Leadership Team
Nate Davis
Executive Chairman
Nate Davis, Executive Chairman of Stride’s Board of Directors, 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 Stride Board of Directors in 2009, was named Chairman of the Board in June 2012, and added the role of CEO in February 2018. He retired from his role as Stride’s CEO in January 2021. He originally 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 CEO 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 COO, and a board member of XO Communications Inc. Mr. Davis has also held senior executive positions at Nextel Communications (EVP, Network and Technical Services), MCI Telecommunications (CFO and various other management positions) and MCI Metro (Founder, President and COO).
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, D.C. He also served on the Northern Virginia Roundtable and the Northern Virginia Community Foundation.
With a personal passion for serving children and helping them achieve higher levels of success, Mr. Davis founded the JANDT Foundation to aid minority children in attending private and parochial schools in the Washington, D.C. area.
Mr. Davis received an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in engineering computer science at the Moore School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Stevens President’s Leadership Council and a recipient of the 2017 Stevens Honor Award.
He also championed both the ACES program and the newly founded Art Harper Saturday Academy at Stevens to help local high school students pursue college majors and careers in STEM-related fields.
James Rhyu
Chief Executive Officer
James Rhyu, Chief Executive Officer, joined Stride in June 2013 and became CEO in January 2021. He has more than 20 years of financial management experience in various global industries.
Mr. Rhyu works with leaders across the company to expand the market for Stride and reach new students. He also drives product innovation and improvements in the customer experience that are designed to attract more students to the company’s services. Prior to his CEO role, Mr. Rhyu served as Stride’s President of Corporate Strategy, Marketing, and Technology, Chief Financial Officer, and President of Product and Technology. In these positions, Mr. Rhyu led the development of marketing and messaging to support market expansions and executed on merger and acquisition opportunities that support Stride’s growth strategy.
Before his tenure at Stride, Mr. Rhyu served as CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Match.com, a subsidiary of publicly traded IAC/InterActiveCorp. In those roles, he was responsible for overseeing a broad range of functions, including human resources, legal, information technology and operations, and certain international operations and product development.
Prior to his roles at Match.com, Mr. Rhyu was a SVP of Finance at Dow Jones & Company where he ran the global financial function. Previously, he served for three years as the Corporate Controller of Sirius XM Radio Inc. and its predecessor company, XM Satellite Radio, as well as serving in the same role for Graftech International. Mr. Rhyu also spent six years with Ernst & Young LLP in the United States and South America.
Mr. Rhyu holds a bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from London Business School.
Dr. Shaun McAlmont
President, Career Learning Solutions
Dr. Shaun McAlmont, President of Career Learning Solutions, manages all aspects of Stride's growing career readiness programs including the Destinations Career Academies. He is responsible for providing career readiness and workforce development solutions for students around the country that go beyond jobs traditionally aligned with vocational education to emerging new collar jobs of the future.
Prior to joining Stride, Dr. McAlmont served as CEO of Neumont College of Computer Science and prior to that as President and CEO of Lincoln Educational Services, a provider of professional skills training with multiple "Lincoln Tech" locations across the country. Originally hired to manage distance learning programs, he eventually oversaw all aspects of the company including operations, sales and marketing, and government and investor relations. Before his decade-long tenure at Lincoln Educational Services, Dr. McAlmont served as President of the Online Learning Division at Alta Colleges.
A former NCAA and international athlete, Dr. McAlmont leveraged his success in athletics to inform his business career trajectory, notably writing his doctoral dissertation on advising collegiate athletes on academic and career success. He earned a doctoral degree in higher education, graduating with distinction, from the University of Pennsylvania. He has a master's degree in education administration from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University. He currently serves on the BYU Marriott School of Management National Advisory Council and the Board of Directors at BorgWarner.
Kevin Chavous
President, Academic Policy and External Affairs
Kevin Chavous is a noted education reform leader and innovator with a well-chronicled track record of empowering families with education choice and driving change and opportunity for learners of all ages, backgrounds, and circumstances. Mr. Chavous is the President at Stride. In this role, he leads initiatives to expand the company's career learning offerings, and increase the accessibility to the services the company provides across the nation.
