NBOA President and CEO
As I reflect on this year’s NBOA award recipients, I’m inspired by how clearly their achievements reflect some of the bold new directions independent schools are heading. The elevation of professional practices and innovation within the field can happen at both the individual level and organizational level, which is why NBOA Awards recognize both outstanding leaders and outstanding schools that can set an example for us all. It’s my pleasure to introduce the 2026 recipients of NBOA’s three top awards.
The 2026 Ken White Distinguished Business Officer is Ann Marie Tidona, CPA, director of finance, operations and strategic projects at Friends Academy. Tidona has served the K-12 day school in Locust Valley, New York, for 27 years, and during that time has filled numerous leadership roles in New York and across the country. She served two terms on the NBOA Board of Directors, including service as treasurer, and as faculty at the Business Officer Institute. In 2008, Tidona received NBOA’s Will J. Hancock Unsung Hero Award for outstanding service to her school.
Beyond NBOA, Tidona has held key leadership roles with NYSAIS, including chair and conference chair of the NYSAIS Business Affairs Council and member of the NYSAIS Health Insurance Program Advisory Committee. She has also served on the board and as an officer of Independent School Data Exchange (INDEX). Tidona is known for her work with demographic data analyses, and has widely shared replicable techniques to help schools better understand their school’s data and utilize it to better serve their markets. As one nominator noted, Tidona “truly loves the independent school community and never seems to tire of finding ways to give back.”
The 2026 Sarah Daignault Outstanding Support of Independent Schools Award recipient is Patrick Schuermann, Ed.D. He is founder and CEO of Strategic Compensation and Coaching Partners, vice president, strategic partnerships for the ed tech firm Optima, and also a compensation advisor with NBOA Advisory services. Schuermann’s service to NBOA is extensive, most notably as the lead researcher for NBOA’s Mission-Anchored Compensation Strategies, the first comprehensive research and findings on independent school compensation. He was also instrumental in the development of the NBOA Leadership Academy and currently serves as co-director of the program, which shapes the next generation of independent school business office leaders.
Schuermann is the founding director of the national Center for Educator Compensation Reform at the University of Wisconsin. Among numerous accomplishments at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College for Education and Human Development, he established the Professional Leadership Institutes for independent school leaders and teachers as well as the Independent School Leadership Master’s Program, which he directed for eight years. In 2014, he won an Emmy Award for Best Educational Piece for his documentary "A Matter of Principals.” Schermann’s contributions are summed up powerfully by his nominator: “His work has fortified the independent school ecosystem and elevated the business officer’s role and ability as a strategic partner.”
What excites me most about this year’s Jeffrey Shields Innovation in School Business Operations Award recipients is that their work not only meets the moment of AI’s rapid evolution but also provides two different practical roadmaps that other schools could adopt.
Aspen Academy, a PK-8 day school enrolling around 450 students in Greenwood Village, Colorado, developed an AI strategic plan designed to implement automation and AI tools across the school. The plan has increased institutional capacity and shifted work from a repetitive “laundry list” to strategic interventions. In just four months, Aspen completed 39 automations, saving nearly 3,000 hours of work, while strengthening internal controls and creating the operational bandwidth to open a new campus without hiring additional operational FTEs to staff it. All of this work was done in house, with involvement from senior leaders, the IT director, and parents and alumni working in AI. A task force generated more than 150 possible use cases and then applied an impact-scoring rubric to prioritize opportunities that aligned with institutional strategy and translated results into an execution roadmap with quarterly goals.
Pine Crest School, a PK-12 day school enrolling around 2,700 students, with campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, Florida, has comprehensively integrated AI across school operations. Using robotic process automation and system integration, Pine Crest streamlined hundreds of repetitive tasks, reducing processing times in finance and human resources by more than 25% across multiple functions. Automation of invoice entry alone saves six to eight days each month. Pine Crest began its AI work with a consulting partner but has since moved much of it in house, and as employees retire, the school is hiring strategically in new roles. A key strength of Pine Crest’s approach is its schoolwide AI governance plan, organizational chart and emphasis on responsible implementation. Ethical oversight and transparency have been embedded into the school’s AI implementation since it began.
I wanted to extend congratulations as well to the 2025 recipients of the NBOA Professional Achievement Award, who were recognized by their schools in December. These individuals have made significant and lasting contributions to his or her school’s operations or financial health as a member of the business operations staff, generally under the supervision of the business officer.
Taken together, this year’s recipients offer a powerful portrait of what independent school business leadership can accomplish: decades of leadership and service to the independent school community, generous knowledge sharing and data-informed insights; compensation strategies that attract and retain outstanding teachers; and the evolution of the business office to better serve schools’ programmatic needs.
We will celebrate all of the recipients announced here at the 2026 NBOA Annual Meeting, March 1-4 in Orlando, Florida. Join us in recognizing these outstanding accomplishments and the continued growth of our profession and professional community. Congratulations to the impressive individuals and schools who comprise this year’s recipients of the 2026 NBOA Awards!
Jeffrey Shields, FASAE, CAE
NBOA President and CEO
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