Sheila Trautner and Melissa Soderberg Elected to Board of Directors

01.12.17

ANN ARBOR, MI, January 12, 2017 – The Joyce Ivy Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to broadening the college aspirations of talented female high school students from the Midwest, today announced the election of two new members to its Board of Directors, Sheila Trautner and Melissa Soderberg, both of Columbus, Ohio.

“I am pleased to welcome native Midwesterners, Sheila and Melissa, to the Joyce Ivy Board,” said Mike Pritula, Lead Director of the Board. “They each bring a keen understanding of the mission of the Foundation, having experienced the benefits of attending a highly selective college before returning to the Midwest. They are leaders in their fields and active community members who will be outstanding ambassadors for the Foundation in Columbus and well beyond.”

Sheila Trautner is an entrepreneur and owns and operates Taste Hospitality Group, a Columbus based company whose portfolio of restaurants, catering, and conference facilities are preeminent in the Columbus community. A Columbus native, Ms. Trautner was part of the Columbus Business First Forty Under 40 (2012) and is a member of the Leadership Columbus Class of 2017. She received her BBA from Emory University and serves on the the board of Columbus Academy Alumni Association and the Ohio Restaurant Association.

​“I am thrilled to join a dynamic organization that supports educational opportunities for talented young women,” said Ms. Trautner. “Expanding these young minds will benefit not only the students themselves but the communities in which they live and work and, by extension, the larger society. I am proud to be involved and active in the Foundation’s work.”

Melissa Soderberg is Head of School at Columbus Academy. Ms. Soderberg is the first female Head of School in the Academy’s history, which dates back over a century. Previously, Ms. Soderberg held positions at the Breck School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she served as dean of students, director of college counseling, and upper school director, and at St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island, where she taught history and was a college advisor. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Ms. Soderberg earned her BA from Middlebury College and her MA from Teacher’s College of Columbia University as a Joseph Klingenstein Fellow.
“There is nothing more important than expanding college possibilities for young people,” said Ms. Soderberg. “I can’t wait to share with the Columbus community all the great opportunities that the Joyce Ivy Foundation offers.”

The new Directors join nine current members of the Joyce Ivy Foundation Board of Directors: Maya Aravind of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Erich Bagen of San Francisco, California; Mary Jo Dawson of Bloomfield Village, Michigan; Audrey DiMarzo of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Kim Easter of Ann Arbor, Michigan; S. Caroline Kerr of Coral Gables, Florida; Greg Lewis of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Mike Pritula of New York, New York; Emily Taylor of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and directors emeriti Carrie Booher of New Orleans, Louisiana; Anne Hiller of San Francisco, California; Stephen Miller of Boise, Idaho; Elisa Ostafin of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Clint Wallace of Brooklyn, New York.

Additional information about the Joyce Ivy Foundation leadership can be found here.