MEET
OUR TEAM
Excolere’s leadership team has extensive experience partnering with management teams in the Education and Human Capital management sector to generate significant financial and social impact.
.jpg)
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 ACT, Criteria, GoGuardian, University of Phoenix, and Vanta Education. Previously, he served on the boards of Penn Foster and HigherEducation.com. He also serves on the boards of Chicago Public Education Fund, Academy for Urban School Leadership, 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.
.jpg)
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 Hudson Global Scholars and is a senior advisor to Boston Consulting Group. He previously served on the boards of Reading Plus 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.
.jpg)
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 is a previous board member or observer of companies including: 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.
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.
RUSS JOHNSTON
Vice President, Portfolio M&A
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.
