Wayne Eckerling, Chairman

 Patricia Chlouber received a BS from Oklahoma Baptist University and a MA from the University of Colorado.  She lives in Leadville, CO. where she taught at the elementary level in the Lake County School district for 20 years. Pat also taught in Jefferson County seven years prior to moving to Leadville.   She served 9 years on the Lake County School Board and was elected from the 3^rd Congressional District as a member of the CO State Board of Education in 1996 and served 5 years.  She also served on the board of directors for the National Association of State Boards of Education.  From 2001 to 2009 Pat worked for the US Dept. of Education as the Secretary’s regional representative to 6 states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and Colorado. Recently she has served on the Colorado Mountain College community campaign board, the State Advisory Council for Parental Involvement in Education (SACPIE), as a moderator at the Conference of World Affairs at CU and has been the commencement speaker for various Colorado career colleges in Denver and Colorado Springs.

Alexander Ooms is Managing Partner at ClearCreek Partners, a financial advisory firm that works with entrepreneurs and CEO’s of private companies to help them raise capital or pursue strategic transactions.

Highly active in education reform, Mr. Ooms was the founding Chair and is a current member of the Board of Trustees for West Denver Preparatory Charter School; he also as a member of the Board of Directors and the Credit Committee of the Charter Schools Development Corporation; and on the Advisory Board for the Colorado chapter of Stand for Children.  His previous pro bono experience includes appointments to the A+ Citizen's Committee (an advisory body to the Denver Public Schools Superintendent); the Systems Transformation Subcommittee of the Colorado P-20 Education Coordinating Council, and the Mayor’s Commission on Cultural Affairs.  A regular contributor to local news site EdNews Colorado, Mr. Ooms has made numerous media appearances and authored regular Op-Eds on education topics.

Mr. Ooms holds an MBA in Finance and Management Strategy from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University, an MA in English Literature from Georgetown University, and a BA in Philosophy from Vassar College. He lives in Denver with his wife, two sons and daughter.

Patricia Hayes previously served on numerous boards, including the University of Colorado Board of Regents, the Colorado State Board of Education, National Association of State Boards of Education, the Cherry Creek Board of Education, Interstate Migrant Education Council, Colorado Statewide Systemic Initiative for Mathematics and Science, Mizel Museum of Judaica, and the Free Enterprise Committee.   Other education experience includes serving as U.S. Representative to the Bi-National Training Program, and as member of the National Testing Panel, Colorado Forum of Education Leaders, and Colorado Goals 2000.  She has served on many more panels and committees in her community.

Cecilia K. Sanchez de Ortiz has extensive experience in governmental affairs, public policy development and comprehensive, community development initiatives.  She has been Executive Director of the Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, Inc., State Director of the Governor’s Women’s Business Office and State Director of the Colorado Small Business Development Center.  For the City and County of Denver, she has served as the Director of the Division of Workforce Development and is currently the Deputy Director for the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development.  She was also an active Partner/Owner of Catalyst Resources Inc. (CRI).

Steve Schneider is a principal of Central Bancorp, a financial services firm based in Colorado Springs, and president of its insurance group. He has contributed to the success of various non-profit organizations, including Care & Share Food Bank (current vice chair) and the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation (past chair), and is a past member of the El Paso County Budget Task Force. Prior to Central Bancorp, Steve was the regional president for Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Central Region. Before moving to Colorado in 2001, Steve was a trustee and the president-elect of the Cincinnati Insurance Board and also a board member of the Greater Cincinnati Council on Child Abuse. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Miami University (OH) and has completed other industry and leadership studies, including the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriting (CPCU) designation, Wharton Executive Leadership program and coursework at the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs.

Tony has been executive director of the Donnell-Kay Foundation for more than a decade. During that time, he helped push for innovative and high performing schools, introduced healthy food for students and worked to reform the state’s school finance system. Prior to the Donnell-Kay Foundation, he was Director of Capital Planning and Director of Development with the Colorado Outward Bound School, an experience he says shaped his approach to the world.

Tony sits on a number of boards and advisory boards, including the University of Colorado at Denver’s School of Public Affairs, Facing History and Ourselves, dZi Foundation, Get Smart Schools and Venture Prep.

He also has a passion for science and the environment; Tony has served as a program specialist for the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco, where he was in charge of policy, planning and implementation of wetland regulations in the Central Valley and northern California. He also earned his B.S. in forest management science from Colorado State University. And Tony holds a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Denver.

A Colorado native, Tony lives south of Lyons, Colorado with his family, honeybees, and chickens. He’s a climber at heart and leads a couple foreign excursions a year, along with his personal ice, rock and mountain climbing trips.

Liz is currently the Executive Director of the Margulf Foundation.  Prior to this role, she was an education policy advisor to Governor Ritter, focusing on issues such as dropout prevention and recovery, Colorado legislation, Race to the Top, and the Governor’s Council for Educator Effectiveness.  Although her recent experience is in foundation work and policy, Liz’s background is as an educator, having served as a teacher and principal in traditional, charter and innovation schools.  Her education experience also includes time as a staff member at the U.S. Department of Education and the assistant director of the Denver Commission on Secondary School Reform.  Liz has a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and B.A. in psychology from Middlebury College.