Madison Preparatory Academy - School Information System

Fran Petonic serves as Chair of both the Fundraising and Ad-hoc Governance Structure committees for
Madison Prep. Her 19-year career in non-profit fund raising has focused on securing support for social
service and health care missions. Ms. Petonic holds a Master’s degree in social service administration,
attained Certified Fund Raising Executive status, and earned a certificate in Planned Giving.
Currently, Ms. Petonic is President of Meriter Foundation and in her four years with the organization raised
nearly $7 million including Meriter Health System’s single largest gift of $2 million and a recently completed
employee campaign exceeding $1 million.
Her past experience includes leadership of the Mentoring Committee for the Association of Fundraising
Professionals of Greater Detroit, serving on the Steering Committee of the Leave a Legacy planned giving
professionals’ society, and volunteering as a Board Member of Perry Nursery School for low income, single
parent families. She received the 2006 Human Resource Management Best Practice Award for founding an
intra-company mentorship network.
Mr. Petonic and her husband, Dan Reinders, have two adolescent boys who play hockey throughout
Wisconsin. In her spare time, she enjoys early-morning Masters swimming and golf.
John Roach is CEO and founder of John Roach Projects, a film and video production company. Roach grew
up in Madison and graduated from UW Madison. Roach worked nearly a decade in Chicago for both the ABC
and CBS owned television stations group. He won eight emmies and several other prestigious awards during
his time in Chicago. He founded his company in 1984 and has gone on to do production for major Fortune
100 brands, and cable syndication. In 1999 Roach co-wrote the screenplay for "The Straight Story”, a film by
David Lynch which resulted in Academy Award nomination for lead actor Richard Farnsworth. Roach also
writes a monthly column for Madison Magazine.
Mr. Roach has served as chair and member of the Edgewood High School Board of Trustees and as a member
of the Urban League Board. Other charitable work has included The Red Cross, The Respite Center and The
American Family Children's Hospital. Mr. Roach and his wife Diane, also a UW Madison graduate, have
three adult children. Diane works as a nurse in the Madison Public Schools.
Judd Schemmel is the President of Edgewood High School in Madison, Wisconsin. 2011-12 marks
Schemmel’s seventh year as President. Prior to joining Edgewood, Schemmel spent five years as Executive
Director of the Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools (WCRIS), a statewide trade
association representing the interests of Wisconsin’s 700 plus religious and independent schools. Previous to
this, Schemmel spent ten years in CUNA Mutual’s Office of General Counsel and four years in the front
office of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Schemmel holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy and a law degree, both from Marquette University.
He grew up in Madison, attended Edgewood Campus Grade School and both Edgewood High School and
Madison West. Judd’s wife, Lisa, is a Verona native and they have a son, Sam.
Mario Garcia Sierra became a strong believer of Madison Prep in the spring of 2011 when he first heard
about the school. He joined the Board of Directors later in the summer. Mario works at Centro Hispano as
the Director of Programs. He oversees and directs the agency's programming. He has played a key role
transforming the agency to become youth and families centered.
Mario has been involved in key issues seeking to advance the wellbeing of the Hispanic community at the
local and national level. He is a consultant for several local and national organizations working on issues
related to human rights, men against domestic violence, peace building, anti-racism, conflict resolution, and
social and racial justice.
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