Biographies - 2017 Boards of Visitors Orientation Rosa Atkins Dr. Rosa Atkins is superintendent of Charlottesville City Schools, a division that serves economically, ethnically and racially diverse students in nine schools. During Atkins’ tenure, Charlottesville City Schools has become one of the top-performing school divisions in the state with a graduation completion index of 90% and one of the best Advanced Placement programs in the area. In 2011, she was named Virginia Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, as well as Virginia State University Alumna of the Year for Professional Education. In 2015-16, she served as president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. Atkins was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of 100 Future Ready Superintendents in 2014 and invited to the American Association of School Administrators’ Digital Consortium at the White House. In October 2016, she was named as one of two national finalists for the Women in School Leadership Award for Superintendents, presented annually by the School Superintendents Association (AASA) in cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is the president-elect for the Urban Superintendents Association of America. Atkins demonstrates her commitment to developing future leaders by serving as an executive board member and mentor for aspiring superintendents for AASA/Howard University Superintendents Academy. She is an alumna of Virginia State University and Virginia Tech. Peter A. Blake Peter Blake joined the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia as interim director in 2011 and became director in January 2012. He previously worked at SCHEV as an associate director, as a fiscal analyst for the Virginia General Assembly, as deputy secretary of education and secretary of education under former Governor Mark Warner, and as vice chancellor of workforce development services for the Virginia Community College System. In 2017, Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed him to the Education Commission of the States. In 2016 he served as chair of the executive committee of State Higher Education Executive Officers. Jamie Bosket Jamie Bosket began his tenure as 21st president & CEO of the Virginia Historical Society in February 2017. Previously, he served in a number of leadership positions at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Bosket was elected to the board of the Virginia Association of Museums, the leading state museum association in the nation, in 2014. He has also served on the board of the Alexandria Historical Society. He currently sits on the Virginia 2019 commission, American Evolution: Virginia to America 1619 to 2019, as well as the state’s 2020 commission to celebrate the anniversary of women’s suffrage. Bosket has worked at The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), Genesee Country Village and Museum (near Rochester, New York), and the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society (Corning, New York). He holds a B.A. in history from the State University of New York at Geneseo and a master’s in museum studies from The George Washington University. He received the John F. Kennedy Center’s LEAD award for emerging leaders who demonstrate excellence in cultural access, one of two people nationwide to be so honored in 2013. Boards of Visitors Orientation ● October 24 – 25, 2017 He was elected to the board of the Virginia Association of Museums, the leading state museum association in the nation, in 2014. He has also served on the board of the Alexandria Historical Society. Justin Brown Justin Brown has nearly 20 years of experience working for organizations with missions to improve government. He currently is the senior associate director at Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). In that role, he supervises research teams that answer policy questions asked by the Virginia General Assembly. Prior to joining JLARC, Brown was a strategy consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, where his clients included the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was also an evaluator at the U.S. General Accounting Office. Brown has an undergraduate degree in media studies from Radford University and a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University. Richard “Ric” Brown Ric Brown entered state service in 1971 as an economist with the Division of State Planning and Community Affairs, at which division he served as staff to numerous legislative and executive study commissions. In 1976, Brown moved to the newly created Department of Planning and Budget (DPB). He was promoted in 1986 to budget manager for the Commerce and Resources Section within the Department of Planning and Budget. In this capacity, he coordinated the development of the Governor's budget recommendations to the General Assembly for the agencies Economic Development and Natural Resources. In 1987, Brown took over the managerial duties of budget operations; in 1990 he was promoted to the position of deputy director for budgeting within the Department of Planning and Budget. In 2001, Governor Jim Gilmore appointed him acting director of the Department of Planning and Budget. He was reappointed as director by Governors Warner and Kaine. As director, Brown was responsible for both external (other agency) and internal (within DPB) budget development and execution procedures as well as for the development and publication of the governor's budget bill and budget document. Brown was first appointed secretary of finance by Governor Kaine in August 2008 and has been reappointed by Governor McDonnell in 2010 and Governor McAuliffe in 2014. He received a bachelor’s in economics from the College of William and Mary and a master’s of commerce degree from the University of Richmond. Christine Chmura A thought-leader on labor market data, Chmura is a nationally recognized speaker among site selectors, economic developers, private firms, workforce practitioners and educators. She has served as a keynote speaker for national and international conferences, and is a quoted source on regional and national economic trends in the media throughout the nation. Her forecasts are included in the Blue Chip Financial Forecasts, which are synonymous with the latest in expert opinion on the future performance of the American economy. She is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economists. Since founding Chmura Economics & Analytics in 1998, Chmura and her team of experts have continued to innovate data solutions such as JobsEQ, LaborEQ, Zonyx, and FedSpendTOP, that help answer critical client questions across the public and private sectors. Boards of Visitors Orientation ● October 24 – 25, 2017 Deborah DiCroce In March 2012, Deborah DiCroce became president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, leaving her position as president of Tidewater Community College and entering what she calls her “second act.” As stewards of the donors who generously give back to Hampton Roads, the foundation has a robust grant-making program that provides $15 million to various aspects of the community such as art, culture, education, human services and the environment. Since DiCroce joined, the foundation has been heavily involved with Reinvent Hampton Roads, a regional economic competitiveness initiative designed to produce diversity, higher-paying jobs and support for businesses throughout the region. The goal has been to embrace the region’s historical sectors, the port, tourism and the military, while diversifying the economic base with new employers, entrepreneurs and industries. She believes that by embracing and recognizing the work of other entities and individuals, the region can move forward in a coordinated, systematic way. Glenn DuBois Dr. Glenn DuBois was hired in 2001 to serve as the chancellor of Virginia’s Community Colleges; a system of 23 colleges and 40 campuses serving nearly 252,000 people a year. DuBois has led the VCCS through two successful strategic plans and into a third called Complete 2021, which aims to triple the number of credentials the colleges put into Virginia’s economy. Virginia’s recent adoption of the Workforce Credentials Grants program, which funds short-term training programs for the first time, is among his proudest achievements. During DuBois’ tenure, Virginia’s Community Colleges have signed groundbreaking guaranteed transfer agreements with more than 30 public and private universities; become Virginia’s leading provider of workforce development services, helped Virginia close headline-grabbing economic- development deals; diversified community college funding sources; and maintained a tuition rate that is one-third of the comparable rate at Virginia’s universities. The Phi Theta Kappa National Honor Society presented DuBois with its State Community College Award of Distinction in 2008. Prior to coming to Virginia, DuBois served as the commissioner and CEO of the New Hampshire Community Technical College System and director of community colleges for the State University of New York, one of America’s largest networks of community colleges. DuBois earned his doctorate in higher-education administration, research and policy from the University of Massachusetts. He holds a master’s from Eastern Kentucky University, a bachelor’s from Florida Atlantic University and an associate of science degree from the State University of New York in Farmingdale. W. Heywood Fralin (Chair) Heywood Fralin currently serves as a member of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, as chair of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, as vice chairman of the Taubman Museum of Art, as a member of the Virginia Business Council, as a member of the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Foundation Board, as a member of the Virginia Research Investment Committee, as a member of the Virginia Athletics Foundation Board of Trustees, and as a director of the Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation Board of Directors. He received his undergraduate degree from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia in 1962 and received his J.D. degree from American University in 1965.