Stephanie Calhoun
Trustee - President 
Appointed to LEAF in 2012, Stephanie is the newest president, having served three years as LEAF’s treasurer. Stephanie is currently the Vice-Chair of the Ledyard Board of Education, serving on the Finance, Negotiations, and Strategic Planning committees, and acts as the BOE liaison to Instructional Council, School Security Committee, and School Wellness Committee. She also serves as Ledyard's representative to LEARN Board of Directors. She has been involved with volunteer work for over twenty-five years. She has been active in many Navy Family Readiness Groups, coached for several youth sports organizations, was the volunteer coordinator with a community built playground, served as the parent representative on the policy committee of the Ledyard Board of Education, served as a past president of the Gallup Hill School PTO, and an Economic Development Commissioner for the town of Ledyard. Stephanie has been married to Chris Calhoun for 19 years and is the mother of four children, three that currently attend Ledyard Public Schools and one that is a recent Ledyard High School graduate. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Community Development and a Master of Science in Administration with a concentration in Philanthropy and Fundraising from Central Michigan University

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Barbara Leandri
Trustee - Vice-President 
LEAF’s Vice President, Barbara Leandri, is a past president of LEAF.  She has been active both on the LEAF Board and in the Ledyard education system since 2005. She is currently active in Ledyard High School Sports Boosters and Music Boosters. Barbara formerly was the president of the GFS/ JWL School Parent Teacher Organization and was involved with Ledyard Middle School PTC.  Barbara is highly effective at motivation and fundraising.  Her commitment and dedication to our community is far reaching. Barbara graduated from Ledyard High School and chose to raise her family here with her husband John for the past 16 years.  They have three children: Steven, Michael, and Anna.

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John Cusmano
Trustee - Secretary 
John has been a dedicated trustee since LEAF's inception in 2003.  

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Dawn Sullivan
Treasurer
​Dawn Sullivan has been a Ledyard resident for eight years and has been actively supporting Ledyard schools the entire time.  Dawn spent four years on the PTO board at Gallup Hill School – three as president.  She spent three years on the PTO board at Ledyard Middle School – two as president where she worked to add diverse enrichment programs for the students.  She is also on the committee for the “Color Me Fallfest” event which raises money for the Ledyard elementary and middle schools.  Dawn also helps manage the Ledyard Clothing Exchange, an organization that collects and distributes free clothing to the local community.  Dawn works as an office manager at General Oil in Quaker Hill.  She is married to Jim Sullivan. They have two daughters who have both moved on to high school - but Dawn has continued to volunteer at both Gallup Hill and Ledyard Middle Schools.

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Krista Sabilia
Krista has been a trustee since 2015. Serving as our treasurer from 2016 until 2018.  

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Angela Cassidy
Trustee
Angela has been a trustee since 2016. She graduated from Cornell with a BS degree in 1991 where she attended the ALS College majoring in Economics, specializing in Marketing and Management. She has 20 years of experience in marketing and public relations and has always worked with non-profit companies through events and community outreach whether from the corporate side or directly for the non-profit. Angela organized, conducted and hosted events and conventions for up to 3,000 people. She also acted as spokesperson for all regional press doing television, radio and newspaper interviews around the U.S. She has developed and conducted four-hour training seminars for 50-150 people. Angela has also worked as an Education Consultant where she conducted professional development workshops for school systems in the Eastern US involving the implementation of software to assist in assessment and compilation of individualized education plans (IEP’s). She has worked in development and community outreach with many nonprofit companies representing the company or donor, and eventually solely moved into development, working for the non-profit company, Easter Seals where she planned, organized and implemented the annual appeal, stewarded major donors, and secured individual and corporate contributions. She also planned and executed the first Easter Seals “Walk With Me” event in southeastern Connecticut.

