Who We Are
The single defining common denominator of alignment amongst our stakeholder group (family offices) is our unequivocal belief and unwavering commitment to achieve triple bottom line returns – sustainable social returns (people and planet) will enable equitable financial returns (prosperity).
In Partnership,
Human Capital Development, LLC.
676 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 4000, Chicago, IL 60611.
Anil brings 30 years of Financial Services, Technology and management consulting (driving revenue growth, and operational efficiency) expertise that has been the result of experience with his family office and also leading global financial advisory institutions such as (but not limited to) Capgemini Ernst & Young, JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Lehman, Barclays, Standard Chartered, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Nomura. His investment management to advisory experience through investment enterprises such as (but not limited to) Human Capital Development, Global Blockchain Ventures, Solid Rock, and Matrix represent a multi-billion dollar portfolio consisting of real-estate (residential, commercial, and hospitality), media and entertainment (video games, feature films and OTT), healthcare (pharma, hospital, digital healthcare), education (K-12, Higher Ed), consumer products (agriculture, food and beverage, retail), and technology (in above verticals). He has served as a senior economic advisory to State Government of Andhra Pradesh, India (GDP of $82 Billion USD) from 2014-2019 – State was rated #1 during his tenure for fastest GDP growth and for ease of doing business (with U.S, E.U, and Middle East). This diverse industry (investment and operational) experience has enabled successful relationships with enterprises such as (but not limited to) The Walt Disney Company, General Electric, Intel, Prudential Financial, Microsoft, Walmart, Amazon, Coca Cola, Darden, Qualcomm, and World Bank. He has a Bachelors (Honors) Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani (India) and a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering (Supply Chain Management) from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst).
Chas Edelstein
Chas served as Co-CEO and director of the Board of Apollo Education Group which is one of the largest operators of educational institutions in the world, with hundreds of thousands of students in dozens of countries throughout the world. While leading the team at Apollo, Chas championed numerous quality focused initiatives at the firm's flagship University of Phoenix. Additionally, he brought focus to a strategy aimed at broadening and diversifying the group's operations, including international expansion and innovative learning models. Chas continues to serve as a senior advisor to the firm. Prior to Apollo, Chas was Managing Director of Credit Suisse, a global financial services firm, where he served for over 21 years. Chas’s leadership duties included his role as the head of the Global Services Group within the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse. This group provides advisory services regarding acquisitions, dispositions and capital raising transactions. Chas founded and oversaw Credit Suisse’s leading advisory practice in the education industry, where he served as advisor to many of the largest education companies, including Apollo Group. He also served as head of the firm's Chicago office, providing leadership in the growth of the professionals and the broad based Midwest investment banking practice of Credit Suisse. Prior to his work at CS, he was with Price Waterhouse (now PWC) for three years as an auditor and management consultant. Mr. Edelstein currently serves on the PWC Alumni Advisory Board, and is also a member of the Madison Dearborn Partners Advisory Roundtable. Additionally, he serves as a director on the boards of Triumph Education, Lightspeed Systems, Carnegie Learning, Junior Achievement (including its Investment Committee). He received a B.A. with highest distinction from the University of Illinois and his CPA from the State of Illinois. He also holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar with high distinction.
Greg Cappelli
Gregory Cappelli served as the fourth Chief Executive Officer of Apollo Education Group (AEG) from 2009 to 2017. Apollo is a multi-billion dollar publicly traded global education and training company serving over a million university graduates. In 2016, Mr. Cappelli successfully helped organize and execute on a plan to take AEG private and establish new ownership under Apollo Global Management (AGM) and The Vistria Group. During his tenure, he founded and is the current Executive Chairman of Apollo Global, now known as Vanta Education Group, which operates colleges and universities that have served hundreds of thousands of students globally. Apollo Global has made over a dozen acquisitions (including Brazil, Chile and Mexico). Before joining AEG in 2007, Mr. Cappelli spent over a decade as a Managing Director for Credit Suisse, where he served as a Senior Research Analyst and founded the Credit Suisse Global Services Group. He authored over 10,000 pages of research and is responsible for raising capital and bringing public dozens of companies in the education, training and business services sectors. He is credited for bringing the first university (Anhanguera Educacional) in Brazil public. Prior to Credit Suisse, Mr. Cappelli held the position of Senior Research Analyst at ABN AMRO Securities. Mr. Cappelli received his BA in Economics from Indiana University where he also studied Piano Performance and performed regularly in various musical concerts. He received his Masters of Business Administration from the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University where he served on the Board of Trustees for nine years. Mr. Cappelli serves on the National Board of Governors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and the Committee for Economic Development in Washington, DC. He serves on the Board of Trustees for University of Phoenix, BPP University Holdings UK, University Latinoamericana, Mexico, Open Colleges Australia, and Faculdade da Educacional da Lapa (FAEL), Brazil. Mr Cappelli is the Chairman of the American Academy of Public Coders (AAPC). He is a member of the Wall Street Journal CEO council and the Milken Global Institute.
Mark Grier
Mark Grier is the current CEO of Freddie Mac and Board Member of Freddie Mac. Prior to that, he spent over 20 years at Prudential Insurance (NYSE: PRU) – he joined Prudential in 1995 as Chief Financial Officer and held several positions before being named to the Office of the Chairman in 2002 and as Vice Chairman in 2007. He oversaw a wide array of functions, including Finance, Risk Management, Chief Investment Officer, Corporate Actuarial, Investor Relations, Global Business & Technology Solutions, and Global Marketing and Communications. He also led Global Strategic Initiatives, which oversaw Prudential’s international retirement and China strategies. In late 2001, he led the $3 billion initial public offering of Prudential Financial, which was the one of the largest IPOs in history at the time. Grier previously held various positions at Chase Manhattan Corporation and its predecessor from 1978 to 1995, including Executive Vice President, Global Risk Management and Executive Vice President, Co-Head of Global Markets. Grier attended Eastern Illinois University where he received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in economics. He also earned an MBA in finance and corporate accounting from The University of Rochester. He is Chairman of Achieve (a leading non-profit education organization that has spent two decades helping states make college and career readiness a priority for all students). He is Chairman of the Global Impact Investing Network (an industry leading non-profit with over 300 members in 50 countries that have been developing the standards for impact investment industry). He is a Trustee of Eisenhower Fellow and the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).
John Thompson
John W. Thompson joined the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) board in February 2012, and became independent board chairman of Microsoft Corp. on Feb. 4, 2014. He is also a member of Board of Directors of Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) since 2017. Previously, he served on the boards of Symantec (now two NASDAQ listed companies: AVGO & NLOK), Fortune Brands (now two NYSE listed companies: FBHS & BEAM), Liquid Robotics (acquired by The Boeing Company), Seagate Technologies (NASDAQ: SDX) and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS). He was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Symantec for 10 years, during which time he helped transform the company into a leader in security, storage and systems management solutions where he oversaw 10x revenue growth from $600M to $6B and led the company through a diverse set of strategic shifts and transactions. Thompson also held several leadership positions during his 28 years at IBM in the areas of sales, marketing and software development, and he also served as general manager of IBM Americas. In 2018, he became a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Since 2009, Thompson has been an active investor in early-stage technology companies in the Silicon Valley. In addition to his services in the technology industry, he is also a member of the board of trustees for the Wetland America Trust. He has served on the national board of Teach for America and on several government commissions that include the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee, and the Silicon Valley Blue Ribbon Task Force on Aviation Security and Technology. He is also an individual investor in education technology companies such as Flockjay and Multiverse. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida A&M University, and a master’s degree in management science from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business, and in 2014 he received an honorary doctorate degree from Florida A&M University.