Mr. Chavous has worked to advance quality education programs around the nation, most notably as the Education Committee Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia, where he helped to shepherd the charter school movement into the nation’s capital. In addition, he was the founding Board President of Washington Latin Public Charter School, the third performing charter school in Washington, D.C., and in 2016, he was inducted into the District of Columbia Hall of Fame.
Beyond his work in D.C., Mr. Chavous has been instrumental in advancing charter school and education choice programs around the country. He is the founder of Democrats for Education Reform and a founding board member of the American Federation for Children.
A prolific writer and inspirational speaker, Mr. Chavous’ opinion editorials have appeared in many major newspapers, and he has given education reform speeches in nearly every state. Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Purdue University president called Mr. Chavous "the most effective advocate for children in America."
Additionally, as an accomplished author, Mr. Chavous has published six books, including Serving Our Children: Charter Schools and the Reform of American Public Education; Voices of Determination: Children that Defy the Odds; and Building a Learning Culture in America. He is also the author of the Jackson Lowery Trilogy fiction series, which includes three political thrillers: The Plan, The Fund and The Shipment.
Mr. Chavous is also a very successful attorney. For many years he was a senior partner at SNR Denton, LLP, which today is the largest law firm in the world. While at SNR Denton, Mr. Chavous founded and chaired the firm's highly successful diversity initiative and provided advisory counsel to a number of corporate clients. He has been licensed to practice law in four states and has been an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law at American University.
Mr. Chavous graduated from Wabash College, where he was an NCAA District All-American in basketball. He was inducted into the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. In that same year, he received the distinguished Outstanding Alumni Award from his alma mater, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School in Indianapolis. Mr. Chavous graduated from the Howard University School of Law, where he was president of his graduating class. Mr. Chavous has three adult sons and lives in Vienna, Virginia with his wife, Amber.
Timothy Medina
Chief Financial Officer
Timothy Medina, Stride’s CFO, is a proven leader in finance and capital markets with more than three decades of experience. He has an extensive background—both domestically and internationally—in accounting and operations, management and strategy, and a deep knowledge of high-growth technology sector companies. As CFO, Medina informs Stride’s efforts to lead the future of innovation in education—particularly in the career readiness space.
Prior to his current role at Stride, Medina served as EVP and CFO of TPx Communications, a premier managed services company where he helped drive a six-fold increase in revenues while steering the strategic transition of the company. During his tenure, Medina was integral in 10 merger and acquisition transactions, including the sale of TPx to Siris Capital Group.
Previously, Medina served as CFO of ECI Conference Call Services, an audio and web conferencing services provider. He has also served as CFO, and in senior leadership positions for Independent Wireless One Holdings, Verizon Communications, CTI Holdings, CANTV, and GTE Corporation.
Mr. Medina earned his bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University and a master of science in taxation from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Vincent Mathis
EVP, General Counsel
Vincent Mathis is Stride's General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to joining Stride, Mr. Mathis served as SVP, Corporate Affairs and Corporate Secretary for the AES Corporation, a Fortune 500 global energy company. In this role, he advanced the AES policy agenda, managed corporate governance, and led a team of attorneys in providing legal counsel to the Board of Directors and cross-functional business areas. During his tenure at AES, Mr. Mathis also successfully negotiated numerous domestic and global agreements related to asset sales, vendor supply, leases, tax incentives, and human resource issues.
Before joining AES, Mr. Mathis served as General Counsel and EVP at ContourGlobal LP as well as in legal leadership roles at Shearman & Sterling; the Securities and Exchange Commission; and Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti.
Mr. Mathis earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond. He is admitted to practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Valerie Maddy
SVP, Human Resources
Valerie Maddy, SVP, Human Resources at Stride, brings more than 20 years of global leadership and innovation in the full range of human resources disciplines. At Stride, Ms. Maddy is leading the development and implementation of new systems, processes, policies, and programs aimed at maximizing every employee's contribution to student academic success. As part of that effort, she is working with business teams to drive alignment, clarity and competitive advantage across the company and to plan, acquire, develop, and retain the talent required to achieve organizational goals.
