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OUR LEADERSHIP

Improving literacy rates across the country

We believe that improving literacy is the key to solving everything—which is why we’re fighting to give everyone in America an opportunity to take a second chance on education.

Andrew Roberts
Interim President and CEO

Andrew Roberts has been helping mission-driven organizations develop impactful strategy and translate it into everyday operations for the entire course of his career. He currently serves as the Interim President and CEO at the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, an organization dedicated to creating an America in which all adults have the opportunity to read, write, and comprehend in order to navigate the world with dignity.

Prior to stepping into his current position, Andrew served as the Barbara Bush Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer for more than three years. In 2023, Andrew was honored as a Top 100 Chief Operating Officer by the OnCon Icon Awards. Previously, Andrew served in a number of different management roles at AARP. During his tenure as AARP’s Vice President of Enterprise Strategy, he developed a Malcolm Baldrige award-winning best practice strategic planning process for the organization’s $250M social impact portfolio. As Director of Organizational Effectiveness, he helped build and execute against a comprehensive operational improvement plan for the entire 2,600-employee nonprofit organization.

Before entering the nonprofit space, Andrew was a management consultant, devoted to helping clients in the commercial and federal spaces with improvement of strategy and operations.

Andrew has an MBA from the University of Maryland and degrees in Marketing and Information Technology from Florida State University.

Clare Bonsignore
Vice President of Development
Evangeline Fields
Chief Financial Officer
Sarah Cacicio
Director of the Adult Literacy & Learning Impact Network
Christopher C. Robinson
Major Gifts Officer
Pamela Cote
Senior Director of Curriculum and Training
Lauren Sproull
Vice President of Communications
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Bringing expertise to America’s literacy crisis

Andrew Roberts, Interim President and CEO

Andrew Roberts has been helping mission-driven organizations develop impactful strategy and translate it into everyday operations for the entire course of his career. He currently serves as the Interim President and CEO at the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, an organization dedicated to creating an America in which all adults have the opportunity to read, write, and comprehend in order to navigate the world with dignity.

Doro Bush Koch, Honorary Chair

Author, philanthropist, and businesswoman Doro Bush Koch inherited her mother’s belief in the power of literacy to change lives, and stepped into the role of honorary chair for the Foundation in 2014. She is also the author of a New York Times bestselling book about her father, former President George H. W. Bush, a founding partner in BB&R Wellness Consulting, and co-host of the popular Health Gig podcast.

LaMar Bunts, Treasurer

LaMar Bunts has spent much of his career driving growth and global expansion at technology companies like Dell, Silicon Graphics and ITM Software (acquired by BMC Software). More recently, he has been a leader in several innovative education technology startups and is currently the Chief Transformation Officer at Dartmouth College.

Jeb Bush, Jr.

Jeb Bush, Jr.  is a Founding Partner of Finback Investment Partners, as well as Co-founder and Managing Partner at Dock Square Capital. He has spent the last 15 years of his career in management consulting, advising companies on business development and strategy. He serves on the boards of Rio Grande Exploration & Production, Lumina Analytics, and The Salty Donut. His nonprofit experience includes the Barbara Bush Foundation, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and KIPP Miami Public Schools.

Chris Frangione

Christopher Frangione is the managing director of Frangione & Associates Innovation Advisors, which provides strategic planning, open innovation, and operations support. He currently supports organizations including NASA, Hackensack Meridian Health, and the University of Chicago on innovation, and serves as a part time COO to two startups in the conservation space. He previously served in leadership and advisory roles at the XPRIZE Foundation, National Geographic, and the Milken Institute.

Michael Levine

Dr. Michael Levine is a globally recognized leader in education and digital innovation research, policy, and philanthropy. He currently serves as Senior Vice President, Learning and Impact, for Noggin, Nickelodeon’s interactive learning service for preschoolers and elementary age children. He previously held leadership positions at Sesame Workshop, Asia Society, and Carnegie Corporation of New York.

David Risher

David Risher is the CEO of Lyft, and leads the business in improving the lives of millions of riders and drivers. He has 30+ years of leadership and board experience across public companies and nonprofits. He co-founded Worldreader in 2009, and previously served as SVP at Amazon and general manager at Microsoft. Mr. Risher holds a B.A. from Princeton, an M.B.A from Harvard, and an honorary doctorate from Wilson College.

Raquel A. (Rocky) Rodriguez

Raquel A. (Rocky) Rodriguez is an attorney and shareholder for Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, and serves as chair of the Investment Committee. Rodriguez has more than 30 years of experience in a wide variety of government, business and litigation matters. From 2002 to 2007 she served as general counsel to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, working on some of the most critical issues facing the state.

