Board of Trustees

Claire Fiser most recently worked for 8 years as a consultant for Community Wealth Partners, a Washington, D.C., based consulting firm that supports nonprofits and philanthropic foundations around the country. Claire's consulting work consisted primarily of program management focused on leadership development and racial equity, strategic planning, and growth strategies. Prior to working as a consultant, Claire worked for the Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation and several nonprofit arts organizations. Claire also led The Anthony School's Board of Trustees in the strategic planning process in 2018. Claire has an MBA and an MA in Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University and a BA in French from Davidson College. Claire is married to Wesley, an Anthony graduate, and they have a daughter at Anthony. Since the addition of a son in September 2019, Claire is volunteering her time to serve on The Anthony School Board and to support other local nonprofits. 

Ben Beaumont is senior director of policy and public affairs at the University of Arkansas System, where he assists the university president and the UA Board of Trustees with internal and external policy research and development, strategic communications and government relations. He previously served as director of communications for the UA System and the Clinton School of Public Service and managed public relations at the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. He earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a master’s in higher education leadership and policy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ben and his wife, Claire, have three children currently attending Anthony.

Michael Nauman is a 25 year resident of Little Rock.  Currently he serves as the President and CEO of Brady Corporation (BRC, NYSE)  He holds a B.S. degree in Management specializing in Accounting from Case Western Reserve University and is a CPA and CGMA.  He has a passion for technology, learning and the community with 4 US patents and having served on the Board of the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority  and the Museum of Discovery for two terms each.  He is currently also serving on the boards of the AR Stem Coalition and The Boy Scouts of America, Quapaw Area Council.  Both of his children graduated from The Anthony School.

Jenny Holt Teeter, JD, is a Director and Shareholder with Gill Ragon Owen, P.A. Jenny received her undergraduate degree from Hendrix College where she graduated cum laude, with Distinction and received her Juris Doctorate from University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.  Her law practice focuses on matters involving general employment law, regulatory compliance and general corporate and nonprofit law. Jenny enjoys working with nonprofit and educational organizations in her free time. She serves as Immediate Past Chair of the UAMS College of Health Professions Advisory Board and enjoys volunteering with the EAST Initiative. She is mother to Charlotte and Owen (both students at The Anthony School). Jenny and her husband, Jeremy, live in Little Rock – minutes from The Anthony School! 

Simon Bagnall is a Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking group at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock. Simon joined Stephens in 2007 after emigrating to the US from the UK.  Prior to joining Stephens he worked in corporate finance, strategic consulting and as an attorney in London, England on a wide range of corporate transactions including IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity.  He received his law degree from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a Master's degree in international business law from King’s College London, England.  Simon and his wife Amy, a partner at the law firm Kutak Rock in Little Rock, have three sons all of whom are students at The Anthony School.

Trav Baxter grew up in Little Rock and attended The Anthony School. After graduating from The Anthony School, he went to Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock and The University of the South – Sewanee. Thereafter, he earned his J.D. from the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville, School of Law, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida – Gainesville. 

Trav is a partner at the Mitchell Williams Law Firm in Little Rock, where he provides counsel to individuals and business entities in the areas of estate planning, tax advice, administration of trusts and estates, formation and operation of business entities and succession planning. He is a fellow in The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© in trusts and estates and Chambers USA in corporate/commercial tax in Arkansas. 

In addition to serving on the Board at The Anthony School, Trav currently serves on the Board of Directors for Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the Arkansas State Police Foundation. Trav and his wife, Savanna, have two children, Scarlett and Graham, currently attending The Anthony School.

Brooke Ivy Bridges is the Affiliate Resource Development Director for Arkansas Imagination Library, a statewide partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. She is also a grants consultant with Terrapin Consulting. Previously, Brooke has worked in institutional advancement and development at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Museum of Discovery, and Camp Aldersgate. A Little Rock native, Brooke received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Hendrix College. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Brooke is a Rotarian and a Past President of the Rotary Club of West Little Rock. She and her husband, Kyle, have one daughter who attends The Anthony School.

Lesley Don Cole, CPA is the Chief Financial Officer for Methodist Family Health, Inc., an Arkansas based adolescent and youth behavioral health provider. Don has almost forty years in public accounting experience at international, regional and local accounting firms. Originally from Alma, Arkansas, Don earned his Bachelor’s in Business Administration Degree from the University of Central Arkansas and is a licensed certified public accountant. Don and his wife Nancy have been residents of Central Arkansas since 1989 and have been actively involved in not-for-profit and community organization over the years. They are members of St. James United Methodist Church and Don serves on the Board of Central Arkansas Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They have three children, all of which are alumni of the Anthony School as well as Little Rock Central High School. Their daughter Christina, who graduated from Hendrix College and the University of Arkansas School of Law, is an attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas in Northwest Arkansas. Their twin sons, Joshua and Matthew recently completed their undergraduate degrees at Hendrix College and the University of Arkansas, respectively. Joshua is entering his master’s year at Hendrix College pursuing an accounting degree and Matthew is entering his first year of law school at Washington University in St. Louis

Scott Darnell, M.D. is a board-certified emergency medicine physician who works at several hospitals in Central Arkansas. After graduating from UAMS in 2007 and completing his residency in 2010, he has worked full-time at White County Medical Center, Saline Memorial Hospital, and the Arkansas Heart Hospital, where he is currently the director of the emergency department. Recently, Scott and sever of his emergency medicine colleagues opened Cabot Emergency Hospital. Scott grew up in Little Rock and attended The Anthony School. He is married to Natalie and they have three sons, Owen, Henry, and Benjamin, who all attend TAS. Natalie has taken an active role in ParentCrew, including serving as past president. Scott has coached Owen’s TAS basketball team for the last few years and has been a yearly volunteer with STEAMapalooza. He looks forward to continuing to serve TAS as a member of the Board.