Prior to joining Stride, Ms. Maddy was VP, Global Human Resources Operations for Ciena Corporation, a global leader in next-generation network infrastructure. While there, she introduced reliable automation to human resources systems, significantly increasing efficiency levels, and led the human resources due diligence efforts and integration activities of eight acquisitions. Before rising to this position, Ms. Maddy served in a number of leadership roles at Ciena in the areas of Global Total Rewards and Global Risk Management.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Maddy held leadership roles in Human Resources and Finance at Crown Vantage, a specialty paper manufacturer and distributor. Prior to that, she served in Human Resources and Auditing roles at SAFECO and American General, both providers of financial and insurance services.
Ms. Maddy is a graduate of Humboldt State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration. She holds a certificate in Global Benefits Management, a designation from Fellow Life Management Institute, and is also a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist and Certified Internal Auditor.
Todd Goldthwaite
SVP and Chief Marketing Officer
Todd Goldthwaite, CMO at Stride, has more than 25 years of experience in technological innovation, marketing, operations management, and enterprise sales. At Stride, Mr. Goldthwaite leads enrollment, marketing, and sales efforts designed to improve the overall student experience. He's also focused on expanding the company's capacity to provide personalized digital learning options that are accessible and engaging.
Mr. Goldthwaite previously served as SVP of School Services for Stride's online public schools. In this position, he amplified best practices and drove improvements in academic performance, teacher effectiveness, and student retention.
Prior to joining Stride, Mr. Goldthwaite managed operations for Blackboard Student Services. He also spent 18 years in the telecommunications field. This includes a position at MCI Communications where he launched operations for the company's emerging telemarketing and customer service business, established call centers across the country, and expanded the company's global sales and service footprint to five international locations.
Les Ottolenghi
Chief Information and Technology Officer
Les Ottolenghi, CITO, has had a remarkable 30-year career designing and implementing digital service strategies. At Stride, Mr. Ottolenghi is leading the company into a new era of IT solutions. In his role, he is responsible for establishing a best-in-class technology experience for Stride customers. This includes ensuring that applications, platforms, infrastructure, processes, and operations are efficient, reliable, scalable, and secure.
Previously, Mr. Ottolenghi served as CIO and Executive Vice President of Caesars Entertainment where he led the company’s digital business strategy, developed seven cloud transformation platforms including the "zero trust" cybersecurity program, and implemented the first cybersecurity readiness program at Caesars. Prior to that role, he was the Chief Information and Innovation Officer for the Sands Corporation where he improved regulatory compliance on data privacy and gaming, oversaw a global IT staff, and built strategic relationships with tech leaders in Silicon Valley, among many other accomplishments.
Mr. Ottolenghi currently serves as an advisor for the MIT Technology Review Global Panel and the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Board. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Technology Business Management Council where he advises on best practices for enterprise technology leadership. He was recently recognized as an innovator in the Artificial Intelligence and data analytics space by The Economist and Harvard Business Review.
He earned a Master of Business Administration from Emory University and a bachelor’s degree from Duke University.
Dr. Charles "Tony" Bennett
SVP, School Management
Dr. Charles "Tony" Bennett, Senior Vice President, School Management, has more than three decades of experience in school management, strategic planning, and operations. As one of the nation's foremost experts in education policy, he manages and implements a diverse portfolio of initiatives and programs that support, measure, track, and ultimately improve student academic achievement and growth across schools powered by Stride K12.
Dr. Bennett began his career as a high school science teacher and rapidly ascended to leadership roles in two of the country's pioneering education reform states: Florida and Indiana. He served as Commissioner of Education in Florida before starting TBX2, Inc./Education Reform Strategies, a consulting company that focuses on supporting education reform across the country.
Prior to TBX2, Inc., Dr. Bennett served as State Superintendent in Indiana. During his tenure, the state saw record high-school graduation rates and participation and success rates in Advanced Placement® courses and exams, student achievement on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) assessment rose dramatically, and improvement in the state's National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) results was ranked among the top three in the United States.
