Board of Directors

Andy Bursky

Chairman, Atlas Holdings

Mr. Bursky has been Managing Partner of Atlas since its inception in January 2002. From June 1999 to April 2002, Mr. Bursky was a Co-Managing Partner of Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. ("Pegasus"), a private investment partnership with approximately $2 billion of capital under management, focusing on control investments in middle-market companies at points of stress or significant change. Mr. Bursky joined Pegasus in 1999 after 19 years with Interlaken Capital, Inc. ("Interlaken"), a private equity concern focusing on contrarian style, value-oriented investments in middle-market companies. Mr. Bursky was one of the founding principals and the Senior Managing Director of Interlaken. While at Interlaken, Mr. Bursky was responsible for all investments and business development activities, with a primary focus on industrial manufacturing and distribution, business services, financial services and distribution. Mr. Bursky serves on the Board of Managers of Atlas Industrial Services LLC, CanAmPac ULC, Capital Equipment Resources LLC, Finch Paper Holdings LLC, Forest Resources LLC and Wood Resources LLC and also serves on the Advisory Board of Atlas International Investors, L.P. In addition, Mr. Bursky serves as a Trustee of the Eisenhower Fellowships, the Skin Cancer Foundation and Washington University in St. Louis. Mr. Bursky is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard Business School. 

Michael J. Carter

Founder, President & CEO, Strive for College

 

Michael's experiences in education include working as a full-time middle school teacher for Breakthrough Collaborative; college counseling ten students; and researching educational history and entrepreneurship at American Enterprise Institute with Frederick Hess. His passion for business led him to work for Storm Ventures and Google. He is passionate about utilizing private sector management and operational techniques in nonprofit organizations to maximize their effectiveness and efficiency.

 

Joe Lonsdale

Co-founder, Palantir
Principal, Clarium Investments

Joe Lonsdale  is a Principal at  Clarium Capital Management , a $5 billion AUM global macro hedge fund based in SF and NYC, where he manages research and trading teams. As Principal, he was a key player in growing Clarium Capital from a startup into a $5-billion AUM world-class global macro hedge fund in five years. 

Prior to joining Clarium, Joe worked with the financial arm of PayPal and served as a Special Correspondent to UPI's Business and Technology desk in 2002. He cofounded and serves as Secretary of the Board at  Palantir Technologies , a private company in Palo Alto, California which develops software analysis products used by governments and financial organizations around the world. Palantir is quickly becoming the global leader in finance and intelligence analytics. He also serves as a Director at the Institute for Security Analysis in Washington, D.C. Joe earned a BS in Computer Science from Stanford University in 2003.

   Connie L Lurie

Connie Lurie has served on many nonprofit boards including the SF Zoological Society, Asian Art Museum, and Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and continues to be involved as a Director Emeritus at DRCRF and at the Zoo, creating Zoo 11. She is on the advisory board of Wildlife Associates and chairs the annual fundraiser. She has been a camp volunteer at The Painted Turtle, a Paul Newman Hold in the Wall Camp for children with life threatening illnesses. She has been an advisory board member of California State Parks Foundation for over 30 years.

Mrs. Lurie is a co-founder of the CME Society and the Research Institute for Foster Youth Initiatives at San Jose State University, serving on the President's Board, and created and chairs the Spartans in the Desert annual 2-day event. The College of Education is named in her honor. In 2006, she received the Tower Award from SJSU, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008, and the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Citizen Involvement Award.

After graduating from SJSU, Connie taught elementary school, was an Admissions Counselor at Heald Business College and was Executive Director of Who's Who International. She is a long time Jr. League member and President of a charitable Foundation and serves on a company board.

Eloise Stiglitz

Vice President of Student Affairs, CSU San Marcos

 

Eloise Stiglitz received her doctorate from Purdue University in 1976 in Clinical and Developmental Psychology. As a psychologist, higher education and mental health administrator, and teacher, she has over 30 years of experience in working with young adults and adolescents, both individually and programmatically. Presently, she is Associate Vice President of Student Services at San Jose State University where she oversees Health, Counseling and Career Services, the Disability Resource Center, Student Success and Retention Services, the Educational Opportunity Program and CME, a network-based support program for emancipated foster youth.  

A significant aspect of her responsibilities at CSU San Marcos includes working collaboratively with Academic Affairs, giving her a unique perspective on student development and success. Eloise is a member of NASPA, a former board member of the Center for the Scholarship and Research on Women, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi, a national honor society.

Tom Vander Ark

Managing Partner, Revolution Learning
Former Executive Director of Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Tom Vander Ark is a partner in Vander Ark/Ratcliff, an education public affairs firm, and a partner at Revolution Partners, a private equity fund focused on innovative learning tools and formats. Previously he served as President of the X PRIZE Foundation and Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he developed and implemented more than $3.5 billion in scholarship and grant programs to improve education throughout the United States. In December 2006, Newsweek readers voted Vander Ark the most influential baby boomer in education. Prior to his role with the Gates Foundation, Vander Ark was the first business executive to serve as a public school superintendent for one of Washington State's larger school districts that has been recognized for narrowing achievement gaps and reducing administrative costs.

Vander Ark also has extensive experience in the private sector serving as a senior executive for retail start up, PACE Membership Warehouse, that achieved $5 billion in revenue and was sold to K-Mart. Tom advises Communities in Schools, ConnCan, Democrats for Education Reform, Education 2.0, National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Mentor LA and X PRIZE Foundation.

Miriam Rivera

Co-founder, Ulu Ventures

Former Deputy General Counsel, Google Inc.

Prior to co-founding Ulu Ventures, Miriam Rivera served as Vice President/Deputy General Counsel at Google where she led the company's corporate, commercial, Asia Pacific, Latin America, employment, real estate and technical operations practices. She also served as Assistant Secretary to the board of Google Inc., a member of the disclosure committee, Secretary to the board of the Google Foundation, and legal lead for Google's Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory compliance efforts. She helped to grow Google from $80 million in revenue to over $10 billion.

Ms. Rivera currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University. She also serves on Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing Advisory Board and in the past served on the Board of Visitors of the Stanford Law School. In addition, Ms. Rivera has served on a number of startup and nonprofit boards.