Steve Koch
Steve Koch served as the Deputy Mayor of Chicago from September 2012 to August 2017. His responsibilities included economic development, planning, job creation and development, budget issues, municipal finance, and revenue. In that role, he was instrumental in rebuilding Chicago’s finances and boosting its post-recession economy by quarter-backing the city’s enormous success pulling in corporate headquarters and adding 50,000 new jobs, led plans for the city to spend billions revitalizing its infrastructure, particularly the Chicago Transit Authority and substantial upgrades to O’Hare Airport, and revamped rules regarding real estate development and affordable housing. Prior to that, he spent 27 years at Credit Suisse. During his tenure at CS, he both ran and was the co-chairman of the global mergers and acquisitions business. Under his leadership, the business saw yearly peak revenues of $2.5 billion. In his distinguished career, Steve has advised on landmark transactions across a broad range of industries that together comprise more than $1 trillion worth of transactions. He is the Chair of the Boards of the Chicago Tech Collaborative and the Chicago River Task Force and sits on the boards of the Chicago Community Trust, mHUB, Navy Pier Inc., Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Naturally Chicago, Southland Development Authority, James Beard Foundation and the visiting committee of the University of Chicago Law School. He is also on the board of CohesionIB, Local Coho and the advisory board of Fast Radius, Inc. He helped develop and taught in the Director's Consortium, a seminar sponsored by Dartmouth, the University of Chicago and Stanford Business Schools that trains corporate directors and served as a Presidential appointee to the Independent Advisory Panel of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. His past civic commitments include chairman of the board of Sinai Health System of Chicago and the Greater Chicago Food Depository and co-chair of the City of Chicago’s Green Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and Climate Change. He is also a life trustee of the Francis Parker School. Koch received his B.A. from Hampshire College, his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Chicago Law School. He was a Henry Luce Fellow and served as a law clerk for Judge Richard Cudahy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh.
Mel Martinez
For more than a decade, Mel Martinez is Chairman of the Southeast U.S. and Latin America for JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM). In addition to his role with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Mel serves on the boards of Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE: VAC) as Lead Director and NVR, Inc (NYSE: NVR). He has also served as Chairman of JPMorgan Chase Foundation (which over the past 20 years has given over $ 2 Billion to thousands of non-profits globally) and brings a wealth of experience in the area of impact investments. Prior to this, Mel was elected to the United States Senate in 2004. Representing Florida as a U.S. Senator, he served on several committees including Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Armed Services, Energy & Natural Resources, Commerce, Science, Transportation and Foreign Affairs. While serving in the Senate, Mel led efforts to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and was a trusted voice on foreign policy issues throughout the Western Hemisphere. Prior to his time in the Senate, he served as the 12th Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As the first Cuban American to serve in a President’s cabinet, he became known for his efforts to increase homeownership for all Americans and his aggressive efforts to end chronic homelessness. Mel also served as Mayor of Orange County (Orlando, Florida) and prior to his public service, he practiced law for 25 years. He received both his B.S. and J.D. from Florida State University. He is recipient of numerous awards such as Ohtli Silver Medal from the Government of Mexico, Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, Order of Malta Tuitio Fidei award, Order of Saint Gregory.
William J. Shaw
William J. Shaw is a member of Board of Directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) since May 2012 when The Carlyle Group become a publicly listed company. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: VAC), a Director of DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE: DRH, where he serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee and serves on the Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee) and is a former member of the Board of Trustees of three funds in the American Family of mutual funds from 2009 to 2015. Mr. Shaw serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame and the Board of Trustees of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. He was the Vice Chairman of Marriott International, Inc. until his retirement in March 2011. Prior to becoming Vice Chairman of Marriott, Mr. Shaw served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Marriott from 1997 until 2009. Mr. Shaw joined Marriott in 1974 and held various positions, including Corporate Controller, Corporate Vice President, Senior Vice President- Finance, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and President of Marriott Service Group. Prior to joining Marriott, Mr. Shaw worked at Arthur Andersen & Co. Mr. Shaw graduated from the University of Notre Dame and received an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Marc Pinto
For more than three decades, Mr. Pinto has excelled in a wide variety of buy-side, sell-side, and portfolio management roles. He served as a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors for 26 years beginning in 1994, repeatedly demonstrating his ability to achieve strong shareholder returns. As lead portfolio manager for the Janus Twenty Fund, Janus Henderson Growth & Income Fund, and Janus Henderson Balanced Fund, he is a repeat Lipper Refinitv Award winner in the Multi Asset Category. Prior to that Mr. Pinto was an Associate in the Investment Banking division at Goldman Sachs & Co., where he developed expertise in both private and public debt and equity financings. During his time there, he advised a number of consumer brands including Anheuser Busch, PepsiCo, Sherwin Williams and American Airlines. Mr. Pinto holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s in American History from Yale University.
Gregory David Johnson
Mr. Johnson is a seasoned executive who brings more than 27 years of investment experience to the firm’s management team. During the course of his career, Mr. Johnson has invested in a variety of consumer-related sectors, including retail, footwear, and the restaurant industry. From 1994 to 2003, Mr. Johnson worked as an Investment Analyst at American Funds/Capital Group. After that Mr. Johnson spent 17 years as a Portfolio Manager at American Funds/Capital Group managing funds across the investment spectrum, including growth and income strategies. He also served as the Principal Investment Officer of one of American Funds/Capital Group’s largest balanced funds, the American Balanced Fund, from 2011 to 2020, and was a member of the American Balanced Fund’s board of directors from 2010 to 2020. During his tenure, the American Balanced Fund grew to over $200 billion in assets under management by the end of 2020. In addition, Mr. Johnson also served on several internal boards at Capital Group, including serving from 2016 to 2020 on the Capital Research and Management Board. Mr. Johnson holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Jack Larson
Jack Larson has been an innovator in private post-secondary education for over 30 years. He is the founder of Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ: CECO), one of the world’s largest on-campus providers of private, for-profit post-secondary education, and the second largest online education company in its sector. Larson served as president, CEO, and a member of the company’s board of directors from its inception in 1994 through 2006, served as chairman of the board from 2000 to 2006, and continues as chairman emeritus. Under his leadership, CECO acquired renowned brands, including Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America, and pioneered its unique virtual campus used in several highly successful, fully online platforms. He is on the Board of 2U (NASDAQ: TWOU). He is president of Triumph Group, Inc., which holds interests in and advises both domestic and international education companies. He is an advisor and investor in companies in Malaysia and India, and is chairman of the board of Asian Education Investment, Ltd. Larson was one of Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneurs of the Year” in 2000. In 2006, he was inducted into the “Haas Hall of Fame,” at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and currently serves on Haas’ advisory board. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.
