to the health of a school community, and the Board is eager to ensure the TES community feels informed and connected to the decisions being considered and made. In addition to the availability of Board meeting minutes, updates from the TES Board are sent several times each year. For previous Board communication, click below.

Board Agendas & Meeting Minutes

If you are unable to access any of the files below or would like to request additional information, please contact [email protected]. (Please note that since minutes cannot be posted until they are approved by the Board at the following month’s meeting, there is a four week lapse between minutes being taken, officially approved and then posted.)

Past Meeting Minutes

Board Policies

View the list of TES Policies (approved by the TES Board.)

TES Bylaws (Revised and Approved 10/21/22)

View our Diversity in Hiring Effort.