Speaker Bios

Tom Eller is the Director of Finance at Wesleyan Christian Academy.  He is a 1977 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a B.S. in Business and a concentration in accounting.  He obtained his CPA certificate in 1979 and worked for six years in public accounting with Dixon Hughes Goodman.  He worked for 33 years as CFO of two community banks in High Point and retired from banking in 2016. 

Damian Kavanagh, Ed.S., CAE, serves as Executive Director of MISBO, the largest regional association serving independent school operations professionals. Prior to that, Damian spent eight years with SAIS where he oversaw the accreditation and membership programs of the association. Damian has presented and facilitated over 250 workshops to every level of independent school leadership in addition to universities and independent school associations. He has consulted for schools of every size, boarding and day schools, faith-based and secular, innovative and traditional. He has conducted research, published, and presented at numerous state, regional, national, and international independent school conferences on a wide variety of topics related to independent school organizational effectiveness and sustainability.

Prior to joining SAIS, Damian spent fifteen years as a teacher, coach, and administrator of auxiliary programs at The Westminster Schools of Atlanta, GA and Head of School of Cambridge Academy in Greenwood, SC. A near native of Charlottesville, VA, Damian earned both his BA and MA in Latin literature from the University of Georgia, a Specialist degree in Education (Educational Leadership for Learning) from Kennesaw State University, and the Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives. Damian is active in the sport of lacrosse and has been recognized as a coach of the year and an official of the year and has been inducted into the Georgia Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame.

Martin Kelly, MBA, CRM, joined ISM in 1996 as President of the company's insurance agency, (ISM Insurance Inc.) where he is responsible for overall management. The agency has seen significant growth since then, and now works with over 1,300 private-independent schools, insuring in excess of 30,000 staff and 200,000 students. Martin is also an ISM Director and a member of the ISM Leadership Team. His specialty is safety and risk assessment for schools.

Martin has presented Risk Assessment and Management training to numerous national, regional and state school associations over the past years and has conducted a number of onsite, school-specific assessments. He writes for Ideas & Perspectives, ISM's flagship advisory letter in his areas of expertise, and has had his articles published in external journals. Martin created and teaches ISM’s, “3600 Private Independent School Safety and Risk Management Initiative.” The process looks at all the “things” schools do, day in and day out, that can create risk or exposure to schools

Prior to joining ISM, Martin was President of a Third Party Administrator, working with over 1,000 physicians, including the College of American Pathologists, in the areas of employee benefits and medical malpractice.  Martin holds a MBA from Widener University (PA), a BS in economics from Villanova University (PA), and is a Certified Risk Manager (CRM).

Joshua Lassiter, MS, MBA, CPA is a Director at First Tryon Advisors, where he leads the firm’s operational consulting practice for higher education and nonprofit clients.  Joshua and his team assist client leadership teams in aggressively pursuing their most important strategic issues. Prior to joining First Tryon, Joshua served as the Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance at Elizabeth City State University.  In this role, Joshua was responsible for ensuring the sound fiscal and operational management of the university's monetary resources, coordinating and maintaining the university's budget, providing and enhancing quality services by all units, and implementing and maintaining adequate internal controls.  As the Vice Chancellor for the Division of Business & Finance, he provided leadership to following specific departments: Office of the Controller, the Budget & Financial Planning Department, Procurement & Materials Management, Auxiliary Services and Facilities & Planning. 

Joshua was a critical member of the executive leadership team that implemented a successful turnaround strategy for the university.  As he departed in 2019, ECSU had increased enrollment from 1,357 to 1,775---a 30% increase---in just 3 years.  Mr. Lassiter began working at ECSU in 2011 and became the Vice Chancellor in 2014.  Before being named as the Vice Chancellor, he served as both the Budget Director and the Assistant Controller at ECSU.  Prior to coming to ECSU, Mr. Lassiter held private sector positions in Raleigh, NC with Grant Thornton, LLP and RBC Bank.  Mr. Lassiter holds a bachelor's degree and master's degree in accounting and an MBA. He received each degree from North Carolina State University.  He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Jason Ramsden, MS, brings 29 years of experience to his role as Chief Information Officer for Ravenscroft School. For the last 23 years, Jason has dedicated his career to improving technology in independent schools both on the instructional, infrastructure, and informational levels.

A co-author of "Communicating and Connecting with Social Media" from Solution Tree, Mr. Ramsden is currently Board Chair of ATLIS (Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools). He has also been a member of NAIS' Innovation Task Force Advisory Council (2015-2017), a member of NAIS' 21st Century Curriculum/Technology Task Force (2009 - 2015), a SAIS/SACS Visiting Team Member (2020, 2019, 2016, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006), had founded NCAIS' Commission on Technology (2008), was a member of NCAIS' Technology Conference Planning Committee (2006 - 2011), and had founded the TAIS Technology Directors Association (2005).

Mr. Ramsden holds a Master of Science in Education, Administration and Supervision from Fordham University and a B.A. in Psychology from Loyola College in Maryland.

Karl Sherrill, MBA, CIC, CRM, is a Consultant who leads the Private Education and Protect My Tuition® programs with Marsh & McLennan Agency located in their High Point, NC office.  Karl has his Certified Insurance Counselor and Certified Risk Manager designations. His team partners with independent schools to develop risk management strategies addressing the wide range of unique risks educational institutions face. Karl draws on his years of direct experience with private education as a parent, school board member and chairperson, and adjunct university faculty member.

He is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a bachelors and masters degree in Textile Management. He also earned his MBA from Elon University, where he received the Richard H. Behrman Most Outstanding MBA Graduate award. Karl was also inducted into the International Business School Honor Society of Beta Gamma Sigma.  He served on the Elon Chandler Professional Sales Center Board of Advisors, was a founding member of Elon’s MBA Student-Alumni Board, and has served on Adjunct Faculty at High Point University and Guilford Technical Community College teaching courses in professional sales, sales management, business communication, and fundamentals of management.

Karl serves as a District Director on the Board of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) and is a past Chairperson for the NC Young Agents Committee of the IIANC.  In 2011, Karl was selected as the North Carolina Young Agent of the Year. He also serves on the Government Affairs Committee for the IIANC where he spends time in Washington, DC meeting with legislators discussing legislation that directly impacts clients.