Bharat N. Anand
Bharat N. Anand is the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning at Harvard University, and the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Professor Anand helped create Harvard Business School’s digital learning initiative, HBS Online (formerly, HBX), in 2014, and served as its first faculty chair and Senior Associate Dean. He helped oversee the design and creation of HBX’s digital learning platforms, and created one of its first online courses. HBS Online has received accolades for its innovative approach to online pedagogy, and its virtual classroom has been described by Fortune as the “Classroom of the Future.” In his current role as Vice Provost, Professor Anand leads Harvard University's strategic efforts around online learning, and around leveraging technology to create more effective teaching tools, strategies, and resources for residential teaching. He was part of the leadership team that helped the University transition to remote teaching in 2020, and he currently chairs Harvard's Future of Teaching and Learning Task Force. Professor Anand has been on the Board of Directors of edX since its inception in 2012 (jointly launched by MIT and Harvard) as an open-source technology platform for online courses with a mission to increase access to high-quality education for everyone, everywhere; enhance teaching and learning on campus and online; and advance teaching and learning through research. Over the course of nine years, edX has had widespread impact and now offers more than 3,000 courses from 194 partner universities, with over 15,000 instructors educating more than 39 million learners worldwide to date. Several countries have also leveraged the open edX open-source learning platform as part of their educational strategy. Professor Anand is an expert in digital strategy, media and entertainment strategy, corporate strategy, and organizational change. His work has examined competition in information goods markets, focusing on two central challenges that firms face in these markets: “getting noticed” amidst the increasing clutter of alternatives available to consumers, and “getting paid” for what they produce. His recent book, The Content Trap: A Strategist’s Guide to Digital Change (Random House) examines digital transformation in content industries, with a view to distilling the learnings from a quarter century of change that might inform digital efforts elsewhere. The book has received acclaim for its perspective on strategy and digital transformation, and was named as one of Fast Company’s top ten business books of 2016, Bloomberg’s “Best Books of 2017”, and received the Axiom Best Business Book Award in “Business Theory” (Silver) in 2018. Professor Anand's papers – which have been published in several leading journals in economics, marketing, and strategy, and received various awards - have shed light on the roles of branding and advertising as vehicles of matching and information, on competition between cable news networks, and on strategies that firms employ to tackle the challenge of weak or insecure property rights, the financing of R&D, the structure of technology licensing contracts, and the industrial organization of financial intermediation markets. Professor Anand created Harvard Business School’s first executive program on digital strategies for media companies, and was a faculty co-founder of HBS’ interdisciplinary research initiative on digital issues. He has authored numerous case studies in business and corporate strategy, including those on Danaher, The Economist, International Management Group, News Corporation, Random House, and Schibsted. His research and case writing has received various awards, and his work has been profiled in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., and Bloomberg. His work on digital transformation has influenced both start-ups and established companies, and he has advised leading organizations and entrepreneurs across the globe. Professor Anand has served as faculty head of the required Strategy course in the MBA program, has taught Strategy in the General Management Program, and has served as faculty chair of various executive programs at the school. For several years, he taught the popular second-year elective course in Corporate Strategy in the MBA elective curriculum, for which he received the Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence at HBS from the MBA class of 2006 and the MBA class of 2007. He has also received the Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching at HBS. Professor Anand received his B.A. in economics from Harvard College magna cum laude, and his PhD in economics from Princeton University. He is a recipient of the Greenhill Award for outstanding contributions to Harvard Business School, and the Apgar Award for Innovations in Teaching.
Tilak Mandadi
A versatile and transformative leader, Tilak is the Chief Data, Digital and Technology Officer of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and was the Chief Digital and Global Chief Technology Officer & Executive Committee Member at the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) where he oversaw a large global and diverse team of digital, data, operations, technology, creative and emerging products professionals responsible for serving over 150 million annual guests and consumers worldwide across the theme parks, hotels, cruise ships, Disney stores, restaurants, e-commerce, licensing & publishing, games, Disney vacation club properties and the adventures by Disney travel businesses. Tilak brings a unique blend of commercial, operational and experiential focus to his role, and his teams are defined by their strategic thought leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, consumer focus, execution excellence and business growth orientation. Tilak maintains strong hands-on expertise in creating compelling products, experiences and engagement for customers and employees using digital and physical convergence, omni-channel commerce, process and physical automation, data science and analytics, AI/ML, emerging technology R&D, lean practices, and cyber security. Tilak is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, early career talent development and women in technology. He currently co-chairs the world’s largest Special Olympics benefit tournament and is actively engaged in driving new environmental initiatives across the businesses and communities in which Disney Parks, Experiences and Products operates. Over the course of his executive career, Tilak has very successfully led innovative startups as well as large global organizations across different industries and diverse cultures, including Financial Services, Hospitality, Travel and Entertainment, Retail, Food and Beverage, IT Services, and Energy Trading. Prior to Disney, Tilak led global Digital Transformation (Cards, Consumer Travel, Banking) at American Express, along with M&A technology diligence. Previously, he held senior leadership roles at FedEx Office (Kinko’s), and Dell Online and started his career as a technical consultant at AT&T Bell Labs.
Dr.Barbara Jenkins
Dr. Barbara Jenkins has been dedicated to serving the public sector K-12 education needs for 30 years. For close to a decade, as Superintendent, she actively manages ~ $5 Billion (annual budget) Orange County Public Schools (OCPS). OCPS is among the largest public-school districts in United States educating over 200,000 students (who come from 197 countries and speak 172 languages and dialects) utilizing a highly scalable technology enabled infrastructure consisting of over 200 schools and over 25,000 employees who have consistently delivered educational excellence to a diverse student population (43% Hispanic, 24% Black, 5% Asian). She is the Chair of Board of Council of the Great City Schools which represents 76 of the largest urban public-school systems in United States dedicated to the improvement of education for children in the inner cities. She is on the Board of Trustees of world's largest educational testing and measurement organization – ETS – which each year develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests — including the TOEFL®️, TOEIC®️, GRE®️ and Praxis®️ tests — in more than 180 countries at more than 9,000 locations. She serves on the executive board of directors of Chiefs for Change, an enterprise that leads state and education systems in United States that together include more than 7 million students, 454,000 teachers, and 14,000 schools. In January 2017, she received a presidential appointment as a director of the National Board of Education Sciences which guides The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) - IES is the statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education that helps educators, policymakers and stakeholders improve outcomes for all students. Under Dr. Jenkins' leadership, OCPS won many awards such as the prestigious 2014 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the Governor’s Sterling Award in 2014 and 2015 and the Sustained Excellence Award in 2017 for its exemplary performance using research-based best practices in its business. In 2017, she was named the Florida Superintendent of the Year, the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents named her Hispanic-Serving School District Superintendent of the Year and the Florida Association for Career and Technical Education named her CTE Superintendent of the Year.
Richard Barth
As CEO of the KIPP Foundation, Richard leads the growth of the KIPP network, which has grown from 45 to 270 schools, from 8,000 to more than 120,000 students, and from 400 to more than 45,000 alumni. Under Richard’s leadership, KIPP dramatically expanded KIPP’s leadership development programs, advocated for high performing charter schools on Capitol Hill, and secured partnerships with 97 colleges and universities. Richard came to KIPP from Edison Schools, where he served as President of District Partnerships. He also served as Member of Board at General Assembly for over 5 years till its acquisition by the Adecco Group. Prior to joining Edison, Barth was one of the founding staff members of Teach For America. Richard earned a B.A. in American History from Harvard University, and is an Aspen Institute- New Schools Fellow. He currently serves as Chairman of board of directors of Braven and is on the board of directors of the KIPP Foundation. Richard was named a 2014 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year and Harvard University’s Chief Marshal for 2014.
