2023-2024 board members

The learning Alliance

RAY OGLETHORPE

Chairman and Co-Founder
Ray Oglethorpe is currently President of Oglethorpe Investments LP, a private investment company, and has served on the Board of Trustees of The George Washington University, the Board of Governors of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute, and the boards of other educational, religious and corporate institutions Mr. Oglethorpe served as President of American Online, Inc. from 1992 until his retirement in 2002. Prior to that time, Mr. Oglethorpe held senior executive positions in engineering, sales and marketing at IBM and Harris Corporation. He currently resides in Vero Beach, Florida, and Cordillera, Colorado and holds a B.S.E.E. from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. from The George Washington University.

BARBARA HAMMOND

CEO and Co-Founder
Barbara Hammond is one of the three original founders of The Learning Alliance. She has a B.A. in Economics from Williams College and a Masters in Public and Private Management from Yale University. Barbara was a former consultant with Bain and Company in Boston and The Director of Strategic Planning for Shawmut Corporation in Boston. She now resides in Vero Beach, Florida and is the mother of two boys whose life stories inspired her to start The Learning Alliance as they learned self-leadership and resilience in the face of their learning challenges. Prior to starting The Learning Alliance, Barbara was Chairman of the Board of the Mental Health Association in Vero Beach where she spent 10 years helping the organization develop their strategic planning and fundraising activities.

ANDREW SOWERS

Treasurer
Andy Sowers joined The Learning Alliance Board of Directors in 2019. He came to Vero Beach in 2011 from Ridgewood, New Jersey where he had lived since 1967. He is a graduate of Cornell University and NYU Stern School of Business. After serving in the United States Marine Corp, Andy began his career in finance at Bank of New York in 1966. He went on to work at Merrill Lynch where he specialized in institutional sales and trading and managed equity trading positions and risk management. He is the Founder and President of Buttonwood Investment Management and currently manages institutional and individual investment accounts. Andy and his wife of 57 years, Paulette, now call Vero Beach home.

LIZ WOODY-REMINGTON

Secretary and Co-Founder
Liz Woody-Remington is one of the three original founders of The Learning Alliance. She has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Delaware and Masters in Special Ed-Learning Disabilities from American University. She is a learning specialist who has her own practice called Bridges to Learning and works individually and in small groups with children who are struggling with learning differences. She lives in Vero Beach, Florida, and is the mother of two boys both of whom struggle with LD issues.

Robert (Robbie) Brackett is a native of Vero Beach, Florida with strong roots in the community and a passion for education and family. Here he resides with his wife and is blessed with three daughters. He left Vero Beach in 1981 to attend college at Lubbock Christian University. In 1982 he transferred to Lipscomb University, where he graduated with a double major in Marketing and Business Management and a minor in Economics. After graduation in 1985, Robbie began working at the business his father founded, Credit Data Services (CDS). In 1992 Robbie became a Director and Managing Partner of CDS at a time when the company was expanding at a rapid growth. As the
Experian affiliate grew from covering Central Florida to covering the entire state of Florida, CDS became the sole provider of Experian data and information within the state. He served as the Managing Partner until 2005 when Experian bought back all affiliate offices. PARA Robbie is one of the original founders and investors of Edge Information Management, Inc. and remains a primary shareholder of the privately held company. Mr. Brackett is an active member of the Board of Directors providing guidance and leadership as Edge continues to grow its business by providing employers with accurate and timely information so they may make more informed hiring decisions. Robbie also represents the Brackett Family Foundation, which endowed the Brackett Library at Indian River State College, along with projects at Indian River Charter High School.

He currently is the Mayor of Vero
Beach and has served on the City Council since 2018. He also served as Secretary and Board member of Indian River Charter High School. Previously he served on the Board of Trustees for Lipscomb University, President’s Council of Harding University and Professional Services Advisory Board of Indian River County. He spent 20+ years officiating high school sports throughout Florida and was the President of the Treasure Coast Region of Florida High School Athletic Association.

