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Laguna Blanca Welcomes Three New Trustees
The Laguna Blanca Board of Trustees welcomes three new members, Mary Morouse, Josh Connor, and Ann Levine. Get to know them here.
MARY MOROUSE
Mary Morouse combines her love of technology and education as a businessperson, a mom, and a community volunteer.
JOSH CONNOR
Josh is the Founding Partner of Connor Capital, which focuses on private investments in transportation and transportation-related companies. Josh is also the Co-Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of the transportation infrastructure fund at Oaktree Capital Management. For approximately two decades, he has been a leader within the transportation industries, having been an investor, a key strategic advisor, lender, and leading banker to many transportation companies around the world. Prior to founding Connor Capital, Josh was a Managing Director and the Co-Head of the Industrials Banking Group at Barclays, a position he was appointed to in October 2013.
Ann Levine is a law school admission consultant and the author of four books related to law school. Her most recent book, The Law School Admission Game: Play Like An Expert, 3rd Ed., was released on August 1, 2017 and quickly became the best-selling law school guidebook on Amazon. Through her private consulting practice, LawSchoolExpert.com, Ann works with individuals worldwide seeking admission to law schools in the United States.
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MARY MOROUSE
Mary Morouse combines her love of technology and education as a businessperson, a mom, and a community volunteer.
After graduating from UC Berkeley, Mary joined Xerox Corporation as an education sales specialist. At Xerox she saw the potential of the nascent personal computer business. She transitioned into UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management to earn her MBA – paying her tuition by competing and winning on game shows “Super Password” and “Win, Lose or Draw”.
After a summer internship at Apple Computer, she joined Microsoft in 1989. There, Mary led teams to market Microsoft Project and Microsoft Access. Escaping the rain of Seattle for the sun of Santa Monica, Mary moved south to manage the Norton Group at Symantec.
The pull of the Northwest called again in 1998, and Mary returned to Seattle to join a startup bookstore called Amazon as Vice President of Merchandising. It was on this second stint in Seattle that she met her husband Jim.
After the birth of their first child, Mary and Jim—both native Californians—moved to Santa Barbara in 2001. They have three children, two of whom attend Laguna Blanca, Ava ’19 and Jack ’20. The Morouse family has traversed 49 out of 50 states in various minivans.
Mary spent five years on the Montecito Union School District Board, including two years as President. She is currently the Board Chairman at Mission Springs Camp and Conference Center near Santa Cruz, California.
JOSH CONNOR
Josh is the Founding Partner of Connor Capital, which focuses on private investments in transportation and transportation-related companies. Josh is also the Co-Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of the transportation infrastructure fund at Oaktree Capital Management. For approximately two decades, he has been a leader within the transportation industries, having been an investor, a key strategic advisor, lender, and leading banker to many transportation companies around the world. Prior to founding Connor Capital, Josh was a Managing Director and the Co-Head of the Industrials Banking Group at Barclays, a position he was appointed to in October 2013.
In August 2015, Josh was elected to join the board of Frontier Airlines, a private airline controlled by Indigo Partners. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Copa Airlines, a member of the Morgan Stanley Investment Banking Management Committee, and the Board of Trustees for the Morgan Stanley Foundation (Finance/Investment Committee).
Josh is a graduate of Williams College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He has previously been a Trustee of The Pingry School in New Jersey and a Board member of Youth, INC, a New York City-based non-profit helping children.
Josh and his wife Patricia live in Montecito with their three children, Lily ’22, Jack ’24, and Abigail ’28, all of whom attend Laguna Blanca School.
ANN LEVINEAnn Levine is a law school admission consultant and the author of four books related to law school. Her most recent book, The Law School Admission Game: Play Like An Expert, 3rd Ed., was released on August 1, 2017 and quickly became the best-selling law school guidebook on Amazon. Through her private consulting practice, LawSchoolExpert.com, Ann works with individuals worldwide seeking admission to law schools in the United States.
Ann graduated from the University of Miami (B.S. 1996, J.D. Magna Cum Laude 1999) and served as Director of Admissions at California Western School of Law and Loyola Law School – Los Angeles before moving to Santa Barbara with her husband, Brent, in 2002. She practiced business litigation at Hill & Associates and then started Law School Expert in 2004.
Ann is active in the community and was a member of the board of the Anti-Defamation League for 12 years, including serving as Regional Board Chair. She was the first recipient of the Santa Barbara Tri-Counties Region ADL Leadership Award in 2007 and was recognized nationally by ADL as a recipient of the Ginsberg Leadership Award in 2009.
Ann and Brent have two daughters in the middle school at Laguna, Haley ’22 and Nicole ’24, and are approved as a Resource Family for the County of Santa Barbara.
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Laguna Blanca is Santa Barbara’s premier private, co-educational, college preparatory day school for students in Early Kindergarten through Grade 12.