Ted Mitchell
Ted Mitchell is the President of the American Council on Education (ACE), the coordinating body for higher education institutions in the United States. ACE’s work encompasses policy advocacy; program development; and research focusing on equity, access, and student achievement. He is a Director on the Board of Coursera (NYSE: COUR), Khan Academy and on the Board of Governors of TIAA. Mitchell’s leadership of ACE and of the nation’s higher education sector is informed by a lifetime of work in higher education as a professor, dean, college president, trustee, and most recently as U.S. Under Secretary of Education in the Obama administration. As Under Secretary of Education, he championed postsecondary education policy reforms and access to high-quality outcomes for all students. Mitchell also has deep experience in K–12 education, having served as CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund—a venture philanthropy investing in K–12 innovation to support low-income students, schools, and communities within public education. Since inception, the Fund invested over $300 million in over one thousand education innovators. Mitchell served as the President of the California State Board of Education. He also served as President of Occidental College, vice chancellor and dean of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, and professor and Chair of the Department of Education at Dartmouth College. Ted received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from Stanford University, where he also served as a member of the Board of Trustees.
James Runcie
James Runcie’s professional career spans the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Mr. Runcie has advised and worked with numerous companies in a variety of industries including technology, education, financial services, consumer and others. Mr. Runcie has advised organizations located in the Americas, Europe and Asia on strategic capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, risk management and governance. Mr. Runcie is currently the chief executive officer and co-founder of the Education Finance Institute (EFI), a nonprofit organization committed to supporting social mobility through the strengthening of postsecondary institutions that serve low-income, first generation and under-resourced students and families. Prior to EFI, Mr. Runcie was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to lead Federal Student Aid (FSA) as its chief operating officer. FSA manages the student loan portfolio which currently has more than $1.5 trillion in assets, disburses loans and grants of $120 billion annually and is responsible for the oversight of more than six thousand Title IV eligible institutions. During Mr. Runcie tenure as the longest serving leader of FSA, he managed an annual administrative budget of $1.6 billion and more than 13,000 staff and contractors. Mr. Runcie proudly served with a team of leaders that delivered numerous and significant accomplishments including top customer satisfaction scores (ACSI), substantial reductions in student default rates (20% plus), unprecedented expansion of Direct Loans and Pell grants, and record FSA employee satisfaction levels (FEVS). Mr. Runcie spent 19 years as an investment banker, delivering results at major domestic and international financial institutions including UBS, Bank of America and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Mr. Runcie held various leadership and management roles in both product and industry groups and on critical institutional committees. Mr. Runcie has originated or executed domestic and cross-border transactions totaling billions of dollars involving capital raising, mergers and financial advisory assignments. Mr. Runcie is a first-generation high school and college graduate and consequently believes strongly in the transformative power of education. Mr. Runcie has served on several nonprofit boards relating to education or youth development, which continue to be his passions. Mr. Runcie is a current board member of the Student Freedom Initiative, Class Acceleration Corp. and local community serving organizations. Mr. Runcie is also an investment committee member of the College Board. Mr. Runcie holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the College of Holy Cross.
Russlynn Ali
Russlynn Ali has been a leading advocate for educational equity for more than two decades. As Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Department of Education during President Obama’s first term, Ali spearheaded the federal government’s renewed engagement with equity issues in schools across the nation. Previously, Ali was a founding Executive Director of Education Trust- West; and Vice President of the Education Trust. She is Managing Director of the Education Fund at Emerson Collective and CEO and co-founder—with Laurene Powell Jobs—of XQ Institute. XQ is committed to transforming public high schools to close achievement and opportunity gaps, and to making schools the center of community revitalization. For Ali, education is America’s central civil rights issue today. In 2015, XQ launched with an open call to the nation to design the high school of the future. Within a few months, XQ had rallied tens of thousands of people from all 50 states around the idea of innovative, student-centered high schools that prepare all young people for tomorrow’s world. XQ helps communities rethink their high schools by supporting locally-driven redesign and by open-sourcing everything XQ does and everything the XQ schools are learning to inspire redesign across the country. Because of her commitment to research-driven innovation, Ali points to the latest neuroscience on adolescent learning, which proves that high school is not too late for struggling students to fulfill their promise as learners. She also knows that the high schools of the future must be grounded in the best of what’s known about effective, equitable learning environments. Ali began her career as a classroom teacher. She’s now an attorney and advocate who believes that what’s needed today is a powerful movement to bring American education into the 21st century.
Jamie Merisotis
Jamie Merisotis is a globally recognized leader in philanthropy, education, human work and talent development, and public policy. He has been president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, the largest private foundation (with assets of $1.5 billion) in the U.S. focused on post-high school learning, since 2008. He previously was co-founder and president of the nonpartisan, Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Higher Education Policy and also served as executive director of a bipartisan national commission on college affordability appointed by the U.S. president and congressional leaders. Merisotis has extensive global experience as a human capital advisor and consultant in southern Africa, the former Soviet Union, Europe, and other parts of the world. A respected global analyst and innovator, Merisotis is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Merisotis also is a trustee and advisor for a diverse array of organizations around the world. He serves as a Governor of The Ditchley Foundation, based in the United Kingdom, and is past chairman and continuing trustee of the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C. as well asThe Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest museum for children. He currently serves as shareholder and advisory board member for Certree, a Silicon Valley-based startup, and is a board member of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and several other entities. Merisotis has received numerous awards and holds honorary degrees from several universities and colleges. He is the author of two acclaimed book America Needs Talent, named a Top 10 Business book of 2016 by Booklist, and Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines, released to wide praise in October 2020.He is often requested as a media commentator and contributor. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, National Journal, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Washington Monthly, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call, and other publications. Merisotis established Lumina Foundation’s impact investing platform in 2011, which currently deploys $50 million in assets to mission-driven education and workforce training investment managers, and which also deploys another $30 million in direct-equity capital for 15 early stage companies focused in the postsecondary learning space.
Eduardo J. Padron
An American by choice, Eduardo Padrón arrived in the United States as a teenage refugee in 1961. He is the President Emeritus of Miami Dade College (MDC), having served as its President for almost 25 years. He is credited with elevating MDC, the largest degree granting institution in America, into a position of national prominence among the best and most recognized U.S. colleges and universities. An economist by training, Dr. Padrón earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of America's oldest and most prestigious organizations. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., for being a prominent national voice for access and inclusion in higher education. In 2020 the Florida Council of 100 awarded him the “2020 Grand Floridian” Prize. In 2009, TIME magazine included him on the list of “The 10 Best College Presidents.” In 2010, Florida Trend magazine placed him on the cover of its inaugural “Floridian of the Year” issue. In 2011, The Washington Post named him one of the eight most influential college presidents in the U.S. Also in 2011, he was awarded the prestigious 2011 Carnegie Corporation Centennial Academic Leadership Award. In 2012, he received the Citizen Service Award from Voices for National Service, the coveted TIAA Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence, and the Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship. In 2015, he was inducted into the U.S. News & World Report STEM Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Harry Truman Award from the American Association of Community Colleges. Dr. Padrón’s energetic leadership extends to many of the nation’s leading organizations. He is the past chair of the board of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) and is a past chair of the board of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and former chair of the Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF). During his career, he has been selected to serve on posts of national prominence by five American presidents. Internationally, President Padrón’s accomplishments have been recognized by numerous nations and organizations including the Republic of France, which named him Commandeur in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques; the Republic of Argentina, which awarded him the Order of San Martin; Spain’s King Juan Carlos II, who bestowed upon him the Order of Queen Isabella; Spain’s Prince and Princess of Asturias, Felipe and Letizia, who presented him with the Juan Ponce de Leon 500th Anniversary award; Morocco's King Mohammed VI, who appointed him Honorary Consul in Florida of the Kingdom of Morocco in 2016, and the Amicus Poloniae from the Republic of Poland. Dr. Padrón’s pace-setting work at Miami Dade College has been hailed as a model of innovation in higher education. He is credited with engineering a culture of success that has produced impressive results in student access, retention, graduation, and overall achievement. MDC enrolls and graduates more minorities than any other institution in the United States, including the largest numbers of Hispanics and African-Americans. Under Dr. Padrón’s leadership, Miami Dade College has received national recognition for its longstanding involvement with its urban community, its catalytic effect for social and economic change, and the marked difference the College has made in student access and success through pace-setting initiatives. He has served on several national commissions including Aspen Institute, Council on Foreign Relations, Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Century Foundation, National Science Foundation, National Governors Association, American Bar Association, Lumina Foundation, and others. He currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations; Urban Institute; Spencer Foundation; Education Trust; ACT; College Promise (Chair); National Commission on Inclusive Capitalism; Dream.US; Concordia Leadership Council; Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream and World Strategic Forum (Chair). In past years he has held leadership positions on the boards of the Federal Reserve Board of Atlanta, Miami Branch (past Chair); the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Achieving the Dream; Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities (Chair); the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the White House Commission on Educational Excellence; Campus Compact; Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute; The College Board; and the White House/Congressional Commission of the National Museum of the American Latino. He is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and prestigious awards. Dr. Padron is a prolific writer with several publications and articles to his credit.
