PFAE Board of Directors

Chairman

Joe is a proud alum of the Grosse Pointe Public School System and currently resides in the City, with his wife and two children. While Joe has lived in other parts of the country, he chose to move back to Grosse Pointe to raise a family and further his legal career.

Professionally, Joe has practiced law for over 20 years. He currently owns his own firm specializing in business and healthcare law. Prior to that, Joe was General Counsel of Apex Health and Director of Litigation at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Joe has also been in private practice in New York City and with the Bodman firm in Detroit.

He is a long-time trustee of both The Detroit Bar Association and The City of Grosse Pointe Foundation. Joe has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the College of Charleston and a Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College of Law.

Joe is an avid reader, runner, and traveler. One of his greatest joys is watching his kids play travel soccer and other sports. Joe’s hope is that his children will attend South and have as positive of an experience there as he did. That is why he is dedicated to and passionate about supporting Grosse Pointe’s long and proud tradition of academic excellence.

Director

Jackie Golden is a graduate of Pierce Middle School, Grosse Pointe South High School and Michigan State University. She lives in Grosse Pointe Farms with her husband and two children. Her children both attended Kerby Elementary and currently attend Brownell Middle School and the Grosse Pointe Academy.

Jackie is the President & CEO of a Detroit based dental manufacturing, distribution and continuing education company. In her free time, Jackie enjoys spending time with her family and engaging in her children’s activities including competitive dance.

Director

Jackie Borawski is a 1996 graduate of the Grosse Pointe Public School system where she attended Richard, Brownell and South. With several generations rooting her family and three children in Grosse Pointe, she is focused on the keeping the tradition of academic excellence in our school system.

After graduating from South, she received a Bachelor's degree from Michigan State University. She is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for New Paradigm Promotional Marketing in Livonia, MI. She has three children in GPPSS who attend Richard and Brownell, and enjoys cooking, reading, running, and traveling with her young family.

Director

Thomas Rheaume serves as the co-chair of Bodman PLC’s Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group where he represents clients involved in complex commercial litigation matters.

Tom is a lifelong resident of Grosse Pointe and graduate of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. He is a graduate of Grosse Pointe North, Parcells, and Monteith. He currently resides in Grosse Pointe Farms with his wife and four kids. He currently has Tommy (2nd grade) and Jojo (kindergarten) enrolled in Kerby Elementary School and Henry, who is enrolled in preschool at the Barnes Early Childhood Center. In his free time, Tom serves on the Board of Directors of the Bulldogs Hockey Club where he also coaches hockey. He also volunteers his time to coach baseball in the Grosse Pointe Farms City Little League.

Director

Mike Vethacke has been a resident of Grosse Pointe Park for over 22 years. Both his children attended & graduated from Defer, Pierce, and Grosse Pointe South. Throughout their time in Grosse Pointe Public Schools, Mike was actively involved in Cub Scouts and PTO fundraising. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in engineering,

Mike spent several years in the automotive industry before obtaining an MBA from the University of Chicago. Since then he’s progressed through financial planning & analysis roles in the telecom & software industries, and currently works as a financial executive for a local marketing company.

Director

Kevin Nugent holds a B.A. in Education from Wayne State University, a M.A. in Teaching from Marygrove College and he graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 1990. He has been an educator for Eastpointe Community Schools in Special Education, Alternative Education, 8th Grade Academy, ALP Middle School Program and Eastpointe High School over a span of 21 years. For the past 4 years he has taught Practical Law, Spanish and World History in Lakeview Public Schools. In addition to his 25 years in education, he has served on the board of the Grosse Pointe Farms-City Little League, Team Michigan, Lakeside Youth Sports Foundation and the Grosse Pointe Gators.

Kevin is a local business owner of an indoor recreational facility, Lakeside Indoor and a local youth baseball and program, Lakeside Baseball. He graduated from Grosse Pointe South in 1990. He has coached Baseball (1999), Girls Golf (2020-21) and Volleyball (2001-2005, 2014-2018) for Grosse Pointe South High School. Kevin has 2 children who graduated from Grosse Pointe South and 1 graduating from University Liggett School. His wife of 25 years is an elementary school teacher in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools and serves on her school PTO and various other subcommittees vital to her building.

Director

Hans Stricker grew up in Grosse Pointe Public Schools attending Ferry for elementary and Parcells for middle school. He graduated from Grosse Pointe North in 1980. Hans attended medical school and completed his residency at the University of Michigan where he met his wife Lori, also an eastsider. They moved back to Grosse Pointe in 1999 to raise their five children in the Grosse Pointe Public School System. All five participated in extended day kindergarten, the magnet program, and graduated from Grosse Pointe South.

Dr. Stricker is currently a senior staff urologist with Henry Ford Health System and has been Chief of Surgery at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital since its inception in 2009. Hans was a 2012 recipient of the Grosse Pointe North Distinguished Alumni Award. His public-school interest is to provide an education system that helps all students develop their talents and passions including careers requiring future education, the trades, and jobs directly out of high school.

Director

Lindsay Curtis is a life long Grosse Pointer. She attended Richard, Brownell and is a graduated of Grosse Pointe South class of 1996. She graduated from the University of Dayton class of 2000 with a BA in Communications.

She worked in the advertising industry before deciding to become a full time Mom. She is married to her husband Joe. they have three daughters in the Grosse Pointe Public School System, two at South and one at Brownell

She is a board member Sigma Gamma Association & Garden Club of Michigan. Lindsay and her family have a long history in the community and school system as her Grandfather attended GP High School the first day it opened.

Director

Tom is a lifelong resident of Grosse Pointe, and a proud alumni of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. He attended Trombly, Pierce & G.P. South. Tom and his wife (also an alumni of GP Public Schools), reside in Grosse Pointe Park; and their three children all attend Grosse Pointe Public Schools.

