Recy Dunn brings over two decades of education leadership experience to his role as Ascend's Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Recy was Chief Strategy Officer for the Division of the First Deputy Chancellor at the NYC DOE, where he ensured system-wide alignment on assessing and supporting schools’ needs, and an inaugural DOE Executive Superintendent. He's worked with YES PREP, New Leaders, Prince George’s County Public Schools, District of Columbia Public Schools, and more. Recy completed The Broad Residency in Urban Education and School District Leadership program at Bank Street College. Recy holds degrees from Stanford and University of Texas, Austin. 

Sonia leads the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition, a coalition of 225+ individual diverse-by-design charter schools. Prior to DCSC, she served in federal and local governments: under Secretary John King at the Department of Education as a Senior Policy Advisor and under Schools Chancellor Denis Walcott as Executive Director of Charter Schools Accountability and Support, NYC Department of Education. In addition to leading Manhattan Charter Schools, her work experiences include the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, NY Charter Schools Resource Center, NY Charter Schools Association, Edison Schools. She's a trustee on the boards of Atlas Public Schools and Central Queens Academy.

Raj Thakkar is Founder & CEO of CSBM and highly regarded as an expert on charter school finance. He was named Small Business Person of the Year for New York State by the U.S. Small Business Administration, a Top Entrepreneur by Crain's and an Outstanding Asian American in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center. Raj served as an Adjunct Professor at NYU's Wagner School of Public Service and is Board Treasurer of Camelback Ventures as well as Solar Responders. He attained his MBA in Finance from NYU's Stern School of Business and his BS in Engineering from Hofstra University.