Board of Directors
Chris Sobecki, Chairman & Director
Chris Sobecki is a principal of The Invus Group, LLC., a New York-based investment firm which originates, structures and acts as a lead equity investor in a variety of private equity situations including buy-outs, early-stage venture capital and expansion financings. Invus has committed capital in excess of $3 billion. Invus professionals have significant experience as business consultants and line managers, which enables it to assist portfolio companies in formulating and executing strategies that maximize long-term value. Over its nineteen-year history, Invus has made investments in over 80 portfolio companies in a wide range of industries, including education, software and telecommunications. The majority of these investments have been guided to liquidity. Chris was actively involved in Invus' investment in The Grow Network, a nationally recognized leader in assessment reporting for states and large districts, which was recently sold to McGraw-Hill. Chris holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Thomas D. Dretler, President & CEO
Tom joined the Company in 1998 and has been President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since 1999. He is responsible for creating value for clients and shareholders through the management and growth of the enterprise. Tom has led the Company's transformation from a boutique investment bank to a strategy research business with a worldwide reputation for improving the performance of organizations operating in the education market. Prior to joining the Company, he served as director of a management consulting firm chaired by Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter with a focus on business reengineering and organizational change. Throughout Tom's career, he has taken a leadership role in supporting business involvement in public sector issues. In the mid 1990s, he managed a Harvard Business School program on business involvement in public education, welfare-to-work, and urban investment. In the early 1990s, he served as a consultant to former President Jimmy Carter and was responsible for developing public-private partnerships in association with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Tom is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Johns Hopkins University and holds an M.B.A. degree from the Harvard Business School.
Les Charm, a director of the Company since 2002, has been a partner in the firm of Youngman & Charm since 1972. The firm specializes in directorship functions for firms owned and operated by entrepreneurs. Youngman & Charm has operated in a variety of industries and channels of distribution, and has been involved in many successful financings and acquisitions and mergers. From 1977 through 1990, Mr. Charm was chairman and president of a major distributor and specialty retail chain. He has been active in other specialty marketing companies. He is a member and former director of the National Association of Corporate Directors-New England, as well as director of several public and privately-held firms. Mr. Charm has taught throughout the world on a variety of topics regarding entrepreneurship. He is on the President's Council at Babson College, and is the recipient of the Appel Award for Entrepreneurship. He is a graduate of Babson College.
David Cohen has had a distinguished, 20-year career as a neuroscientist, followed by 17 years as a senior university administrator. He served as Provost at Northwestern University, after having been Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Northwestern. Subsequently, he served as Vice President for Arts and Sciences and Dean of the Faculty at Columbia University. He is currently Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia. David has held a number of elected offices in national and international organizations, including President of the Society for Neuroscience and Chairman of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He has served on numerous boards, including Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Zenith Electronics, and the Columbia University Press. He has also served extensively on advisory committees for various organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the National Academy of Sciences. David has a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Aflalo is a Managing Director at The Invus Group, LLC., based in New York, and focuses on investments in private companies. He joined Invus in 1998. Prior to joining Invus, Aflalo was at Marakon Associates where as a manager he led strategic consulting engagements for large multinational companies in a wide range of industries including financial services, retail, and consumer products. Previously he worked at the Federal Reserve. He holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's The Wharton School and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Yale University.