Mark Becker
Mark Becker has 35 plus year career in higher education, including appointments at the University of Florida, University of Washington, University of Michigan and leadership positions at the University of Minnesota and University of South Carolina. In 2009, he began his tenure as the seventh president of Georgia State University (GSU). At GSU he led the transformation of the university from a formerly little known “commuter school” into one of the nation’s premier urban research universities. As a first-generation college student who began his educational career at a community college, Becker is personally and professionally committed to ensuring that students of all economic backgrounds succeed. Building on that commitment, the university has become a widely recognized national leader in the introduction of innovative programs and initiatives to foster student success. It leads the nation in eliminating disparities in graduation rates based on race, ethnicity or income, and as one of the most diverse universities in America, is first in the nation among nonprofit institutions in graduating African- American students. Georgia State’s consolidation with Georgia Perimeter College in 2016 brought the university’s student enrollment to more than 50,000, making it the largest university in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation. Since consolidation, the university’s Perimeter College has tripled its graduation rate and now ranks 20th in the nation for student success among 838 two-year colleges in a ranking by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Becker also has aggressively advanced the physical development of the university’s Atlanta campus, and Georgia State is widely acknowledged as the most significant catalyst in the revitalization of downtown Atlanta. The university has been consistently ranked as one of the three most innovative universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report magazine, and Becker has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being named one of America’s 10 most innovative university presidents by Washington Monthly in 2015, the Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 2017, and the Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education from TIAA Institute in 2019.
Stephen J. Giusto
As a board member and committee chair, Steve Giusto advises CEO’s, executive management teams and investors of public and private services companies through major strategic shifts as the result of evolving regulatory environments, competitive threats and new growth opportunities. He is an expert in financial management; risk management, including compliance with SEC and other regulatory requirements, including Sarbanes-Oxley; capital raising, both public and private equity and debt; mergers and acquisitions; and all aspects of board service and governance. He is a member of the board, chair of the audit committee and member of the compensation committee of Employbridge ($3 Billion in annual revenues), the largest industrial staffing company in the United States. He was an independent member of the board of directors of Apollo Education Group (NASDAQ: APOL) and a member of its audit committee from 2009 to 2011, when he joined the Apollo Group executive team. He was one of three founders and a member of the board of directors of Resources Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ: RECN) from its inception in 1996 through 2007. During that tenure, RECN grew from start-up to approximately $1 billion of revenues and $2 billion of market capitalization. His key accomplishments included a successful LBO from Deloitte, establishment of a wholly independent infrastructure upon exiting Deloitte, highly successful initial and secondary public offerings, and expansion of the business across national and international markets. He was a partner at Deloitte where he spent 13 years, including two in the firm’s national office soon after the Deloitte and Touche merger. He was admitted as an audit partner in 1996. He is chair of the board of the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, an Orange County and New York-based organization focused on raising funds for research aimed at curing pediatric cancer. He was for 17 years a member of the board of trustees and chaired numerous board committees of Cate School, a college preparatory boarding school in Carpinteria, California. He was previously chair of the board of the American Cancer Society.
Folline Cullen
Since 2007, Folline Cullen has served in leadership roles in educational institutions. With direct experience in successfully buying and selling companies, Folline has a proven track record of preparing companies for transaction readiness and direct experience in understanding and providing thought leadership in regulatory, financial, legal, and tax requirements in global jurisdictions. Folline is currently the President of Vanta Education, an international education conglomerate owned by Apollo Global Management and The Vistria Group. While leading Vanta Education, she oversaw a network of businesses across the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia, India and South Africa, driving growth and positively impacting the number of students served. During Folline’s term, Vanta Education has made acquisitions and numerous divestitures. Folline joined Apollo Global from her role as CFO of Educate Online, Inc. (now operating as Meteor Learning), an online competency-based educational service provider, formerly owned by Sterling Partners. Prior to joining Educate Online, Folline was the CFO of Wall Street International (now operating as Wall Street English), an international English language education for adults franchise spanning Asia and Europe, formerly owned by the Carlyle Group. She began her career in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche, New York, as a Certified Public Accountant focused primarily on large public companies. Folline holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Southern California.
Vic Bhagat
Vic recently retired from Verizon as Senior Vice President and global CIO of Verizon Enterprise (~$30 Billion in annual revenues). He led the company's global Information Technology organization, strategy, and execution worldwide, spanning all lines of businesses for the enterprise. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), Vic focused on digital transformation, innovation, product development and technology solutions, helping Verizon Enterprise lead digital acceleration with customer-centered solutions. In addition, his team designed and delivered the next-generation integrated enterprise communications solutions. His role was to engage customers and business leaders to create and enhance new products and solutions Verizon Enterprise brought to market. Prior to Verizon, Vic was Executive Vice President, Enterprise Business Solutions and Chief Information Officer at EMC Corporation (~ $20 Billion in annual revenues). A 30-year industry veteran, Vic joined EMC in January 2013 to lead EMC’s Information Technology, Global Centers of Excellence, Global Business Services and Indirect Procurement organizations. Vic drove technology, services and support to enable EMC to optimize enterprise end-to-end processes; delivering world-class services that drove innovation and revenue generation for EMC. With a 20-year tenure at GE, Vic served as CIO for multiple GE organizations including GE Corporate, GE Global Growth and Operations in Hong Kong, CNBC, GE Aviation Services, and GE India and Southeast Asia. Along the way, he drove the company’s IT strategy; built a technology innovation center focused on high-end technology and digital solutions; and fueled GE’s global innovation opening numerous Centers of Excellence focused on Big Data, digital analytics and digital strategy. A global leader, Vic is well known by CEOs & business leaders within and outside technology companies across the world, particularly in Silicon Valley and other hubs of innovation. In 2014 and 2015, Vic was recognized with the prestigious CIO 100 Award for excellence and achievement in IT, Evanta’s Global CIO Top 10 Breakaway Leaders and HMG’s Transformational CIO of the year award. In 2016, Vic was recognized by University of Louisville as alumni of the year for Computer Science.
