Ken White Distinguished Business Officer Award

Given to exceptionally active and inspiring chief business officers who have dedicated their careers to support others in the field beyond their own school campus.

Criteria

Nominees may include chief business officers who have made outstanding contributions over several years to the broader field of independent school business operations and have served as a leader and role model throughout the national independent school business officer community. Nominees for this award, the association's highest honor, must be affiliated with an NBOA member school.

Nomination Questions:

• Is the nominee retiring during this current school year?
• Has the nominee's head of school been notified?
• Number of years in current position?
• Total number of years of independent school business office/operations experience?
• How has the nominee demonstrated leadership within the profession on the state, regional, or national level? Please give specific examples.
• Describe how the nominee has provided service to other schools, business officers, and groups. Please give specific examples.
• Share in your own words why your nominee is deserving of NBOA's Distinguished Business Officer Award, the highest honor given by the association for professional achievement.
• What is your relationship to the nominee and how long have you worked with or known them?

Recipients

The recipient is announced in January, and the award is presented at NBOA's Annual Meeting.

2025 Recipient

Sandi Pierce 

Assistant Head of School for Finance and Operations
Cate School
Carpinteria, CA

Since 1991, Pierce has served as the chief business officer at Cate Cate School, a boarding and day school for 310 students in grades 9-12 in Carpinteria, California. Pierce served on the NBOA Board of Directors from 2012-2018 and chaired the finance and audit committee 2016-2018. A colleague valued by other business officers nationwide, she served on NBOA’s Business Officer Institute faculty three times and authored the chapter on budgeting and financial reporting in NBOA’s book on business office essentials, “The Business of Independent Schools: A Leader’s Guide.”  Most recently she served on NBOA’s Boarding School Working Group to help NBOA provide optimal support to business leaders at schools with a boarding component. She has also contributed to Net Assets articles and presented at the NBOA NBOA Annual Meeting Meeting and for other independent school organizations.

Pierce is currently board chair of the insurance captive for The Association of Boarding Schools, serves on the board of the California Independent School Business Officers Association and serves on accreditation teams for the California Association of Independent Schools.

Past Recipients

Every year since 1999, NBOA has honored an extraordinary professional with the Distinguished Business Officer Award. View the award's past recipients.

About Ken White

The Distinguished Business Officer Award honors the legacy of Kenneth A. White, Jr., who had a passion for this field and an incurable desire to help others. He could discuss business matters anywhere, and always had extra time for problems and questions. Ken pushed himself to find ways to do things better. He was a visionary, not just for his school, but for all schools. Upon his death in 1996, speakers at his memorial services recognized him as "a man of deep faith," a "mentor," and an "inspiration," as well as a valued colleague, neighbor, and friend.

Ken held a top financial position at Davison-Elkin College, and then served for 21 years at Westminster School in Atlanta. He was a founding member of MISBO (Mid-South Independent School Business Officers), and was active in many other organizations, especially ABOIS (Association of Business Officers of Independent Schools), and also served a term on the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Business Service Committee.