Board Bios

William Glasgow, Chair
Prime Management
For over 20 years Mr. Glasgow has been involved with the Prime Management group of companies, acting as President for its operating and investment entities for the past 10 years. Mr. Glasgow has a broad operating and investment background, including experience in education, telecommunications, cable TV, and as a partner in several venture capital funds. Mr. Glasgow graduated Magna Cum Laude from Vanderbilt University in 1981 and received his MBA from the University of Texas in 1985.

Lori Fey, Secretary
President, Ed-Fi Alliance
Lori Fey manages the rapid growth and adoption of the Ed-Fi data standard for states, school districts and vendors across the US.  Prior to leading Ed-Fi Alliance, Lori served as portfolio director for policy initiatives at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and was responsible for the foundation’s policy initiatives focused on institutionalizing data-driven instruction in the U.S. public education system. Before joining the foundation in 2003, she worked extensively in the nonprofit and public sectors, including the use of effective use of data and technology in insurance regulation. Lori holds a bachelor of business administration in finance from the University of Texas. She is a founding board member of the Texas Charter Schools Association.

*Ms. Fey has recused herself from all board actions related to pending litigation and the filed petition and current case.

Chuck Cook, Treasurer
Responsive Education Solutions
Chuck is the Chief Executive Officer of Responsive Education Solutions (RES) in Dallas, the state’s largest charter management organization. Cook was a founder of Charter CHOICE, a grassroots coalition of charter schools heavily involved in state advocacy. He leads a 32-campus organization with more than 3000 students, primarily in metropolitan areas of the state. RES schools include Premier High Schools, Vista Academies, and iSchool High, a math, science, technology, and engineering academy.

Albert Black
On Target Supplies and Logistics
Albert Black is the President & CEO of On-Target Supplies & Logistics-a regional logistics and supply chain management organization. Albert is a career long advocate of public education with 18 consecutive years on college or university boards. During this time of public service, he was appointed by former education commissioner Dr. Shirley Neely to oversee one of the most troubled school districts in Texas school history. Currently, Black’s on his 3rd term as a Regent at Baylor University. Black also serves on the Boards of St. Louis University, the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University (SMU) as well as Baylor Healthcare System where he's the current Board Chairman. He graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Science degree and the Cox School of Business at SMU with a Master of Business Administration degree. Read Mr. Black’s complete resume or contact Mr. Black.

Yvette East
Houston Heights Learning Academy
Yvette East is the Superintendent/Principal of the Houston Heights Learning Academy. Houston Heights Learning Academy was established in 1998. Coming from the Houston Independent School District, she brought with her experience from teaching in district charter schools that provided a rigorous mission driven framework for success. She joined Houston Heights Learning Academy in 2002 which serves a 99 percent economically disadvantaged population. Under her leadership, the district has changed from being rated under the alternative to standard accountability; as well as growing from an unacceptable district to and an exemplary one. She has developed key support services that focus on continuous improvement, strategic reform, and school accountability. Yvette received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University and her Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Phoenix. She has presented and shared best practices in several educational conferences. Additionally, Yvette has served as the Annual Chairperson for the Texas Charter School Conference from 2009-2012.

Mike Feinberg
KIPP
Dr. Mike Feinberg is Co-Founder of the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Foundation and Executive Vice Chair of KIPP Houston, which includes 21 public charter schools: 10 middle schools, 8 primary schools, and three high schools.  To date, 90% of the KIPPsters who have left the KIPP Houston middle schools have gone on to college. Mike received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and a Masters of Education from National-Louis University in 2005. In 2010, Yale University awarded Mike an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters. After graduating from Penn, Dr. Feinberg joined Teach For America and taught fifth grade in Houston, Texas. In 1994, he co-founded KIPP with Dave Levin and established KIPP Academy Houston a year later.  In 2000, he co-founded the KIPP Foundation to help take KIPP to scale. Today, KIPP is a network of 125 high-performing public schools around the nation serving nearly 40,000 children.  In 2004, Dr. Feinberg was named an Ashoka Fellow, awarded to leading social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions and the potential to change patterns across society.  In 2005, Mike was the commencement speaker for the University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences. Also in 2005, he led the effort to start a public K-8 school in Houston for Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans. The school, NOW College Prep (New Orleans West), opened in 10 days.  In 2006, Drs. Feinberg and Levin were awarded The Thomas B. Fordham Prize for Excellence in Education, and the National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen.  In 2008, Mike and Dave were named to the list of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report and received the Presidential Citizens Medal in the Oval Office of the White House. In 2009, they were the recipients of the Charles Bronfman Prize as well as the Manhattan Institute’s William E. Simon prize for Lifetime Achievement in Social Entrepreneurship. And in 2011, they were awarded the Guardian of the Human Spirit award by the Holocaust Museum Houston given to dedicated Houstonians who have worked to enhance the lives of others and to better humankind.  Dr. Feinberg and Dr. Levin’s efforts became the story told by Washington Post reporter, Jay Mathews, in his book “Work hard. Be nice.”  KIPP has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS 60 Minutes, ABC World News Tonight, and in The New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Washington Post, and more. Mike is married to Colleen Dippel, and they have two children:  Gus, age 7, and Abadit, age 2, who they adopted from Ethiopia in 2011.

