Board of Directors
Kelsey Tolbert, President
Kelsey Tolbert began her career in choral music with a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Music Education (K-12) from James Madison University. She spent the next 8 years in public education as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools (grades K-8). Her experience teaching includes two years as choral director and musical theater director at Cooper Middle School in McLean, VA, two years as general music teacher at Camelot Elementary School in Annandale, VA, and 4 years as middle school choral director, guitar teacher, and adapted music teacher at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, VA.
In addition to public teaching experience, Kelsey also has over 12 years of experience in teaching private voice and piano lessons. She currently has a thriving private studio and also serves as administrator for her family-owned music lesson business, Tolbert Music.
Kelsey resides in Fairfax with her husband and company owner, Christopher, as well as her two daughters. She is excited to re-enter the choral world through SLYC!
Hope Casserly, Vice President
Hope Casserly began her career in technology project management and later worked for almost ten years as the Finance Manager for a high school in Loudoun County Public Schools. Most recently, she was the Executive Assistant for a Regional Assistant Superintendent for Fairfax County Public Schools.
Hope is the definition of a life-long learner as this past January she joined The Great Resignation and embarked on completing her Bachelor's Degree. She will graduate in December from James Madison University - Go Dukes! She is a mother of four and Gigi to three little girls. Family time and singalongs at the piano or on car rides are special. She has supported the arts in many ways over the years and is elated to be part of this venture to bring more music to the youth of Loudoun!
Kelli Jacobs, Secretary
Kelli Marie Jacobs joined The National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (NOLHGA) in October of 2017, where she has since honed her skillset in Accounting, Research, and Administrative and Membership Support. She also serves as a recurring Grant Reviewer on a yearly basis for the National Environmental Education Foundation since her internship with them in 2011.
Before joining NOLHGA, Ms. Jacobs worked as Operations Supervisor with Price Point Equipment, a startup distributor of personal protective equipment based in the Northern Virginia Area (now renamed Pentagon Safety Equipment). Ms. Jacobs also worked in the scientific research field at both Georgetown University and the National Institutes of Health.
Ms. Jacobs received a B.S. in Environmental Studies as well as a B.S. in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she graduated as a member of the Tau Sigma National Honor Society.
Jennifer Ryan, Treasurer
Jennifer Ryan is an active wife and mom of two boys and enjoys being engaged in their busy lives. Prior to “retiring” from her corporate career, Jennifer was a Senior Employment Paralegal in Ernst & Young’s General Counsel’s office for nearly 14 years. Jennifer spent her early career as a meeting and event planner for several large corporations and also held positions with the Women’s National Basketball Association for its inaugural and sophomore seasons, and the 1996 Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Jennifer has also volunteered her time as a member of her boys’ elementary school PTA, both in Loudoun County and her native New York, as she chaired various committees and also served as PTA Treasurer for several years.
Music was a significant part of Jennifer’s childhood education as she played clarinet for nine years, was a member of her high school’s concert band, orchestra and marching band, and was selected as drum major for her junior and senior years’ of high school. She is looking forward to working with SLYC to bring music education to the youth of our community.
Michelle Ruble
Michelle Ruble is an experienced Director of Business Operations with over 15 years in the government contracting industry as well as a background in Banking. For Colleague Consulting, Ms. Ruble manages the daily business operations, including contracts management, accounting and financial management and forecasting, human resources, and strategic process improvements.
Philip Keirstead
Philip Keirstead is one of two choral directors at Marsteller Middle School in Prince William County, Virginia. He received his bachelor’s degree in music education from James Madison University and his master’s from Florida State. Guest conducting engagements include several district and regional choirs events in and around Virginia and all-state events in Louisiana and Kentucky. He and his 8th Grade Bass Choir have presented at VMEA, ACDA Southern, and ACDA Eastern conferences. He was named Prince William County’s Middle School Teacher of the Year for 2011-2012 and was a runner-up for the Washington Post Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award.
My-Van Nguyen
My-Van Nguyen (MEE-vahn NEW-yen) is a music educator inspired by the power of choral music to build community and empower personal growth. A career changer, she is in her 12th year as the choral director at Dominion High School in Sterling, VA where she also serves as the Fine Arts Department chair and Link Crew coordinator. She is currently the President-elect of the Virginia Choral Directors Association.
Ms. Nguyen studied Commerce & Music at the University of Virginia and has a Masters in Music Education from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Outside of school, she performs with the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Choral Arts Chamber Choir. A lifelong singer, both in and out of school, My-Van is thrilled that students in Loudoun County will have the opportunity to pursue the passion for choral music at a deeper level.
