Parents

Mom to Jordan ’27 and Christian ’28

Janeene is looking forward to returning to the PSPA Board after recently serving as PSPA First Vice President and previously as Treasurer from 2017-2019. Janeene and her husband, Dr. Serge Balmir, joined the Pingry community in the fall of 2014 when their oldest son, Jordan, started Kindergarten. Since then, she has been an active member of the Pingry community.

As a full time working mom, Janeene brings with her more than 25 years of finance and banking experience. Currently, she is a Managing Director at JPMorgan where she serves as CFO of Wholesale Payments within the firm's Commercial Banking division, providing Treasury and payment services to mid-sized to large corporations.

Janeene is honored to serve as the PSPA President for the 2024-25 school year, succeeding Melissa Bartoli, whose wit and enthusiasm laid the path for a fulfilling experience on the PSPA Executive Board last year. Janeene knows that this will be both a challenging and rewarding experience, during which she will strive to be of meaningful service to the entire school community of families, faculty and administrators. 

A native of California, Janeene received her B.S. in Accounting from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School. She lives in South Orange and enjoys crafting, event planning, cooking and cheering on her sons' soccer and track teams.

Mom to Ashley ’29 and Riley ’33

Michelle is looking forward to serving for her third year on the PSPA Board, specifically as the First Vice President for the 2024-25 school year. She has been an active volunteer at Pingry most recently as the PSPA Middle School Representative and previously as Lower School Volunteer Coordinator, Class Parent, Cohort Leader, and Lower School Library Volunteer. She enjoys volunteering at Pingry as it allows her to engage and interact with the broader Pingry community.

Michelle is a proud Pingry alum, Class of 1998. She graduated from Princeton University and has an MBA from New York University. Before becoming a full-time mom and volunteer, Michelle worked at Citigroup in Global Markets trading equity derivatives. She lives in Berkeley Heights with her husband, Scott, and two children.

Mom to Madison ’28 and Marina ’32

Brenda will serve as the PSPA's VP of parent socials during the 2024-2025 academic year. Brenda and her husband, Marc Titus, have been part of the Pingry community since 2019. They live in Hackettstown with their 2 daughters, Madison and Marina.

Brenda was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. The daughter of a United Nations diplomat, she received her undergraduate degree in Accounting and Marketing from Long Island University. She is currently an Associate Market Manager at Wells Fargo Advisors. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, she spent 17 years in Advisory Compliance and Management for UBS Financial Services, Inc.

Brenda has been active in various Pingry volunteer opportunities, including PSPA Grade 4 and 5 Rep, co-chair of Bingo Night, Cohort lead, admissions volunteer, and served in a host of other volunteer capacities. She is excited to continue serving on the PSPA Board and be part of this dedicated community of students, parents, and educators.

In her free time, Brenda enjoys traveling with her family, listening to music, and dancing.

Mom to Nyle ’28 and Wali ’33

Tania and her husband Shehzad joined the Pingry community in the fall of 2018. They have a son Nyle, who started in 4th grade and another son, Wali, who joined Pingry in Kindergarten. Tania has been an active volunteer at Pingry helping with admissions events, book fair, bingo night and MLK Day of Service amongst other various efforts. 

Tania grew up in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E and moved to New Jersey to get her Bachelors of Arts in Communications from Rutgers University. With 16 years work experience in financial services, most recently at the London Stock Exchange Group, Tania has recently taken time off from work to focus on personal interests, family and community. 

Tania has volunteered her time on various non-profit boards and benefit committees related to child education and advocacy, women’s rights and healthcare including the Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Development in Literacy, SK Memorial Cancer Hospital amongst others. 

Tania lives in Short Hills with her family and enjoys cooking, traveling and entertaining. She is excited to join the Pingry PSPA Executive Board this year as Vice President of Communications.

Mom to Kennedy ’28 and Peyton ’31

Iyndia and her husband Wayne joined the Pingry community in the Fall of 2015. Iyndia is the Global Tax and North America Controllers Audit Director at Citigroup where she leads a global internal audit team across multiple tax and controllership disciplines. Prior to joining Citi she spent over 10 years in public accounting at PwC in the financial services tax practice and held a senior leadership role to advance diversity and inclusion initiatives. 