Dr. Bennett previously held roles in Indiana as School Corporation Superintendent for Greater Clark County Schools and Assistant Superintendent for Administration and Operations at New Albany Floyd County Schools. He also served on the board of the Council of Chief State School Officers, the governing board of the Partnership for the Assessment for Readiness for College and Career (PARCC), and was a founding member and former chair of Chiefs for Change.
Dr. Bennett holds a doctoral degree in education and a superintendent license from Spalding University. He earned his certification in secondary administration and supervision, a master's degree in secondary education, and a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Indiana University Southeast.
Donna Blackman
Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer
Donna Blackman, CAO and Treasurer, brings more than 20years of experience in accounting, finance, and strategic planning. In her role at Stride, she oversees procurement, receivables and cash management, accounts payable, school and corporate accounting, other controller functions, and treasury.
Most recently, Ms. Blackman served as the SVP of Business Operations at BET Networks, where she oversaw finance, strategy, research, live events, security, facilities, and operations. During her tenure at BET, she also held roles as SVP and Head of Finance, SVP, Financial Planning and Analysis, and SVP Finance and Controller.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Blackman worked for Marriott International and KPMG in a variety of leadership roles in accounting and finance.
Ms. Blackman earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, a bachelor’s degree in accounting from North Carolina State University, and is a certified public accountant.
Bryan Flood
SVP, Public Affairs
Bryan Flood, SVP, Public Affairs, joined Stride in 2002. Mr. Flood previously served as a public affairs strategist, consultant, and spokesman for corporations, interest groups, and senatorial, gubernatorial, and presidential campaigns.
As Vice President at the MPGH Agency, a Virginia-based public affairs consulting firm, he advised clients ranging from high tech start-ups to Fortune 500 firms, including several leading education companies. Mr. Flood helped clients like MCI, The Learning Company, and Achievement Technologies win complex public policy and opinion battles by designing and managing advocacy campaigns at the local, state, and national levels. While serving at MPGH in 1999, Mr. Flood helped direct a sweeping review of the military recruitment process for the United States Department of Defense.
Mr. Flood was chief spokesman for Michigan Governor John Engler's successful reelection campaign in 1994, and was national spokesman for United States Senator Lamar Alexander's presidential campaign in 1995–1996.
Mr. Flood holds a BA in public policy from New College of Florida.
Karen Ghidotti
SVP, Customer Experience
Karen Ghidotti, SVP of Customer Experience, joined Stride in 2002. She leads efforts to drive a positive experience for students and their families — from their first interaction with Stride, through their entire school journey to graduation day. Ms. Ghidotti also spearheads initiatives across teams and departments to design and implement new tools that will help strengthen the customer experience.
In her most recent role as the SVP of the Southern Region, Ms. Ghidotti was instrumental in launching nine schools powered by Stride K12 and an active member of numerous teams that changed state code guidelines across the South to pave the way for Stride's signature, personalized approach to education. Under her leadership, enrollment for the Southern Region grew to more than 30 thousand students. She was also the Operations Manager and then Head of School for Arkansas Virtual Academy.
Throughout her career, Ms. Ghidotti has demonstrated a consistent, passionate devotion to professional development and to strengthening the hiring process. She led the development of the first-ever K12 Heads of School Boot Camp. She also supported the creation and pilot implementation of HireVue as a hiring tool.
Prior to joining Stride, Ms. Ghidotti worked with the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.
Dr. Jodi Marshall
SVP, Stride Learning Solutions
As Senior Vice President of K12 Learning Solutions , Dr. Jodi Marshall manages a diverse range of flexible, customizable academic programs. One of the country’s foremost online education executives with more than twenty years of experience in K-12 and higher education, Marshall also leads initiatives that support Stride’s career learning programs and strengthen online administrator, teacher, and parent trainings.
Marshall most recently served as Senior Vice President of Regional School Services for Stride K12-powered schools in the southern region of the country. Previously, Marshall was President and Chief Executive Officer of Florida Virtual School (FLVS). At FLVS, she oversaw an organization that supported more than 300,000 full and part-time students, with revenues of more than $220 million. During her tenure at FLVS, Marshall also held roles as Executive Vice President of Business and School Solutions, Chief Academic Officer, Vice President of Instruction, Instructional Leader, as well as a variety of other positions.
