ISP Board of Trustees
Staffan Erenmalm
- Governance
Nationality: Sweden
Staffan has been living in Prague since 2006, when he relocated from Zurich (Switzerland) where the family lived for 6 years.
He has 40 years of professional experience, mainly in executive roles, marketing & sales and strategy & business planning in global industrial corporations, including various supervisory board assignments over the years. The 2021-22 academic year is Staffan’s fourth year serving as the ISP Board Chair.
Staffan and his wife, Charlotta, have 3 children, all of whom are ISP Alumni.
Susanna Bäckman
- Governance
Nationality: Finland
Susanna is passionate about early childhood education, shared and team leadership, learning environments and human development. A Educator/Consultant, and former School Director in native Finland, her education and work expertise have focused on the leadership and management of both public and private pedagogical communities. Throughout her career she has also managed various construction projects for different educational centres.
Susanna has been living in Prague with her family since 2016. She and her husband Alex have 2 children attending ISP.
Ivo Bárta
- Governance
Nationality: Slovakia, Czech Republic
Ivo has been a legal practitioner for 32 years, 22 of which were at the Prague and Bratislava offices of leading US law firms. In 2014, he co-founded the Czech law firm BADOKH.
Ivo and his wife Marketa had two (and still have one) child at ISP, attending the school for 14 years. Ivo is deeply interested in the functioning and success of ISP and its students. At the Board, he would like to serve the ISP Community, using his experience in the governance and business structures of numerous leading international and domestic clients.
Martin Blecha
- Governance
Nationality: Czech Republic
Martin was born in Prague but spent most of his early years on Long Island. He attended ISP from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2001 until 2004. Going on to pursue studies in London, he returned to the Czech Republic in 2008 to join PwC and subsequently Deloitte. Martin is a corporate restructuring professional, specialized in insolvency advisory and contingency planning. In the interest of supporting ISP as an alumnus, he joined the Board of Trustees in 2016 and chairs the Governance Committee since 2018.
“The achievements of alumni are the most tangible measure of success of any academic institution. As much a school should want to see its graduates go on to succeed and represent it in the best possible light, so too are alumni inherently represented by their school and should hold it to high standards. As an alumnus of ISP, I am keen on seeing the school maintain its strong reputation by providing the best possible quality of education, as well as fostering an ever more important multi-cultural environment.”
Dena Brownlow
- Governance
Nationality: United States of America
Dena moved to Prague to work at the U.S. Embassy in 2020. She joined the ISP board in 2021.
She has previously worked at American embassies in Mexico, Albania, Suriname, and the United Kingdom, and at the Department of State and The White House in Washington DC. She was a founder and board member of the Suriname International School from 2010-2013.
Dena and her husband Jeff Patmore have three children at ISP in grades 8, 11, and 12.
Gabriel Eichler
- Governance
Nationality: United States of America
Gabriel has been living primarily in Prague since 1991. He is the founder of Benson Oak, an investment banking and private equity boutique. He has served in senior executive and non-executive roles in Czech, Slovak and US banking and industrial companies, as well as not-for-profit and educational institutions.
Gabriel and his wife Tatiana have four children at ISP.
Dorota Keleher
- Governance
Nationality: Poland
Dorota has been living with her family in Prague since 2015. She is a Phycologist and holds an MSc in Psychology and an MBA.
Dorota is passionate about helping ISP achieve its mission and vision as a leading international school. She has over 10 years of experience working with international schools in Europe and in Asia as a member of the board of trustees.
Dorota and her husband Neil have four children, one of whom is a student at ISP.
Martin Kovac
- Governance
Nationality: Slovakia
Martin Kovac is co-owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Porfix Porobeton, which is a major building materials producer active in Central Europe.
Martin was born and raised in Košice (Slovakia), where he graduated in 2000. Over the past 20 years, Martin has led more than 12 companies as CEO, resulting in a significant increase of the corporate value of these companies. Notably, when Martin joined Porfix in 2000 it was a loss-making business, while today the company operates three efficient and modern factories, employs 500 people and generates substantial profits for its stakeholders.
In 2012 Martin was approached by a renowned private equity firm to take over leadership of KVK holding, which as a significant player in the Czech construction materials market. Martin succeeded in turning around KVK and after 5 years it was sold it to a renowned international strategic investor (Sika AG) while generating as significant return on investment.
When not stuck to a computer or work, Martin spends time playing sports, reading and enjoying time with his family. He loves nature and the sea and engages in a variety of outdoor sports, such as windsurfing, cycling, skiing, etc. Martin is actively engaged with his community, as he is a co-founder of a foundation that organizes a summer camp for more than 80 children every year, in addition to supporting various sports and cultural activities. Martin and his wife also support the functioning of the organization Dobry Anjel as well as WWF, Sea Shepard, IRC and others.
Gary Mazzotti
- Governance
Nationality: United Kingdom
Gary has been working in the Czech Republic since 2001 and is currently CEO of EP Infrastructure and prior to that was Member of the Board and CFO of Kooperativa.
Gary and Clare have three children, George who graduated from ISP in 2007 and Lily and Joshua (twins).
