Board of Directors
Nathaniel A. Davis
Nate Davis, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors at K12 Inc., is a seasoned corporate transformational leader across industries with a record of improving operations, launching innovative new products and building beneficial relationships with legislative and regulatory authorities.
Mr. Davis, joined the K12 Board of Directors in 2009, was named Chairman of the Board in June 2012, and added the role of Chief Executive Officer in February 2018. He joined the company from the position of Managing Director of RANND Advisory Group, a consulting group advising venture capital, media, and technology-based firms. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of XM Satellite Radio and was a member of the company's Board of Directors, where he drove growth and innovation as well as improved financial performance and led the company through its merger with Sirius Satellite Radio.
From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Davis was President and Chief Operating Officer, and board member of XO Communications Inc. Mr. Davis has also held senior executive positions at Nextel Communications (EVP, Network and Technical Services), MCI Telecommunications (Chief Financial Officer and various other management positions) and MCI Metro (Founder, President and Chief Operating Officer).
Mr. Davis currently serves on the Board of Directors of Unisys Corporation and the Board of Trustees for RLJ Lodging Trust. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the Washington Boys and Girls Club and the Progressive Life Center, an agency that places foster children in homes in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington DC. He also served on the Northern Virginia Roundtable and the Northern Virginia Community Foundation.
Aida M. Alvarez
The Honorable Aida M. Alvarez joined us in April 2017. Alvarez is the first Latino woman to hold a United States cabinet-level position, serving as the administrator of the Small Business Administration for President Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Alvarez was the founding director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, where she was charged with financial oversight of the secondary housing market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She also worked for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, Bear Stearns & Company, Inc. and the First Boston Corporation.
Alvarez is currently an Independent Director of HP Inc. and serves on the boards of Oportun Inc. and Zoosk Inc. She chairs the Latino Community Foundation in California and is a board member of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and San Francisco Symphony. Alvarez previously served on the boards of Walmart Stores, Inc., PacifiCare, now part of United Health, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation (formerly UnionBanCal Corporation) and MUFG Union Bank N.A. (formerly Union Bank N.A.). In addition, she served on the Deloitte Touche Diversity Advisory Board, the board of overseers for Harvard University, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Coalition for Supportive Housing and the Cisneros Center for New Americans.
Alvarez holds honorary Doctorate degrees from Iona College, Bethany College in Kansas, Mercy College and the Inter-American University in Puerto Rico. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree from Harvard College.
Craig R. Barrett
Dr. Barrett joined us as a director in September 2010. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intel Corporation, which he joined in 1974, until his retirement in 2009. Prior to Intel Corporation, Dr. Barrett was a member of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering faculty of Stanford University. Dr. Barrett currently serves as Co Chairman of Achieve, Inc., an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit education reform organization, Chairman of Change the Equation, an organization promoting widespread literacy in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), President and Chairman of BASIS Schools, Inc., Vice Chair of the Science Foundation Arizona and Co Chairman of the Business Coalition for Student Achievement. Dr. Barrett holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science from Stanford University. Dr. Barrett was selected as a director because of his deep knowledge and experience in information technology innovation, as well as his global, operational, and leadership experience as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intel Corporation. He also brings a unique perspective to the Board of Directors from his tenure as a professor and his volunteer work and support of numerous educational organizations.
Guillermo Bron
Mr. Bron joined us as a director in July 2007, and currently serves as Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Bron is a Managing Director at Pine Brook Road Partners, LLC, an investment firm, and is the Managing Member of PAFGP, LLC, the sole general partner of Pan American Financial, L.P. Mr. Bron served as a Managing Director of Acon Funds Management LLC, a private equity firm, from 2006 to 2012. Mr. Bron also served as Chairman and a director of United Pan Am Financial Corp. (UPFC) from 1994 to 2011, and he served as a director of Pan American Bank, FSB (Pan American), a former wholly owned subsidiary of UPFC, from 1994 to 2005. Mr. Bron has also served as Chairman of idX Corporation since 2008 and, from 2000 to 2002, Mr. Bron was a director of Telemundo Group, Inc. From 1994 to 2003, Mr. Bron was an officer, director and principal stockholder of a general partner of Bastion Capital Fund, L.P., a private equity investment fund primarily focused on the Hispanic market. Previously, Mr. Bron was a Managing Director of Corporate Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. Bron holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Mr. Bron was selected as a director because his extensive executive leadership and international experience, as well as his expertise in investment banking and capital markets, which enables him to bring valuable insights to the Board of Directors in the areas of finance and strategy. The Board of Directors also benefits from his prior experience as a public company director and audit committee member.