Earlier in her career, Marshall was a middle school literacy teacher and reading specialist—in Florida and California respectively—and worked with underserved students who read below grade level. During her tenure in California, she was the first person in her district to earn National Board Certification and authored a book on Sustained Silent Reading (SSR).
Marshall earned a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Florida, a master’s degree in English education from the University of Central Florida, an EdS in educational leadership and administration from Nova Southeastern University, and a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Miami. Additionally, Marshall earned an MBA in innovation and entrepreneurship from Florida International University.
Doug McCollum
Senior Vice President, Products
Doug McCollum, Senior Vice President of Products, joined Stride in May 2017. As the head of Stride’s Curriculum and Products organization, his focus is on delivering strong student outcomes by producing and implementing standards-aligned solutions that will significantly accelerate students' growth—especially in math and reading—and drive success on high-stakes assessments. Other key areas of focus include providing strong teacher, parent, and administrator support; increasing student engagement; supporting flexible usage models; and facilitating collaboration.
Prior to joining Stride, Mr. McCollum worked at Pearson, where he held many different roles, serving as Senior Vice President for 6–12 and Pre-K–12 Product Development, as General Manager of the Literacy business, and most recently as the General Manager of Intervention, ELL, Supplemental, and Pre-K businesses. He has extensive experience in all grade spans and curriculum areas including reading/ELA, math, social studies, science, special education, world languages, CTE, and AP.
Throughout his career, much of Mr. McCollum's focus has been on digital solutions. He has designed and developed dozens of digital courses—releasing his first suite of digital solutions in 1995, producing many award-winning programs, and building adaptive solutions proven to deliver strong student gains.
Mr. McCollum holds a BA degree in English writing from St. Lawrence University.
Darren Reed
SVP, Regional School Services – Northern Region
Darren Reed, SVP, Regional School Services for the Northern Region, has nearly three decades of educational teaching and leadership experience in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, he was Stride's VP of School Leadership Development and School Support where he led the design, development, and implementation of programs and resources to help build world-class leadership across the schools we serve. Earlier in his career, Mr. Reed served as the original VP of Blended Schools, where he designed innovative school models in Chicago, San Francisco, and San Jose.
Prior to his current employment with Stride, Mr. Reed served as Executive Director for the Aspiring Principals Program at New Leaders in New York. He also served in school leadership roles within the Alexandria City, Fairfax County, and Newport News Public Schools earlier in his career.
Mr. Reed has received numerous recognitions as an award-winning teacher and school leader. He is a guest lecturer at The George Washington University where he holds an EdS in educational leadership. He also holds a master's degree in educational leadership, policy, and planning from The College of William and Mary and a bachelor's degree from Hiram College in Ohio.
Megan Sandoval
SVP, Regional School Services – Western Region
Megan Sandoval, SVP of Regional School Services for the Western Region, has two decades of experience in education, customer service, and business management. In her current position, Ms. Sandoval supports various academic, operations, and compliance programs for schools powered by Stride K12 in California, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, and Washington State.
Ms. Sandoval has held multiple leadership roles at Stride. Prior to her current position, she served as VP of Students First, in which she led programming efforts that focused on student persistence and academic success. Ms. Sandoval also served as Deputy Regional VP for the Southern Region and Head of School for Arizona Virtual Academy, where she spearheaded the development of blended learning sites in 18 locations across the state and played a pivotal role in launching Insight Academy of Arizona.
Prior to Stride, Ms. Sandoval was the Principal of Primavera Online High School in Chandler, Arizona. She credits her seven years of experience as an English and social studies teacher in both public district and charter schools for helping her learn the importance of meeting students' individual needs.
Ms. Sandoval earned a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision with a focus in business from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in history and English from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Peter Stewart
SVP, School Development
Peter Stewart, SVP of School Development, works with parents, teachers, community groups, school districts, school boards, departments of education, and policy makers across the United States and internationally to start new high-tech schools that use the Stride K12 academic program.
In the past seven years, Mr. Stewart has helped develop large-scale, public e-learning programs in 16 states that currently serve more than 100,000 courses annually.
