Peter Denton
FOUNDER AND TRUSTEE
Peter Denton has spent over 30 years in the optical thin film, vacuum deposition and chemical optical coating field. His experience has included developing new technology, managing Denton Vacuum, Inc. (DVI), initiating new business start-ups and active industry trade associations. Pete graduate from MIT with a degree in Electrical Engineering and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
In 1998, Pete resigned as CEO of Denton Vacuum to allow him to devote most of is time to a major interest of his: reform of the public education system. In 1999, Pete established Excellent Education for everyone, to reform urban public schools in New Jersey through parental school choice. A member of International Women’s Forum national advisory board.
Joshua Dwyer
TRUSTEE
Joshua Dwyer is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, public policy, and government affairs. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University.
Joshua was Director of Education Reform at the Illinois Policy Institute and Policy and Government Affairs Director at Empower Illinois. At Empower Illinois, he was instrumental in advocating for several key educational policies, including the Invest in Kids Act, which raised over $308 million for scholarships. He is currently the founder and Executive Director of The Excellence Project, focusing on identifying and supporting high-potential students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Jennifer Daniels
TRUSTEE
Jennifer Daniels is an accomplished public policy expert with a B.A. from Texas A&M University. For the last 15 years, Jennifer has worked in Catholic education, the nation’s largest private K-12 education sector.
Most recently she served as the Associate Director for Public Policy for the Secretariat of Catholic Education at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In this role, she worked with state and federal education leaders across the country to draft legislation, pass legislation, protect programs from regulatory interference and ensure strong program implementation.
Lew Andrews
TRUSTEE
Dr. Lewis Dr. Lewis M. Andrews was the first executive director of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy and currently chairs the Kids’ Scholarship Fund of Connecticut (www.ksfct.org).
He holds degrees from Princeton and Stanford, is a former Research Fellow at the Yale Divinity School, and contributes to such diverse publications as the Wall Street Journal, the Spectator, American Conservative, National Affairs, The Federalist, and Real Clear Politics.
Steve Looney
TRUSTEE
Steve Looney is Managing Director of Peale Davies & Co. Inc., a management consulting firm, and is a CPA and an attorney. Mr. Looney serves as a consultant and director of healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and technology companies and is a strong advocate for improvement of public and private education.
Dick Zimmer
TRUSTEE
Dick Zimmer represented New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of the Representatives, where he was a member of the Ways and Means Committee. He is the author of the federal Megan’s Law, which requires parents to be notified when a convicted sex offender moves into their neighborhood. His legislation on environmental risk assessment was incorporated into amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Tom Byrne
ADVISOR
Tom Byrne founded Byrne Asset Management in 1998. With more than 35 years’ experience in the securities business, Tom has been a member of the New Jersey State Investment Council since 2010 and is a former chairman. He served two terms as chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.
Rosemary Becchi
TRUSTEE
Strategic Adviser and Counsel at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and President and Founder of Jersey 1st, a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to educating, informing, and advocating for the hardworking people of New Jersey. Former Congressional candidate in New Jersey and co-authored the creation of section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, which created college savings programs.
Bob Bowdon
TRUSTEE
Bob Bowdon is the founder and CEO of VidaFair, a pay-per-stream video platform. He is also the founder and former Executive Director of Choice Media, the leading School Choice media group. He has been a television producer, reporter and commentator for PBS, Bloomberg Television.
He also appeared as a recurring character in satirical news sketches for the Onion News Network. The Cartel, Bowdon’s documentary, reveals the nature and extent of corruption in public education. The film won a dozen film festival awards.
Liz Parlett Butcher
TRUSTEE
Liz Parlett Butcher is the director of Communications, First State Educate, a statewide movement of Delawareans reinventing education. Together, they believe they can create the conditions that enable and sustain an extraordinary school system in Delaware by being informed, getting active, and speaking up. Liz is an advocate for improving special education, for removing barriers to equitable education and for improving access to a high quality education for every child. She previously served as Regional Director for The Association of American Educators and as a lobbyist.
Professor Robert P. George
ADVISOR
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has served as Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and as a presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics.
Sufia Azmat
TRUSTEE
Sufia Azmat is the Executive Director of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA) which specializes in Islamic school accreditation and provides professional development. She is a certified teacher with over 20 years of experience in education. Ms. Azmat has taught at multiple grade levels with primary focus on English and literature. Her administrative experience includes serving as the principal of a K-12 school and as a middle school division head. Ms. Azmat is also the co-chair of the islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Education Forum Programming Committee which organizes two national conferences. She is an educational consultant whose workshops include Bullying Prevention, Counseling, Critical Thinking, Effective Communication, and Positive School Climate.