by Will Fiandach ‘24

Holly Beaston is new to Harley this year, joining our Advancement team as Director of Development. She comes from YWCA, an organization whose mission is to eliminate racism and empower women through housing and young adult services. Holly hopes to help infuse a culture of philanthropy into the Harley community, and she wants to be able to grant students the opportunity to become invested in philanthropy, as well. Holly has been teaching in the field of education for over 15 years with a focus on early childhood, working with children of differing abilities as well as teaching coursework in psychology and sociology. Her plan is to utilize both her teaching and fundraising experience to their fullest potential here. 

She is excited to help push the school towards fulfilling its mission. By helping us reach our fundraising goals, she believes our culture will be able to spread and evolve beyond our walls and into the larger Rochester community. Being a single parent helped empower Holly to approach the world with a “can-do” attitude to help push her goals forward. Her personal mission is connecting amazing humans to missions they love. 

Her first job out of college was as a sociotherapist at Hillside Children’s Center, and she also spent a few years selling cars for the Saturn car company, which she credits with teaching her how to educate people through relationship development. She has a love of theater and firmly believes if you are able to get up on stage and talk in front of thousands of people, then it is easy to utilize those skills in different places, including one-on-one environments like those in fundraising.

She loves that Harley’s mission statement supports diversity and inclusion because it ties back to one of her main goals from her time at the YWCA—eliminating racism and reducing barriers to success for all. Being an anti-racist is an ideal Holly holds in high regard, and she believes it is important that we work together to achieve this goal, as it will help allow the school to thrive for years to come. Holly is the founder of the YWCA program “Equity Through Development.” She created an innovative resource combining curriculum, mentorship, and cohort development to help women of color begin a career in fundraising.  

Holly has a systemic and focused style of thinking and looks forward to using her skills to help support the larger Harley community. She is excited to see what the Development team is going to accomplish together. 

We are glad to have Holly as a new member of the Harley community! 

by Lizzie Tucker ’24

Mr. Ntheketha is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Harley, which is a brand new position! In addition to teaching in Middle School, Mr. Ntheketha’s work involves the entire Harley community. He is developing DEI curricula for Middle School Grades 6 through 8. The objectives of this course are to introduce vocabulary and understand the impacts of things like institutionalized oppres- sion in the Rochester and Harley communities. DEI 6 focuses on individual understanding and affirming the identities of people. DEI 7 focuses on interpersonal issues, and DEI 8 focuses on local issues like redlining. In the future, these classes will be aligned with the ongoing DEI efforts in Lower and Upper Schools in order to more fully integrate the content into the daily life of students at all levels.

Mr. Ntheketha loves working with Middle Schoolers and enjoys their energy. Harley’s welcoming nature and collaboration with faculty, staff, students, advisors, and families, puts each student at the center of their own learning. He understands the importance of both being heard and being a good listener, which he brings to his work. He wants to enjoy the beauty of life and problem solving to draw different concepts together to reach an end goal. He believes empathy is an integral part of connecting and finding common ground.

This philosophy has supported Mr. Ntheketha in his hobbies and previous work. He spent 16 years at RIT in the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. This included helping students of color navigate a predominantly white institution and creating a place that was safe for everyone. He notes, “systems can either affirm or break down individuality and excellence.” Additionally, Mr. Ntheketha has a passion for storytelling and performance. Theater has always been an important part of his life, and he has a degree in speech theater, as well as education. He taught at the University of Rochester, RIT, and the Geva Summer Academy. He also works with the theater-based training company Impact Interactive. They use performing arts to help people think and further connect with issues of oppression and discrimination and figure out solutions. Entertainment also plays an important role in Mr. Ntheketha’s hobbies. When it comes to books, movies, and TV, he loves animé, theater, and afro-futurism. He enjoys popular media like Stranger Things, The Office, and Marvel, especially Hawkeye and Black Panther, as well as authors like Nnedi Okorafor who wrote Remote Control, Binti, Akata Witch, and more. One of Mr. Ntheketha’s other hobbies is cooking. He loves to barbecue and smoke meats. He would always go to the Public Market with his mother, where he loved to select produce. He loves ribs, brisket, and jambalaya, and enjoys figuring out the science behind cooking. He loves to try new foods, loves spices and seasonings, baking desserts, and enjoys tasting foods from different cultures.

