Board of Directors
Board of Directors. Guidance on Outcomes.
Mark Atkinson, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Mark Atkinson is the CEO of Teachscape. Prior to founding Teachscape in 2000, Mr. Atkinson was a network news producer with extensive experience in reporting, producing, and directing network news documentaries. He was Senior Producer and Manager of New Markets for CBS News Productions, where he developed new business opportunities, focusing on multimedia production and the education market. He has directed and produced works with broadcast luminaries such as Mike Wallace and Peter Jennings, and has received many awards, including the Gold Baton, the highest honor of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, for work associated with reporting the war in Bosnia, the Overseas Press Club Award, and an Emmy Award for reporting on the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Mark is a graduate of Yale University, and he presently serves as a trustee of the Oracle Education Foundation.
Phil Clough, Managing General Partner, ABS Capital
Phil Clough is a Managing General Partner at ABS Capital Partners whose investment interests and experience include business services companies. He currently represents ABS Capital on the boards of eFashionSolutions, LLC, Liquidity Services, Inc., Payformance Corporation, Rosetta Stone, Inc., Renew Data Corp., and Restaurant Technologies, Inc. Phil also serves on the board of American Public Education, Inc., a former ABS portfolio company. He previously served on the boards of Advanced Disposal Services, Inc. and Rainmaker Systems, Inc. Prior to joining ABS Capital in 2001, Phil gained operating experience from his years at SITEL Corporation, the global leader in providing outsourced call center services to large corporations, where he was CEO and President from 1998 to 2001. While at SITEL, Clough grew both revenues and EPS significantly, as well as established relationships with corporations such as GM, America Online, Siebel, and IBM. Most importantly, he learned the value of setting and clearly articulating goals and priorities for his team—and regularly measuring against them—something he routinely helps his companies with today. From 1990 to 1997, he was in the Investment Banking Group at Alex. Brown & Sons Incorporated, leading their business services efforts, where he advised clients on M&A transactions and equity and debt offerings. He served in the United States Army from 1983 to 1988, rising to the rank of Captain in 1987.
Janet Hickey, Co-Managing Partner, Sprout Group
Janet Hickey is a Co-Managing Partner at the Sprout Group, where she has been a General Partner since 1985. She previously served as Senior Vice President of Venture Investments for the General Electric Investment Corp., which she joined in 1970. Ms. Hickey held a variety of positions at GE, including 12 years as Trustee of the General Electric Pension Trust as well as Director of Research and Manager-Pension Trust Equities. She was also a securities analyst at Eastman, Dillon, Union Securities. Ms. Hickey, who attended Mount Holyoke College and the University of St. Andrews, is a former Director of the National Venture Capital Association, an original inductee in the "Private Equity Hall of Fame," and a Trustee of Mount Holyoke College.
Marguerite W. Kondracke, President and CEO, America's Promise
Marguerite W. Kondracke is the President and CEO of the America’s Promise Alliance. America’s Promise was founded in 1997 by General Colin L. Powell to make children and youth a national priority, mobilizing all Americans to fulfill Five Promises for our nation’s young people: caring adults; safe places; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others. Currently, America’s Promise is focused on addressing the nation’s high school dropout crisis.
During her 40-year career, Mrs. Kondracke has been both an entrepreneur and a public servant, focusing on the needs of children and families. Prior to joining the Alliance, she served as Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander as well as Staff Director for the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families. She also served in the cabinet of then Tennessee Governor Alexander as Commissioner of the Department of Human Services. Previously, Mrs. Kondracke was co-founder and CEO of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the nation’s largest provider of employer-sponsored child care and one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” Today she continues to serve on the company’s board of directors. She is also a member of the board of directors of Saks Fifth Avenue (NYSE:SKS) and LifePoint Hospitals (NASDAQ: LPNT).
Mrs. Kondracke serves as board member and secretary of Independent Sector. Throughout her career, Mrs. Kondracke has received numerous awards and honors; including being named a Purpose Prize Fellow, awarded by Civic Ventures to those over 60 taking on society’s biggest challenges. Recently, Mrs. Kondracke was named by The Non-Profit Times as one of the “Top 50 People of Power and Influence in 2008.” She is an alumna and now a trustee of Duke University, where she co-chairs Duke Engage.
Ralph Terkowitz, General Partner, ABS Capital
Ralph Terkowitz is a General Partner at ABS Capital Partners whose investment interests and experience include both media & communications and software companies. He currently represents ABS Capital on the boards of Alarm.com Incorporated, eFashion Solutions LLC, Innovation Interactive, LLC, INVISION, Inc.,Vibrant Media, Inc., and Zoom Media Group, Inc. He is an observer on the board of Ignite Media Solutions. Prior to joining ABS Capital in 2004, Ralph served as CIO/CTO of the Washington Post Company. During his tenure, Ralph worked with the Post’s six divisions on all major technology and development operations and investments. From 1996 to 2003, he had primary responsibility for The Washington Post’s venture investment portfolio. Under his direction, performance exceeded that of other corporate venture investors who manage for both strategic value and investment returns. Also while at The Washington Post, Terkowitz served as founder and CEO of its electronic publishing subsidiary, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive (formerly DigitalInk). The subsidiary became known for its innovation and led the industry in developing new revenue models for electronic media. One of the products Ralph created, washingtonpost.com, continues to be among the most visited news and information sites on the Internet.
