MDP Leadership
Debra Hershey Guren, President and Treasurer
As an avid supporter of Montessori, Debbie Guren has served as board president for Montessori Development Partnerships since its founding in 1990. Concurrently, as the President and CEO of The Hershey Foundation, Debbie has made nearly 1000 grants to 220 organizations to fulfill the mission of The Hershey Foundation to benefit children in NE Ohio. She has provided leadership and guidance to the growth and development of Hershey Montessori School since 1984, serving as board president for 25 years and now as board emeritus. Debbie currently serves on the board of directors for the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. She served on the boards of Hawken School for 13 years and Holden Forests and Gardens for 28 years. Debbie is the visionary behind Stonebrook Montessori, opened in 2015 as the first Montessori charter school in the state of Ohio and modeled after Marotta Montessori Schools of the 1980’s and 90’s. Upon merging with the neighboring Cleveland school, the Stonebrook-White Montessori School will develop over time with the guidance of the Campus Montessori Advisory Board where Debbie serves as a member. Debbie’s 6 grandchildren are enrolled in Montessori schools in Ohio and NYC.
"More Montessori for More Children" ~ Debra Hershey Guren Shares Her Story
Click here to see the interview.
Cheryl Noviski, Vice President
Cheryl brings more than 40 years of CPA experience, primarily in schools, colleges, and nonprofit organizations. Her work has long been rooted in service to educational communities and mission-driven organizations.
Cheryl’s search for an engaging educational environment for her oldest son in 1994 led her to Hershey Montessori School, where ultimately all four of her children became students. As a parent at the school for 19 years, Cheryl served on the Board for seven years, including six as Treasurer, and later joined the school’s administration, supporting its financial and operational needs for nine years. She also provided CPA services to Montessori Development Partnerships, North America Montessori Teachers’ Association and Montessori Teachers Education Collaborative for four years, contributing to the broader Montessori community. She has remained connected to Hershey in meaningful ways since her youngest child graduated in 2012.
Following many years of shared leadership, Debbie invited Cheryl to serve as the founding Treasurer of the Board of Stonebrook Montessori at its inception in 2015. Today, through Noviski Consulting LLC, Cheryl provides advisory services to higher education institutions, schools, and nonprofits. She remains deeply committed to Montessori education and its lasting impact on the children and families served.
Jacquie Maughan, Secretary
Jacquie received her AMI primary diploma in Palo Alto, California. She has taught at the primary and adolescent levels, and has founded two schools, Woodland Montessori School in Spokane, and Pacific Crest in Seattle, Washington. Currently, she is director of Access Montessori, an organization whose mission is to partner with and support the implementation of birth-to-six programs in communities who have lacked access to Montessori programs because of geographic, socio-economic or other conditions. Jacquie has served on the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association (NAMTA) Board and has been President since 2000. Jacquie has recently moved to Helena, MT and is working to build a regional network to carry out the mission of Access Montessori.
Lynne Breitenstein-Aliberti
Lynne Breitenstein-Aliberti currently serves as the AMI/USA Director of School and Member Operations. In this role, Lynne works with parents, administrators, teachers, trainers, trainees, and consultants, in addition to the wider educational community. With almost 30 years of experience within the Montessori community, she has personally experienced the power that Montessori education has to create a more peaceful world.
Lynne achieved the AMI Primary Diploma from Ohio Montessori Training Institute and a Master of Education degree from Loyola College of Baltimore. Previous roles were with North American Montessori Teachers Association, Ohio Montessori Alliance, and Ruffing Montessori. Lynne is committed to educational and outreach activities for advancing equity and access, and to collaboration, personal growth, and positive thinking.
David Kahn, Executive Director Emeritus
Retired
David Kahn had been Executive Director of the North American Montessori Teachers’ Association for more than forty years. He has seventeen years of Montessori teaching experience, twelve of them as teaching principal at Ruffing Montessori School (Cleveland Heights, OH). David was co-founding director of the Hershey Montessori School adolescent program on the farm in Huntsburg, Ohio, an internationally acclaimed Montessori model for adolescent education. He served as the founding director of Montessori High School at University Circle in Cleveland and consulted with schools with adolescent programs throughout North America. David developed the summer institute, A Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies, to help teachers specializing in the work with students ages 12-18. David stepped down as Executive Director for Montessori Development Partnerships in 2017.