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Board Members

Back Row: Idara Uko, Jacob Stith, Lenny Ulloa Silva, Nimi Ocholi, Saurabh Bokil Front Row: Katie Borg, Melanie Persellin, Durowaa Agyeman-Mensah, Emily Uhl, Holly Fischer

Melanie Persellin 

Board Chair and Parent
mpersellin@davincicharterschool.org
Term expires: February 2023

Ms. Persellin has served on the Board since December of 2015, and was elected as Board Secretary on February 22, 2016.  Ms. Persellin is currently employed as a partner at the law firm of Jensen, Sondrall, Persellin and Woods, P.A., in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.  Ms. Persellin received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, and a JD from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago.  Ms. Persellin has two children who currently attend the Charter School.

Lenny Ulloa Silva

Secretary and Teacher
lulloasilva@davincicharterschool.org
Term expires:  February 2024

Profe Lenny has served on the Board since May of 2019. Profe Lenny graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, in 2016 with a degree in Spanish and Secondary Education. He is from Valparaíso, Chile, where he completed most of his high school. Then he went to United World College of the Adriatic, an IB school, in Duino, Italy for 2 years before he moved to the United States in 2012. He student taught at the United World College USA in Montezuma, New Mexico and Willow Creek Middle School in Rochester, Minnesota. For the past two summers he has been at Concordia Language Villages working as a counselor and as a credit teacher. He loves tea and in his free time he likes to cook and hike. He taught at school in Forest Lake and now he is really excited to start another adventure at DaVinci Academy.

Idara Uko

Parent
iuko@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires: February 2024

Idara Uko has served on the board since February 2020 and serves on the finance committee and the school development committee. Idara is an Engineering Director at Medtronic Plc where he works with high performing teams to deliver therapies and solutions that improve the lives of patients around the world. Idara previously served on the board of AXIS Medical Center, a non-profit clinic in Minneapolis providing primary care to underserved populations in Minneapolis. Idara obtained his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Management (B.Eng & Mgt) from McMaster University, Canada, a Masters in Applied Science (MASc) in Electrical Engineering from University of Toronto, Canada, and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Minnesota -Carlson School of Management. Idara is married with three children ages 10, 7, and 4, with two kids attending DaVinci Academy.  Idara enjoys playing soccer, listening to podcasts, reading and has recently picked up hiking.

Katherine Borg

Teacher
kborg@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires: February 2024

Katharine Borg is a Kindergarten teacher at DaVinci Academy. She attended Northwestern College of St. Paul and graduated in 2009 with an AA/Bible degree.  Katharine then transferred to Bemidji State University online education program where she obtained her B.S in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Middle School Social Studies in 2012.

DaVinci Academy is a school that has a great community of support.  Katharine loves that she can collaborate with teachers within her team about student’s academics.  She appreciates the support and resources given to her to differentiate and meet her students at their levels and needs.

Jacob Stith

Parent
jstith@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires: February 2025

Jacob was voted into the parent position on the DaVinci Academy Board of Directors in February 2022. He graduated from Anoka Technical College with and Associates degree in Architectural Technologies. He is currently employed by Virginia Tile Company as a Territory Sales manager calling on commercial contractors, architects, designers, and national accounts in the states of Minnesota, North Dakota & South Dakota. Jacob currently has two children attending DaVinci Academy with a third starting kindergarten the summer of 2022. He is extremely excited to give back to the school community as a board member.

Jacob loves having the opportunity to give back to the school that has given his children and family as much as it has.

Emily Uhl

Parent
euhl@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires: February 2023

Emily Uhl has served on the board during the 2021-2022 term and was recently reappointed in May of 2022 to serve the remaining parent term, seat F. Emily is excited to be given the opportunity to continue to serve the school community as a board member.

Emily Uhl is a litigation attorney for The Cincinnati Insurance Company and has practiced law for over 13 years.  Emily received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Buena Vista University, double majoring in Finance & Banking & Economics. She obtained her JD from the Creighton University School of Law in Omaha, Nebraska.  Emily is married with 2 elementary age children that attend DaVinci Academy of Arts and Science.

Durowaa Agyeman-Mensah

Community Member
dagyeman-mensah@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires: February 2025

Durowaa has served on the Board since September 2022. She is a proud graduate of DaVinci’s class of 2014 and credits her education at DaVinci for shaping her into a life-long learner. Durowaa received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Grinnell College, double majoring in French and Gender, Women’s, Sexuality Studies. She was awarded the Grinnell President’s Medal upon graduation. She is currently the Office Manager & Special Projects Lead at Richie James Transport, Inc. and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant at various K-12 schools across the state.

