The Net Assets Podcast from NBOA

Hosted by NBOA

Business Education

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May 2026

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About the show

The Net Assets podcast delves into the most pressing issues in independent school business and operations. Delivered by NBOA, the only national nonprofit membership association focused exclusively on fostering financial and operational excellence among independent PK-12 schools, each episode is based on a popular article in NBOA’s Net Assets magazine. Chief financial and operational officers alongside other leaders of school business share what inspires and challenges them as well as their approaches to problem solving and innovation. In each lively exchange, host Jeff Shields, NBOA president and CEO, teases out the human stories behind the printed story.

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23 recent

May 19, 2026Episode 2222 min

The Best Way To Merge? Rip the Band-Aid Off, with CFO Frank Aloise

In this episode, Frank Aloise, chief financial officer at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, joins NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields to discuss leadership in independent schools, particularly during a merger. Recorded in-person at the 2026 NBOA Annual Meeting, Aloise reflects on the time and energy required to complete the merger itself, on both the business and cultural sides, as well as the remarkable outcomes of the merged school 15 years later. He also reflects on the importance of taking care of his health in this demanding but rewarding profession, the value of professional connections to advancing his school and career, and the process of modernizing an independent school business office.

April 21, 2026Episode 2121 min

AI Strategy for Business Operations, with CFO Nancy Greene

Nancy Greene, CFO and vice president for finance and operations at Pine Crest School in Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has received just about every major NBOA honor, thanks to her dedication to the schools she's served and forward thinking in the business office. It's no surprise she's at the forefront of strategic AI adoption, for which Pine Crest received the 2026 Jeffrey Shields Innovation in Independent School Business Operations award. In this episode with host NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, Greene explains how a school of any size can get started with thoughtful AI deployments in their business office, and how Pine Crest is hiring differently now with strategic AI in place. Greene also discusses how she has stayed ahead of the curve in many areas, including ERM and executive compensation.

March 24, 2026Episode 2021 min

Building Leadership and Belonging in Independent School Business, with CFO Dallas Joseph

In this episode, recorded live at the 2026 NBOA Annual Meeting in Orlando, host and NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields sits down with Dallas Joseph, chief financial and operating officer at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Joseph reflects on the centrality of personal connections, generosity and inclusivity to the profession and the association since its earliest days, as well as the business officer's shifting role from tactical business management to strategic financial leadership. The conversation also explores the unique mission-driven nature of independent schools, particularly the CFO’s role in advancing access through financial aid, as well as the importance of building strong teams to sustain long-term success. Joseph, NBOA’s first Board Chair of color and first Ken White Distinguished Business Officer Award recipient of color, to name a couple of the many firsts in his career, discusses his trailblazing legacy within the profession with clarity and candor.

February 24, 2026Episode 1930 min

Building a Stronger Academic-Business Office Bridge, with Leadership Expert Patrick Scheuermann

In this episode, host and NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields speaks with Patrick Schuermann, Ed.D., recipient of the 2026 Sarah Daignault Outstanding Support of Independent Schools Award. Schuermann reflects on his work helping independent schools align academic and business leadership, from his days launching Vanderbilt’s independent school leadership master’s program to his current work advising schools on compensation strategy today. He explains how he believes leadership may be getting simpler, and how the NBOA Leadership Academy, which he co-directs, explores essential leadership qualities such as presence, humility and curiosity. Schuermann also discusses how compensation strategy and affordability challenges are shaping school strategy, and, as a bonus, the practical implementation of virtual reality in independent school classrooms.

January 22, 2026Episode 1824 min

Unlearning in the Business Office, with Futurist Heather McGowan

Heather McGowan is an award-winning industrial designer, futurist and author. She will keynote the final day of the 2026 NBOA Annual Meeting, which also features a morning of AI focused sessions. In conversation with NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, McGowan shares how today's independent school business leaders can embrace continuous learning — and unlearning — to keep their practices up to speed. Together they explore effective uses of AI in the workplace, which enhance rather than replace the human workforce, as well as broader adaptation practices that leaders honed during the pandemic and can be tapped again today.

December 16, 2025Episode 1722 min

What It Takes To Make It In a Competitive Market, with CEO Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan, CEO of the newly formed E3n, a merger of EMA and ERB, worked in ed tech, led the SSS financial aid product and then the Mastery Transcript Consortium before taking the helm of the new association focused on enrollment and assessment. With host and NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, Flanagan talks about how his background in product management as well as deep experience in educational operations has informed his view of the current independent school market and what school leaders need to help their schools succeed as markets of eligible families shrink. Flanagan also looks ahead to the transformative role of human-centered AI and actionable data in shaping the future of independent schools.

November 18, 2025Episode 1625 min

Investing During a Polycrisis with Executive Director George Suttles

Commonfund Institute Executive Director George Suttles shares with NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields why he's taking on an Ed.D. in education and innovation on top of leadership and board service roles. Diving into trends in independent school investment strategies, they look back at NBOA's 20-year partnership with Commonfund Institute to study independent school endowments and key takeaways from a report analyzing investment practices over that time. Suttles also delves into the "polycrisis" of the current moment and explores why investing with multiple scenarios in mind pays dividends.

October 21, 2025Episode 1521 min

Leading the Charge To Provide One-to-One Service, with CEO James Palmieri

NBOA Advisory Services was launched to meet a need that independent school leaders had voiced for years — a need for school-specific business operations consulting, be it a business office assessment, CFO placement or long-range financial planning. President and CEO of NBOA Advisory Services, James Palmieri, Ed.D., CAE, shares his leadership journey, which includes many roles that hadn't previously existed — from leading strategic initiatives within an established school, to launching a new independent school, to leading this new venture. With NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, Palmieri reflects on the path that led to this moment and the vision behind creating a service dedicated to helping independent schools strengthen their business operations, as well as early lessons from the first engagements.

September 23, 2025Episode 1424 min

From Crisis Management to Embedded Leadership, with Distinguished Business Officer Sandi Pierce

The 2025 recipient of the Ken White Distinguished Business Officer Award, Sandi Pierce, shares how her role at Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, California, has shifted from chief business officer to assistant head of school, full stop. In her more than 30 years at Cate, Pierce has handled the full range of operations responsibilities, from response to severe wildfires and other natural disasters, "other duties" as an advisor and dorm parent. Building direct connections with students has critically informed her leadership in school business and operations.

August 19, 2025Episode 1322 min

Keys to an Effective Enrollment-Business Office Partnership, with Assistant Head for Enrollment Kathy Gonzalez

Assistant Head for Enrollment Kathy Gonzalez leads a team of 12 admissions professionals at Hawken School, which has five campuses around Cleveland, Ohio. But she hasn't always worked in such an expansive program. Gonzalez started out in development at her alma mater, where she built the program from the ground up; moved into teaching and then into enrollment. In previous roles in the Pacific Northwest and now in the Midwest, she has convened enrollment professionals across the independent school community. With NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields, Gonzalez shares how she strengthens her relationship with the business office, her involvement with equity and inclusion in the community, and her leadership of the robust enrollment team at Hawken.