A native of Pittsburgh, Iyndia completed a B.S. in Accounting from The University of Pittsburgh, Master of Taxation (MST) from Pace University and is a licensed CPA in New York and Pennsylvania. 

Iyndia has been active in various Pingry volunteer opportunities, including PSPA Grade 4-5 Representative, class parent, admissions volunteer, and served in a host of other volunteer capacities. She is excited for her second year on the PSPA Board as Treasurer to continue the legacy of building a strong community for all Pingry students and families while getting to know other parents on the Board and the larger community.

In her free time, Iyndia enjoys exercising, baking, spending time with her family, and watching Pittsburgh Steelers football.

Mom to Rohnik ’28 and Nikhil ’28 

Swati and her husband, Sapan, live in Mendham with their twin sons, Nikhil and Rohnik.  The family joined the Pingry community in the fall of 2015 when the twins started Kindergarten.

Swati is a physician in private practice in adult endocrinology in Parsippany, NJ.  She is a graduate of the accelerated 7 year combined BS/MD program where she earned a bachelors of science in engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Medicine and Dentistry - NJ Medical School.  She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at UMDNJ-NJMS and later served as Chief Resident prior to completing her fellowship training in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism there as well.  

Swati has been an active member of the Pingry community and has served in a variety of volunteer roles including several years as a Lower School class parent, teacher appreciation luncheon coordinator, Moving Up Day volunteer, cohort leader, and Lower School admissions volunteer coordinator.  She is excited to join the PSPA Executive board this year and serve as Secretary.

When she's not with patients, you'll find Swati traveling with her family, checking out new restaurants, hiking and skiing, and relaxing at the beach.

Mom to Lolade ’25

NaTishia is excited to build relationships and boost parent involvement at Pingry. She and her husband Dipo joined the Pingry community in the fall of 2021. A dedicated volunteer, NaTishia immediately became active in various PSPA events, including Friday Night Lights, MLK Day of Service, and serving as an admission volunteer. She currently co-chairs the Committee for Common Ground Speaks.

As a Peck School Parent Alum, NaTishia was deeply engaged in the community, serving in roles such as Class Parent, Community Service Co-Chair,  Parent Ambassador, and World Cultures Committee. NaTishia is now a Peck School Board Trustee and chairs the Board's DEIB committee.

A San Jose State University graduate, NaTishia is passionate about community engagement and the synergy between purpose and community. With over 25 years of experience in Organizational and Speech Communication, she founded Public Speaking for Teens.com, a leading social and presentation skills program for teens. She also co-founded P-BIPSS, a social and resource group for Parents of Black Independent Private School Students, and serves as an Associate Board Member for Jersey Cares. NaTishia is a NJ Licensed Realtor, and an active volunteer and supporter of NJ Special Olympics and the Black and Missing Foundation.

In her downtime, she enjoys traveling with her family, watching Korean dramas, and attending Broadway shows.

Mom to Miles ’33, Claire ’34 and James ’37

Rachel is thrilled to be back on the PSPA Board, this time as Lower School Volunteer Coordinator. Since becoming a Pingry Parent in the fall of 2020, she has been a committed volunteer at school, serving in the past as PSPA Grade Representative, Class Parent, Cohort Leader, Admissions Volunteer, and Lower School Library Volunteer. 

Rachel grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs before attending Penn, where she obtained a BA in Art History and Communications. She subsequently attended graduate school at NYU Institute of Fine Arts, receiving an MA in Art History. After working in the New York art world for many years, Rachel and her husband Jonathan ‘02 moved to Short Hills, where they currently reside with their three children. 

A devoted volunteer, Rachel serves on the board of trustees at NYU Institute of Fine Arts, the Visual Arts Center of NJ, and Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ. She is a lifelong arts enthusiast, and loves visiting museums and galleries, as well as cooking, traveling, skiing, and reading in her spare time.

Mom to Cori ’35 and Park ‘36

Mom to Zachary ’34 and Arielle ’37

Cherie, a Pingry alumnus, and her husband Gavin joined the Pingry community as a family in the Fall of 2021 and she is excited to join the PSPA Board as the Grade 2-3 Rep, 

Cherie received her AB in Politics from Princeton University and has built her career in financial services. Cherie works for Kensington Financial Advisors as an investment advisor for private families. She is also an active volunteer at Pingry - previously serving as a class parent, a cohort leader, and a library volunteer.

