Celebrating Virtue and Leadership: Country Day Honors Andy Kaplan `75 and Jody Brant `87

Pictured above from L to R: Holly Oblinger Mott `95 (Alumni Council president), Andy Kaplan `75 (Virtue-in-Action Award recipient), Jody Brant `87 (Distinguished Alumni Award recipient), and Rob Zimmerman `98 (head of school).  

The Cincinnati Country Day School community gathered in late September for one of the most meaningful traditions of Homecoming Weekend: the Alumni Breakfast. At this year’s gathering, two extraordinary alumni were honored for lives that exemplify the school’s values of service, integrity, and leadership.

Andrew M. “Andy” Kaplan `75 received the 2025 Virtue in Action Award, recognizing his decades of dedication to others. Joel S. “Jody” Brant `87 was presented with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award, honoring his outstanding leadership in law, philanthropy, and at Country Day itself.

“We are grateful to celebrate two very special alumni; two men who exemplify the best of Country Day,” said Head of School Rob Zimmerman`98. “Thank you for being the living argument for the school our founders envisioned, and the school we intend to become in our next century.”

The Spirit of Service
The Virtue in Action Award recognizes one or more members of the Virtue in Action Society – a guild composed of alumni who are commemorating their fiftieth or greater reunion year – for their dedication, attitude, and motivation expressed through volunteer service to the community. Recipients of the award embody Virtue in Action, the key element of the school’s motto.

When John Youkilis `75 introduced his longtime classmate and friend Andy Kaplan, he didn’t begin with a list of accolades; instead, he spoke about Andy’s humility.

“Andy has lived a life of service to the Cincinnati community since he joined the Service Club in the fall of 1971, and by senior year, he had become the president of the club,” Youkilis reflected. “While his accomplishments are impressive, he also shows that character matters. There is a natural humility to him, and a kind demeanor often hidden by his natural talent…. He has never craved public acknowledgment. He is gracious, often with a laugh and an easy sense of humor, and he personifies the best of the Country Day spirit.”

That spirit first took root as a teenager when, inspired by the opportunities that Country Day provided, Andy discovered that helping others was not just meaningful but indispensable in how he wanted to live his life. “There is a direct through line between Country Day and the service work you’re recognizing me for today,” Kaplan said in his remarks.

Andy recalled three pivotal volunteer experiences from his years at Country Day:

• Stepping Stones: “In ninth grade, I was a camp counselor, and that was a fantastic experience. I’ll never forget seeing an upperclassman, Blake [Selnick `73], gently lift children from their wheelchairs so they could go boating. I thought to myself, ‘That guy is a hero.’ It showed me what service looks like up close.”
• Longview State Mental Hospital: “On Saturdays, we would take kids out to the park or bowling, some kind of activity around town. It was an eye-opening experience and one that Country Day afforded me, and an example of Country Day reaching out to the broader community.”
• Summer Enrichment Program: “This was maybe the best job I ever had. Kids from other schools came to campus and we tutored them in the mornings. It was another example of Country Day reaching beyond the acres, saying, ‘You need to get out there and do something in the bigger world.’”

After graduating from Country Day, Andy attended Amherst College for his bachelor’s degree and then received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown. He built a distinguished career in employment and workers’ compensation law with Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, yet continued to volunteer throughout the community. He has provided volunteer legal services to the disadvantaged, and is currently serving as a Big Brother, and a volunteer tutor at Hays Porter Elementary in Cincinnati’s West End. There, he not only mentors children in reading but also recruited 22 other lawyers to join the effort and successfully lobbied to keep the school open when it faced closure. He has provided more than five decades of wide-ranging service work, and commends Country Day for showing him the importance of giving back.

“Through the Service Club, Country Day has provided 63 years of service thus far, and the good work continues; students still go to all kinds of places to volunteer their time. Bravo to Country Day for that.”

John mirrored that sentiment. “Thank you, Country Day, for giving us a club that had nothing to do with college applications or self-promotion, but everything to do with volunteering to make others’ lives better. We need that spirit now more than ever.”

The Power of Leadership
If Andy embodies service, Joel S. “Jody” Brant `87 embodies leadership.

In introducing Jody, Head of School Rob Zimmerman `98 described him as “one of the pre-eminent lawyers in Cincinnati…a community leader in countless endeavors. But while Jody’s record of accomplishment and service is wide-ranging, his leadership at Country Day merits special mention. As board chair, he steered CCDS through a sequence of tests that would have strained the patience and tested the sanity of a less sturdy temperament: He co-chaired a capital campaign to invest in our teachers and scholarship assistance, he navigated a mascot change, he led the school through a world-altering global pandemic, and he headed a head-of-school transition, to name just a few of his major accomplishments.”

A Dartmouth graduate with a Juris Doctor from Georgetown and an LLM in Taxation from New York University, he is now president and CEO of Katz Teller, where he is trusted advisor to many of Cincinnati’s most prominent leaders. But his leadership has never been confined to the law. He has chaired or served on the boards of the Christ Hospital Foundation, Easter Seals Tristate, Jewish Vocational Services, Cincinnati Squash Academy, and the Mayerson JCC, among many others.

Yet, for Jody, his deepest impact may well be at his alma mater. As a trustee, board president, and foundation board chair, he shepherded Country Day through some of the most consequential years in its modern history.

“Country Day has had an enormous impact on who I am today,” Jody said. “I spent a significant part of my life on this campus – not just as a student, but later as a parent and volunteer. The opportunities I was given here allowed me to develop as a leader.”

In his acceptance, Jody shared lessons about leadership that drew directly from those experiences:

1. Leadership is not about being in charge: “You can lead from any position. As a member of the JV and varsity basketball teams, I worked to make those around me better. CCDS gave me numerous opportunities to be part of a team to achieve a common goal.”
2. Leadership is not about perfection: “The only way that progress can happen is by deciding where you want to go and starting the journey, which will almost always not go as planned.”
3. Leadership is about process: “Meaningful change in complex organizations requires a process in order to be successful.”
4. Leadership is about showing up: “If you want to be in the room where decisions are made, you have to show up and participate. When you show up, leave your ego at the door.”
5. Leadership is about thinking of others: “To be an effective leader, you cannot have a personal agenda.”
6. Leadership is less about speaking and more about listening: “The school’s character virtues are great guides for making decisions, but they only work if you listen to the people around you.”
7. Leadership is about diversity and inclusion: “Every decision we made was better when we included a variety of viewpoints.”

 “On behalf of the entire Country Day community, we congratulate Jody on his outstanding achievements,” said Zimmerman. “We are grateful to have been the recipient of so much of his wisdom and leadership.”