City Prep

• Our Team
• Founding Team
  • Tom Vander Ark
    Founder and CEO
  • Nirvani Budhram
    Director, School Services
  • Caprice Young
    President & Chief Education Officer
  • Alice Wang
    Chief Operations Officer
• Advisors
• Strategic Partnerships

Tom Vander Ark

Tom Vander Ark - Founder and CEO of City Prep. Previously Tom served as the Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he developed and implemented $4 billion in scholarship and grant programs including the development of over 1200 new high schools and most of the high performing charter management organizations in operation today. In December 2006, Newsweek readers voted Vander Ark the most influential baby boomer in education.

Prior to his role with the Gates Foundation, Vander Ark was the first business executive to serve as a public school superintendent for one of Washington State's larger school districts that has been recognized for narrowing achievement gaps and reducing administrative costs. Tom is the chair-elect of the International Association of K12 On-line Learning, is a director for MLA Partner Schools, Strive for College, and advises the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, and Communities in Schools. He blogs at www.EdReformer.com