Carol Bristol is a retired award-winning dancer, choreographer, and arts education
consultant. Currently, she serves as a teaching scholar, research advisor, and adjunct professor in the (Graduate) School of Education and the Continuing Education Program at Trinity Washington University. Dr. Bristol also lectures during the summer in the Early Childhood Education Program at
the University of the West Indies, Open Campus – Grenada. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Howard University, a master’s degree in Education from New York University, as well as another master’s degree and a doctorate degree in Ethnic Studies (Multicultural Education) from
the University of California, Riverside. She is the founder and lead consultant for The Anna Julia Cooper Initiative, a boutique style teacher training agency with clients in New York, Maryland, Washington, DC, California, Florida and in Guyana, South America.

In her spare time, Dr. Bristol volunteers as an Equity Committee Member for the Indian River County, NAACP in support of the
School District of Indian River County obtaining full-unitary status in compliance with its federal desegregation order.

Victoria (Vicky) DeMuth is a graduate of Skidmore College and received a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Vicky taught second and sixth grades in the Summit New Jersey Public Schools and went on to be an active parent in the schools where she held many leadership positions including being a founding member of the Summit Educational Foundation. She also served fifteen year overlapping terms as chair of the boards of The Community Pre-School at St. John’s, a preschool for low income students and the PEP Foundation, an afterschool program for select, motivated middle and high school students from low income families.

Vicky and her husband, Don, moved to Vero Beach in August of 2020 and have maintained a home in Summit since 1974.
They are the parents of three sons and eight grandchildren. 

Elbridge (Ebby) Gerry is currently a Managing Director at UBS Asset Management. Prior to his 25 years at UBS, he worked at J.P. Morgan for 15 years. He is a graduate of St. Mark’s School in Southboro, MA and Colgate University in Hamilton NY. Ebby is a Board member of New England
College, The Father & Son Golf Association, and President of the Board of Trustees of The Harriman Foundation.

He and his wife Janet currently reside in Vero Beach and Rowayton, CT. As a side note, Ebby’s wife, Janet, had an early financial career but later stayed at home to raise three children. She returned to work as a 2nd grade teacher and tutor after her children went to college and is currently a
fantastic volunteer tutor for The Learning Alliance at Beachland Elementary School.

Susan (Susie) Hunter graduated with her BA from Smith College and MSW from Rutgers
University. Although she received her Masters in Social Work, it turned out education was her passion. She has served on boards of Trustees of schools running the gamut from pre-Kindergarten through college, frequently concurrently. In total, she has 39 years of Governance experience on
those Boards, having Chaired two of them. Since she is remaining on the Board where her term as Chair just expired, it seems there are more governance years in her future. She chaired 3 Head of School searches throughout her tenure. In addition to service to educational institutions, she has been on the Board of Overseers of WGBH, the PBS station in Boston, MA, since 2010.

She and her husband, Doug Watson, spend half of their time in Manchester, VT, where she co-chaired the committee to raise the funds to build their new public Library, and she and Doug are Honorary Chairs of the steering committee to raise $25M for their hospital. She has three adult daughters of whom she is inordinately proud.

Edmund (Ted) Kelly is retired from his position as Chairman and CEO of The Liberty Mutual Group. Prior to joining Liberty in 1992he had been with Aetna Life and Casualty for eighteen years, and prior to that he had been on the faculties of The University of Missouri, St. Louis and The University of New Brunswick. He and his wife Debbie spend their winters in Vero Beach and their summers on Cape Cod. Ted has always been involved in civic and not-for-profit affairs, and has chaired several boards, most notably The Boston Symphony Orchestra.

On his retirement Ted and Debbie established The Kelly Family Foundation with the primary mission of helping children and youth with particular emphasis on education. The Foundation is run by their daughter, Sonja. Ted is a native of Ireland and came to graduate school at MIT, from which he received a PhD in mathematics.

Susan Oglesby divides her time with her husband between their residence in Vero Beach and a home in Cashiers NC. Now retired, Susan was a partner in the Washington DC-based Hogan and Hartson law firm (now Hogan Lovells), practicing Communications Regulatory law. She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law School’s evening division program, and before practicing law, worked in advertising and public relations in Illinois state government and in various federal government positions.

