Pollyanna Partner

Jan Abernathy is Chief Communications Officer for The Browning School (NY) a K-12 all-boys school with 400 students. She is also the president of New York City Independent School Communications Professionals (NYCISCP), co-founder of Black Advancement Networking Group (BANG) and principal of a consulting firm, Jan Abernathy Strategic Communications. 

Jan is a trustee of the Grace Church School (NY) and is chair of the CASE-NAIS 2022 conference, as well as co-chair the NYSAIS Advancement Committee. She has written for Independent Schools magazine on crisis communications and how schools responded to the “Black at” movement and has been featured in the recent CASE Currents article “What is Equity?” Jan has presented and facilitated at many conferences including NAISAC, the NAIS’ New Heads Institute, CASE-NAIS, the NYSAIS Advancement Conference and the NJAIS Diversity Conference. Her two children graduated from the Dalton School (NY) in 2016 and 2020.

Pollyanna Facilitator

Ivy Alphonse-Crean is the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at an independent school in Massachusetts. Ivy believes that children and adults should be seen, heard and safe within their school communities. She is currently completing 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification (CYT 200 and Social-Emotional Learning Facilitator Certification (SEL*F) [completion date: August 8th, 2023]. At her current school, Ivy guides the affinity spaces and dialogue groups for students and adults, including the community of parents and caregivers. She also manages the SEL program for grades 1-5 and serves on the board of Horizons.

Ivy has worked in single-sex environments and has experience as an advisor an ELA educator. She has presented at the NYSAIS Diversity Conference, AISNE Diversity Conference, People of Color Conference, and Carney Sandoe FORUM Diversity. Ivy is a contributing author to the anthology Teaching Beautiful Brilliant Black Girls and her writing can also be found on WBUR.org, as well as in Independent School Magazine. 

Pollyanna Founder

Casper Caldarola founded the New York based, non-profit, Pollyanna in 2015. Casper has worn many hats in independent schools: alum, parent, administrator, and trustee, and saw different levels of commitment to DEI work. She felt and still feels the most important aspect of this work is to keep the academic, social, and emotional needs of the student at the center. Casper founded Pollyanna to support the schools that have made a commitment to building a more inclusive school community through multi-constituent conference models, workshops, community  assessments and racial literacy curriculum.

Casper’s experience includes serving as president of the Dalton School Parents Association. During her tenure, she created a more inclusive community, developed a new budgeting structure making it possible for parents of different socioeconomics to volunteer, hosted more events at school to take the pressure off of in-home hosting, and introduced monthly topic-driven parent discussions to find additional ways to bring the community together. In addition, Casper was the Communications Director at the Allen-Stevenson School and was tasked with helping to develop and implement equity initiatives, such as, developing a more inclusive hiring process and creating Parent Chats with topics that focused on DEI. Before joining the independent school world, she was a marketing and advertising executive.

Casper now serves on the Board of Seeds of Peace. She was a trustee at the Dalton School for 10 years and served as a member of the Executive Committee, chaired the Committee on New Trustees and Community Life & Diversity Committee, and was on the strategic plan steering committee, and has also served on the boards of Parents-in-Action and Generation Citizen.

Pollyanna Program Designer & Facilitator

Jay Golon is an educator with 20 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in independent schools. He currently works with Pollyanna’s clients to design and facilitate workshops that advance the work of equity and justice. 

Jay believes that all students flourish in just, equitable, and identity-safe learning environments. Ensuring that every child and family can be the fullest, most authentic version of themselves in all of their communities is at the heart of his work as an educator.

He spent the first part of his career in the classroom as a Middle School Social Studies teacher at the Trevor Day School in New York City, the Epiphany School in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and The Dalton School in New York City. He also served as Dalton’s Middle School Assistant Director for Curriculum and Dean of Students for five years followed by three years as Middle School Principal at the Friends School of Baltimore. 

Jay earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in American Studies and Theater and a Masters in School Leadership from Harvard University. 

Pollyanna Director of Operations

Claire Hannan-Radomisli joined Pollyanna in 2018 as a Project Manager and eventually took on the role of Director of Operations. Much of her work involves partnering with schools to plan and develop Pollyanna conferences for their communities.

She served as President of the Parents Association at The Dalton School from 2013-2015. During her tenure, Claire promoted community building and inclusion, and supported the many diversity/affinity groups at the school. She was instrumental in establishing the New Parent Welcome Committee, the Gay and Lesbian Parent Group, and the Hispanic/Latino Parent Group. In addition, Claire served as a Trustee and was a member of the following Board committees: Community Life & Diversity and New Trustees. She has volunteered at the Dalton Diversity Conference for many years and attended the Glenn Singleton training, “Beyond Diversity.”

Claire graduated Summa Cum Laude from N.Y.U. with a BS in Cultural Anthropology. Much of her coursework focused on the study of gender, identity, race, religion, sexual orientation from a global perspective.

Claire lives in New York with her husband and their three boys.