Holly Beaston
Director of Development

by Will Fiandach ‘24

Holly Beaston is new to Harley this year, joining our Advancement team as Director of Development. She comes from YWCA, an organization whose mission is to eliminate racism and empower women through housing and young adult services. Holly hopes to help infuse a culture of philanthropy into the Harley community, and she wants to be able to grant students the opportunity to become invested in philanthropy, as well. Holly has been teaching in the field of education for over 15 years with a focus on early childhood, working with children of differing abilities as well as teaching coursework in psychology and sociology. Her plan is to utilize both her teaching and fundraising experience to their fullest potential here. 

She is excited to help push the school towards fulfilling its mission. By helping us reach our fundraising goals, she believes our culture will be able to spread and evolve beyond our walls and into the larger Rochester community. Being a single parent helped empower Holly to approach the world with a “can-do” attitude to help push her goals forward. Her personal mission is connecting amazing humans to missions they love. 

Her first job out of college was as a sociotherapist at Hillside Children’s Center, and she also spent a few years selling cars for the Saturn car company, which she credits with teaching her how to educate people through relationship development. She has a love of theater and firmly believes if you are able to get up on stage and talk in front of thousands of people, then it is easy to utilize those skills in different places, including one-on-one environments like those in fundraising.

She loves that Harley’s mission statement supports diversity and inclusion because it ties back to one of her main goals from her time at the YWCA—eliminating racism and reducing barriers to success for all. Being an anti-racist is an ideal Holly holds in high regard, and she believes it is important that we work together to achieve this goal, as it will help allow the school to thrive for years to come. Holly is the founder of the YWCA program “Equity Through Development.” She created an innovative resource combining curriculum, mentorship, and cohort development to help women of color begin a career in fundraising.  

Holly has a systemic and focused style of thinking and looks forward to using her skills to help support the larger Harley community. She is excited to see what the Development team is going to accomplish together. 

We are glad to have Holly as a new member of the Harley community! 

Jonathan Ntheketha
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

by Lizzie Tucker ’24

Mr. Ntheketha is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Harley, which is a brand new position! In addition to teaching in Middle School, Mr. Ntheketha’s work involves the entire Harley community. He is developing DEI curricula for Middle School Grades 6 through 8. The objectives of this course are to introduce vocabulary and understand the impacts of things like institutionalized oppres- sion in the Rochester and Harley communities. DEI 6 focuses on individual understanding and affirming the identities of people. DEI 7 focuses on interpersonal issues, and DEI 8 focuses on local issues like redlining. In the future, these classes will be aligned with the ongoing DEI efforts in Lower and Upper Schools in order to more fully integrate the content into the daily life of students at all levels.

Mr. Ntheketha loves working with Middle Schoolers and enjoys their energy. Harley’s welcoming nature and collaboration with faculty, staff, students, advisors, and families, puts each student at the center of their own learning. He understands the importance of both being heard and being a good listener, which he brings to his work. He wants to enjoy the beauty of life and problem solving to draw different concepts together to reach an end goal. He believes empathy is an integral part of connecting and finding common ground.

This philosophy has supported Mr. Ntheketha in his hobbies and previous work. He spent 16 years at RIT in the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. This included helping students of color navigate a predominantly white institution and creating a place that was safe for everyone. He notes, “systems can either affirm or break down individuality and excellence.” Additionally, Mr. Ntheketha has a passion for storytelling and performance. Theater has always been an important part of his life, and he has a degree in speech theater, as well as education. He taught at the University of Rochester, RIT, and the Geva Summer Academy. He also works with the theater-based training company Impact Interactive. They use performing arts to help people think and further connect with issues of oppression and discrimination and figure out solutions. Entertainment also plays an important role in Mr. Ntheketha’s hobbies. When it comes to books, movies, and TV, he loves animé, theater, and afro-futurism. He enjoys popular media like Stranger Things, The Office, and Marvel, especially Hawkeye and Black Panther, as well as authors like Nnedi Okorafor who wrote Remote Control, Binti, Akata Witch, and more. One of Mr. Ntheketha’s other hobbies is cooking. He loves to barbecue and smoke meats. He would always go to the Public Market with his mother, where he loved to select produce. He loves ribs, brisket, and jambalaya, and enjoys figuring out the science behind cooking. He loves to try new foods, loves spices and seasonings, baking desserts, and enjoys tasting foods from different cultures.