Susan has had a life-long interest in children’s education in volunteer positions as a summer school teacher in hometown Dallas TX, as a board member of the elite-level Children’s Chorus of Washington, as a children’s English-language teacher and tutor for years in the Italian village of Monforte d’Alba, and currently with involvement in the public schools and Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau in Cashiers NC through the community organization Vision Cashiers. She is very active in several committee positions at both Riomar Country Club and the Country Club of Sapphire Valley.

Deborah (Debbi) Peniston lived in New York City with her husband Eric for most of her
adult life. She had a long career with Citibank while Eric was with Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. She was a Vice President in the Consumer Bank and Managing Director of Citigold. She graduated from Sweet Briar College and received an advanced degree from Columbia University.

She first began coming to Vero Beach in the 70s; Eric’s family had a long association with Riomar as his grandfather named Riomar and was a founding member. She moved to John’s Island in 2002 and has been on the board of John’s Island Property Owners Association, Indian River Shores Town Council, Riverside Theatre, and is a Co Chairman of the Distinguished Lecturer Series. She is an avid golfer and bridge player.

Don Riefler is a retired banker who lives in Vero Beach, Florida. Educated in the public school system of Princeton, New Jersey, he is a graduate of Amherst College. After two years in the United States Army, he worked at J. P. Morgan from 1952 until 1991 where he retired as Chairman of the Market Risk committee. He has served on the board of directors of numerous corporations, including the Bank of Tokyo Trust Company, Liberty Brokers and the Niagara Mohawk Power Cp.

Arthur Ryan is the retired CEO and Chairman of Prudential Financial. He and his wife,
Pat, have made charity and education a top priority. During Art’s tenure as CEO, Prudential donated millions of dollars to support the arts and education in its home state of New Jersey. The Ryans personally donated scholarships and helped lead an initiative to improve public education by
supporting a standards-based educational approach to public schools. He has been involved with the National Governors’ Conference in developing the nation’s common-core curriculum.

In an old press interview, Art mentioned that if he had not become a CEO of a major corporation, he claimed he would have become a teacher.

Frank Spitzmiller earned his law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo
in 1964. After serving in the United States Army, Fritz put his law degree to use as a shareholder and partner in law of Williams, Stevens, McCarville, and Frizzell, P.C. firm specializing in real estate, estate planning, and estate administration.

He later shifted his focus to the nonprofit sector where he spent over 20 years as Saint Edward’s School Chief Advancement Officer. Fritz has also served on many boards including but not limited to, Indian River Community Foundation (former director), Indian River Land Trust (member of the initial Advisory Council), and The Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County (past director and president for 6 years).

Fritz is married to his wife Bonnie and together they have 3 grown daughters and 6 grandchildren. 

Dorothy Sprague, a native New Yorker, is a retired investment banker formerly with EF Hutton and Bear Stearns. During her time there, she served on two corporate boards. Following her years on Wall Street, Dorothy served on a number of non-profit boards including The Chapin School, where she was a trustee for 21 years, The Dutchess Land Conservancy, and The National Eating Disorders Association. Her non-profit work included strategic planning, development, finance, investment oversight, governance and issue advocacy including lobbying in Albany and Washington DC.

A graduate of The Chapin School in New York City, Dorothy earned her AB from Brown University and her MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Dorothy and her husband, Bill Benedict, have lived in Vero since 2021. She has two daughters, three stepchildren and an adorable doodle.

Burton Tremaine is a Founding Director and former Chairman of the Emily Hall Tremaine
Foundation. He graduated from Rollins College with a BS in Economics. He is currently president of Storm Solutions USA, Inc. which he founded in 2008. Prior to that he was the President and CEO of
the Miller Company, a fully integrated manufacturer of copper-based strip alloys, primarily serving the electronics industry. Burton Tremaine has been the Director of many business, community and charitable organizations.

Of note in the educational arena he has been a trustee of Rollins College, Stratton Mountain School, Salisbury School, Eaglebrook School and he was the Founding Director of All Kinds of Minds in Chapel Hill, NC.

