MEET
OUR TEAM
Excolere’s leadership and extended team have extensive experience partnering with management teams in the Education and Human Capital Management sector to generate significant financial and learning impact.
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TONY MILLER
Managing Partner
Prior to Excolere, Tony was Chief Operating Officer and a Senior Partner at The Vistria Group, a private equity firm that he co-founded. He focused on investments in the Education and Human Capital sector. From 2009-2013, Mr. Miller served as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the
U.S. Department of Education. Previously, he was a Director with Silver Lake and a Partner with McKinsey & Company.
Tony serves on the board of directors of The Pillars, Criteria, GoGuardian, Intermediary Ed and University of Phoenix. Previously, he served on the boards of ACT, Inc., Penn Foster, HigherEducation.com and Vanta Education. He also serves on the boards of Chicago Public Education Fund and Hope Street Group, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.
He received an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.
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PETE DAVIS
Partner
Prior to Excolere, Pete was President of McGraw-Hill Education and before that EVP of Global Strategy and Development for The McGraw-Hill Companies (now S&P Global) spanning a period 2006-2011. Prior to that he was a Senior Partner and practice leader at Booz-Allen & Hamilton in their New York office.
Pete serves on the board of directors of Acceleration Academies and EPS Learning. He previously served on the boards of Reading Plus, Hudson Global Scholars and Greenwich Associates and was a board advisor to Emsi.
He has an M.B.A. from the Johnson School, Cornell University, and a B.A. in History/English awarded with highest distinction, from Rutgers College.
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MARCELUS DECOULODE
Partner
Prior to Excolere, Marcelus was a Partner at The Vistria Group where he focused on investments in the Education and Human Capital sector. Prior to Vistria, Marcelus was a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting.
Marcelus serves on the board of directors of Acceleration Academies, EPS Learning and The Pillars. He served previously as board member or observer at Academic Partnerships, Unitek Learning and HigherEducation.com.
He received an M.B.A from the Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago and a B.S. in Business from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
ANNIE CHOI
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
Prior to Excolere, Annie served as Chief Accounting Officer at Freeman Spogli & Co., a long-tenured private equity firm. Prior to that, she was a Senior Manager in the family office of Aurora Capital Partners. Through various leadership roles, Annie brings more than 20 years of broad expertise in finance, accounting, compliance, and operations.
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She is a Certified Public Accountant with an M.B.A. from the USC Marshall School of Business and a B.A., cum laude, in Economics with a minor in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.
RAVI DASPUTRE
Associate
Prior to Excolere, Ravi was an Analyst at Guardian Capital Partners, where he focused on investments in the Business Services, Niche Manufacturing and Consumer sectors.
Prior to that, Ravi was a Business Analyst II at Exact Sciences, a precision oncology and molecular diagnostics company, where he supported the Commercial Analytics function.
He received a B.A. in Applied Mathematics Concentrated in Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
JAKE DUPRE
Vice President
Prior to Excolere, Jake was a Senior Director at FullBloom, a K-12 education and behavioral health company, where he focused on acquisitions and supporting the executive team.
Prior to that, Jake was an Associate at the The Vistria Group where he focused on investments in the Education and Human Capital sector. Prior to Vistria, Jake was an Analyst at William Blair & Company where he was a part of its Consumer & Retail Investment Banking group, primarily focused on advising founder and private equity clients on sales of their companies.
He received a B.S. in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
FELICIA FREDIEU
Sr. Executive Assistant & Office Manager
Prior to Excolere, Felicia was a Senior Executive Assistant at Balmoral Funds supporting the Founder and Senior Managing Director, Jonathan Victor. Prior to that, Felicia worked for the largest real estate company in Europe, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, where she worked closely with the Chief Information Officer, Executive Vice President, US Legal and the Executive Vice President, Operations on key initiatives out of their Century City office. She also held a seat on the company’s diversity and inclusion Board focused on Social and Community Relations for the organization.
Felicia brings over 20 years of experience working with C-suite leaders and senior executives to tackle strategic objectives in corporate business, private equity, real estate and law.
Felicia co-founded the 501(c)3, Swirls Club, a diversity and enrichment program for multicultural girls where she currently serves as Board Vice President.
RUSS JOHNSTON
Vice President
Prior to Excolere, Russ founded and served as sole principal of a consulting firm, Wisteria Services, which supported corporations and private equity investment firms on matters involving corporate strategy, operational execution and process management for acquisition transactions. Prior to Wisteria Services, Russ founded and capitalized a search fund investment entity called Torchpass Management.
Prior to that, Russ was as an Associate at The Vistria Group where he focused on investments in the Education and Human Capital Sector. Prior to Vistria, Russ was an Analyst at William Blair & Company where he supported business services industries including Education and Human Capital management.
He received an M.B.A from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.S. in Business Administration from the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University.
GINA LEGGIO
Associate
Prior to Excolere, Gina was an MBA Summer Associate at Sun Capital Partners where she focused on investments in the Consumer & Retail sector. Prior to Sun Capital, Gina was an MBA Intern at Diversis Capital where she focused on investments in the Software sector.
Prior to that, Gina was an Associate at J.P. Morgan where she was a part of its Technology & Disruptive Commerce banking team, primarily focused on advising and supporting high-growth technology and consumer clients in Southern California.
She received her MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and her B.B.A in Finance and B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Georgia.
MARINA LIOT
Investor Relations Associate
Prior to Excolere, Marina was a Senior Sales Analyst at The Carlyle Group, where she supported fundraising activities and relationship management efforts with institutional investors across the United States and Canada.
Prior to that, she worked as a Client Portfolio Management Analyst at Goldman Sachs, contributing to key client service initiatives, fund reporting and portfolio performance analysis.
She received a B.A. in Government & Economics with honors from Dartmouth College. Marina also serves as Secretary for the Class Executive Committee and prepares the class notes for the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
ADAM NEWMAN
Associate
Prior to Excolere, Adam was an Investment Banking Analyst at Deloitte Corporate Finance within its Technology, Media and Telecommunications group, where he was focused on executing M&A and LBO transactions for founder- and private equity-owned clients.
Prior to that, Adam was a Middle Market Banking Summer Analyst at JP Morgan and Finance Intern at Kaiser Permanente.
He received a B.S. in Finance with departmental honors and minors in Information Technology and Economics from the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon.