Becky Latch, M.D. is a native Arkansan and the daughter of two teachers. She is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and practices as a pediatric hospitalist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Becky received her undergraduate training from Hendrix College and her medical doctorate from UAMS. She completed her residency training at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 2003 and stayed on as a faculty pediatrician at UAMS/ACH. The academic focus of Becky’s career has always been on medical education, both undergraduate (medical school and medical students) and graduate (residents and fellows). She served as the Pediatric clerkship director for over 10 years and ultimately left that role to become the Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Pediatrics at UAMS/ACH. Becky is married to Jay Hudkins and they have two sons, Jackson and Jonas. Jackson recently graduated from the US Air Force Academy and is stationed in London and Jonas is a student at TAS. The Latch/Hudkins also enjoy hosting exchange students and will have a student from Brazil living with them and attending Central High School in 2022-2023.
 

Jeff McNeil grew up in Little Rock while attending school at Jefferson Elementary, Grover Washington Elementary, Pulaski Heights Middle School, Booker T. Washington Junior High, and Hall High Senior High graduating in the high school class of 1982. Fayetteville was the natural next step for extending high school while unknowingly choosing a difficult college route of engineering. Struggling at times but persevering through the often-irksome countless hours of math, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering was achieved in the summer of 1986.  

A career in commercial construction was immediately launched so to put the tedious work of consulting engineering out of question. Starting at Pickens-Bond Kelly-Neslon, then moving to Vratsinas Construction Company and finally settling down at Dave Grundfest Company (DGC), a 34-year career of bending nails has proved satisfying. Jeff has worked on construction projects in 18 different states throughout the US from New York to Florida and west as far as Colorado and Oregon. As a partner with DGC, Jeff’s current focus is developing their satellite office in Bentonville.  An Arkansas Professional Engineer (PE) certificate was obtained in 1995. Professional associations include membership to American Society of Civil Engineers and American Institute of Concrete.

Personally, and most importantly, a family career was started in 2004 marrying Sheila C. Barnard. Sheila and Jeff are the proud parents of two sons, Joshua and Ian McNeil. Joshua graduated from the 8th grade after attending TAS for nine years and Ian is in his eighth year at TAS. The McNeil family attends Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock.

Nick McNeill grew up in North Little Rock. He graduated from Catholic High School for Boys and earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He has been co-owner of Brown Engineers, a Little Rock engineering consulting firm for 15 years. Nick is a licensed Professional Engineer in 11 states and has designed large power systems across the US. He and his wife, Rebecca, have three daughters: Clara and Greta, both at The Anthony School, and Madeline, who graduated in 2020 after 9 years at The Anthony School.

Song Ounpraseuth, PhD, is a Professor of Biostatistics at UAMS College of Public Health. He received a Master in Statistics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and PhD in Statistics from Baylor University. His research areas include design and analysis of pediatric clinical trials, health disparities, tele-health, and high-risk pregnancies. He also has an appointment at the VA researching in the areas of substance abuse among veterans and methods for improving advance care directives. He is married to Alouna and they have two sons, Ethan and Asher, who both attend The Anthony School. When he is not teaching or doing research, he’s busy following the boys around the soccer field since both play competitive soccer at the Little Rock Rangers Soccer Club. 
 
Hayden Wilbourn Shurgar is a native of Little Rock. She attended high school at Mount St. Mary Academy, received her undergraduate degree at Southern Methodist University, and received a juris doctorate from the William H. Bowen School of Law. Hayden started her legal career as a deputy prosecuting attorney at the Pulaski County Prosecutor’s Office where she served for six years. She is now a partner at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP. Hayden is married to Thomas Shurgar, and they have three children—Will, Gibb, and Amelia—who all attend The Anthony School.

Ashley Beazley is the Business Analyst Team Lead at PerfectVision in Little Rock. Previously, she has worked in business analyst roles at PeopleWorks, Stephens Inc., and Staffmark. Her professional focus has been on implementing forward-thinking solutions, improved efficiencies, and system improvements. Ashley enjoys working with technology, which helped her lead the implementation of a laptop program at a local school. 

A Little Rock native, Ashley attended The Anthony School. She earned her B.S.B.A. in Management, with a concentration in Human Resource Management, from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She and her husband, Brent, have a daughter who attends The Anthony School. Ashley has taken an active role in the TAS ParentCrew, currently serving as President.