Some of the corporate muscle behind KIPP

The Gap, Viacom, Bain Capital, Netflix, Walton...

John Fisher, Chairman

President, Pisces, Inc.
Mr. Fisher is President of Pisces Inc., an investment management company for the Fisher family. He is also a partner of Sansome Partners, the private investment partnership of the Fisher family. He sits on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Francisco, San Francisco Day School and the Alliance for School Choice.
Mr. Fisher is a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford's Graduate School of Business. He and his wife live in San Francisco with their four children.

Philippe Dauman

President and CEO, Viacom, Inc.
Mr. Dauman is President and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom and has served on the Company's Board of Directors since 1987. Viacom is the world's leading entertainment content company and it engages audiences on television, motion picture and digital platforms through many of the world's best known entertainment brands, including MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, BET and Paramount Pictures. Under Mr. Dauman's leadership, in 2009 Viacom partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the "Get Schooled" initiative, which aims to increase high school and college graduation rates, improve postsecondary readiness and promote the fundamental importance of education.

Mr. Dauman earned his bachelor's degree from Yale College and his law degree from Columbia University Law School. He is a director of National Amusements, Inc. and Lafarge S.A. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable and serves on the Executive Committee of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the Board of Trustees for The Paley Center for Media and the Dean's Council of Columbia University Law School.

Doris Fisher

Founder, Gap Inc.
Mrs. Fisher, co-founder of Gap Inc., is an exceptional volunteer and philanthropist whose generosity has positively impacted such fields as education, the arts and health care. A graduate of Stanford University, Mrs. Fisher's volunteer work there began in 1969, the year she and husband, Don, opened the first Gap store in San Francisco.

Over the years, Mrs. Fisher has offered exemplary services to the Graduate School of Business Advisory Board, the Stanford Art Museum Advisory Board, the School of Medicine, the Cantor Arts Center, the Stanford Alumni Association, the Office of Development, and the Board of Trustees. In addition, she has served on the Princeton Art Museum Advisory Board, the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors and the Northern California Cancer Center Board since 1983.

Reed Hastings

Founder and CEO, Netflix, Inc.
Mr. Hastings founded Netflix in 1997 and launched the subscription service in 1999. In 2005, Time magazine added Mr. Hastings to its "Time 100" list of the one hundred most influential global citizens. Earlier in his career, he founded Pure Software, which he built into one of the world's 50 largest public software companies.

Mr. Hastings was President of the California State Board of Education from 2000 to 2004. He has led successful statewide political campaigns for more charter public schools and easier passage of local school bonds. He received a BA from Bowdoin College in 1983 and an MSCS degree from Stanford University in 1988. 

Mark Nunnelly

Managing Director, Bain Capital
Mr. Nunnelly is Managing Director of Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm based in Boston. In 1989, Mr. Nunnelly helped found Information Partners, a venture and technology fund backed by Bain Capital that focused on early stage investing. Currently, Mr. Nunnelly sits on the Boards of Domino's Pizza, Warner Music Group, Eschelon Telecom, and Houghton Mifflin Company.
Mr. Nunnelly is an active supporter of several charitable organizations, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Jumpstart. He has also been actively involved with City Year since its inception. Mr. Nunnelly received his MBA, with Distinction, from Harvard Business School, and an A.B. from Centre College, where he is a Trustee.

Carrie Walton Penner

Trustee, Walton Family Foundation
Carrie Walton Penner is an education reform advocate who is committed to dramatically improving K–12 student achievement in the United States, especially in low-income communities. Along with the other Walton family members, she guides the Walton Family Foundation’s education reform strategies and investments. The Foundation believes that the best way to achieve continuous and sustainable improvements in K–12 schools is to create competition among schools by empowering parents to choose among them.


Ms. Penner serves as a board member of several organizations including the California Charter School Association, EdVoice, the Alliance for School Choice, and the California Academy of Sciences. She earned a B.A. in economics and history from Georgetown University and master’s degrees from Stanford University in education policy and program evaluation. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband, Greg Penner, and their four children.

Shawn Hurwitz, Founding Board Member, Emeritus

President and CEO, MAXXAM Property Company
Mr. Hurwitz is President and CEO of MAXXAM Property Company, a real estate development company focused on community development and related real estate investment.  As President and CEO, Mr. Hurwitz is responsible for the supervision and implementation of all real estate activities, including development, acquisition, disposition, investment, sales and marketing, and operating activities.

Mr. Hurwitz served as a founding board member of KIPP Foundation from 2000 to 2009. He also served as Chairman of the Board of KIPP Houston’s schools from 1998 - 2006, thus playing an active leadership role in the creation of KIPP’s first region in Houston as well as the national replication.

Don Fisher, Founding Board Chair, Emeritus 

September 3, 1928 – September 27, 2009

Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Gap Inc., Co-Founder KIPP Foundation
Mr. Fisher was the founder and chairman emeritus of Gap Inc. He served on the board of trustees of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was a director of the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco and a governor of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Mr. Fisher was also on the California State Board of Education and was a director on the board of EdVoice and Teach For America.

Mr. Fisher was the director of the National Retail Federation and received the Retailer of the Year award in 1996. He was also actively involved in the California Business Roundtable and the Committee on Jobs Executive Committee. Other honors include the California Arts Council Governor’s Award for Individual Patrons of the Arts and selection to the Bay Area Business Hall of Fame and American Academy of Achievement.

In 2000, Don Fisher Co-Founded the KIPP Foundation and served as Chairman of the Board until 2009.