Democratic Candidates for Lower Merion School Board

Diane DiBonaventuro has served as a School Director in Lower Merion since December 1999.  For the last several years she has been the chair of the Facilities Committee and an active participant in the planning and implementation of the Capital Program.  She helped shepherd through the planning, bidding and construction of Penn Valley, Gladwyne and Merion Elementary schools, all of which have been completed on time and on budget.  She previously chaired the Finance and Policy Committees.  In addition to her extensive volunteer work with the schools, Diane is the executive director of the Main Line Girls Basketball Association.  The MLGBA is a community sports league for girls in grades 2 through 12.  Diane received her B.A. and teaching certificate from the University of Pennsylvania.  She taught middle school in North Philadelphia, lower school at Friends Central and then moved on to the college level where she was a coach, instructor and eventually a Director of Athletics.  She has worked at Bryn Mawr College and Immaculata College.  Diane lives in Rosemont with her husband of 20 years, Warren Higgins, their two children, both products of Lower Merion schools, and their two dogs. She attended Lower Merion schools until her family moved in 1972.  After graduating from college in 1982 she returned to Lower Merion and has lived in the district for over 30 years.  (Click here for Diane DiBonaventuro's "issue statement".)

Linda Doucette-Ashman is an environmental attorney who worked in the corporate legal departments of Polaroid Corporation, American Cyanamid Company and Cytec Industries for 12 years.  Her practice concentrated in the areas of regulatory affairs, contracts and community relations.  She received a B.A. in Mathematics from Mount Holyoke College in 1985 and her law degree from New England School of Law in 1988.  Linda has spent the last 7 years actively involved at Gladwyne Elementary and most recently at Welsh Valley.  She participates in the classrooms and on various Home and School Association committees including serving as Inter School Council representative and Co-Coordinator of Gladwyne’s Foreign Language Club.  She also served as a Board Member for the Committee for Special Education, a volunteer parent organization assisting parents with children who have IEPs, 504 Agreements or GIEPs, and was the Co-Chair of its Gifted Committee for 2 years.  She is a member of the Newcomers Club of Bryn Mawr, a non-profit group which provides fellowship to new residents in the Main Line area, and served on its Board for 5 years.  Linda lives in Villanova with her husband Harvey Ashman and their two children who attend Welsh Valley and Gladwyne.  (Click here for Linda Doucette-Ashman's "issue statement".)

David Ebby is a partner in the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, where he specializes in commercial real estate law.  Prior to practicing law, he taught upper school history and English at the Bullis School in Potomac, MD.  David grew up in Bala Cynwyd and attended Cynwyd Elementary and Bala Cynwyd Jr. High before graduating from Episcopal Academy.  He received his B.A. in 1985 from Amherst College and his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1989. David resides in Bryn Mawr with his wife Jane, a spinning instructor at Main Line Health and Fitness, and their three children who attend Welsh Valley Middle School, Gladwyne Elementary and Friends Central.  (Click here for David Ebby's "issue statement".)

Susan Guthrie is an economist with expertise in labor economics, the economics of the public sector, and the estimation of economic damages.  Until October 2006, she was a Principal at The Brattle Group, an economic consulting firm, where she led economic analyses on behalf of large corporations in cases involving commercial damage claims often in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars. While at The Brattle Group, she also served on the Board of Directors.  She has been a home room parent for the last two years at Merion Elementary School.  Susan received B.A.s in applied mathematics and economics from the University of California at San Diego and her Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1995.  She moved to Merion Station in 1999 where she now resides with her husband, Todd Sinai, an Associate Professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and two children who attend Merion Elementary.  (Click here for Susan Guthrie's "issue statement".)

Lisa Fair Pliskin has served as a School Director in Lower Merion since December 2003.  She is currently the chair of the Finance Committee.  During her tenure she has served as a member of the committees on Policy, Facilities, Communications, Personnel and Audit.  Lisa is Vice President & General Counsel of Kravco Simon Company, a management and development company specializing in retail properties located in King of Prussia.  Prior to joining Kravco, Lisa was Counsel with the law firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll with a broad transactional real estate practice.   Lisa received her B.A. from Tufts University and her J.D. from New York University Law School in 1989.  Lisa grew up in Lower Merion, attending Penn Wynne and Ardmore Junior High School and graduating from Lower Merion High School in 1982.  She resides in Merion Station with her husband, Dan Pliskin, a corporate and securities lawyer, and has two children who attend Bala Cynwyd Middle School and Merion Elementary.  (Click here for Lisa Fair Pliskin's "issue statement".)