John M. Engler
Mr. Engler joined us as a director in October 2012. He has been President of the Business Roundtable since January 2011. From 2004 to 2011, Mr. Engler served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Manufacturers. He was President of State and Local Government and Vice President of Government Solutions for North America for Electronic Data Systems Corporation from 2003 to 2004. Mr. Engler served as Michigan’s 46th governor for three terms from 1991 to 2003. He has served on the board of directors of Universal Forest Products Inc. since 2003 and is currently a director of Munder Capital Management. Previously, Mr. Engler served as a director of Northwest Airlines from 2003 to 2008, as a director of Dow Jones & Company, Inc. from 2005 to 2007, and as a director of Delta Airlines from 2008 to 2012. Mr. Engler holds a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University and a J.D. from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Mr. Engler was selected as a director because of his executive and legislative expertise as a state governor, including state education budgets, and for his business experience. The Board of Directors also benefits from Mr. Engler’s perspective as a director of numerous public companies and as a member of their audit committees.
Steven B. Fink
Mr. Fink joined us as a director in October 2003, and currently serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr. Fink is the Chairman of Life Storage, LLC, the Deputy Chairman of Heron International and a Director of the Foundation of the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Fink served as a director of Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. from 2003 to 2011. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Fink served as a director of Leapfrog, Inc. and its Chairman from 2004 to 2009. From 2000 to 2008, Mr. Fink was the Chief Executive Officer of Lawrence Investments, LLC. Mr. Fink has also previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Anthony Manufacturing, Chairman and Managing Director of Knowledge Universe and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nextera. Mr. Fink holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. and an L.L.M. from New York University. Mr. Fink was selected as a director based on his significant experience in operations and financial oversight gained as serving as director or chairman for various public and private companies in addition to his membership on various company audit committees which enables him to contribute significantly to the financial oversight, risk oversight and governance of the Company.
Robert E. Knowling Jr.
Mr. Knowling joined us as a director in 2018. He is Chairman of Eagles Landing Partners, which specializes in helping senior management formulate strategy, lead organizational transformations, and re-engineer businesses. Earlier in his career he served as Chief Executive Officer of the NYC Leadership Academy, an independent non-profit corporation created by Chancellor Joel I. Klein and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that is chartered with developing the next generation of principals in the New York City public school system.
Knowling has also held roles as Chief Executive Officer of Telwares, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SimDesk Technologies, Inc. and Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Covad Communications. He was awarded the Wall Street Project’s Reginald Lewis Trailblazers Award by President Clinton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson in 1999. Knowling serves on the board of directors for Roper Industries in Sarasota, Florida; and Convergys, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Knowling received a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology from Wabash College and a Masters of Business Administration from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Liza McFadden
Ms. McFadden joined us as a director in August 2017. She is President and CEO of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, an organization that believes education is a civil right, no matter one’s age. McFadden's experience in education is well rounded: she is a former high school teacher, Florida Department of Education administrator, and served in Governor Jeb Bush's administration where she spearheaded efforts to encourage 200,000 mentors to support public school children.
McFadden was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate to serve on the National Institute for Literacy Board. In her home state of Florida, McFadden has served as volunteer chairman of the innovative Florida Schools of Excellence Board, designed to sponsor and approve charter schools at the state level. She is the inaugural recipient of the Women Who Mean Business, Service Award, in her hometown of Tallahassee for her work with a wide array of organizations including: the Friends of Florida State Parks, the Tallahassee Challenger Center, which promotes science and space, and the John Paul II Catholic High School. McFadden holds a Master’s degree from Florida State University, with a Bachelor's Degree from Fitchburg State University.