Prior to joining Stride in 2000, Mr. Stewart was a Head of School, a teacher, a school principal, and a curriculum director with 10years of experience working in urban, rural, and international schools.
Mr. Stewart holds a BA in English from Williams College and an MA from Columbia University Teachers College.
Todd Thorpe
SVP, Regional School Services – Central Region
Todd Thorpe, SVP, Regional School Services for the Central Region, has held a variety of leadership roles at Stride over the past 13 years. In his current position, he leads multiple operations and compliance initiatives for Stride's online public schools in the central region.
Mr. Thorpe previously served as Stride's Senior Director of Business Development. In this position, he played an instrumental role in creating new business ventures across the country, developed training opportunities for partner boards, and strengthened key relationships with policymakers.
Mr. Thorpe has also served as the Director of Operations of Stride's Western Region Schools, provided support as the interim school leader at three different schools powered by Stride K12, managed the transition of school leadership in various states, and successfully negotiated several charter school renewals and new charter applications.
Prior to earning a master's degree in project management from Colorado Technical University, Mr. Thorpe earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Whittier College.
Board of Directors
Nate Davis
Executive Chairman
Nate Davis, Executive Chairman of Stride’s Board of Directors, 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 Stride Board of Directors in 2009, was named Chairman of the Board in June 2012, and added the role of CEO in February 2018. He retired from his role as Stride’s CEO in January 2021. He originally 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 CEO 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 COO, and a board member of XO Communications Inc. Mr. Davis has also held senior executive positions at Nextel Communications (EVP, Network and Technical Services), MCI Telecommunications (CFO and various other management positions) and MCI Metro (Founder, President and COO).
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, D.C. He also served on the Northern Virginia Roundtable and the Northern Virginia Community Foundation.
With a personal passion for serving children and helping them achieve higher levels of success, Mr. Davis founded the JANDT Foundation to aid minority children in attending private and parochial schools in the Washington, D.C. area.
Mr. Davis received an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in engineering computer science at the Moore School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Stevens President’s Leadership Council and a recipient of the 2017 Stevens Honor Award.
He also championed both the ACES program and the newly founded Art Harper Saturday Academy at Stevens to help local high school students pursue college majors and careers in STEM-related fields.
James Rhyu
Chief Executive Officer
James Rhyu, Chief Executive Officer, joined Stride in June 2013 and became CEO in January 2021. He has more than 20 years of financial management experience in various global industries.
Mr. Rhyu works with leaders across the company to expand the market for Stride and reach new students. He also drives product innovation and improvements in the customer experience that are designed to attract more students to the company’s services. Prior to his CEO role, Mr. Rhyu served as Stride’s President of Corporate Strategy, Marketing, and Technology, Chief Financial Officer, and President of Product and Technology. In these positions, Mr. Rhyu led the development of marketing and messaging to support market expansions and executed on merger and acquisition opportunities that support Stride’s growth strategy.
Before his tenure at Stride, Mr. Rhyu served as CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Match.com, a subsidiary of publicly traded IAC/InterActiveCorp. In those roles, he was responsible for overseeing a broad range of functions, including human resources, legal, information technology and operations, and certain international operations and product development.
Prior to his roles at Match.com, Mr. Rhyu was a SVP of Finance at Dow Jones & Company where he ran the global financial function. Previously, he served for three years as the Corporate Controller of Sirius XM Radio Inc. and its predecessor company, XM Satellite Radio, as well as serving in the same role for Graftech International. Mr. Rhyu also spent six years with Ernst & Young LLP in the United States and South America.
Mr. Rhyu holds a bachelor’s degree from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from London Business School.
Aida Alvarez
The Honorable Aida M. Alvarez joined us in April 2017. Ms. 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. Ms. 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.
Ms. Alvarez is currently an Independent Director of HP Inc. and serves on the boards of Oportun Inc. and Fastly Inc. She chairs the Latino Community Foundation in California and is a board member of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and San Francisco Symphony. She is now Chair Emerita of the Latino Community Foundation. Ms. Alvarez previously served on the boards of Zoosk, Inc.; 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.
Ms. 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 Barrett
Dr. Barrett joined us as a director in September 2010. He served as Chairman and CEO 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 BS, MS and PhD 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 CEO 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 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 BS in electrical engineering and management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard University. Mr. Bron was selected as a director because of 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.
