The Governance Committee

T. Robinson Ahlstrom – Founder & Chairman, Governance Committee
As Chairman of The Fund for Classical Education, Mr. Ahlstrom works within the non-profit sector to build Alexandria Academy and provide direct aid to worthy scholars. As Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cambridge Advisory, he will lead a talented Advisory team dedicated to making the New Classics™ educational experience accessible to students in cities and towns throughout the United States.

Mr. Ahlstrom began his career at Long Island’s famous Stony Brook School where he served as Lecturer on American Civilization and Assistant to the Headmaster. Since then he has headed independent schools in Massachusetts and New York City. He has also served as Vice President of The College at Old Westbury and Dean of the School of Arts and Education at New York City's King's College. While in New York, Mr. Ahlstrom designed and established Bronx Latin—the City's first classical public school. He is also the Founder and Head Master Emeritus of Washington Latin PCS. During his tenure Washington Latin was the #1 performing public charter school in the Nation's Capital.

Experienced in independent school management and in the development and accreditation of both traditional public and chartered public schools, Mr. Ahlstrom also serves on the Board of the American Academy for Liberal Education—the U.S. Department of Education approved accreditor of liberal arts schools and educational programs. He is a scholar and activist deeply engaged in issues of educational equality and cultural renewal.

An ordained Congregational Minister, Mr. Ahlstrom holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Trinity College, an M.A. in theology from Andover Newton Theological School, and a Th.M. in history (Puritan Literature and Thought) from Harvard University.

The Honorable Ronald Klink – Voting Member, Governing Committee
After a successful 20 year career in broadcast journalism, Congressman Ron Klink was first elected to the United States Congress in 1993 where he served four consecutive terms representing the 4th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, Klink became one of the most vocal, dynamic and successful members of Congress, largely as a result of his fair treatment of issues that impacted both sides of the political aisle.

While in Congress, Klink served on the Financial Services Committee, the Education and Workforce Committee and the Small Business Committee. He became a recognized champion of educational quality—and equality. As a member of both the Commerce Committee and the influential Telecommunications Subcommittee, Mr. Klink used his experience as the anchor of Pittsburgh’s most watched television news channel to help draft the Telecommunications Act of 1996-- the first rewrite of telecommunications laws since they were written in 1934.

Since leaving Congress in 2001, Klink has maintained strong relationships with members of the House and the Senate and has used these relationships to work for real educational reform and the responsible use of technology. Mr. Klink is currently a Senior Policy Analyst at the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.

George Cranmer – Director
George Cranmer is Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Cranmer Lawrence & Company Ltd, a company he founded in 1998 having returned to his native England from the United States of America in 1992. CLC furnishes bespoke financing for the UK Government’s Statutory Bodies and manages more than Ј400 million of assets on behalf of major corporate underwriters.

Mr. Cranmer began his career in corporate finance following his graduation from the London School of Economics. He gained extensive experience in the investment banking and equity syndication fields while holding a broad range of senior management posts in the US, latterly as President of AFG Securities Corp in Boston and as President of Fifield Capital Corp in Chicago.

Mr. Cranmer is married with four sons and a daughter. He is an active member in his local Church of England parish, for which he sits as a member of the House of Laity of the Deanery Synod. In addition he is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and a Governor of Caldicott School.





Kymberly Peer – Voting Member, Governing Committee
Ms. Peer began her career in the entertainment industry as a PR assistant with Mega Entertainment LTD. At Mega, she worked closely with agents and talent to coordinate press tours and personal appearances while turning the buzz into new endorsements.

Ms. Peer also brings extensive experience in publishing to her participation in the Advisory. She worked as an Accessory Editor for Vogue Magazine in New York City. After Vogue, she went on to serve as an Associate with Kensington Publishing Corporation, assisting clients in all aspects of account set up, documentation processing and maintenance. Along with her administrative and client support experience, Ms. Peer has designed both print and electronic media campaigns to increase institutional or product brand awareness.

Ms. Peer holds a B.A. in Communications and is a member of ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) and The Public Relations Society of America.

 

THE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Richard E. Seltzer – Vice President, Finance
Richard Seltzer brings is the former Chairman and CEO of DPRA Incorporated, a 300 person, employee-owned technology and engineering consulting firm. He retired from DPRA in 2006 after thirty-two years with the company. As President/CEO of DPRA he was responsible for overseeing all business operations and assuring effective support was provided to all of the Firm’s consulting groups. He developed and executed the Firm’s long-term growth strategy, and ensured the Firm’s business processes and systems effectively accommodated such growth. Additionally he led acquisition efforts, including the integration of seven acquisitions into the Firm’s corporate structure. Mr. Seltzer also served in various capacities in the

US Air Force and the Kansas Air National Guard from 1973 to 2002, retiring with the rank of Colonel. Mr. Seltzer graduated from the University of Missouri (B.S. & M.S.) and Kansas State University (M.B.A.).






Charles W. Jackson – Vice President, School Development
Charles Jackson has served as a consultant for a wide range of clients including charter schools, charter school management organizations (CMO), private schools, and foundations. While consulting with the Advisory, Mr. Jackson is currently serving as Senior Director, Administration and Operations of a CMO named CentroNнa. In this capacity, he manages the facilities, operations, administration, information technology and telecommunications, food services, and transportation for all five CentroNнa sites.

As the Founder and Director of Academia Bilingьe de la Comunidad Public Charter School (ABC) Mr. Jackson successfully raised both initial funding and $4 million dollars in construction financing. He managed the construction while recruiting the student population and increased enrolment by 200% in second year. Under his leadership the school was both high performing academically and rated by the DC Office of the Financial Controller as the charter school with the best financial audit.

Before entering the field of charter school management, Mr. Jackson served as a civil rights attorney, first with Gilman, McLaughlin & Hanrahan, LLP and then with Relman & Dane, one of Washington’s premier civil rights firms. As the Founder and Director of the Fair Employment Council of Greater Washington, DC, Mr. Jackson led a non-profit, civil rights organization focused on employment discrimination, growing the organization from one person with $10,000 in funding into an organization with 15 employees and a budget of a million dollars.

Mr. Jackson has been a Fellow of the Institute for Educational Leadership and Building Excellent Schools (BES), a non-profit organization that identifies and trains future public charter school founders and works to improve urban education by providing support for designing, launching and sustaining independent schools. He holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago in Sociology and a Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law.