Marissa Vega
Marissa Vega is Head of Global Operations for Vanta Education. She leads in the areas of student acquisition, student services, operational diligence, and strategic technology initiatives for the Vanta Education network of institutions. Ms. Vega oversees the implementation of global strategies, best-practice sharing, training, corporate engagement, and system optimization. She brings over 25 years of experience in higher education and expertise in M&A diligence, operations and integration. Ms. Vega has extensive knowledge in the development, implementation, and optimization of call center operations and most recently served as the lead for a business-wide global IT system integration. In addition, she is highly skilled in executive-talent sourcing and development. Over the years, Ms. Vega has successively held responsibilities in the areas of enrollment, student services, business analysis, executive coaching, training, operational management, business development, and process improvement. In 1996, Ms. Vega began her career in the Apollo Education Group with its largest business unit, the University of Phoenix. During her tenure at the University, she expanded operations into new markets, mentored campus transitions into new modality offerings, and participated in several national advisory committees regarding policy implementation and strategic planning. Prior to the University of Phoenix, she obtained diverse work experience in investments, import-export, and hotel remodeling. Ms. Vega holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from University of Arizona, and a Master’s of Business Administration with a specialization in Global Management from the University of Phoenix.
Matt Henriksen
Matt Henriksen has served in legal and executive roles in the education sector for more than a decade. He has directed the legal, tax and operational aspects of more than a dozen major corporate acquisitions and divestitures in the global education space, and has provided legal, compliance and operational leadership to education businesses around the world and their financial sponsors. Matt is currently General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Vanta Education, an international education conglomerate owned by Apollo Global Management and The Vistria Group, where he has provided executive leadership and strategic advice to education businesses headquartered in the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia, India and South Africa. While at Vanta, Matt established and directed a network of internal and external legal counsel, tax and compliance professionals across the globe in support of the educational mission of Vanta, its subsidiaries and investors. Before being appointed to his role at Vanta Education, Matt served in various capacities at Apollo Education Group, the publicly traded company that previously owned Vanta. Matt directed Apollo’s international mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, corporate governance, and other commercial initiatives, and represented Apollo and its subsidiaries in connection with various other corporate, tax, regulatory and securities law matters. Prior to joining Vanta and Apollo, Matt worked at Ballard Spahr LLP, a large private law firm, where he represented public and private companies and investors in connection with mergers and acquisitions, financing and other complex commercial transactions, business formation, disclosure documents and securities filings in connection with capital raising, and various other general corporate matters. Before joining Ballard Spahr, he practiced at another regional law firm, and interned with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Utah State Legislature. Mr. Henriksen earned his law degree and M.B.A. at the S.J. Quinney School of Law and David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, and holds a B.A. in Organizational Communication from the University of Utah.
Melissa Mitschke
Melissa brings more than 15 years of experience in providing legal and business advice to domestic and international companies across a wide range of industries. Melissa is the Associate General Counsel at Vanta Education, Inc., an international education conglomerate owned by Apollo Global Management and The Vistria Group. During her time at Vanta, she has successfully managed the sale of a number of the company’s international subsidiaries and provided legal advice to all areas of the business, including mergers and acquisitions, finance, legal compliance, insurance, human resources, and information technology. Prior to Vanta Education, Melissa was the Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs at Encore Capital Group, Inc., a publicly traded financial services company headquartered in San Diego, California. While at Encore Capital Group, Melissa led an international team of attorneys responsible for providing mergers and acquisitions, finance, securities, corporate governance and corporate transactional assistance to the company and its subsidiaries and joint ventures located in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Melissa is a former partner at both Jenner & Block LLP and Honigman LLP, where she represented public and private companies in complex transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, securities offerings and restructurings. She also served as outside general counsel to closely held businesses and portfolio companies of private equity sponsors. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy and Behavior from the University of Michigan and earned her law degree from Loyola University Chicago.
Eric Sledgister
Eric has over 20 years of corporate development and finance experience in the global Education sector. Most recently, Eric served in a dual role as CFO of two Apollo Education Group (“Apollo”) entities. Prior to that, Eric spent approximately seven years in Apollo Corporate Development Group, where he sourced, evaluated, and executed acquisition opportunities around the globe. His foray into Education came in late 90s when he joined the leading equity research team covering the education services and training sector at Credit Suisse. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Neville Taraporewalla
Neville Taraporewalla is the President & Board of Director of media conglomerate BCCL Worldwide Inc (The Times Group, North America) the 100% subsidiary of Bennett Coleman & Co, India based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and head of the North American operations. Having set up the US operations, Neville has been responsible for overseeing The Times Group’s strategic investment arm - Brand Capital International (BCI). Since 2005, The Times Group has been a prolific investor and strategic value creation partner to firms such as Airbnb, Uber, Coursera, Tali Digital, Odd Up, Square Panda, Q You Media help launch and enable brand-led growth in the India market. As an early adopter of the consumer internet & digital landscape, Neville has a proven track record of building and running online businesses for traditional media & online media companies in Emerging Markets of India & South Asia. Prior to his current role, Neville has held senior executive leadership positions as General Manager at Microsoft Corporation, India; Country Manager & Board Director of Yahoo! India; CEO, Publicitas Digital, COO of Mid- Day Multimedia Ltd & General Manager-Times Interactive at The Times of India Group. Neville has been the Co-founder, past Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in 2004 & 2005. In 2011, 2012 & 2013 he was included in the annual Campaign India ‘A’ list which showcased leaders in advertising, marketing & the media Industry in India. IMPACT Digital 100 List of personalities 2012 & 2013 included Neville in the list of leaders who have contributed to the growth of digital in India. A certified executive coach (ACSTH), Neville earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, History & Psychology from University of Mumbai; completed a Management Development Certificate Program in Strategic Brand Management from Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta). In 2006 he successfully completed an Executive Program, the Kellogg-ISB Global Advance Management Program [GAMP] conducted by Northwestern University-Kellogg School of Management. In 2019 he was part of the first batch at Stanford Graduate School of Business (Executive Education) to successfully complete the program for Emerging COO, Driving innovation & Excellence.
Bala Srinivasan
Bala Srinivasan has extensive financial services industry experience having served as Managing Director of Och Ziff Capital Management. Prior to Och Ziff, he worked at Goldman Sachs and Jardine Fleming (acquired by J.P.Morgan Chase) across various Asia-Pacific locations such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mumbai. Over the past five years, he has been extensively involved in the global education sector having most recently served as Chief International Officer, and Executive vice president for science, innovation, and strategy, and as deputy provost at University of Chicago. He received a BS in mathematics from Caltech and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago.
Regynald Washington
Regynald is the former President of Paradies Lagardère Travel Retail Dining Division. The Dining Division operates in 43 airports with 190 locations and 80+ concepts/brands in its portfolio. Prior to the Paradies Lagardère acquisition of Hojeij Branded Foods, Regynald served as a Morgan Stanley Private Equity portfolio CEO, member of MSPE/HBF board of directors, and equity partner. Regynald’s responsibilities included leading Hojeij Branded Foods an Atlanta-based restaurant company which operated 120 restaurants in 38 airports in the United States. HBF had over 45 popular and widely recognized brands in its portfolio. Some of those brands included; P.F. Chang’s, Vino Volo Wine Bars (50 locations), Gordon Biersch, Celebrity Chef Cat Cora’s Kitchen, Plum Market, Atlanta Hawk’s Bar and Grill, Longhorn Steakhouse, Chick-fil–A, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Pei Wei, Zingerman’s, Low Country by Celebrity Chef G Garvin, Pinkberry, The Plant Café Organic, Piece of Cake and Margaritaville just to name a few.
