Rick Cruz
Board Chair
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Rick is a trusted advisor to organizations in the business, social impact, and philanthropic sectors. He has served in leadership roles at companies, nonprofits, and government agencies—and has extensive experience in organizational management and governance, partnerships, business development, strategic planning, and external relations. Rick was most recently the president and CEO of Arabella Advisors, a preeminent mission-driven professional services business that has been at the forefront of innovation in collaborative efforts to combat global challenges. In his role at Arabella, Rick led the executive team and guided strategy and operations with the goal of growing the firm’s reach and impact. Previously he built and managed the firm’s client development and external relations functions. Over the last two decades, Rick has served in senior roles at leading social sector education and youth development enterprises, including College Board, America’s Promise Alliance, FSG, Teach for America, and DC Prep Public Charter School. Rick is deeply committed to advancing access to quality education. He serves as chair of the board of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. As well, he recently completed an eight-year tenure as a board member and chair of the DC Public Charter School Board. That independent board oversees the 66 nonprofit organizations and their 126 schools which educate half the public school students in the District of Columbia. Rick is a frequent panelist and speaker on public education and reform efforts. Rick also holds board positions at several other local and national nonprofits, including Instruction Partners, and Goodwill of Greater Washington. Rick earned a BA in philosophy from Yale University. He resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.

Richard Reeves
President
American Institute for Boys and Men

Richard V. Reeves is the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM). Before founding AIBM in 2023, Reeves was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. While at Brookings, he focused on policies related to economic inequality, racial justice, social mobility, and boys and men. Reeves is the author of several books, including “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male is Struggling, Why it Matters, and What to do About It” and “Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That is a Problem, and What to do About It.” Inspired by his own experiences as a father and policy expert, Richard founded AIBM to bring awareness to the challenges facing boys and men today and to develop evidence-based solutions.

Andrea Zayas
Chief of Engagement & Partnerships
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Andrea Zayas is Chief of Collaboration & Partnerships of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the nation’s advocacy organization for charter schools. Andrea advised philanthropy, non-profits, and schools through her consulting firm, Upstream Education for several years, designing novel strategies and leading change. Prior to consulting, Andrea worked for the Ballmer Group as National Director for K12 where she developed and executed the organization’s education portfolio strategy. In 2018, Andrea joined the Boston Public Schools and led the district through the pandemic as Chief Academic Officer and solidified the district’s commitment to the science of reading and the passage of college and career aligned graduation policy. Andrea previously worked at the KIPP Foundation where she led professional learning for the network’s C-suite leaders. Earlier in her career, she founded La Cima Charter School, a dual-language and social justice focused charter in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She served as a charter authorizer in the Klein-Bloomberg administration in NYC writing the city’s first charter accountability handbook and taught in arts and literacy classrooms in the South Bronx. Andrea began her work with charter schools managing start-ups for an Education Management Organization that partnered with non-profits led by people of color to support them in opening the school of their dreams. Entrepreneurship, community, and justice are core values that drive Andrea’s work. She was appointed by President Biden as Commissioner of the White House Initiative for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics, and currently serves on the board of Propeller, a nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs grow their nonprofits and small businesses to tackle social and environmental disparities in New Orleans. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, her master’s from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is a Doctoral Candidate in Urban. Education Leadership at Xavier University of Louisiana.