Board Member Profiles
Board Members
Dave Meranda - President
Dave Meranda is serving his first term on the Board. He began serving January 2020. His term ends Dec. 31, 2023.
He has served as a volunteer for the district for more than 20 years. He was a member of the Milford Athletic Boosters Club executive board for 20 years, and served six years as treasurer, followed by 14 years as president. During that time, the Athletic Boosters donated $2.5 million in privately-funded projects to the district.
He was also a member of the district’s Business Advisory Council, the district’s Central Committee, and the Community Advisory Team (CAT), plus helped with operating levies and bond issue campaigns.
Dave is a 40-year resident of the school district. He and his wife, Kathy, have raised four children, all graduates of Milford High School - classes of 1999, 2001, 2006, and 2013.
Dave has worked as a quality engineer for 40 years, the last 17 years of which were spent at L3 Harris (formerly known as KDI Precision Products). During his career he has focused on quality improvement and risk mitigation.
As a member of the Board, Meranda said he looks forward to finding common ground and resolving differences as we collectively strive to maintain Milford Schools as a source of pride in our community.
His hobbies include traveling, hiking, and playing golf. His family regularly attends Milford High School’s theatre, band, choral concerts and sporting events. They also find time to attend the Aronoff Broadway Series, Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Pops performances, and Cincinnati Reds, FC Cincinnati, and UC Bearcat football and basketball games.
Emily Chesnut - Vice President
Emily Chesnut is serving her first term on the Board. She began serving in January 2020 and her term ends Dec. 31, 2023.
Chesnut works at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Biomedical Informatics. She was awarded the “Young Professional of the Year” Award from Children’s in 2016. She also serves as a Board Member for the Clermont County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the Government Affairs Committee for the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati.
Together with her husband Brian, they have four children, who all began their educational careers at Milford Preschool at age 3. Their youngest will graduate from Milford High School in 2031. The family has lived in Milford since 2008.
Chesnut has a passion for advocating not only for her daughter who has Down syndrome, but for all who have special needs. In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, especially making coordinating Halloween costumes for her family.
Her goals while on the Board are to increase effective Board communications, especially communication efforts directed toward residents who do not have children currently attending school in the district.
Jerry Combs - Board Member
Jerry Combs is serving his first term on the board. He was first elected in 2021, and his term ends Dec. 31, 2025.
Combs has lived in the Milford community for 18 years and has two children who both have attended Milford Schools.
He said his goal as a board member is to improve the quality of Milford education.
Combs has served on the Milford Community Advisory (CAT) Team, and is a member of the Aerospace, Security, and Defense Technology Business group, a member of the Society for Human Resource Management group, as well as the Chief Financial Officer Network group.
Combs works for the world’s largest research and advisory firm, which advises senior executives at the world’s largest companies on how to solve problems faster and with better outcomes.
When he is not working, Combs enjoys spending time with my family and watching sporting events.
Melissa Nolan - Board Member
Melissa Nolan is serving her first term on the board. She was elected in 2021, and her term ends on Dec. 31, 2025.
Nolan has lived in the Milford community for 18 years, and in Clermont County for over 25 years.
She currently has a daughter at Milford Jr. High, and all three of her children began their elementary education at Pattison Elementary.
She said her responsibility as a Board member is foremost to represent the community. Her goals are to see an increase in student achievement, accountability and transparency.
Nolan formerly worked in sales, but she said she has been fortunate to be able to stay home with her children and be available for her family.
In her free time, she said she loves when all of her kids are home and enjoys watching and being involved in their sports and activities. She also enjoys traveling and especially spending time at her family lake house.
Emily Mason - Board Member
Emily Mason is serving her first term on the Board. She was elected in 2021, and her term ends on Dec. 31, 2025.
Mason and her husband moved to the Milford community in 2013. She currently has two boys who are attending Seipelt Elementary.
She has served on the Seipelt PTA, Seipelt Yearbook Coordinator, Scouting BSA Leader and Hiking Coordinator.
She currently works in branding as a graphic designer and has done this for 20 years.
Her goal as a board member is to make sure that every child in Milford gets the best education they can possibly get. This means taking care of the intellectual, social and emotional learning gaps caused by the irregularity of the past two years. She said she will do this by making sure we are listening to teachers and parents and leveraging some of the innovative solutions we have come up with during the pandemic.
She said she will also make sure the Board continues to act with fiscal responsibility both in the creation of our new middle school as well as in the day-to-day operations of the district.
In her free time, Mason is a marathoner and is currently training for her first 50-mile ultra-marathon. She also sews clothing, quilts, knits and does cross-stitch and embroidery.