The learning Alliance Foundation, INC

RAY OGLETHORPE

President
Ray Oglethorpe is currently President of Oglethorpe Investments LP, a private investment company, and has served on the Board of Trustees of The George Washington University, the Board of Governors of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute, and the boards of other educational, religious and corporate institutions Mr. Oglethorpe served as President of American Online, Inc. from 1992 until his retirement in 2002. Prior to that time, Mr. Oglethorpe held senior executive positions in engineering, sales and marketing at IBM and Harris Corporation. He currently resides in Vero Beach, Florida, and Cordillera, Colorado and holds a B.S.E.E. from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. from The George Washington University.

ANDREW SOWERS

Treasurer
Andy Sowers joined The Learning Alliance Board of Directors in 2019. He came to Vero Beach in 2011 from Ridgewood, New Jersey where he had lived since 1967. He is a graduate of Cornell University and NYU Stern School of Business. After serving in the United States Marine Corp, Andy began his career in finance at Bank of New York in 1966. He went on to work at Merrill Lynch where he specialized in institutional sales and trading and managed equity trading positions and risk management. He is the Founder and President of Buttonwood Investment Management and currently manages institutional and individual investment accounts. Andy and his wife of 53 years, Paulette, now call Vero Beach home.

FRANK SPITSZMILLER

Secretary
Frank Spitzmiller earned his law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1964. After serving in the United States Army, Fritz put his law degree to use as a shareholder and partner in law of Williams, Stevens, McCarville, and Frizzell, P.C. firm specializing in real estate, estate planning, and estate administration. He later shifted his focus to the nonprofit sector where he spent over 20 years as Saint Edward’s School Chief Advancement Officer. Fritz has also served on many boards including but not limited to, Indian River Community Foundation (former director), Indian River Land Trust (member of the initial Advisory Council), and The Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County (past director and president for 6 years.)

Paul Becker was an American investment executive, focusing on research and investment management. He worked primarily in New York City as the Management Director of Mitchell Hutchins Asset Management and General Partner of Summit Investors. Paul commuted from Summit, New Jersey, throughout his career, until he made Vero Beach his primary residence in 2001. He graduated from the University of Michigan (BSE) and Harvard University (MBA).

Paul has served on several corporate and non-profit boards, including the Vero Beach Museum of Art, United Against Poverty, and Bravo! Vail Music Festival. Paul and his wife Jayne have been active in and supporters of The Learning Alliance since its inception.

Elbridge (Ebby) Gerry is currently a Managing Director at UBS Asset Management. Prior to his 25 years at UBS, he worked at J.P. Morgan for 15 years. He is a graduate of St. Mark’s School in Southboro, MA and Colgate University in Hamilton NY. Ebby is a Board member of New England
College, The Father & Son Golf Association, and President of the Board of Trustees of The Harriman Foundation.

He and his wife Janet currently reside in Vero Beach and Rowayton, CT. As a side note,
Ebby’s wife, Janet, had an early financial career but later stayed at home to raise three children. She returned to work as a 2nd grade teacher and tutor after her children went to college and is currently a fantastic volunteer tutor for The Learning Alliance at Beachland Elementary School.

Barbara Hammond is one of the three original founders of The Learning Alliance. She has a B.A. in Economics from Williams College and a Masters in Public and Private Management from Yale University. Barbara was a former consultant with Bain and Company in Boston and The Director of Strategic Planning for Shawmut Corporation in Boston.

She now resides in Vero Beach, Florida and is the mother of two boys whose life stories inspired her to start The Learning Alliance as they learned self-leadership and resilience in the face of their learning challenges.

Prior to starting The Learning Alliance, Barbara was Chairman of the Board of the Mental Health Association in Vero Beach where she spent 10 years helping the organization develop their strategic planning and fundraising activities.

Mike White began his career as a management consultant at Bain & Company and Arthur Anderson & Co. Today, Mr. White is a seasoned executive and public director who, as CEO of DIRECTV, led the global operations and strategic direction of complex and highly regulated multinational consumer retail and distribution businesses. He possesses executive and board leadership experience and provides broad-ranging operational and strategic insights, an international perspective, and financial expertise to The Learning Alliance Foundation, Inc.

Before joining DIRECTV, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo International; Frito-Lay’s Europe, Africa, and Middle East division; and Snack Ventures Europe, PepsiCo’s partnership with General Mills International.