Board of Trustees
ISO is governed by a Board of Trustees which holds the mission and values of the ISO community in trust, and adopts policy and strategic decisions to that end. It does not intervene directly in the day-to-day administration or educational programming of the school.
The Board is responsible for setting policy, approving budgets, and resolving conflict. Key among the Board’s tasks are the recruitment and supervision of the Director. The Board approves the Director’s annual objectives and evaluates his/her performance on that basis. The Director is responsible for ensuring that every ISO student receives the best education possible given the available human and financial resources.
The Board has fiduciary responsibility for the school and strives to uphold its responsibilities with transparency and integrity. The Board is beholden to the The Board Policy Manual which is an important document that guides the Board’s work and is reviewed each year. (See the link below under Core documents.).
The Board of Trustees is composed of 12 members. There are six members elected by the ISO Association, two members appointed by the Board, the faculty (ISOTTA) representative, a student representative, a U.S. Embassy representative, and the Director. All members are voting members except the ISOTTA rep, the student rep and the Director.
Regular Board meetings are usually held on the third Tuesday of each month from September to May, starting at 6:00 p.m. and ending by 8:00 p.m. The Board’s decisions are made in public, and all Association members are welcome to attend its Regular Session meetings. There are however decisions made in Executive Session, which are confidential matters such as personal, legal issues, financial assistance, or individual students, which is not open to the public.
The agenda for each monthly meeting is posted no later than the Friday before and can be found under the Meetings page (to the left). Minutes for each Board meeting can be found under Meetings within a week after the Board meeting. Each year the Board creates a minimum of two committees, but usually four to five. It is in committees where most of the Board’s work is achieved. Board meetings are a window for the ISO Association to see Board decisions and deliberations which have been well prepared in committee. Each year the Board has a work plan and objectives. Committees have more detailed work plans based on the specific area it is to address. See the Committees page for more information.
Contacting the Board:
If you have ideas or suggestions that you would like to contribute, concerns you would like to share or questions you would like to raise with regard to any aspect of the Board’s work or that of its committees, please contact the Board at isoboard@iso.bf
Core Documents
Board Members
George Restom
Lebanon
George is a parent of 4 children in ISO -Joseph, Antoine, Rebecca and Ralph. He has lived in Burkina since 1989. He studied biology at the University of Beirut for a few years and is currently the Director of Marina Market and Honorary consul of Syria in Burkina Faso. His goal is to give his children the best options for life and education. As a member of the board, he will put all his expertise, relationships and knowledge into supporting the board for the best of our children and the school.”
Jeff Trudeau
USA
Mr. Jeff Trudeau has been a respected international educator for almost 30 years, all of which have been in an International School setting. As an administrator, he has been consistently recognized for his excellent leadership in and contributions to the field of international education. Mr. Trudeau has just successfully completed 8 years of service to the American International School of Monrovia. Prior, Mr. Trudeau served as the Superintendent of the four-campus New Sino Western Education Group in Qingdao, China. Other Director postings have included Colegio Interamericano in Guatemala, and his first Head of School position as Director of Escuela Las Morochas in Venezuela, from 2006 – 2010.
Mr. Trudeau currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Academy of International School Heads (AISH), which provides focused advocacy, support, and professional development to over 400 school leaders across the world.
Mr. Trudeau is here in Ouagadougou his wife Hassia — who will teach IB Biology to the ISO community — and his daughter Saleena, who will join the Pre Kinder 4 class. Mr. Trudeau and his family are both very pleased to join the positive and proactive community here at ISO!!
Dharmendra Pathak
India
Dharmendra is a parent of 2 children Paarth and Pritha attending ISO for the last 8 years, Graduated as an Engineer( in Electronics & Communication ) and PGDM in Marketing from Gujarat University- India, currently heading the export division as General Manager in supply chain in Burkina Faso,He has been in Burkina Faso since 2011. As a member of the board,will prioritize the needs and interest of the students in close relations with the school and the community objectives for the benefit of the students and the overall development of the school.
Dr. Rose Drabo
Burkina Faso
Dr. Rose is a Dental Surgeon, Specialist in Public Health at the Ministry of Health in Burkina Faso. The MALAM MAMAN-DRABO Family have one child attending Upper School.
Filippo Ghezzi
Filippo is Italian/French and Nigerien and has been living in the African continent for the past 10 years.
Filippo has been working in Youth, Agricultural and Economic development in various countries and now holds the position of DCOP for a Youth Development Program at Mercy Corps.
Filippo has 2 children at ISO at K1 and G5 and has been himself International American school student in Dominican Republic as he has been travelling since a young age in the African continent, in Latin America, in the Caribbeans and in Asia.
Happy to be part of the ISO board of trustees and looking forward to collaborating together!
best, Filippo
Estelle Tonde
Je m’appelle Tonde Estelle Je suis la Directrice Generale du Bâtisseurs Global vision et de BTC company depuis 6ans.
Je travaille dans le domaine de la construction de la rénovation de la vente de parcelle, la décoration , la Location de matériel de construction, Le transport, de vente de groupe Électrogène , de plaques solaire etc….
Je réside au Burkina Faso actuellement , j’ai eu la chance de connaître les USA ,La France , la Suisse et Monaco, et j’espère apporter au conseil d’administration mon expertise en matière de gestion immobilière et d’implémentation de plans de construction d’aménagements et de réaménagements
Lady Sylvie Hajjar
Hi everyone! My name is Hajjar Lady Sylvie, I’m Burkinabè and French and my husband is Lebanese. I was born in Burkina Faso and enjoy living in this beautiful country. I am a happy mother of 4 great children, 2 of them are going to university Jonathan and Stacey, and the 2 others are at ISO Lounya grade 10 and Dylan grade 4.
I am an entrepreneur, General Director of my own company for more than 12 years now.
I am also part of the Lion’s Club international association where I serve as a Zone President.
Today I am happy to join the Board and give a little of my time to ISO community for the wellbeing of our children.
María Vazquez Dodero
María Vázquez-Dodero, Master of Direction and Management of NGOs from ESADE Business School (Barcelona), is patron-founder and manager director in Burkina Faso, where she lives since 2011, of the Amigos the Rimkieta (FAR) foundation.