Gary has also served on the Finance Committee of ISP for many years and plays a role in ensuring the school will continue to finance and develop its facilities in the years ahead.
Dave Sturgeon
- Governance
Nationality: United Kingdom
Dave is a Chartered Accountant and has been a member of the Finance Committee since 2015. Dave has held senior executive positions mainly in Media and Communications organisations and possesses extensive experience in the areas of financial reporting and control, corporate finance and capital markets transactions.
Dave has lived in Prague since 2010 with his wife Pip, who is heavily involved in the activities of the School Community Association (SCA), and has four children who have attended the ISP.
Jan Sýkora
- Governance
Nationality: Czech Republic
Jan is Chairman of the Board of Wood & Co., a leading Central European investment bank that he co-founded. After serving on the School’s Development and Building & Grounds Committees, Jan became a Trustee in 2012.
Jan has one son at ISP and it is his belief that ISP is one of the best international schools in Europe. Jan is strongly interested in the overall quality of education at ISP in terms of the curriculum and the future success of Alumni.
Standing Committees
Advancement Committee
Purpose: The Advancement Committee’s ultimate purpose is the long-term success of the School through effective fundraising and communication. In collaboration with the Advancement staff, the Advancement Committee oversees the planning and execution of fundraising activities for the International School of Prague. These activities may include cultivation and stewardship of donors, face-to-face solicitation, various forms of communication, and events. In addition to the Responsibilities listed above, Advancement Committee members will therefore:
- Ensure that fund-raising goals are achieved through oversight of fund-raising activities;
- Help identify and cultivate prospective donors;
- Participate in face-to-face solicitations in support of the various campaigns;
- Recruit other Trustees to assist with solicitations;
- Develop fund-raising strategies in partnership with the Advancement staff;
- Encourage friends to attend/participate in the School’s special events/fundraisers;
- Serve as ambassadors for ISP in the community.
Building and Grounds Committee
Purpose: The Building and Grounds Committee shall assist the Board of Trustees in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities with respect to the School’s land, buildings, and equipment: ensuring the adequacy and condition of capital assets; developing and keeping current physical planning policies for land, buildings, and equipment; providing new structures, rehabilitating or removing older structures as dictated by general Board policies; controlling plant debt and assuring adequate levels of funding for plant maintenance; and such other matters as and Board of Trustees may from time to time determine.
Responsibilities: The responsibilities of the Building and Grounds Committee shall include the following:
- Review physical plant and grounds operations, maintenance schedules and preventative maintenance programs.
- Review and recommend major capital items regarding buildings and grounds, as well as the replacement of depreciable property.
- Develop a master plan for the School campus.
- Advise the School on the selection of architects and general contractors regarding building projects.
Finance Committee
Purpose: The Finance Committee shall assist the Board of Trustees in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities with respect to: reviewing and monitoring income and spending policy for the School and its entities consistent with the School’s long term goals; reviewing and monitoring the School’s budget, including program and management appropriations and capital spending; reviewing and monitoring investment and audit policy; and such other matters as and Board of Trustees may from time to time determine.
Responsibilities: The responsibilities of the Finance Committee shall include the following:
- Review and make recommendations to the Board with respect to long range financial planning and the yearly operational budget.
- Monitor the implementation of the budget.
- Make periodic reports to the Board on the School’s financial status.
- Educate the Board on nonprofit financial reporting and trends affecting the School’s finances.
- Review financial aspects of major proposed transactions.
- Recommend and monitor any corrective actions taken to bring the School and its entities into compliance with financial goals.
- Develop and recommend to the Board for approval policies that delineate how the School will invest its financial resources and what amount of return on investment the School will use in its yearly operating budget.
- Monitor the investment portfolio’s return, including setting investment objectives and recommending and meeting with a professional adviser.
- Periodically report to the Board on the Endowment’s performance.
- Ensure that appropriate governance policies and practices are designed and implemented to minimize financial risk.
- Periodically review and assess the adequacy of this Committee charter and make recommendations to the Trustees’ Committee of changes.
- Conduct an annual performance evaluation of the Committee and report its findings to the Board.
- Attend to such other matters as the Board of Trustees may from time to time determine.
- Maintain minutes of Committee meetings and report regularly to the Board.
Governance Committee
Purpose: The purpose of the Governance Committee is to ensure that the board fulfills its legal, ethical, and functional responsibilities through adequate governance policy development, recruitment strategies, training programs, monitoring of board activities, and facilitating the board performance evaluation. The governance committee monitors the development and progress of the ISP Strategic Plan.
Responsibilities: The Governance Committee determines the composition of the board – identifying, recruiting, and proposing new trustees. The committee facilitates the board’s evaluation; provide tools for evaluating individual trustee performance; plans for trustee professional development through orientation, training, and ongoing education. The Governance Committee ensures all legal documents and by-laws of the organization are current and honored in board decisions. Ensure the strategic plan acts as a bridge between ISP’s mission and vision and its policies; the strategic plan sets forth what the school must accomplish in the next five years in order for the school to thrive and achieve its mission.