Don Mills
Meadowland Charter School
Mr. Donald L. Mills has been in education for 23 year.  He has served in a variety of independent school districts, charter schools and private schools. Having been a single foster parent Mr. Mills has a deep appreciation for charter schools. He also has an array of experiences in the school system including classroom teacher, coordinating teacher, curriculum coordinator, director, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent as well as an adjunct faculty member. Mr. Mills is currently the superintendent of MeadowLand Charter School in Boerne, Texas. He has deep passions regarding special education, school reform/culture, leadership, and school board training. 

His academic background is as diverse as my experience. He holds degrees in biblical studies (A.A.), psychology (B.S. and (M.S.), business management (B.S.), special education (B.S.) and educational leadership (M.A.). The variety of these degrees have provided him with the skills needed to assist in the reorganization of low performing schools to turn them around to be institutions of high performance that are student centered and focus on outcome based results that promote both student learning and master teacher development.  He is currently completing a doctorate in Educational Administration, Curriculum and Instruction in an Ed. D. program. HIs research is entitled: Teacher Autonomy and the Effects it has on School Culture. He believes in being a lifelong learner and models that behavior with his current faculty and staff.

Alfredo Segura
New Frontiers Charter School
Alfredo Segura Jr is the Chief Executive Officer for New Frontiers Charter School. He has full responsibility for the district to include local, state and federal compliance; management of fiscal, administrative and facilities functions and general supervision of faculty, staff members and contract labor. Under his leadership, the district has achieved “Recognized” state accountability. Mr. Segura was previously the Director of Compliance and Operations for Texas for Charter Schools USA where he maintained compliance, managed the facilities and provided operational guidance for seven charter schools throughout Texas. He was also a Behavior Intervention Specialist with Advantage Schools where he worked with students, teachers and parents to improve individual student behavior and overall campus conduct policies.

Arturo Suarez
Positive Solutions
Arturo is the Executive Director of Positive Solutions Charter High School in San Antonio Texas and the current President of the Association of Charter Education (ACE) of Texas. ACE was the first association of charter schools in the state. Positive Solutions was founded in 1998 and serves students who have not found success in traditional public schools. Suarez has been instrumental in the development of TCSA, and worked to build support for the new organization through South Texas.

Soner Tarim
Harmony Public Schools
Dr. Tarim serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Superintendent of Harmony Public Schools. Dr. Tarim received his bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Engineering and master’s degree in Aquatic Science from Ataturk University, Turkey, and his doctorate in aquatic ecology from Texas A&M University. Dr. Tarim is one of the founding members of Harmony Public Schools, and has served in his current role since 2000. He is a certified Texas School Board Member Trainer and serves as a Board member for the Texas Region-IV Education Service Center. Dr. Tarim is a professional biologist and ecologist, and has taught courses in biology, ecology, management and physical education at the high school, college and graduate school levels.  He has also organized numerous symposiums and science projects for colleges and high schools.

Tom Torkelson
IDEA Public Schools
Upon graduating from Georgetown University (Washington, DC) with a degree in economics in 1997, Tom joined Teach For America and taught fourth grade in Donna, Texas for three years, after which he successfully launched the IDEA Academy in 2000, serving as the first board president and founding principal. At 24 years of age, Tom was then Texas’ youngest-ever charter school founder. Since 2000, Tom has led the replication efforts of the original school, and system-wide there are now over 13,000 students enrolled in the 28 schools that comprise IDEA Public Schools, with two more schools set to open in the fall of 2013.



The mission of IDEA Public Schools is to prepare students from underserved communities for success in college and citizenship. Currently, over 93% of graduates are on college campuses across the nation, where they continue to receive support and guidance from IDEA.

In 2009, U.S. News and World Report ranked IDEA College Preparatory Donna as the 13th best high school and second best charter high school in the nation.  Also in 2009, IDEA Public Schools was the first-ever charter organization to be named the best school system in the state of Texas (H-E-B Excellence in Education Award).



In 2009, Tom was featured in Time magazine as Wendy Kopp’s pick for the 100 most influential global citizens. Tom is the recipient of the prestigious Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership (2009), University of Michigan Ross Business School’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year (2010), the Freddy Fender Humanitarian Award (2008), and served as Chairman of the 2007 National Charter Schools Conference. Tom is often called upon to provide expert testimony to state and local officials on issues of education policy and school choice.  

An avid runner and frequent Ironman triathlon competitor, Tom and his wife, Dr. Nina Lee Torkelson (RGV ’00) make their home in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas with their three young children, Lincoln, Liam, and Gwendolyn.