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Adrienne Parad
Trustee
​​Adrienne Parad is a Ledyard resident, mother of three elementary school-aged children, veteran of the US Navy, and is currently employed at Northeast Medical Group as a Family Physician.  She was born and raised in Rhode Island and lived in Warwick until 2003.  Adrienne has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Rhode Island and a Medical Doctorate from Boston University School of Medicine.  She completed her Family Medicine residency at the Naval Hospital Pensacola. Adrienne is married to Andrew Parad, and they have 3 children.  The Parad family was assigned to Subase and moved to Ledyard in 2012, after an overseas tour in Bahrain.  In 2014, Adrienne was honorably discharged from active duty status and began her current employment in Mystic, CT as a Primary Care Physician.  Adrienne continues to be an active community supporter of Ledyard Public Schools, with all three children attending the STARS program, Ledyard Center School, and now Gallup Hill School.  She is a supporter of LEAF, and truly values the importance of quality education.  In her spare time, Adrienne enjoys running, spin classes, yoga, barre, strength training, healthy cooking, and spending time with her family.

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Randy Craig
Trustee - Grant Chair
​Grant Chair Randy Craig generously continues to support LEAF year after year.  He strives to give every Ledyard student the opportunity to get into the college of their choice. He believes that is only possible with a quality high school education and that a quality education is only possible when great teachers are combined with the resources they need to make a difference. LEAF is a part of that equation. 
Randy enlisted in the Navy in 1983 and was selected for the 1985 Nuclear Enlisted Commissioning Program.  He was commissioned in 1989 and served on USS Von Steuben (SSBN 632), USS Sand Lance (SSN 660), USS Seawolf (SSN 21), and USS Miami (SSN 755) as well as shore assignments at Penn State University, the Pentagon, and the Naval Submarine School. Randy retired in 2007 after 24 years of service. Currently, he is the Modernization Training Director for the Submarine Learning Center training crews from submarines in all seven homeports in the operation and employment of modern combat and communication systems.  Randy has a distinguished educational legacy earning a BS in Engineering Science from the University of Texas at Austin, MEng in Acoustics from Penn State University, and an MA in National Security Policy from the Naval War College. 
Kathi and Randy Craig have raised three children who all graduated from LHS: Cameron (LHS 2006), Colton (LHS 2010), and Katelyn (LHS 2012).

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Kate DiPalma-Herb
Trustee 
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Ellin Grenger
Trustee
Attorney Ellin Grenger has lived in Ledyard since 1993, and practices law in Mystic.  Her practice is limited to real estate transactions, estate planning and settlement, and Probate and Juvenile Court matters.  A nationally certified Child Welfare Law Specialist, she also served as Ledyard’s final Judge of Probate, due to the consolidation of the Probate Courts.  She is proud to be a LEAF founding Trustee, and has been involved with many other local non-profit organizations, as well.  She has two children; one enrolled in Ledyard Public Schools and one that is a proud alum of Ledyard High School. 

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Meredith Robinson
Trustee
Meredith Robinson is a retired naval officer and attorney. She retired from the Navy JAG Corps as a Commander in 2011, after 20 years of service. An active volunteer within the community, she served as president of the Parent Teacher Organization at Gales Ferry School and Juliet W. Long School for 3 years and presently serves on a number of committees and boards within Ledyard. She is currently a federally certified EEO Investigator and Final Agency Decision Writer. Meredith and her husband Greg, a science teacher at Ledyard High School, have two children proudly attending Ledyard Public Schools. ​

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Jennifer Keefe
Trustee
​Jennifer grew up in Litchfield County and has been a Connecticut resident for the majority of her life.  Moving to Ledyard in 2008, Jennifer has two children currently enrolled in Ledyard Public Schools and one that graduated from LHS in 2018.   She has been active in PTO and school activities with her children’s school functions over the past 10 years.  Jennifer is the Senior Administrative Coordinator at The Day Publication Company in New London, responsible for managing the Advertising Sales Department’s day to day activities. Prior to The Day, she worked over ten years as Proposal Manager and Marketing Coordinator at a Health care Company in Fairfield County.  Jennifer is a graduate from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Health Systems Administration with a concentration in Marketing.  

