Lake Tahoe School - Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees

Lake Tahoe School is fortunate to have an outstanding Board of Trustees, steadfastly dedicated to creating a superlative independent school in the Lake Tahoe region. Lake Tahoe School’s trustees represent a balance of skills, interests, and experience that together provide an essential environment of effective governance and a philosophical foundation for the future growth and success of the school.

Gene T. Pretti- Gene Pretti, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of LTS, is the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Portfolio Manager of Zazove Associates, LLC, an Incline Village based investment advisor specializing in the management of convertible securities. The firm has nearly $3 billion in assets under management and is consistently recognized as one of Nelson Publication's "World's Best Money Managers." Zazove Associates offers a broad array of convertible strategies (convertible arbitrage, high-yield, investment-grade, and international convertibles) to a diverse group of clients including insurance companies, pension plans, foundations, public funds, investment partnerships, and select individuals.

Gene earned a BBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1984. He later earned his MBA in finance from that University where he was also selected for the Applied Securities Analysis Program, an honors program with an emphasis on security analysis and portfolio management. Prior to acquiring Zazove Associates in 1989, Gene worked for the First Boston Corporation in New York and Chicago as a vice president in institutional portfolio sales. He has also worked as an analyst with CUNA Mutual Insurance Company and with Robert W. Baird and Company, and is currently a board member of several small companies.

Gene and his wife (Alison Pretti, MD) reside in Incline Village and have two children enrolled in Lake Tahoe School.

Joe Baratta- Joe is an entrepreneur who began his career as a researcher and industrial/organizational psychologist. He completed his undergraduate studies in psychology and economics and did his doctoral work at Pennsylvania State University studying statistics and organizational psychology. He worked as a scientist for LIMRA International in Connecticut, and was a managing partner at Organizational Effectiveness Consulting in San Francisco, before founding TBIG Financial Services, a high wealth portfolio management company. Joe has held other positions in business and education: Vice Principal of The Devereux Foundation, professor at Penn State University, and Strategy and Organizational Change Consultant for Landy, Jacobs and Associates. He has served as an expert witness for EEOC, dealing with hiring and turnover issues, and has developed selection, test, performance and appraisal criteria for insurance agents, police and fire fighters, teachers, insurance agents, bankers, and various management positions. Joe has published broadly in the areas of human performance, and organizational and human resource issues. Currently, Joe continues to manage TBIG Financial Services while also leading the growth and management of B & E Capital Management, and Moorgate and Barlin Associates, real estate investment companies. He continues to sit on the board of various companies and serves as an advisor and strategist for both start-ups and established companies.

Stuart ("Pico") Sagan- Stuart is married to Paula Sagan and has two children: Jimmy and Ginetta. Both children have attended Lake Tahoe School since the school's inception. Pico is a lawyer/investor who has been investing for the Prim Family since 1990. Prior to this, Pico spent seven years developing hotels and restaurants (Vintage Court Hotel/Masas Restaurant, Juliana Hotel, and Tuscan Inn/Café Pescatore Restaurant) in San Francisco with Bill Kimpton ("the Kimpton Group"). In 1980 Pico worked for Carl Freeman & Associates, a Maryland based home and shopping center developer. Pico received his BA degree in economics and political science from the University of California at Berkeley and attended Cambridge University. He received his JD degree from the University of Santa Clara. He is a member of the California Bar Association and is a licensed California real estate broker.

Mary Peterson- Mary served two terms as Nevada’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. During her tenure the State strengthened its accountability system, implemented academic content and performance standards, and developed assessments that align with the standards. She served on numerous boards, including the Board of Directors of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the Education Commission of the States (ECS). For the past four years Mrs. Peterson has been the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Sierra Nevada College, Nevada’s only private four year residential college in the liberal arts tradition. During her tenure the College expanded to include a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) program. In the fall of 2006 she joined the staff of the California and Southwest Comprehensive Centers to assist schools, districts and state departments of education with school improvement issues; the WestEd Regional Education Laboratory is funded by a federal grant to operate the Comprehensive Centers.

Mrs. Peterson graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota with a B.A. degree in English and from Duke University with an M.A.T. degree. She completed coursework, but not the dissertation, for a Ph.D. degree at the University of Utah where she was inducted into the graduate Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. Mrs. Peterson lives with her husband Daniel in Incline Village, Nevada, where Dr. Peterson practices internal medicine. They have two adult children.

Matt White- Matt is the President and CEO of Basin Street Properties, a real estate investment company with assets in Northern California and Northern Nevada. In his role as President, Matt is responsible for developing and overseeing the company’s corporate strategies as well as directing its real estate investments, including project assessment and evaluation. Matt has acquired and developed more than $700 million of office, industrial, retail, mixed-use and residential property.

Matt has published articles in a variety of real estate and business journals, including Real Estate Finance Journal, California Real Estate Journal, Office and Industrial Properties, and the North Bay Business Journal, and he is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. He is also a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Petaluma Boys and Girls Club, and the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Sonoma State University School of Business and Economics. Matt earned a B.A. in Political Science from Boston University.

Matt and his wife Melissa reside in Incline Village and have two children enrolled at the school.

Eric Swain- Eric brings to the board thirty-six years of experience as a teacher, coach, administrator, and/or trustee at five independent schools in California, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Nevada, where he served as headmaster at Lake Tahoe School from 2003 to 2006. He has taught English and History at every level from middle school through 12th grade, coached dozens of middle school and high school varsity teams, and served in all capacities of administration including headmaster for 22 years, dean of students, dean of faculty, business manager, and director of admissions, communications, and fundraising. Eric has chaired school accreditation teams and has served on public and private school boards including the executive committee of the California Association of Independent Schools. He and his wife, Jane, also a teacher, have three sons and two grandchildren near Santa Barbara, where Eric is currently working with an independent school in its capital campaign and serving on the board of Midland School as well as Lake Tahoe School.