Robert Cohen
Mr. Cohen joined us as a director in 2019. He is a pioneer in the education industry and has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to reimagine the student learning experience. Cohen was the Founding CFO at 2U Inc., and later served as the COO and President, where he was integral in growing the company from inception to scale. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of SPi Global, and is an executive advisor to fast growing education technology companies like 2U, Trilogy Education Services, and Zybooks. Cohen began his career at The Princeton Review as the founder of the organization's largest franchise network. During his tenure at The Princeton Review, he held a number of executive roles, including EVP and General Manager of the K–12 Division, EVP, Strategy and Business Development, and CFO of the K–12 Test Prep Divisions.
Cohen attended Princeton University and is a former board member for The Princeton Review.
John Engler
Mr. Engler joined us as a director in October 2012 and is a member of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and our Academic Committee. He served as President of the Business Roundtable from January 2011 to February 2017. From 2004 to 2011, he was the President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers. Mr. Engler served as Michigan's 46th governor for three terms from 1991 to 2003. He also served as Interim President of Michigan State University from February 2018 to January 2019.
Currently, he serves as a trustee on the Board of Fidelity’s Fixed Income and Asset Allocation Funds, which oversees approximately 290 funds and about$1.3 trillion in assets. Previously, Mr. Engler was a director of Universal Forest Products from 2003 to 2019; a director of Northwest Airlines from 2003 to 2008; a director of Dow Jones & Company, Inc., from 2005 to 2007; a director of Delta Airlines from 2008 to 2012; and a director of Munder Capital Management.
Mr. Engler holds a BS in agricultural economics from Michigan State University and a JD 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 working with state education budgets, and for his business experience. The Board of Directors also benefits from Mr. Engler's perspective as a former director of numerous public companies and as a member of their audit committees.
Steven Fink
Mr. Fink joined us as a director in October 2003, currently serves as Chairman of the Audit Committe, and is a member of the Compensation Committee. Mr. Fink is 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 CEO of Lawrence Investments, LLC. Mr. Fink has also previously served as Chairman and CEO of Anthony Manufacturing, Chairman and Managing Director of Knowledge Universe, and Chairman and CEO of Nextera Enterprises.
Mr. Fink holds a BS in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a JD and an LLM 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.
Victoria Harker
Victoria Harker joined Stride, as Director in April 2020. Ms. Harker has a love for education coupled with more than three decades of experience in finance management, information technology, and operations. She currently serves as EVP and CFO for TEGNA Inc., formerly Gannett Co., Inc. She was named CFO of Gannett in July 2012 and is responsible for TEGNA’s financial functions and operations company-wide. Over the past eight years in that role, she led more than $7 billion in mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and divestitures.
Prior to this role, Ms. Harker served as CFO and President of global business services of the AES Corporation: a $12 billion multinational power company where she successfully led the re-engineering of the company’s capital structure through $3 billion in mergers and acquisitions, $1.8 billion in debt refinancing, and $300 million in share repurchases, allowing the company to initiate its first-ever dividend in 2011. Previously, Ms. Harker worked for MCI Inc., in a variety of executive roles including Acting Corporate CFO and CFO, Mass Market Division.
In 2019, she was also appointed to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia by Governor Ralph Northam, where she is Vice Chair of the Resource Allocation and Assessment Committee as well as a member of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council.
She serves on the public company boards for Xylem and Huntington Ingalls.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from American University.
Robert 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. He serves on the Board of Directors at Rite Aid. Earlier in his career he served as CEO of the NYC Leadership Academy, an independent nonprofit 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 CEO of Telwares; Chairman and CEO of SimDesk Technologies, Inc.; and Chairman, President and CEO 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 Technologies in Sarasota, Florida and Stream Companies in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Knowling received a Bachelor of Arts degree in theology from Wabash College and a Master of Business Administration from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Liza McFadden
Ms. McFadden joined us as a director in August 2017 and is a member of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. She currently leads LIZA and Partners LLC. Previously, she was 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 and a bachelor's degree from Fitchburg State University.
