Accountable to the Board of Directors for leading the development of culture, strategy, organization, plans, and strategic partnerships to achieve the Student Freedom Initiative vision of reducing the wealth gap through the lens of education and its mission to provide freedom in professional and life choices for students attending Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) by increasing their social and economic mobility. Leverages public-private partnerships and ideates with MSIs, corporations, philanthropy, and others to develop innovative solutions and sustained transformational change. Enables the scaling of the program pillars (e.g., Alternative to Parent PLUS Loans, Internships and Certifications, Comprehensive Supports, and Institutional Transformation) to provide value to strategic partners and 60+ participating MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other MSIs across more than twenty-two (22) states.
Prior to serving as SFI’s President and Chief Executive Officer, served as Chief Operating Officer and interim Executive Director responsible for launching the program at the initial nine (9) MSIs across eight (8) states and leveraging the best practices learned from his implementation of the Chairman’s philanthropic gift to the graduates of Morehouse College. Created the core tenets (e.g., student centered, evidence-based, collaborative, and holistic), program pillars and initial strategic partnerships that provided the initial $260+ million to launch the organization.
Integrated strategic planning, operations, corporate communications, and corporate initiatives in support of the Chairperson and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. Project manager for Robert F. Smith’s transformational gift to the 400 member Morehouse Class of 2019, responsible for coordinating with US Department of Education, Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, students and parents to appropriately verify eligibility and subsequently transfer funds to satisfy Robert’s intent.
Retired Colonel (USAF), with 30+ years’ experience leading multi-disciplinary teams within the federal government, private sector, and nonprofit sector delivering integrated technical solutions to address challenging and dynamic customer needs. Led a team of subject matter experts in the provision of a secure, common virtual desktop for 60,000+ world-wide users across multiple federal agencies. As project manager, led the planning, design, development, and deployment of a single $200M data center that consolidated multiple regional data centers supporting 10,000 worldwide users and missions of the highest national priority.