Program Administration Team

As a seasoned investment banker, charter school executive, and senior leader of a large philanthropic organization, Anand is passionate about solving educational inequalities, creating efficient financial markets, optimizing school financial models to send more resources to classrooms, and using philanthropy to do so in a scalable and sustainable manner.

Prior to founding Equitable Facilities Fund, Anand led the Structured Finance Group and ran the Facility Fund for the Charter School Growth Fund, where he helped identify the nation’s best schools and invest in them. Prior to CSGF, he served as Chief Financial Officer of KIPP Austin Public Schools. Prior to KIPP, Anand spent more than a decade in senior investment banking roles, financing more than $10 billion in public projects including state revolving funds and K-12 schools with a specialty in credit ratings & quantitative structuring.

Anand is a graduate of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Education Pioneers Fellowship.

Michelle is charged with building Equitable Facilities Fund's credit platform and leading a thorough credit diligence and approval process for each charter school loan. Additionally, she leads the loan closing, loan servicing and portfolio management processes.

She brings with her nearly 30 years of professional experience, including 18 years at Nuveen Asset Management. During her time at Nuveen, Michelle developed and refined their charter school investment methodology and implemented it via analysis of over 300 charter school organizations to determine viability and credit worthiness for investment. Michelle has also served as an Internal Auditor for the Coca-Cola Company and an External Financial Auditor with Deloitte & Touche.

Michelle earned a BS from Auburn University and an MS from the University of Houston. She is also a CPA in the states of Illinois and North Carolina.

Mike oversees EFF’s internal finance and operations team, manages key stakeholder relationships, and works with the CEO to chart the Fund’s long-term strategic direction. He is dedicated to supporting the continuous growth of a high-caliber team that is on a mission to transform capital access for schools and communities.

Mike is a mission-oriented leader with deep experience in financial and education management. He previously served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Great Oaks Foundation, where he oversaw the Charter Management Organization’s business operations and led efforts to procure facilities, secure philanthropic revenues, and cultivate various stakeholders to support the expansion of the four-state Great Oaks Charter School network.

Prior to Great Oaks, Mike served as an administrator and humanities teacher at Match Public Charter School, which consistently performed amongst the best high schools in Massachusetts during his tenure. Mike earned an MBA with a concentration in finance and real estate from Columbia University and a BA in American History from the University of Pennsylvania.

Wendy is a facility financing specialist with deep credit expertise. At Equitable Facilities Fund she conducts bond market research, builds and leads our internal underwriting process, and works closely with our Chief Credit Officer on greenlighting transactions and due diligence efforts. For the past decade, Wendy has focused on the evolving charter school sector, where she has been a thought leader in improving credit standards for the burgeoning market.

She has authored or co-authored several comprehensive publications on the sector, including the LISC Charter School Bond Issuance: A Complete History Volumes I, II, and III along with numerous articles on the ever-changing charter school facility finance landscape.

Wendy has consulted with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the Local Support Initiatives Corporation, the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, and the Arizona State Board of Education. She was also a senior credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.

Wendy received a BA and MPA from the Rockefeller College of Public Administration at the University of Albany. During her career, Wendy has held Series 7, Series 53, and Series 63 licenses.

Marc is charged with sourcing loans and developing Equitable Facilities Fund’s pipeline. He works closely with partner schools to evaluate and guide them through our internal credit and underwriting process.

Marc brings 20 years of impact investing and nonprofit management experience. Formerly a Senior Executive and Analyst at Aeris, Marc conducted in-depth analysis and ratings of more than 70 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) throughout the U.S. and the U.K. Prior to Aeris, Marc worked as an independent consultant, managing development finance projects in Southeast Asia, including impact assessments and operational and financial evaluations of microcredit and savings programs, as well as designing microfinance initiatives to facilitate rural populations’ access to solar products. Marc’s international work was preceded by extensive lending and program management experience in the CDFI sector, working with NFF and Hope Enterprise Corporation.

Marc holds a BA from the University of Minnesota in Central European and Russian history and an MA from Fordham University in international politics and economic development.

Shawn supports charter leaders and local stakeholders in navigating the complex charter facilities landscape. As a member of the lending team, Shawn guides schools through the lending process and seeks to expand EFF’s impact through the development of new state-level financing vehicles. As a former charter school leader, Shawn is passionate about being an advocate for schools and creating equitable financing solutions that put more money back into classrooms.

Before joining the EFF team, Shawn was the Vice President of Building Hope, a non-profit charter school support organization, where he developed 12 charter school projects totaling over $150 million in Texas and Nevada. Prior to Building Hope, Shawn was the Director of Finance and then CFO of KIPP San Antonio, where he helped the organization grow from three to six schools and earn an investment grade rating. A graduate of the Broad Residency and Education Pioneers Fellowship, Shawn transitioned to the charter school sector after spending the first seven years of his career as a CPA with PwC and a private wealth firm.

Shawn holds a BS and MA from Tulane University and a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a MA in education leadership from the Broad Center.

Brian is responsible for developing Equitable Facilities Fund's financial systems to address current and future needs of the organization, monitoring business plan results, and assuring financial and reporting compliance to public, philanthropic and private partners. He builds and supports EFF’s finance, accounting, compliance, reporting, and human resource functions.

Prior to joining Equitable Facilities Fund, Brian founded ZATA Consulting, an education-focused practice that works primarily with charter schools on strategic planning, financial, operational, and facility initiatives.

Brian has worked with more than 50 growing charter organizations both during strategic planning and execution of growth plans. He served as the founding Director of Finance and Operations for Intrinsic Schools, a blended-learning charter network in Chicago. Prior to Intrinsic, he served as the founding Director of Finance for the Achievement School District in Tennessee.

Brian is a graduate of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver and holds a MS in Finance.

Mark Medema is a founding member of the EFF team and plays a leading role in the development of the organization's capitalization strategy, communications strategy, strategic partnerships, and institutional culture.

Mark currently serves as the Managing Director for the Charter School Facility Center at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. He is building a community of practice around facility research and best practices in policy initiatives, technical assistance, and new ventures. Previously, he helped a non-profit community loan fund, Building Hope, grow into new markets and new business lines. He started an international education reform organization that spurred the launch of Global School Leaders, a leader in the training of school leaders in low and moderate income countries. Prior to this, he worked for the KIPP Foundation in its early years to replicate their success and grow across the country. He has advised numerous charter school related groups.

Mark has been active in the education sector since serving as the Special Assistant to the Dean of the Northwestern Law School. Before transitioning to education, Mark worked in the infrastructure industry in engineering, urban planning, finance, and management consulting. Mark received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Northwestern University and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife and two daughters.

Sam supports EFF's efforts to to underwrite and originate loans to high-impact charter schools throughout the US. He is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Education Finance Analyst (EFA) Program sponsored by EFF and Civic Builders.

Prior to joining EFF, Sam was an Associate at Magellan Research Group, a primary research firm that connects institutional investors with leading experts across various industries. Prior to joining Magellan Research Group, Sam held internships across wealth management, media, and clean energy. Sam holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a primary concentration in Finance from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.

Jared supports EFF's efforts to to underwrite and originate loans to high-impact charter schools throughout the US. He is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Education Finance Analyst (EFA) Program sponsored by EFF and Civic Builders.

Prior to joining EFF, Jared was a Finance Intern at Energy LB LLC, an energy savings company. He was charged with streamlining the proposal creation process. Before working at Energy LB LLC, Jared worked as an Finance Operations Analyst at NETSCOUT. Jared holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from Rutgers Business School.

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