2021 Business Officer Institute: Faculty

Michael Bergin

Chief Financial and Operating Officer

Miss Porter's School
Farmington (Hartford), Connecticut

Bergin is the chief financial and operating officer at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. A recognized thought leader in independent school finance and operations, Bergin also serves as Grace Academy Hartford’s chair of the board and on The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) board of trustees. Prior to joining Miss Porter’s School, Bergin held senior leadership positions at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Georgetown University. He previously served as a trustee at La Salle University and on the Special Love, Inc. board of directors.

Debbie Lee-Rizzi

Chief Financial Officer

The Evergreen School
Shoreline (Greater Seattle), Washington

Lee-Rizzi is the current CFO of The Evergreen School, a PS-8 in Shoreline, WA, she oversees not only the Business Office but also Facilities and IT. Before coming to Evergreen she spent ten years managing the finances of independent schools in Hawaii and Virginia. In addition to her job as our Chief Financial Officer, Debbie loves being involved with schools in their daily activities, including working on sustainability efforts, wellness and helping in school-wide events wherever needed. When not working, she can be found traveling to fun places or camping all over the beautiful Pacific Northwest and California.

Phyllis Palmiero

CFO/COO

Collegiate School
Richmond, Virginia

Palmiero is the Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer at The Collegiate School, a JK-12 co-ed independent day school of more than 1,700 students in Richmond, Virginia. In this role, Ms. Palmiero is responsible for the school’s budget and financial management, investments, business services, facilities management, human resources, construction, campus safety & security, information technology, and the school’s auxiliary services. Prior to joining Collegiate in 2008, Ms. Palmiero spent three years as Director, Institute for Effective Governance in Washington, D.C. where she worked with college and university trustees on governance issues in higher education. Ms. Palmiero serves on the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) Financial Officers’ Group and Advocacy Committee and is a member of the National Business Officers Association (NBOA) where she served on their 2017 and 2019 Annual Meeting Program Advisory Committee (AMPAC).

Chad Stacy

Chief Financial Officer

The Dunn School
Los Olivos (Santa Barbara), California

Stacy has been the CFO at Dunn School since 2010.  Before that, he was the Director of Finance for Literacy Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania for eight years.  He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant (auditor) at Ernst & Young.  He has been a board chair, treasurer, trustee and vestry member for several non-profit churches, arts, and social services organizations. Stacy professional passions and expertise intersect around Independent School strategic planning/execution/accountability, board governance, institutional sustainability, and investment management.  He has been published and lectured on the topics of: Financial Sustainability, Entrepreneurship Education, and Executing and Measuring Strategic Progress.