Meet Our Board of Directors
We are grateful to the experienced entrepreneurs and executives who serve on the K16 Solutions Board of Directors. Our board works closely with K16 executives to develop and carry out clear responsibilities relative to governance, performance, strategy, and good stewardship.
Anette Catino
Board Chair
Ms. Annette Catino is a nationally recognized healthcare executive and entrepreneur. She launched QualCare Alliance networks in 1991 and served as president and chief executive officer through the sale and transition to Cigna (NYSE: CI), a global health service company, concluding her service in April 2017. Ms. Catino speaks throughout the country on topics of leadership, the future of healthcare policy, women in the workplace, and entrepreneurship. Ms. Catino currently provides strategic advisory services to the healthcare industry as an independent consultant. She also serves on several boards, including as chairman of the board of Pure Inventions, LLC, a privately held company that manufactures and distributes liquid dietary supplements in the spa, wellness, and natural food markets; Claros Analytics, a software company serving the actuary and health benefits consulting industry; Northfield Bank (NFBK), a public commercial and personal banking company; and K16 Solutions.
Career Highlights & Selected Achievements
- Over 40 years of business experience in leadership in the healthcare and insurance industries and extensive work with large employers including municipal and state governmental entities
- Requisite qualifications to be designated as an audit committee financial expert under the SEC’s rules and regulations
- Involved in community organizations including the Val Skinner Foundation and the Desert Mountain Club Boards
- Served on New Jersey Governor Christie’s transition committee on healthcare and in December, 2014, was appointed by Governor Christie to serve on University Hospital’s Board of Directors for a five-year term where she chairs the Audit Committee
- Named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year in New Jersey and was also recognized as a National Finalist in the 2013 Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum; named by NJBIZ as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in New Jersey and as one of the 50 Most Powerful People in New Jersey Health Care; named by New Jersey Monthly as one of the top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs in New Jersey
Thomas Waite. Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Thomas Waite is an expert in building infrastructures, scaling operations, and creating the solutions that grew an early adopter of online technology from $1.5M to $900M in annual revenue. Pioneering the application of transactional distance as a key differentiator, he created the Integrated Model for Student Retention, which reduces the gap between online students and learning to deliver substantial performance gains.
Dr. Waite earned his Ph.D. in higher education administration with published research focusing on student retention and transactional distance theory. His clarity on how to improve student outcomes was gained over 18 years of experience in applied research and proven methodology while he was immersed in higher education as chief academic officer, provost, dean, director of faculty and programs, and faculty at various institutions around the country. He has attracted and retained leading innovators and built high-performing teams because of his low-ego servant leadership model.
Career Highlights & Selected Achievements
- Contributed to online learning software that generated tens of millions in revenue for an early adopter of online education, setting the stage to capture hundreds of millions in long-term future revenue over the next decade
- Revolutionized the education technology industry pioneering analytics to drive innovation for online learning software, processes, and methodologies
- Conceptualized and drove a comprehensive retention initiative that reduced attrition from 14% to 6.7% within five months, exceeding objectives established in the college’s one-year, two-year, and three-year strategic plans
- First to apply transactional distance to online learning measuring course-to-course student performance based on a methodology that encompasses instructional design, educational effectiveness, and holistic systems
- Led a successful turnaround of a major online college orchestrating a restructuring event that included 54% turnover in the first six months
Dr. Richard Bowen
Board Member
Dr. Richard Bowen is an accomplished higher education leader and business innovator. Richard is known for developing and creating high performing teams and complex higher education and business initiatives driving student enrollment and revenue. Richard has 21 years of experience in higher education designing and managing successful university distance education systems, research and technology incubators, business startups, and healthcare and university facility development. Bowen’s 34-year career has encompassed over $5 billion in business startups, real estate acquisitions, development, and building construction in a wide range of public and private entities. For Genterra, Richard leads the pursuit of healthcare research and university development projects for the U.S. market. As senior vice president, he provides leadership support and direction to the development, design, construction, real estate management, and capital markets teams at Genterra.
