2026 Retreat for Heads and Assistant Heads of School

Allison Pugh is Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Her book The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World (Princeton 2024) is based on a study of the standardization of work that relies on relationship.  She is also the author of The Tumbleweed Society: Working and Caring in an Age of Insecurity (2015), a study of the effects of job precariousness on intimate life, and the editor of Beyond the Cubicle: Job Insecurity, Intimacy and the Flexible Self (2016). Her first book, Longing and Belonging: Parents, Children, and Consumer Culture (2009), won multiple best book awards and was widely reviewed. 

Pugh’s research and teaching focus on how people forge connections and find meaning and dignity at home and at work, and how economic trends – from job insecurity to commodification to automation – can make that harder.  The 2024-5 Vice President of the American Sociological Association, Pugh has been a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, the Berggruen Institute, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, and a visiting scholar in Germany, France and Australia.  Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New Republic and other outlets.

Pugh grew up in New York City and attended public schools there. She lived for 12 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she co-founded a K-8 charter school.

Ann Snyder is a school strategy consultant, working with boards and senior leadership to help schools achieve their advancement, enrollment, and marketing goals. Prior to launching this role, Ann was the Senior Director of Engagement at CASE, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, where she served as the industry insider, expert, and thought-leader for schools globally. 

Prior to joining CASE, Ann was Director of External Affairs at Stuart Hall School in Virginia. With nearly 20 years of experience in student and family marketing, advancement, enrollment, financial aid, and external affairs, Ann is a seasoned school leader and industry expert. Working with hundreds of schools over the past decade, Ann has a proven track record of coaching schools to meet ambitious goals. In her time at Stuart Hall, she brought a corporate sensibility and entrepreneurial mindset to increase revenue by nearly 20% in her first three years, further the school’s mission, streamline the school’s external offices, manage and direct international enrollment and fundraising strategy, and develop strategy for the school’s first significant marketing and campaign efforts.

Ann’s professional speaking and facilitation engagements in addition to CASE have included events for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), National Business Officers Association (NBOA), the Canadian Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), Institute of Development Professionals in Education (IDPE), the Association of American Schools in South America (AMISA), and regional associations throughout the United States. 

Ann is currently a member of the board of the Small Boarding Schools Association.

Learn more at www.annsnyderconsulting.org