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JD White
CEO
As a seasoned expert in higher education and educational technology, JD White brings a wealth of leadership and innovative expertise to Elentra. JD’s career is marked by his deep understanding of the complex needs, challenges, and opportunities of educational technology to facilitate learning. His strategic vision and dedication have consistently driven success in the development of products and services that have focused on enhancing the learner experience, institutional effectiveness, and academic operational excellence.
JD has a proven track record of collaborating with diverse stakeholders to develop and implement cutting-edge technologies and data-driven insights. His commitment to empowering educational programs and learners is evident in his passion for leveraging technology to transform educational experiences and outcomes.
JD holds a Ph.D. and an M.Ed. from The University of Georgia, and a B.A. the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. His academic background and extensive professional experience uniquely position him to lead Elentra towards new heights of innovation and impact in healthcare education.
Troy Williams
Board Director
Troy Williams is a Managing Director at Achieve and was formerly an MD at University Ventures. Troy leads both firm’s investments in education technology companies, including Boclips, AdmitHub, EverTrue, Examity, Motimatic, Packback and Ready Education.
Prior to UV, Troy was a senior executive at Macmillan where he was CEO of Macmillan Enterprise Solutions and President of Macmillan New Ventures. Previously, Troy founded and served as CEO of Questia Media, an early ebook company. Prior to Questia, he was previously employed in the mergers and acquisitions practice at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York.
Troy received his bachelor’s degree in History, Phi Beta Kappa, from Rice University, and his law degree from Harvard Law School where he was a member of Harvard Law Review.
Brian Napack
Board Director
Brian Napack is a long-time leader in education, scientific research, publishing, and media. He serves as the Executive Chairman of 2U, enabling the scaled delivery of powerful education in partnership with many of the world’s leading universities. Brian also serves on the board of RBmedia, the world’s leading audiobook publisher. Previously, Brian was the President and CEO of John Wiley, and before that led organizations such as Macmillan, Disney Education Publishing, Disney Interactive, and ThinkBox as President, CEO, founder, or co-founder. He has served as Chairman of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), Senior Advisor at Providence Equity, and Partner at L.E.K. Consulting where he was the co-head of its media practice.
Brian has also served on the boards of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Blackboard, the Business Higher Education Forum, Burning Glass, Ascend Learning, Recorded Books, Ingram Industries, myON (Renaissance Learning), EDMC, and Synergis (Risepoint).
Brian received an MBA from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College.
Gordon Xu
Board Director
Gordon Xu is a Vice President at Achieve Partners. Previously, Gordon was a member of BlackRock’s U.S. Private Capital Group, where he co-led the education sector and worked across private and impact opportunities. Prior to BlackRock, Gordon was an investment professional with Baring Private Equity Asia and Providence Equity.
Gordon graduated from UCLA with a BA in Business Economics. During his time at UCLA, he spent 3 years with the Academic Advancement Program, advocating and facilitating access, persistence, and graduation of students who have been historically underrepresented in higher education.
