Board of Directors
PCSD’s board of directors brings an abundance of philanthropic, business, and development experience to help guide the organization as it moves forward with its goals.
Eli Kennedy
Eli Kennedy is an expert in urban school district strategic redesign, including efficient human resource operations, performance-based pay and performance accountability. He is an Associate Director at The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, where manages the foundation’s investments in school districts. Kennedy most recently was the Western regional director for Platform Learning, a New York-based tutoring company. His previous experience also includes working as a senior analyst at UC Berkeley, as a manager of strategic planning for DNET in San Francisco and as an analyst and senior consultant for Accenture in Atlanta. Kennedy has a B.S. in business administration and finance from Howard University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Julie Mikuta
Julie Mikuta is a Partner with NewSchools Venture Fund’s West Coast office, where she oversees investment strategy, and management assistance to the firm’s portfolio ventures. A former Rhodes Scholar, Mikuta has worked as a high school teacher for Teach For America and later served as the organization’s Vice President of Alumni Affairs. She served on the District of Columbia’s Board of Education and helped start the DC-based SEED Public Charter School. Mikuta holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from Oxford University.
K. Robert (Bobby) Turner
K. Robert Turner is a Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Canyon-Johnson Realty Advisors, Co-Chair of the Fund Investment Committee, and a Managing Partner of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors. An expert in the acquisition, development, finance and management of commercial real estate assets, Turner directs Canyon’s real estate activities. At Canyon, he has been involved in over 164 real estate and mortgage transactions, totaling in excess of $1.8 billion dollars. This includes the development, construction, rehabilitation, and repositioning of over 7 million square feet of commercial property located throughout the U.S. Prior to the formation of Canyon, Turner was a Senior Vice President at Banque Indosuez, where he specialized in structured real estate transactions including CMBS and whole loans. Turner received a B.S. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
James Willcox
James Willcox is Chief Executive Officer of Oakland-based Aspire Public Schools. He was previously Aspire's Chief Operating Officer, and prior to that, the founding Chief Operating Officer for the Education for Change, a nonprofit charter management organization that restructures underperforming district schools as independent charter schools. Willcox has also served as a Principal at NewSchools Venture Fund, where he evaluated investment opportunities and the design and implementation of NewSchools’ charter school facility investment strategy. Willcox holds a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and an M. Ed. and M.B.A from Stanford University.
Glenn Pierce
Glenn Pierce is President & CEO, Pacific Charter School Development. See his bio here.