In her spare time, Durowaa loves to play piano, write blog posts, and walk her toothless Pomeranian named Millie. She is eager to be a part of the DaVinci community again.

Saurabh Bokil

Community Member
sbokil@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires:

Saurabh Bokil has served on the board since January 2023. Saurabh holds an MBA Degree from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune. Saurabh works at Cummins Inc as a Program Manager where he works on launching new products. Before joining Cummins, Saurabh worked inature Fishing where he was the Global Sourcing Manager for Apparel and Sunglasses. Saurabh is married and has a 5 5-year-oldoy. Outside work, Saurabh enjoys running, traveling a,nd trying out new cuisines. Saurabh has completed a few half marathons and a full marathon and is training for an Olympic distance triathlon this year.

Nimi Ocholi

At-Large Member, Parent
oocholi@davincicharterschool.org
Term Expires: June 2025

Nimi Ocholi is a Senior Director for Product Security & Technical Fellow at Medtronic with over 16 years in the Medical Device Industry. He previously supported the CRM and Neuromodulation businesses in managing ongoing challenges related to Product Security of Medical Products. Currently, he is responsible for driving pre-market excellence and overseeing enterprise strategy, roadmaps & initiatives. He is actively involved in several industry forums including the Health Sector Co-ordinating Council (HSCC) – Joint Cybersecurity Working Group and is a member of the AAMI cybersecurity working group. Nimi grew up and benefited from a strong education in Adesoye College Offa, Nigeria and Dulwich College, London, UK. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and cybersecurity training from the SANS Institute. He currently lives in Blaine, is married with 2 kids – one of them attending DaVinci Academy. Nimi loves to travel & loves to play sports especially soccer and basketball.

Contact the Board of Directors

Board Committees

Chair: Idara Uko
Vice Chair(s): Emily Uhl

Manages the finances of DaVinci Academy with the highest integrity and ensures professional accounting practices are followed.

Meeting Schedule: The Finance Committee meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 12:30PM.

Agenda:

Meeting Minutes:

Chair: Lenny Ulloa Silva
Vice Chair:

Reviews and recommends appropriate and supportable compensation and bonus programs for teachers and staff that are in DaVinci Academy’s best interests and aligned with its business mission and strategy to reward and retain quality employees.

Meeting Schedule: The HR/Compensation Committee meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 3:15PM.

Agenda:

Meeting Minutes:

Chair: Julie Kresh
Vice Chair: Emily Uhl

Documents and tracks current policies and practices, reviews and recommends changes to existing policies and practices, and drafts and recommends new policies and practices, as needed.

Meeting Schedule: The Policy Committee meets on the second Friday of the month at 1:00PM.

Agenda:

Meeting Minutes:

Chair: Dan Rhinhart

Vice Chair: Jacob Stith

The School Development Committee is a team of individuals committed to spearheading the schools’ fundraising efforts. The committee develops short and long-term strategic development plans which are focused on student and school success, and which align with the school’s strategic and financial plans. 

The team develops DaVinci’s “case for giving” and works together to ensure the proper management of donors and prospects.

Meeting Schedule: The School Development Committee will meet the second Wednesday of the month at 3:30PM.

Agenda

Meeting Minutes:

Communication Committee
Facilitates quality communications within DaVinci Academy and from the school to stakeholders and the general public.

Facilities Committee
Chair:
Vice Chair: Andy Wallschlaeger
Reviews, prioritizes, and recommends budgetary and other actions to the administration and the DaVinci Academy School Board in order to maintain and enhance the school’s buildings and grounds. This includes, but is not limited to, the recommendation of additions and upgrades to facilities, development of budgets necessary for short- and long-term facility maintenance, and review and selection of facility maintenance-related bids and contracts, and prioritization and recommendation of large equipment purchases.
This is an Ad-Hoc group committee specifically working on the school expansion. They are not currently seeking additional members.

High School Ad Hoc
Chair: Holly Fischer
Takes a leading role in assisting the administration and the DaVinci Academy School Board in developing a plan to expand the school to include grades nine through twelve. This will initially include assistance in hiring a high school coordinator to oversee the project and in creating a vision for the future high school program.
This committee was disbanded when it completed its task.

School Director Search Committee
Chair: Doug Hiatt
Coordinates all activities associated with identifying, interviewing and recruiting potential candidates to fill the school’s open School Director position.
This committee was disbanded when it completed its task.

Technology Committee
Chair: Mike Hebert

Curriculum/Technology Committee
Chair: Michelle Ingram