Honey Skinner

Honey Skinner is a retired partner of the Sidley Austin law firm, where she specialized in the representation of large hospital systems. She continues to engage in health care as the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Chair of Policy and Advocacy Advisory Council in Chicago, an Executive Committee Member and Secretary of the Boca Grande Health Clinic Board of Directors, and as a Director of Pathways.org. She is also a Director of The Friends of Boca Grande Community Center and The Northern Funds, and she serves on Northwestern University’s Law Board.

Denine Torr, Vice Chair

Denine Torr has 20 years of experience in corporate philanthropy. She currently leads strategic development and execution of national, regional, and local philanthropic-related programs and initiatives for Dollar General’s 19,000+ store communities, corporate headquarters, and distribution center network, and serves as the executive director for the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. She also serves on the boards of the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation and the American Indian College Fund.

Gwynn Virostek, Secretary

Gwynn Virostek is an accomplished financial services and nonprofit leader, with more than three decades of service in banking leadership across the nation for institutions including Washington Mutual, Wachovia, and TD Bank. Her strong commitment to volunteerism includes service on the board of the Volunteer Florida Foundation, Big Bend Hospice, and Guardian ad Litem. She is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer at CCYS – Capital City Youth Services.

Lori Wachs, Chair

Lori Wachs is a venture capitalist and consumer analyst, with over 30 years of investment experience. She is the Managing Partner of Penultima Capital, a venture firm that invests in women-led growth stage consumer companies. Lori is on the boards of K18 and Alchemy 43. She’s a past Chair of the Trustees’ Council of (U of) Penn Women. Lori is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

2022-2023 Board Committees

Audit Committee

Gwynn Virostek (Chair)
LaMar Bunts

Executive Committee

Doro Bush Koch (Honorary Chair)
Lori Wachs (Chair)
Denine Torr (Vice Chair)
LaMar Bunts (Treasurer)
Gwynn Virostek (Secretary)

Finance/Development Committee

LaMar Bunts (Chair)
Jeb Bush, Jr.
Michael Levine
Lori Wachs

Investment Committee

Raquel Rodriguez (Chair)
Lori Wachs
John Rhee
Richard Kelly
Edward Antoian
Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

Nominating and Governance Committee

Lori Wachs (Chair)
Doro Bush Koch
Chris Frangione
Gwynn Virostek
Honey Skinner

Program and Marketing Committee

Denine Torr (Chair)
Chris Frangione
Jeb Bush, Jr.
David Risher
Michael Levine

Annual Review and Compensation Committee

Denine Torr (Chair)
Lori Wachs (Board Chair)
Gwynn Virostek
Michael Levine

Advisory Councils

Corporate Advisory Council

AT&T – Rick Welday, President, AT&T Business Enterprise Markets

Bessemer Trust – Walter Montaigne, Principal & Senior Client Advisor

Boeing – Cheri Carter, Vice President, Boeing Global Engagement

Business Roundtable – Dane Linn, Senior Vice President, Corporate Initiatives, Immigration

Colgate-Palmolive – Gillian Barclay, Vice President, Global Public Health and Scientific Affairs

ConocoPhillips – Andrew D. Lundquist, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs

Dollar General – Denine Torr, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy and Executive Director, Dollar General Literacy Foundation

Humana – Dr. Nwando Olayiwola, Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President

Intel – Daniel Gutwein, Senior Director, Education Vertical, Network and Edge Solutions Group

Novartis – Kileken ole-MoiYoi, Executive Director, Novartis Corporate Strategy

Vertical Bridge – Daniel Marinberg, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Walgreens – Alethia Jackson, Senior Vice President ESG & Chief DEI Officer

Technology Advisory Council

Chuck Dages – Executive Vice President of Emerging Technology, Warner Bros. (Retired)

Christopher Frangione – Managing Director, Frangione + Associates Innovation Advisors

Orion French – Studio Content and Strategy, Apple

Nia King-Rubie – Managing Partner, Immersive Strategies

Kristen Lawson – Chief of Staff, Carelon Digital Platforms

Shannon Lucas, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Catalyst Constellations

Erin Mote – Executive Director, Innovate EDU

Rachel Mushahwar – Managing Director/General Manager, Americas Channel and Partner Chief, Amazon Web Services

Shelley Peterson –  Director, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft

Kirby Salerno –  Founding Partner, Broad Reach Edtech

Andrew Sugerman –  President, Centr