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Jim Sullivan
Trustee
​Jim Sullivan is the Director of Event Technology for PSAV at Mohegan Sun.  He has a degree in Mass Communications from the State University of New York at Plattsburg.  Jim has been a Ledyard resident since 2006.  For the past several years, he has been an active volunteer for Gallup Hill School PTO and the Middle school PTO as well as a volunteer for the “Color Me Fallfest” event, benefiting Ledyard’s elementary and middle schools.  His experience with technology, media, and event planning have been helpful with many of the fundraisers and events for those schools. Jim is married to Dawn Sullivan and they have two daughters currently in high school.

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Kevin DiFilippo
Trustee
​Kevin DiFilippo is the proud husband to Vicky Holdridge DiFilippo and father to three wonderful children; 15 year old Maddie at LHS, 6 year old Gabriela at LCS and 3 year old Luca at First Leaps. Kevin began his work with LEAF on July 1, 2018. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1993 with a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Sociology and has been working in the Human Service field with children and families for over 25 years. Kevin currently supervises a group of Foster Care licensing and support social workers at the Department of Children and Families in Norwich, CT. In 2008, Kevin served a three year term on the Groton Sacred Heart School Advisory Board. In 2015, he was elected and served a term on the Ledyard Board of Education. While on the Board of Ed, Kevin was identified as the liaison to the Vo-Ag program and looks forward to continuing to support them moving forward. Kevin’s focus at work and at home is centered on the best interest of the child and he does his best to ensure decisions are made with that always in mind.

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Chris Calhoun
Trustee
Chris retired from the US Navy in 2017 as a Lieutenant Commander after 30 years of service. He has been actively involved in supporting Ledyard schools since arriving here in 2007.  Chris is currently Director of Naval Power Systems Field Service Operations for Leonardo DRS. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology from Thomas Edison State University and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management. He is married to Stephanie and currently has four children that have, or are attending Ledyard Public Schools. 

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Felix Vajdos
Trustee
Felix has lived in Ledyard since 2002, after moving here to take a research scientist position at Pfizer in Groton, where he has been continuously employed to date.  He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Utah, then moved to San Francisco, CA for a post-doctoral fellowship at the biopharmaceutical company Genentech.  He is married to Janis O’Quinn Vajdos, and they have 3 children: Benjamin (17), Jessica (14), and Nikolas (10). Benjamin and Jessica both attend Ledyard High School, and Nikolas is in 5th grade at the Regional Multicultural Magnet School (RMMS) in New London, CT.

Felix has enjoyed serving our community in a variety of capacities during the past 16 years.  He has previously served on the board of directors for the Furniture Bank of Southeastern CT, where he helped secure grant funding from local philanthropic organizations to purchase mattress/box-spring sets for individuals and families transitioning to independent housing.  He has also served on many committees at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Gales Ferry, including 2 years as vice president and 1 year as president of the Congregational Council. In addition to these administrative roles, he has helped coach youth sports (soccer, baseball), and currently serve as quartermaster for Ledyard Cub Scout Pack 16.

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Sherri Diamond
Trustee
Sherri is a mother of 4 and a proud retired Navy Wife. Sherri was an Ombudsman most of her husband’s military career and also worked with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.  The Diamond Family was assigned to the sub base in 2016 after living several years in Hawaii, Then after 22 years of service the family decided it was time for retirement and settled in Gales Ferry and Sherri’s husband is now working for General Dynamics (Electric Boat) and Sherri continues to be active within the community with the Ledyard Public Schools, Sherri is a true supporter of LEAF and truly loves Ledyard as her new home.
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David Wolford
Trustee
David Wolford has been a Ledyard resident since moving to Connecticut in 2002.  He is married to Angela and has one son that is currently enrolled in Ledyard Public Schools.  David is a regional sales manager and has been working in sales and marketing since 2012.  Prior to that, he worked for 10 years as a scientist at Pfizer.  He has a Masters of Science in Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Niagara University.
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Cari Barnes
Trustee
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John Freeman
Trustee
​​John Freeman has lived in Ledyard since 2011 and has 3 children in Ledyard schools. He works at Electric Boat as a Test Engineer and is an Air Force Reserve member. John’s wife works in the school district and is an active member of two PTO boards.

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Ex Officio Members
Jason Hartling - Ledyard Superintendent
Anthony Favry – Ledyard Board of Education Chair