Emi Eiting
Emi Eiting is a freelance performer, pianist, conductor, musical theatre consultant, vocal coach and choral adjudicator working in Northern Virginia. She is a vocal teaching artist for Mason Community Arts Acting for Young People Program, where she heads up their popular summer Musical Theatre Boot Camp for teens. She also works regularly with the George Mason University Chorale to stage and design their Broadway Choral Concerts. From 2010-2016 Mrs. Eiting served as the choral director at JEB Stuart High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. She taught 4 choirs, IB Music, and directed the annual school musical.
Before her career in education Mrs. Eiting worked as an actor, music director, pianist, and stage manager at a number of regional theatres around the country, spent some time singing on a cruise ship, and toured the country with The Magic School Bus-Live! She has worked in New York with composers Jason Robert Brown, Lance Horne, Bree Lowdermilk and Scott Evan Davis. She has also performed as a solo artist at the Kennedy Center in a concert featuring the music of Mr. Davis. Her endeavors in theatre were made possible in part by her work as an Insurance Assistant for the largest insurance broker in the world and an Executive Assistant in commercial finance.
Mrs. Eiting spent 6 years in leadership for the Virginia chapter of the American Choral Directors Association-- first as State Newsletter Editor and then Membership Chair. In addition she spent a total of 8 years on the planning committee for the annual ACDA Voices United Conference-- two of those as Conference Coordinator.
Mrs. Eiting holds a Bachelors degree in Music Education from George Mason University Mrs. Eiting lives in Alexandria with her husband and daughter, Nora.
Diane Chima-Orji
With over 20 years of experience in the information technology and services sector, Diane Chima-Orji exemplifies a steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences. Her expertise lies in customer relationship management, project leadership, software development, and process enhancement. Diane possesses a unique ability to seamlessly merge technical proficiency with effective communication, consistently delivering clear and concise solutions to clients.
Presently, Diane serves as the Vice President overseeing Customer and Product Success at RWS Group's Contenta Business Unit. Her focus revolves around crafting support strategies centered on customers and encouraging collaborative efforts across functions to streamline issue resolution and enhance clients' user experiences. In her previous capacity as the Director of Professional Services (former SDL Government), Diane was instrumental in launching the Training & Certification Program, skillfully coordinating the company's first-ever User Group Forums and Workshop Events.
Diane holds a Master's in Management Information Systems and a Bachelor's degree in Database Technology, both attained from Strayer University. She has certifications in Project Management (PMP), Certified Scrum Master, and ITIL Foundation. Additionally, she is an active member of the Project Management Institute and the Alpha Chi Honor Society.
Diane’s wealth of experience, coupled with her unwavering dedication to quality and innovation, positions her as a driving force behind customer success and operational excellence in the IT industry. She looks forward to bringing that drive to support the musical education of the youth in our community.
Anu Singhvi
Anu Singhvi is an award-winning business development and strategy leader. She leads analytics for our next generation of guided campaign products, whereby end to end visibility across marketing campaigns, advertising impressions and opportunity generation in one seamless view becomes possible. She recently achieved the highest technical qualifications in analytics by winning Sector 3 award of Oracle’s Race to Certification by successfully completing 2 Professional, 1 Foundations and 1 Associates certifications in record time. She is currently working on her second patent for Oracle using advanced analytics and Machine Learning.
Oracle recruited Anu in 2017 to lead business development and strategy for the enterprise business which encompassed the Global 2000 account set. Her data-driven approach led to triple-digit cloud business growth three years in a row. She started her career as an R&D scientist at Texas Instruments, inventing several patent-earning products, and went on to lead a $500M microcontroller business unit.
Although substituted at the last minute due to immigration concerns long since resolved, she was one of the first Indian women chosen by NBC for Donald Trump’s television show, The Apprentice - Season 5.
With a unique background in pathology and engineering, Anu launched her first startup, doing business process outsourcing for healthcare. With no formal training, she placed among the top three chefs when she competed on a cooking show similar to "top chef" on national television in India, which inspired her to launch her second startup, selling organic foods from around the globe; she still serves as its chief marketing officer.
In 2020, Anu was chosen to be one of just 21 women in Oracle WW, sponsored by leadership to join Linkage’s Women in Leadership Institute™ conference, whereby she scored maximum points based on leadership activities and won the grand prize among 1400+ women leaders (managers, directors, vice presidents, executive officers, and individual contributors) across the globe, belonging to 257 Organizations and 20 industries from consumer products and industrial goods & services, to healthcare services, technology and space exploration (NASA).
Anu broke a record scoring maximum points in the 142 years' history of Mumbai University when she graduated with a gold medal, ranking 1st in her state during her Bachelors of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications Degree. She also has a dual major Master’s degree in electromagnetics & optics and signals & systems (4.0/4.0 GPA) from the University of Arizona, Tucson.