Hill '74 Becomes 2nd Alumna to Lead NCS Board

For the second time, National Cathedral School's Governing Board is being chaired by an alumna.

 

Alice Hill '74 succeeded Elise Rabekoff as chair on July 1, the start of the school's fiscal year. This marks Hill's sixth year on the board, all but one as an officer.

 

"I'm very mindful that I'm taking responsibility for an organization that's had extraordinary contributions by extraordinary people for many years, and I will do my very best to honor all that great work," she said in a recent interview. "I want to make sure that the school is here for another century or more. Its mission of empowering young women is a very important one, and I think that NCS supports that mission extraordinarily well."

 

Hill said that independent schools benefit from welcoming alumnae onto the board, because their experience brings "a good perspective for all as to the history of the school and how to build longevity." Her own board service, she added, has connected her not only with other alumnae but also with current parents and the NCS leadership.

 

Nora Ronhovde Hohenlohe '62 was the first NCS alumna to serve as chair, holding that position in 1985-1986, and the restoration of Hearst Hall took place under her leadership.

 

For her part, Hill says she has three main goals for the board during her chairmanship: Creating a new strategic plan to "help guide the school for the next five years"; increasing the involvement of alumnae in school life; and ensuring NCS's financial wellbeing through building its endowment.

 

Hill joined the Hoover Institution in December as a research fellow following eight years in the Obama administration, most recently as special assistant to the president and senior director for resilience policy for the National Security Council. She came to Washington from Southern California to join the Department of Homeland Security. In California, Hill was a supervising judge on both the Superior and Municipal Courts in Los Angeles and, earlier, led white-collar prosecutions in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

 

Hill’s commitment to NCS goes back decades: She served the school through the Board of Visitors, and she has often organized alumnae gatherings and spoken to student assemblies.

 

"NCS was the most important segment of my educational life," she reflected. "I went on to Stanford, and then the University of Virginia Law School—wonderful schools, and I had great experiences there. But my time at NCS was such a pivotal experience in becoming who I am today."