Meet the passionate people who inspire our students.

Je Banach joined The Ethel Walker School in 2013 with experience in the fields of education and development, law, and arts and culture. She received her BA from Manhattanville College, majoring in English (with a concentration in writing), philosophy, and religion. In addition to her work as Campaign & Prospect Research Manager, she is also a practicing writer. A recipient of the New Boston Fund Fellowship in Fiction, Je has written for many academic and popular venues, including The Paris Review, Granta, Bookforum, Oxford University Press, Publishers Weekly, and PEN. She is the author of teaching and reading guides to works of fiction and non-fiction for Penguin Random House, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Simon & Schuster. Most recently, she wrote guides to Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth, Salman Rushdie’s Luka and the Fire of Life, and the Dalai Lama’s Beyond Religion. She was also a longtime contributor to Harold Bloom’s literary series. In 2013, Je was awarded the state’s Artist Fellowship for Prose by the CT Office of the Arts. She is currently a member of the Residential Faculty in Fiction at the Yale Writers’ Conference.

Molly Bouffard is a Smith College graduate and certified fundraising executive who has served the nonprofit sector for nearly 15 years. Her experiences include fundraising and volunteer management positions in environmental, higher education, healthcare, and arts-based organizations. Prior to Walker’s, Molly was the assistant director for volunteer services in the Smith Fund. A self-described “database geek,” she enjoys helping people and organizations reach their goals by leveraging technology. She is a UCONN certified master gardener, a certified MBTI administrator, and a graduate of the Institute of Coaching and Positive Psychology. Molly is an active volunteer and advocate for local agriculture and environmental education. She enjoys exploring the outdoors from coast to coast, but her heart will always be in New England with her loved ones and her trusty dog, Zeus.

Kathryn Bratslavsky joined Walker’s Advancement Office in 2020. She is also known at Walker’s for her role as yogini, a role which facilitated her appreciation toward the Walker’s community. Kathryn earned a B.A. in English from UConn Storrs where she was a New England scholar, graduating cum laude. She earned a second B.A. from UConn Storrs in Psychological Sciences. Most recently, Kathryn served as executive assistant, office manager, project manager and analyst at the Leadership Research Institute in Middletown, CT.

In addition to her yoga instruction, Kathryn is also involved locally in CT Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy where she serves as program director for communications. She has traveled extensively and worked two years as a preschool teacher and program coordinator in Moscow. Kathryn speaks fluent Russian.

Prior to joining the Advancement Office in November 2015, Margaret was program manager at The Women’s Advancement Initiative, a distinctive program at the University of Hartford that uniquely positions women for success through education and leadership training. Before returning to her home state of Connecticut, Margaret and her family resided in Wilmington, North Carolina for 10 years where she was proprietor of a small art business. For almost 13 years, Margaret worked in various positions at Fidelity Investments in Boston and attended Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA. Margaret, her husband, Jon, and daughter, Lilia, who is currently attending Walker’s, reside in West Simsbury.

Allie Harris ’13 assists the Advancement office by supporting and growing technology and donor recognition programs. She graduated cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester in 2017 where she majored in English Literature and wrote for print magazines and social media. She won awards for her work including team MPVP in 2018 for managing business deals at Prolific 1. At Walker’s, Allie was head of day students and head of Cicerones as well as a member of the Varsity Equestrian Team.

Gretchen was appointed as Walker’s director of advancement in October 2016. Coming from Trinity College, she initially served as director of development, and, more recently, as director of principal gifts and international development. Prior to Trinity, Gretchen’s career in education includes over a decade of fundraising at Cornell University and over a decade of work in admissions at Cornell University, Ithaca College and her alma mater, Wells College.

Marion joined the Development Office in 2014 as Campaign Manager. A 12-year student of the all-girls’ Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, she then graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and then a master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She was then the personal assistant to a conservation architect in Edinburgh, where she met her husband, Guy. Marion lived and worked at the St. Denis and Cranley School, and all-girls’ boarding school in Edinburgh for four years before returning with Guy to the United States. While raising her two daughters here in Simsbury, she managed two businesses from home. Marion held numerous board positions and was then president of the Simsbury Newcomers Club. With both daughters attending Walker’s, she fell in love with the community here and is thrilled to be on campus with them and working for the advancement of the School.

Leila Wetmore ’82, P’18 was born and raised in New York City and came as a freshman to Walker’s in 1978. After graduating with degrees in political science, art history and French from St. Lawrence University, Leila returned to New York City and began her career in not-for-profit fundraising and management. Leila worked and provided consulting services to organizations including Planned Parenthood of New York City, Lenox Hill Hospital, The American Field Service, and the National Academy of Design, among others. In 2001, Leila moved with her husband and two young daughters to Darien, CT and continued her not-for-profit career, most recently as the Executive Director of the Darien Nature Center.