Regynald spent 12 years of his career with the Walt Disney Company. Regynald was Vice President of Food and Beverage for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts globally (Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts, Disney Land California, Disney Land Hong Kong, Disney Land Paris, Disney Land Tokyo, and Disney Cruise Lines). Regynald served as Vice President and General Manager for Disney Regional Entertainment, where he had responsibility for the strategy and direction of Disney’s ESPN Zone sports entertainment and food and beverage brand, based in Burbank, California. Prior to Regynald’s Disney Regional Entertainment role, he was Director of Resorts Food and Beverage Operations for the Walt Disney World Company in Orlando, Florida, where he was responsible for all resort food and beverage operations. Previously, he was the General Manager, Food & Beverage for Epcot’s massive dining portfolio.
Regynald has occupied significant industry leadership positions, notably as a member of the board of directors and elected chairman of the board of the National Restaurant Association, whose membership included 878,000 restaurants and foodservice outlets.
Washington’s previous experience includes ascending through the corporate ranks of Concessions International, Inc., an airport food service company operating food & beverage, gift & news, and duty-free operations in U.S. airports based in Georgia. Regynald directed the overall operations as Corporate Executive Vice President. Washington is a graduate of Florida International University, holding a BS degree in International Hotel & Restaurant Administration. He has earned dual certification as a Foodservice Management Professional through the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and as a Certified Food & Beverage Executive, a credential issued by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
Recognitions, Current Boards and Former Boards
Jeff Langenbach
Jeff has over 25 years of experience in Finance, M&A, Management and Corporate Development. He has significant international experience with business activity in over 30 countries on six continents. He spent 11 years on Wall Street with DLJ, Credit Suisse-First Boston and Credit Suisse raising debt & equity capital and advising on M&A transactions. During this period, he helped raise over $15 billion, advised on numerous US and cross-border M&A assignments, and participated in over 20 IPOs. He then spent 12 years with Apollo Education Group (a portfolio company of Apollo Global Management), as part of the Company’s senior management team. His responsibilities included executing Apollo's international and domestic growth plan, acquisitions, investment activity, and strategic partnerships globally. Jeff led the formation of Apollo Global, an international subsidiary, which eventually had 3,000 employees, worldwide operations in 24 countries, and revenue of over $600 million. He held a variety of operational roles with Apollo, including Subsidiary President, Chief Administrative Officer, Head of Strategy and Head of Corporate Development. He also has extensive experience in forming JVs and other strategic partnerships. Jeff received a Master's in Management degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (Dean's List), and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor's in Business Administration (cum laude). He volunteers with Junior Achievement, Teach for America and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Mehul Patel
Mehul Patel was appointed Group President, Professional Education at Adtalem Global Education in 2017. He is responsible for the growth and strategic direction of the Professional Education vertical, which includes several business units focused on career/exam preparation, certification, and continuing education. Working with a global executive team, he developed and executed the unit’s strategic framework and annual operating plan while co-directing inorganic growth initiatives including M&A and partnerships. Most recently, Patel was President of Apollo Global, the international education conglomerate within Apollo Education Group, Inc. While leading Apollo Global, he oversaw a network of businesses across the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia, India and South Africa. During his tenure, Patel was responsible for driving organic growth of the enterprise as well as several acquisitions that significantly expanded the company’s presence internationally. Prior to Apollo Global, he served as President of Kaplan Professional Publishing and Kaplan Professional Schools, where he served as the executive leader of two professional education business units. Earlier, Patel had key roles at Thomson Learning/NETg where he helped develop and manage the company’s products and services in the corporate and professional learning verticals. Patel began his career with the Leo Burnett Company, one of the world’s largest marketing and advertising firms. During his tenure with the agency, he worked with blue-chip clients such as Kellogg and Hallmark to develop and implement award winning marketing strategies and advertising campaigns. Patel received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois.
Al Weiss
Al Weiss is the former president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, a $10+ billion business with 95,000 employees. As president, Weiss managed operations at the company’s theme parks and resorts, including the Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club and “Adventures by Disney.” Weiss began his 39-year Disney career as a teenager in cash control and rose steadily through the ranks. Prior to his role as president of worldwide operations, he served as president of Walt Disney World Resort. Weiss led the company to its largest expansion — including double-digit revenue growth, seven consecutive years of record revenues and profit and worldwide expansion — through a challenging global recession. He also spent more than 20 years in various executive positions in finance, marketing and sales, entertainment and operations. Weiss is an active community leader, serving on the Give Kids the World Executive Advisory Council. He serves on the board of Amway Corporation and has been a past Board Member of SunTrust Bank, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Apollo Education Group. He recently launched a $200 Million healthcare special purpose acquisition company - Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition Corp.
Ranga Krishnan
K. Ranga Rama Krishnan, MB, ChB, is the CEO of the Rush University System for Health in May 2019. He serves on the Board of Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) and has been awarded the Public Service Medal from the President of Singapore in 2015 and the 2020 President’s Science and Technology Award, Singapore’s highest honor for research scientists and engineers. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Singapore Health Services (SingHealth), the largest healthcare system in Singapore, and also serves as Chairman of the National Medical Research Council - a Government of Singapore agency responsible for development and advancement of medical research (including human capital development) in Singapore. Krishnan is leading innovation of care delivery throughout the Rush system by organizing providers around patients, diseases and conditions rather than by department or division enabling greater multidisciplinary and has reorganized the college's curriculum to keep it at the forefront of medical education. This service line approach empowers providers to share expertise — and, ultimately, improve patient care, quality and safety. Sharing resources allows Rush to operate more efficiently and create an integrated network of care across the system. Krishnan has helped establish the liver, cancer, cardiac, neurology and neurosurgery, and mental health service lines. In addition, Krishnan has been instrumental in forging key external partnerships to search for relevant genetic patterns in cancer patients who are unlikely to respond to conventional therapies. Krishnan has also restructured Rush’s innovation and technology strategy, including the Innovation and Technology Transfer Office, which manages Rush intellectual properties (IP) and assists inventors, authors and other creators of intellectual property at Rush in the process of IP disclosure, protection, marketing and licensing. He designed Rush3D (Design, Demonstrate, Deliver), through which Rush works with external inventors needing a sandbox for exploring opportunities and co-development. Prior to joining Rush, Krishnan served for eight years as dean of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, a joint venture between Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and the National University of Singapore. During his tenure, Duke-NUS developed a new teaching method called Team LEAD (Learn, Engage, Apply, Develop), which has since been adopted by other universities and high schools. Krishnan arrived at Duke University Medical Center in 1981 where he began a residency in psychiatry followed by a fellowship in neurobiology. He joined the Duke faculty in 1985 and was a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences from 1995 to 2015. As chairman of the department from 1998 until 2009, he implemented an innovative continuing-education network while overseeing more than 490 faculty members. A member of several editorial boards at various scientific journals, Krishnan has written two books on the art of learning. He authored more than 50 textbook chapters and 450 peer-reviewed papers on the subjects of elderly depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s, panic disorder, bipolar disorder in late life and obsessive-compulsive disorder. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, Krishnan has received numerous honors and awards, including the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry; the Edward Strecker Award from the University of Pennsylvania; the research award for mood disorders, 2015, and the research award for geriatric psychiatry 2009, both from the American College of Psychiatry; the Gerald Klerman Award for research in mood disorders from the Depressive and Bipolar Support Alliance, 2002; and the C. Charles Burlingame Award for his lifetime achievements in psychiatric research and education.
