Board of Directors

Kenneth M. Smith is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Strategic Partnerships LLC. He served as the Chairman of the National Commission for Employment Policy under President Reagan, the Vice Chairman of the National Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children under President Nixon, and as a member of the White House staff. Mr. Smith previously worked for Governor Pete DuPont of Delaware, and has been an advisor to every U.S. Secretary of Labor since 1980.

Michael A. Baer is Vice President and Director of the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. He focuses on senior positions in higher education. He previously served as Senior Vice President at the American Council on Education. From 1990 to 1998 Baer was provost and senior vice president at Northeastern University, which followed 22 years at the University of Kentucky, where he served as professor of political science and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Roy Bernardi is Vice President, Consulting Services for CGI. Prior to joining CGI he served as the Chief Operating Officer of HUD. Having served previously as Deputy Secretary, Bernardi was charged with managing HUD's day-to-day operations. He also served as Acting Secretary of the agency and as HUD's Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development. Prior to his time at HUD, Roy served as the Mayor of Syracuse, New York from 1994-2001 for two terms with decisive victories until nominated by President Bush to be the Assistant Secretary of HUD.

Red Cavaney is the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the Washington-based organization that represents the U.S. oil industry. Previously he was the head of three other trade organizations, and he served as CEO of Ericson Yachts and as a senior member of the White House staffs in the Administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan.

Frank Doyle is the retired Executive Vice President of General Electric, and served as interim CEO of Compaq Computer prior to the sale of the company to Hewlett Packard in 2003. Mr. Doyle serves on a number of boards of directors of public and private organizations, and served as Chair of the Council on Economic Development, a leading business organization concerned with workforce issues. Frank is a frequent public speaker on these issues.

Joe Griesedieck is the Vice Chairman of the executive search firm Korn/Ferry International based in San Francisco. He was formerly CEO of the executive search firm Spencer Stuart, also based in San Francisco. Joe has held leadership positions in the executive search industry for more than 20 years, including six years as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Russell Reynolds Associates. Previously, he was Group Vice President with Alexander & Baldwin, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Falstaff Brewing Company.

The Honorable James Hodges is the CEO of Hodges Consulting Group in Columbia, South Carolina. He was the Governor of South Carolina from 1999-2003. Prior to that, he served 11 years in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1986-1997) where he chaired the House Judiciary Committee and served as Minority Leader.

Leslie Hortum is Managing Director of Spencer Stuart's Washington, D.C., office, focusing on senior-level searches for associations, public policy, and government affairs positions. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Leslie led the association/public policy practice for Korn/Ferry International. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. From 1984 to 1997, Leslie was Senior Vice President and Chair of the Management Committee of the American Trucking Association.

Jimmy G. Koeninger is Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships LLC. He brings more than two decades of consulting experience with Fortune 1000 clients in pursuing federal and state grants and in implementing government partnership strategies for companies including Honeywell, Allstate, MetLife, and Bank of America, among others. He also plays a leadership role in serving non-profit clients such as Jobs for America's Graduates and Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA).

Karen Koeninger serves as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships LLC, where she manages the day-to-day operations of the company's Dallas office and oversees the field operations of Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG), an organization managed by Strategic Partnerships that operates in 30 states. She is also the Associate Director of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), an 80,000-member national career and technical education student organization for students pursuing careers in the health professions.

Charles Krambuhl is the Chairman of the Executive Committee for Strategic Partnerships, LLC. He was formerly Executive Vice President for American Medical Laboratories where his responsibilities included corporate human resources, and Senior Managing Director for Quest Diagnostics. Chuck has 30 years of experience in the trade association, government relations, and business communities. Prior to his work with American Medical Laboratories Chuck worked for the American Petroleum Institute and Mobil Oil Corporation.

The Honorable Charles S. Robb served as Lt. Governor of Virginia, from 1978 to 1982, as Virginia's 64th Governor, from 1982 to 1986, and as a United States Senator, from 1989 to 2001. In 2001, he joined the faculty of George Mason University as a Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy. He currently serves on The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, The Secretary of State's Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board, and The FBI Director's Advisory Board.

Nora Bennett Smith is President of the consulting and investment firm, Kenora Enterprises, and President of JenTara Investments LLC. Nora is a co-founder and board officer of Strategic Partnerships LLC and has been active in the company since its inception. She has served on a number of presidential and gubernatorial advisory councils on career education and on vocational technical education. She has been instrumental in the design and implementation of employment strategies and programs for high-risk youth, including the original model for Jobs for America's Graduates.

The Honorable Kathleen Kennedy Townsend served as the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1998 to 2002. Before becoming Lt. Governor, Townsend served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice. She is the founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the former Chair of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, and serves on the Board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Dr. Marna Whittington is President and CEO of the Allianz Nicholas Applegate Fund, headquartered in La Jolla, California, and Chief Operating Officer of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management, headquartered in Munich. Dr. Whittington previously served as the head of asset management for Morgan Stanley. Prior to that, she was Budget Director and Secretary of Finance for the State of Delaware; Deputy Secretary of Education in Pennsylvania; and Executive Vice President at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Honorable Bill Brock, Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors of Strategic Partnerships LLC, has served as a United States Senator and Member of Congress from Tennessee, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, U.S. Trade Ambassador, and U.S. Secretary of Labor. Senator Brock is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BridgesLearning, a company providing specialized educational services for students in 500 schools across the country. Senator Brock also serves on a broad range of for-profit and non-profit Boards of Directors at national and state levels.

Effective in December, Thomas Vilsack resigned from the Strategic Partnerships’ Board of Directors to accept the nomination offered by President Elect Obama as the Secretary of Agriculture

Effective in May, Ray Mabus resigned from the Strategic Partnerships’ Board of Directors to accept the nomination by President Obama as the Secretary of Navy.