Misha Simmonds is currently the Senior Portfolio Director at the Newark Charter School Fund (NCSF), where he develops and implements initiatives in the areas of school quality, advocacy, collaboration, equity and sustainability that support better educational outcomes for all Newark’s children.
Misha previously served for 8 years as Executive Director of University Heights Charter School (UHCS). During his tenure, enrollment more than tripled to 725 students and the school added a new 35,000 square foot building. UHCS was also recognized with the national EPIC Silver-Gain Award for breakthrough student achievement gains. For this work, Misha received the 2016 NJCSA Charter Champion Award for Administrator of the Year.
Prior to UHCS, Misha taught middle school for 5 years in Newark and Kathmandu, Nepal and completed a one-year Aspiring Principal internship at North Star Academy through the New Leaders for New School program. He also worked for three years as an Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund in San Francisco, where he managed a $20M investment strategy targeting charter management organizations in Los Angeles. His business experience includes work as business manager of the Daily Princetonian and a summer internship with the marketing department of the Washington Post.
Misha has a BA from Princeton University, an MBA from Harvard University, and a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership from Baruch College.

Once labeled an illegal alien in the U.S, Samuel worked in the agricultural fields of California to become the first in his family to graduate from a four year University. He later became an American citizen.
Samuel is a passionate social entrepreneur with years of business development, operations, P&L and technology experience. Most recently Samuel co-founded a social mission driven start-up.
Previously, Samuel played a primary leadership role in building Progreso Financiero, a social mission driven company with more than 80 retail locations across California, Texas and Illinois, making it one of the largest Community Development Financial Institutions in the USA focused on responsibly serving the financial needs of the Hispanic community. Prior to joining Progreso, Samuel worked at Apple as a World Wide Operations Supply Demand Product Manager, where he was responsible for leading the operational efforts in bringing the MacBook Pro to market and running the day to day operations. Prior to attending business school, Samuel was hired into the Leadership Development Program for SBC (now AT&T). Previously, Samuel co-founded an international technology-consulting firm, with clients/offices in Silicon Valley and Mexico and also worked as an IT Consultant for IBM Global Services.
Samuel was the former President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Cal Poly SLO Chapter. Samuel holds an M.B.A from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Born in Bangladesh and growing up throughout the United States, Mr. Hyder now makes his home in Houston, Texas.
Mr. Hyder received a petroleum engineering degree from Texas A&M and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.
Having varied experiences in Eastern and Western cultures, Omar has seen the power of education flourish with many. He brings a zest for inculcating this power into others and a resume that includes establishing educational community service initiatives in California and Illinois.
He is co-founder of Professionals for Education (PFE), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth learning about leadership and career opportunities. Mr. Hyder worked as an engineer with ChevronTexaco in California and is now working as a business analyst with ExxonMobil.