Jason Craige Harris is a voice for healing, transformation, and the power of storytelling. He brings together insights from diverse fields as a facilitator, conflict mediator, leadership coach, and spiritual teacher. He works in a variety of contexts, with a range of constituents, and across industries to promote cultures of dignity, belonging, and repair. He regularly advises leaders on how to solve big challenges, manage complex crises, and pursue lasting change.

As a researcher, educator, and strategist, Jason holds expertise in organizational development; dignity and belonging; dialogue and group dynamics; the psychology of identity and leadership; and conflict transformation and restorative justice. In all of his work, Jason draws on a deep well of research, practice, and mindfulness to transform leaders, teams, and organizational cultures.

Jason is committed to educating the public. Jason is a member of the speakers bureau at Pollyanna, a national organization working to promote racial literacy and cultural competency. He writes on issues pertaining to leadership, culture, conflict, abuse, repair, and religion / spirituality. Jason is also the Social Impact Producer for a documentary with Impactful entitled Race to Be Human, a film on how to talk about race and mental health. In addition, he serves as a senior partner at a consulting firm that serves organizations around the world.

Previously, Jason was the director of diversity and inclusion at a NYC independent school, where he co-led the school’s peace, equity, and justice department, and taught courses at the intersection of ethics, history, and religion. Jason sits on the boards of Seeds of Peace, Hidden Water, and Getting to We.

Rena Andoh is a litigation partner with Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in New York. Her broad practice ranges from complex commercial and trade secret/restrictive covenant enforcement cases to False Claims Act cases to intellectual property cases arising out of government contracts. Rena acts as first chair trial counsel in jury trials and arbitrations, and argues in appellate courts, including the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals and the First Department of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division.

Rena is an active supporter of Sheppard Mullin’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. She serves as vice-chair of the Attorneys of Color Success Initiative Committee (“ACSIC”), convened by the chair of Sheppard Mullin to advance the firm’s practices and programs to recruit, retain and promote attorneys of color and LGBTQ attorneys. She also vice-chairs Sheppard Mullin’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Rena is a 2015 Leadership Counsel for Legal Diversity (“LCLD”) Fellow, and is an active alumni and mentor in the LCLD organization.

Mia Burton is an experienced facilitator, consultant and counselor with expertise in developing and leading equity and justice initiatives. In her role as Director of Institutional Equity and Inclusion at Flint Hill School, she leads the development and implementation of policies and programs that sustain an inclusive, equitable, and just school community. Her desire to be a change agent led her to establish MSB Advising to advise organizations and support individuals committed to visionary and transformational equity goals. Ms. Burton earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia with a double major in English and African & African-American Studies. She received her master’s degree in School Counseling from Marymount University.

Pollyanna Founder

Casper Caldarola founded the New York based, non-profit, Pollyanna in 2015. Casper has worn many hats in independent schools: alum, parent, administrator, and trustee, and saw different levels of commitment to DEI work. She felt and still feels the most important aspect of this work is to keep the academic, social, and emotional needs of the student at the center. Casper founded Pollyanna to support the schools that have made a commitment to building a more inclusive school community through multi-constituent conference models, workshops, community  assessments and racial literacy curriculum.

Casper’s experience includes serving as president of the Dalton School Parents Association. During her tenure, she created a more inclusive community, developed a new budgeting structure making it possible for parents of different socioeconomics to volunteer, hosted more events at school to take the pressure off of in-home hosting, and introduced monthly topic-driven parent discussions to find additional ways to bring the community together. In addition, Casper was the Communications Director at the Allen-Stevenson School and was tasked with helping to develop and implement equity initiatives, such as, developing a more inclusive hiring process and creating Parent Chats with topics that focused on DEI. Before joining the independent school world, she was a marketing and advertising executive.

Casper now serves on the Board of Seeds of Peace. She was a trustee at the Dalton School for 10 years and served as a member of the Executive Committee, chaired the Committee on New Trustees and Community Life & Diversity Committee, and was on the strategic plan steering committee, and has also served on the boards of Parents-in-Action and Generation Citizen.

Currently a college freshman and a former Pollyanna Teen Council leader.

Paquita Y. Davis-Friday is the Senior Associate Dean in the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and a professor in the Stan Ross Department of Accountancy. She earned her Ph.D. and Master in accounting, M.A. in Applied Economics and B.B.A from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Andrea DuBois is a marketing professional and is active in her sons’ school communities. She is a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Bernard’s School. Andrea is a native of Atlanta, graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in French, and lives in Manhattan with her husband and two sons.

Rebecca Danziger Gamzon is an experienced educator who has worked and volunteered in public, private and charter schools. She recently served on the Board of Trustees at her alma mater, the Spence School, where she helped lead the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee and served as Vice President of its Parents’ Association. Rebecca was a founding member of the Framers Board of Civics Unplugged, a national leadership and civic engagement program for high school students. She earned her Master of Science in Early Adolescence from Bank Street College of Education and a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in American Studies.

Alessandra Gouldner is on the Boards of School of America Ballet, Catskill Arts Society and Dance Gallery Festival Board. 

Currently at Cornell University, and was a Pollyanna intern leading Pollyanna Teen Council.