Cherie, Gavin and their children reside in Livingston and enjoy participating in all aspects of the Pingry community!

Mom to Ryan ’28 and Julia ’32

Stacey and her husband, Jack, joined the Pingry community in the Fall of 2017. They have a son, Ryan, who entered in second grade and a daughter, Julia, who entered in kindergarten.

Stacey is a native New Yorker who received her BS in Nursing from New York University, Master of Public Administration in Public & Nonprofit Management & Policy from New York University and Adult Nurse Practitioner degree from Hunter College. She currently practices as an Oncology Nurse Practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Stacey joined the PSPA board in 2023 as the Lower School Volunteer Coordinator. She has also been active in a variety of other volunteer roles including Committee Chair of the LS Arts and Beautification Committee, Lower School Library Volunteer, Moving Up Day Volunteer and Book Fair Volunteer. Stacey is so excited to be joining the PSPA board this year as Lower School Grades 4-5 Representative.

Stacey enjoys spending time with her family, long walks with her dog Lola and traveling.

Mom to Mazin ’23, Sofjan ’26, Jannah ’29, Isra ’33 

Onabia and her husband, Ahmed, joined the Pingry community in the fall of 2015.  They  live in Short Hills along with their four children, three of whom currently attend Pingry. Their oldest son graduated in 2023. 

Onabia has been an active member of the Pingry community. She has been a lower school library volunteer for many years, a class parent, a cohort leader, and an affinity group leader. She has volunteered for Friday night lights, the lower school book fair, 5th grade Moving Up Day, admissions events and for various other roles at Pingry.

Onabia has two bachelors degrees in Finance and Economics from the University of Maryland. Prior to devoting herself to being a full time mom she worked for several years as an accountant at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Onabia was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and a few years ago had the chance to visit for the first time since childhood. She loves attending concerts, skiing, long drives and adventure travel. She looks forward to continuing her service to the Pingry community. 

Mom to Ziv ’25 and Akiv ’28

Usha and her husband Deneb joined the Pingry community in Fall of 2021 when Ziv joined Upper School as a Freshman. She has been an active member of the PSPA community by serving on the MLK day operations committee for the past 2 years, bimonthly Bear Pause volunteer and planning committee for the parent socials.

Usha and her family have lived in Short Hills NJ since 2014. She has served on the Millburn schools PTO boards for 6 years as VP Programs and VP Membership running events like kids socials, readathon, class graduations and parent socials. Within her community she is on the parent board of the Scarlet swim club where her boys have been swimming for 10+ years, Home Tour of Short Hills committee member (fundraiser for The Warehouse NJ) and runs the food kitchen at a temple in West Orange. She is very passionate about giving back to the community she belongs to.

Usha has a degree in Computer Engineering from Mumbai, India. She has been working at Anthology Inc. (formerly Blackboard Inc.) as a Director of Technical Services supporting their professional services business for 20 years.

Usha is very excited to serve her first year on the PSPA board to serve the broader community and foster new connections.

Mom to Vanya ’25 and Radhya ’28

Megha and her husband Shekhar joined the Pingry community in the fall of 2012 when Vanya started in Kindergarten followed by Radhya three years later. Megha has served the Pingry community on a number of occasions, as Book Fair Chair, MUD committee chair, LS Arts and Beautification chair and twice as a LS Grade Rep. She has volunteered for various LS and US events and also chaired the Soiree while it still existed. She is looking forward to continuing serving through her volunteer work on the PSPA.

Megha received her B.A. in Psychology from Delhi University, India. She always had a passion for dance and trained in classical Indian dance for 13 years and choreographed many shows in India. Megha brought her passion back to life in the U.S. in 2015 when she started her dance fitness classes in Short Hills. She also taught the Bollywood enrichment for Lower School for several years, hosted the parents Bollywood pop up during Covid, and continues to teach for various community and cultural events.

The Shahs live in Short Hills. Megha enjoys attending her children’s youth sporting events as well as playing various sports herself, traveling, and spending time with family.