NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The National Board of Directors of The Posse Foundation voted to approve Director Jeff Ubben as its next chair. Mr. Ubben will directly succeed Posse's first board chair, Michael Ainslie. He will become chair-elect immediately and take over as board chair for Mr. Ainslie in January of 2008.
The Board's search committee, spearheaded by Director Bruce Macleod, recommended Mr. Ubben after a four-month search process. "Jeff's love and passion for Posse, the time he's already committed to the organization, his willingness to be influential in board recruitment, and his understanding of organizational structure make him a great partner for Deborah Bial, Posse's president and founder, and the board," says Macleod.
Michael Ainslie became Posse's first board chair in 1994 when it received its not-for-profit status. Mr. Ainslie, a private investor and the former president, chief executive officer and director of Sotheby's Holdings, oversaw the development of Posse from a small, grassroots program to one of the most successful college access and youth leadership development organizations in the United States. Mr. Ainslie discovered Posse in its fifth year when it was a little known entity and developed a partnership with Deborah Bial, Posse's founder and now president.
Today, Posse has 28 university and college partners and operates chapters in six cities -- Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. The program has helped to send more than 1,800 students to college. Posse Scholars have won over $175 million in full-tuition, four-year merit leadership scholarships provided by Posse's partner institutions and are persisting and graduating at a rate above 90 percent, well above the national average.
"Michael's leadership has been extraordinary," says Ms. Bial. "He has been a dream chair, raising both awareness for Posse on a national scale and millions of dollars in support. Because of his commitment, Posse has been positioned on solid-gold footing for the long term."
"My involvement with Posse has been the most important and satisfying aspect of my professional life," says Mr. Ainslie. "Debbie Bial's vision and passion have inspired me. I hope I have been able to convey my strong belief in Posse's values to our board, our supporters, and most importantly to our Posse Scholars. They continue to amaze and delight me with their drive, ability and success on campus and now in the workplace. Posse's work is an important national success story, and it is with great confidence that I pass Posse's chairmanship to Jeff Ubben. He is the right person to continue Posse's brilliant trajectory."
Mr. Ubben is a founding member and managing partner of ValueAct Capital in San Francisco. Prior to founding ValueAct Capital in 2000, Mr. Ubben was a managing partner at Blum Capital Partners, where assets under his management grew more than five-fold, from $336 million to approximately $1.8 billion. Previously, Mr. Ubben spent eight years at Fidelity, where he managed two multi-billion-dollar mutual funds. Mr. Ubben is a director of Acxiom Corp.; Gartner Group, Inc.; Misys, plc; Seitel, Inc.; a former chairman and director of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.; a former director of Catalina Marketing Corp. and several other public and private companies. Mr. Ubben has a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. His father, Timothy Ubben, has served on Posse's national board of directors for seven years, most recently as vice chair. Tim Ubben recused himself from the search process.