Marcelino Ford-Livene
Marcelino Ford-Livene is the Managing Director of Intel Capital (investment arm of Intel Corporation) which has invested over $12.9 billion in more than 1500 companies worldwide (with 692 portfolio companies have gone public or participated in a merger) in areas ranging from artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, datacenter and cloud, 5G, next-generation compute and a wide range of other disruptive technologies. He also leads Intel Capital’s diversity and inclusion initiative outreach efforts, investments and company-building activities. Over the past 15 years at Intel, prior to his current leadership role at Intel Capital, he has played numerous leadership roles such as General Manager of Global Programs and Alliances in the Worldwide Corporate Affairs Group at Intel Corporation. In this capacity, he led a global organization charged with developing, managing and delivering strategic programs, initiatives and alliances with industry, government and special interest groups that advance the strategic direction of Intel and its empowerment, education development and corporate responsibility efforts.Prior to this role, he was General Manager for Intel Media, where he led the organization charged with programming, licensing and distributing new format television channels and advertising-supported video-on-demand programming. He was also responsible for advertising sales P&L, advertising operations, audience research and data analytics for Intel Media’s OTT services. He has co-authored patents on TV viewership analytics and advanced advertising behavioral targeting. He has also held senior positions with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in Washington, DC. He served as Special Counsel for New Media Policy for Chairman William E. Kennard and as Senior Counsel and Director of Media Strategic Analysis for the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning under Chairman Michael Powell.He was the Division Chairman of the Interactive Media Division for the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries from 2006 to 2013. He also served for eight years on the board of the TV Academy, the organization that awards the prestigious Primetime Emmy for creative excellence in the television industry. He is an Independent Director on the Board of Corus International. He serves on the board of IRIS.TV, a leading video data technology company. He is also a founding director of the Digital Diversity Network and a volunteer mentor in the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program, which promotes leadership, community service and decision-making skills for high school students.
James W. Heavener
James W. Heavener is the CEO of The Heavener Company, through which he holds and manages his interests in education, media & film production, Internet services, real estate franchising, banking and information technology. Mr. Heavener is Co-Chairman and CEO of Full Sail University, Co-Chairman of LA Film School, and RMCAD (Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design). His real estate interests include serving as a Managing Director of ERA Europe, a group of 1,100 European residential real estate offices located in 19 European Union countries, Co-Chairman of ProMarketWeb, Ltd., a European residential MLS, and Co-Chairman and CEO of Silver City Partners of Florida, a real estate holding company with assets in apartments, land development, office buildings and single purpose net leased assets. He is also controlling shareholder of Florida Capital Bank, which specializes in mortgage banking and Government lending programs. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Mr. Heavener serves on the University of Florida Board of Trustees, the State of Florida’s preeminent University, the University of Florida Investment Company (UFICO), is a Distinguished Alumni at the University of Florida, Director of the University of Florida Alumni Association, a Director with The University of Florida Foundation, a Legacy Director and past-President of the University of Florida Booster Association, and a member of the Advisory Council to the University of Florida Warrington College of Business. He serves on the Advisory Board of SunTrust Bank Central Florida, Enterprise Florida, Inc., The Gianna Simone Foundation, and the Tim Tebow Foundation. He is a Member of the Harvard Club of Central Florida and New York. Mr. Heavener holds a BSBA from the University of Florida and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School OPM.
Ed Haddock
Mr. Haddock is Co‐Chairman and CEO of Full Sail University in Orlando, a Director of Los Angles Film and Recording Schools and a director of the holding company for Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver, all proprietary schools. He also serves as a trustee and executive board member of Ohio Wesleyan University, director of the Rollins College / Crummer Business School Entrepreneurial Board and served as a foundation board member for University of Central Florida, each a not for profit or state-owned traditional school. In addition, he is currently serving on the Board of Governors for the State University System of Florida. Mr. Haddock was born and raised in Richmond, Va. and has been a resident of Orlando since graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1969 and University of Virginia School of Law in 1972. He is a member of the Florida, Virginia and American Bar Associations. As a sr. partner and chairman of Swann and Haddock from 1973 – 1990 and Haddock Professional Association from 1990 – present, Mr. Haddock has practiced law in the areas of education, banking, insurance, real estate, governmental regulation and legislation, including serving as general counsel for education, banking, mortgage and insurance companies. Mr. Haddock is Chairman and CEO of SunGate Capital, LLC and grantor and advisor to the SunGate Companies and the Haddock Family Trusts and Foundations which invest in technology, healthcare, education, sports, real estate and banking as well as charitable, conservation, public policy and political initiatives. He is a Director of ERA Europe real estate, Touchstone Medical Imaging, Pioneer Technology Group, 3N2 Sports, Stoneleigh Real Estate & Financial and the First Colony Bank. Mr. Haddock has been president and executive board member of the Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Florida Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Haddock enjoys time with his wife Edye, six sons, four daughters‐in‐law and eight grandchildren.
Matthew Ankrum
Matt Ankrum has extensive experience in investment management, capital raising (including over 20 IPOs), mergers and acquisitions, strategic investment decision-making and advisory. During his corporate career, he has worked with leading investment management firms such as Janus Capital Group ($190 Billion AUM) and William Blair & Company ($120 Billion AUM). At Janus Capital Group, he was Portfolio Manager where he managed multi-billion-dollar investments for the firm across various industries, and started Janus’ first long/short fund. He also served as Head of Strategy for Apollo Education Group, a leading global education provider. His responsibilities were very operationally focused, leading cross-functional teams through strategic initiatives to address the most pressing issues facing the organization, including counselor compensation, high-risk student direction and white-label opportunities. He also advised on acquisitions, divestitures and partnerships plus other strategic decisions, including capital allocation and initiative management. Mr. Ankrum holds a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is a CFA Charter holder.
Stedman Graham
Stedman Graham is chairman and CEO of S. Graham and Associates, a management and marketing consulting firm. Actively involved in education, Mr. Graham currently travels domestically and internationally as a distinguished visiting professor for various universities, schools and colleges. Throughout his career, he has built a strong reputation in helping corporations, organizations and individuals succeed. Graham's clients include Gulfstream, Aerospace, Microsoft, Deloitte, Wells Fargo, Lenovo, General Dynamics and the US Department of Labor and Education. He is the author of 12 books, including two New York Times best sellers and one Wall Street Journal bestseller. As a business advisor, educator and speaker, Graham lectures and conducts training programs for corporations and educational organizations worldwide on the topic of Identity Leadership, based on the philosophy that one cannot lead anyone else until you first lead yourself. He has delivered Identity Leadership programs in The Netherlands, Germany, China, Canada, the UK, Bermuda and South Africa. His proven Nine Step Success Process® drives his powerful message. This success process is based on the principle that it doesn't matter how the world defines you, it only matters how you define yourself. He is a former adjunct professor at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Business where he taught the course, "The Dynamics of Leadership." Mr. Graham is passionate about developing leaders and lifting up underserved communities. In 1985, he founded Athletes Against Drugs (AAD), which provides health, fitness and sports curriculum for youth. AAD is based on Chicago and has programming around the country in coordination with various teams and athletes. As a proud native of Whitesboro, New Jersey, Graham has demonstrated an enduring dedication to youth and community. His New York Times best seller, Teens Can Make it Happen has become a program utilized in numerous middle and high schools in the US and abroad. With dedication to community development, Graham is the founder of the Concerned Citizens of Whitesboro and the Concerned Citizens of Lake Wacamaw, North Carolina. He is also the Co-founder of the Community Alliance for Youth Success (CAYS) and is a recipient of 2020 Horatio Alger Award. Stedman Graham has served in the United States Army and played professional basketball in the European League. Graham holds a Bachelor Degree in Social Work from Hardin-Simmons University and a Masters Degree in Education from Ball State University and has been awarded three honorary Doctorates.