Meet the Board of Trustees:

Dianna O´Doherty - President

Dianna is a freelance writer and editor. Prior to moving to Barcelona in 2005 she was an investment banker, working in New York, London and Paris and was active in many community service organizations. Over the years she has served on several corporate and not for profit Boards. Dianna holds an MBA in International Finance, a Diplome Affaires Internationales and a BA. She is fluent in French and English and has two of her three children at BFIS.

Susanna Soler – Vice President

Susanna was an academic adviser for US universities for 6 years. Past President of the Commission and Booster Club, Susana has been a member of the Benjamin Franklin community for 9 years. Susana has been a Commission Board member for 6  years. Educated in international schools in Asia and South America, Susana holds a university degree from Brandeis University, Boston, MA, USA. Susana has lived in Barcelona for 21 years, she is married to a Spaniard and is totally bilingual and bicultural. Susana is a parent of 2 children at Benjamin Franklin and one who has graduated in the class of 2008-2009.

Boris Mulder – Treasurer

Boris is a Partner in an international law firm. Admitted to the Dutch and Spanish Bars, Boris has been a Commission Board member for four years. Of mixed Dutch/Spanish/German background, Boris holds both Dutch and Spanish university degrees. A former member of Dutch national rowing team, Boris has lived and worked in Spain since 1991. He is the father of three young children at Benjamin Franklin.

Isabel Marino – Secretary

Isabel is the mother of two elementary school children, Sophia and Nicholas. A former President of the Booster Club (now the PTA) for school years 2006/2007 and 2007/2008, Before children came along Isabel was a trial paralegal with a national law firm. Isabel has lived in Barcelona for 4 years. She enjoys traveling, reading, and volunteering.

Greggory D. Crouch, Consul General of the United States of America in Barcelona

Gonzalo Rodes

Gonzalo is Partner and co-founder of Rodés y Sala, Abogados. An expert in international tax planning and in tax advice to expatriates, Gonzalo is the Director of different family owned corporations and Legal Counsel of Media Planning Group. Educated in the German School of Barcelona, he is fluent in Spanish, Catalan, English, German and French. He is the father of three young children, two of them at BFIS.

Monica Chitnis

Monica is a Partner at an investment advisory firm. A former investment banker at J.P. Morgan in New York, Monica also spent nine years as the self-taught Chef/Owner of a restaurant in the Caribbean, before moving to Barcelona in 2006.  Born in India, Monica earned a BA in Economics and Mathematics at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.  She is fluent in English and Spanish and the mother of two young children at BFIS.

Pankaj Ghemawat

Pankaj Ghemawat is the Anselmo Rubiralta Professor of Global Strategy at IESE Business School and the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration (on leave) at the Harvard Business School. Pankaj graduated from Harvard College (A.B. in Applied Mathematics)and holds a Ph.D in Business Economics from Harvard University.  Pankaj is multilingual English/French/Hindi/Spanish and he is the father of one child at BFIS.

Alvaro Vinacua

Alvaro is a professor of Computer Science at the UPC. Former Commission Vice-President, and a Commission member for over twelve years, Alvaro holds an Msc. and PhD in Applied Mathematics from the Courant Institute, N.Y.U. He is the proud parent of two children, one a Benjamin Franklin graduate, the other in High School.

Wendy De la Torre

Wendy has two children at BFIS and has been very involved with school activities and functions since her arrival three years ago. In 2006-2007 she served as PTA Vice President and later PTA Co-President in 2008-2009. A teacher by profession, Wendy has worked in private and public schools for over twelve years and is fluent in both English and Spanish.