Board of Trust

The mission of Abintra Montessori School is to assist in the development of the individual child and adolescent by providing a quality education based on Montessori principles and philosophy. In our vision, Abintra develops confident, self-motivated learners who creatively meet the challenges of life.

Abintra is a 501 (c)(3), non-profit organization which is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees. Abintra's current Board of Trustees is comprised of parents of Abintra students, parents of former students, and members from the community at large. Board members are selected based on their life experience and expertise, their commitment to help Abintra succeed, and the personalities, skills, and perspectives needed to round out the board as a whole.

Melanie Lowe, President
Melanie is a professor at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music and the chair of the Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology. She received her B.A. from Smith College and her M.F.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. Her research explores the political meanings of music in both 18th-century European and contemporary American cultures, while her courses take up such varied topics as music in the middle ages, the aesthetics of the Enlightenment, and musical constructions of gender and sexuality. Melanie has won several teaching awards, including the Rev. James Lawson Lectureship at Vanderbilt. She used the honorary position to teach about the role of music in the ongoing immigration debate in the United States. Melanie and her husband Stan Link have one child at Abintra. This is Melanie's second year of her second term on the board.
Commmittees:  Strategic Planning, Fundraising, Marketing/Communication

Renata Soto, Vice President
Renata is co-founder and Executive Director of Conexión Américas, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Latino families in Middle Tennessee with social and economic advancement. Renata has also worked for United Way of Metropolitan Nashville, managing a grant-making portfolio of almost $1.5 million and directing an initiative to support and expand a network of family resource centers in low-income neighborhoods of Nashville. Renata is from Costa Rica, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Costa Rica. She also attended Kenyon College, in Ohio, and Georgia State University, in Atlanta, GA. Renata has lived in the United States since 1993. She and her husband, Pete Wooten, have two children who attended Abintra before the family relocated briefly to Knoxville, where the children continued their Montessori education until they returned to Nashville and to Abintra in 2007. This is Renata's second year of her second term on the board.
Commmittee: Marketing/Communications (chair)

Holling Smith-Borne, Secretary
Holling Smith-Borne is the Director of the Wilson Music Library at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. He moved with his wife Joell and son Jaden from Indianapolis 4 years ago. He holds a master's degree in Library Science from the University of Michigan and a bachelor's degree in Piano Performance from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. His most recent interest is in archiving and preserving the music of East Africa. He enjoys making music and gardening with his son Jaden who has been at Abintra for three years. This is Holling's  first year of his second term on the board.
Commmittee:  Strategic Planning

Michael Webber, Treasurer
Michael is the controller at The Optimara Group. His background is in forensic accounting and finance. He holds a B.A. in Accountancy from Arizona State University, and an M.B.A. from Heriott-Watt University. Michael and his wife JoAnne Rosenblum have two children who attend the elementary program at Abintra. This is Michael's fourth year of his second term on the board.
Commmittee:  Finance (chair)

Bob Bernstein
Bob Bernstein is a Chicago native, recovering journalist and founder of Bongo World, a Nashville group of restaurants and coffee retail/wholesale operations. He has a B.A. from San Francisco State University and a Masters in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Bob moved to Nashville in 1988 to be a business and political journalist. After three years, he surprisingly decided he liked Nashville but not his career choice.  He then opened Bongo Java, now Nashville's oldest coffeehouse. Since then he has opened Fido, Grins, Hot & Cold, and Bongo Java Roasting Co. He is also a founding board member of Hands On Nashville and Nashville Prep. Bob is married to Irma Paz-Bernstein (owner of Las Paletas). Their two sons are in Abintra's early childhood program. This is Bob's first year of his first term on the board.

Annual Fund Chair

Renard François
Renard is an attorney for Caterpillar Financial where he focuses on compliance and regulatory matters, such as anti-corruption, data privacy, and export controls.  Additionally, Renard serves on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Committee and is a Commissioner for Nashville’s Social Services Commission.  He is also a board member of LEAD Public Schools.  A native Nashvillian, Renard graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy, has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, earned his law degree from George Washington University Law School, and received a legal master’s degree in information technology and privacy lase from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Renard and his wife, Mary François have two sons, and their oldest is in Abintra’s Early Childhood program. This is Renard’s first year of his first term.
Commmittee:  Marketing/Communication

Debby Gould
Debby Gould has a long history with Abintra, beginning with the time her son entered the elementary classroom in 1984, and has served on the Board of Trust for several terms including Board President (1992-94).   Both her children are Abintra graduates and are now “Montessori-minded” adults. For the past 20 years, she has held a variety of positions that have involved her in educational policy, professional development and programming including Executive Director for the Nashville Public Education Foundation, Program Director for PENCIL Foundation, and Educational Consultant for United Ways of Tennessee.  She holds a BA from Vanderbilt University, a Masters in Sociology of Education from the University of Manitoba, and a Masters in Public Administration from MTSU.  Debby has been involved in a variety of educational activities and organizations in the Nashville community including the League of Women Voters of Nashville, the Nashville Coalition for Education on Immigration, Alignment Nashville, Tennessee Arts and Science Consortium, and the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Nashville.  This is Debby's second year of her first term on the board.
Commmittee:  Strategic Planning (chair)

Anne Enright Shepherd
Anne works on the fundraising team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, serving as executive director of communications for Development and Alumni Relations. In prior positions she has managed public relations at a botanical garden, directed alumni relations at a medical school and handled media relations and science writing for two government agencies. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, where she specialized in public relations management, and a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Dayton. She and her spouse Joe Shepherd have been involved in Montessori education since 2000 and Abintra since 2007, where one daughter is a recent middle school graduate and their other daughter is in the elementary program.  This is Anne's second year of her first term on the board.
Commmittee:  Marketing/Communication

Andy Zmugg
Andy works in business development for Caterpillar Inc. expanding the company’s footprint in used parts and equipment. Previously he served as vice president in the Dallas office of Fleishman-Hillard, a global public relations firm. His background is in business growth and marketing communications. He holds a B.S. from Texas Christian University, and an M.B.A. from the London Business School. Andy and his wife Leslie have a child in the lower elementary program at Abintra.  This is Andy’s first year of his first term on the board.
Committee:  Finance