Tom has a passion for community service and is a dedicated volunteer. He has served as a board member for various community groups – Grosse Pointe Gators Swim Club, and the Grosse Pointe Sail Club, just to name a few.  He founded “The Green Horn Kids” to promote and teach the sport of sailing to young people. He has served as a coach and appraiser for Destination Imagination – A STEAM based competition for kids, as well as a past scout leader, youth sailing coach, Little League Baseball and Softball Coach; set builder for school plays, even acted along with his daughter in the Grosse Pointe Theatre. Tom was elected in 2021 to City Council, and currently serves as Mayor Pro-Tem for the city of Grosse Pointe Park.

Most importantly, he believes our public school system is the bedrock of our community. By connecting and collaborating with the entire GPPSS district, he aims to strengthen its academic excellence.

Professionally, Tom is a VP with Lockton Companies, A privately held global risk management firm, providing clients insurance brokerage services, risk mitigation, and employee benefit options.

Director

Rob was born and raised in Grosse Pointe and is a graduate of Ferry, Parcells, and Grosse Pointe North. He currently lives in Grosse Pointe Woods with his wife, Tiffany, and daughter, Claire, and is excited to see Claire grow up in the Grosse Pointe Public Schools where she can explore the academic, art, and athletic opportunities the system offers.

Rob is a corporate attorney for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Michigan chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.

Rob enjoys spending time with his family and two huskies, playing basketball and softball, and rooting for Michigan and Detroit sports teams.

Director

A native Detroiter and educated in the Detroit Public School District, Councilwoman-elect Rev. Sierra Donaven has been a resident of the City of Grosse Pointe Farms since 2011. She states, “I hit the ground running renovating my house while learning about the community.” She received a Residential Beautification Award in 2015 and thus began her longstanding volunteerism in the Grosse Pointes, first serving as a member of the Beautification Advisory Commission. In 2018, she was appointed to the City Council, and then in 2021, she was elected. She is the Chairperson of the Beautification Advisory Commission and Department of Public Safety Commission.

In 2022, Councilwoman Donaven was featured as a Pointer of Interest, Grosse Pointe News. In 2019 and 2018, she received Resolutions from the City of Grosse Pointe Farms, the Wayne County Commission, District 1, and Native Detroiter Magazine for outstanding community and civic services and recognition as the 1st African American city council member for any of the Grosse Pointes.

Councilwoman Donaven is a member of the Board of Directors for The Family Center, Grosse Pointe Farms, and the National Coalition of Alcohol and Drug Dependency-Greater Detroit-Area; a member of the Healthy Coalition of Grosse Pointe-Harper Woods; the Grosse Pointe Public School System’s Branding Ad hoc Committee and the Community Engagement Ad hoc Committee, the ATF Retired Agents Association, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Charles H. Wright Museum, Grosse Pointe Historical Society, Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, and the DIA; former member of the Nonpartisan Women’s Advisory Commission, U.S. House of Representative Brenda Lawrence, MI-14th District; Coalition on Healthy Youth and Families for the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence-Greater Detroit Area; and chairperson, Legal Redress Committee, NAACP Grosse-Pointe Harper Woods Branch.

Councilwoman Donaven is a retired special agent-criminal investigator at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, U.S. Justice Department. Her career is distinguished by 19 awards and certificates for outstanding criminal investigation service, leadership, and community outreach.

Councilwoman Donaven is an ordained minister at the International Metaphysical Ministry pursuing a master’s degree in Metaphysics at the University of Sedona and the University of Metaphysics. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice (1983.) Councilwoman Donaven believes true prosperity is within one’s heart. Core to her principles is giving her time, talents, and financial resources to charitable causes to advance children's welfare and education and improve the community.

Councilwoman Donaven is single and lives alone with her Jack Russell Terriers, BG and Snoopy. She is an avid lifelong student of the Holy Bible and enjoys gardening, cooking, and volunteering. She has an open-door policy; all are welcome at her house and home.

Founder

Sean Cotton and his wife Nancy reside in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. He is a local restaurant owner, and the owner of the local paper, the Grosse Pointe News. Sean and his family originally lived in Grosse Pointe Park and he graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School, class of 1995. After high school he headed east and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University’s Stern School of Business, then a Juris Doctorate degree from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he met his wife Nancy. After law school, Sean practiced corporate law in Manhattan at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett.

Sean and his wife Nancy moved to Grosse Pointe Farms in 2008 and started their family; they have two sons, one attending South and one attending Brownell.

Academic Director

Glen Hipple has lived and worked in the Pointes for the past twenty-four years. He was a teacher in the Grosse Pointe Public School System from 2000-2021, serving as Chair of Elementary Music for over a decade. Most recently, he taught music, testing strategies, and middle school mathematics for National Heritage Academies until August 2023. Mr. Hipple worked in both the North and South ends of Grosse Pointe each year and consistently instructed and coached all grades K-12. He has served as both a teacher and community representative on Board of Education committees, co-authored back-to-back National Blue Ribbon Awards for Mason (2016) and Maire (2017) Elementary School, volunteered multiple years as a GPEA Building Representative and Negotiating Committee member, and was named a Distinguished Employee by the Board of Education in 2015 for his work with Full Circle Foundation.

Glen is a popular coach for all standardized tests, particularly the ACT and SAT. He holds degrees from Michigan State University (M.A., Curriculum and Leadership, Summa Cum Laude, 2007) and Albion College (B.A., History and Music Education, Summa Cum Laude, 1999) as well as membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Glen and his husband Michael live in Harper Woods with an amusing cat and two loving dogs.