Prior to Genterra, Richard spent 21 years at Northern Arizona University—a leader, innovator, and pioneer in developing and implementing new modalities, technologies, and didactics for distance and online education. His roles included vice president and associate vice president with oversight of distance education and online courses, technology transfer, research partnerships, campus planning and development, community engagement, economic development, public/private partnerships, and corporate partnerships. Richard was part of a senior executive team that increased student enrollment from 15,000 students to 31,000 students and tripled revenue.
Richard served on the executive development team for the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. He was involved in the beginning with a tri-university collaborative that planned and built a modern, advanced, new campus including a medical school, health sciences education building, research buildings, cancer center, translational genetics and genomics institute, and parking structures in downtown Phoenix. According to a recent study commissioned by the University of Arizona, the economic impact of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus is over $1.3 billion every year and has created over 9,400 jobs in Arizona. To date, the park has been developed with approximately 1.5 million square feet of the anticipated six million square feet at build out.
Career Highlights & Selected Achievements
- Helped to found, develop, and operate several of Arizona’s most successful biomedical and technology incubator/accelerators including the Chandler Innovation Center, Phoenix Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation, Maricopa Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology
- Founded and served as the president and CEO of the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona, a regional public/private economic development organization creating 6,700 jobs and $1.8 billion in new capital investment
- Managed a $5.3 billion real estate portfolio including facilities planning, facilities management, and operational oversight of JMB Realty-held assets in Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado
- Engaged in oversight, development, and acquisition of several high-profile projects including Cadillac Fairview ($2.8 billion), Amfac Hawaii ($927 million), Amfac Parks and Resorts, and Urban Investment and Development ($1.1 billion) on the JMB acquisitions and operations team
Dr. Dan Carey
Board Member
Dr. Dan Carey served as president of Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, from 2004 to 2014. During his tenure, Carey led Edgewood College through remarkable growth and progress, especially in four major areas: enhancing campus community, putting students first, expanding and strengthening academic programs, and leading through building strong relationships. Prior to serving at Edgewood College, Carey served for nine years as the president of Benedictine College, his alma mater. His successes there included building enrollment through effective recruitment strategies and dramatic improvement of student retention. He revitalized the campus through strategic planning and a conservative budgeting philosophy. Since retiring as president, Carey co-founded a higher education consulting partnership called MPK&D. He serves as an executive coach for college and university presidents and works with boards of trustees. He started the “Aspiring to the College Presidency” program and served as the leader of this program for nine years. Dan Carey, Colonel (ret.) is also a decorated Vietnam War veteran.
Career Highlights & Selected Achievements
- Earned his B.A. from Benedictine College; an M.A. in psychology, counseling, and guidance; and Ph.D. in college student personnel administration from the University of Northern Colorado
- Attended Harvard University’s “Institute for Educational Management” as part of his postdoctoral studies in 1986
- Awarded a Fulbright Grant to study international education in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1995
- Served as a platoon leader and company commander in the U.S. Army and later commanded a squadron in the U.S. Air Force Reserve prior to entering higher education
- Retired from the U.S. Army as a full Colonel
- • Served as chairman of the board for the National Association of Independent Colleges
- • Served on the Board for the Council of Independent Colleges; continues to serve on the Board of the Westerman Foundation
Matt Sharrers
Board Member
Matt Sharrers is the CEO of SBI, a management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing dedicated to helping you Make Your Number. Forbes recognized SBI as one of the Best Management Consulting Firms in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Over the course of nearly a decade at SBI, Matt Sharrers has played an instrumental role as an early partner and guiding SBI as the senior partner. Matt’s functional responsibilities included acting as the head of sales where he led SBI’s double-digit revenue growth and was responsible for the hiring function to build SBI’s team of revenue generation experts.
Prior to joining SBI in 2009, Matt spent 11 years leading sales and marketing teams as a vice president of sales. Matt has “lived in the field.” As a result, he is the foremost expert in the art of separating fact from fiction as it relates to revenue growth best practices. CEOs and private equity investors turn to Matt’s team at SBI when they need to unlock trapped growth inside of their companies.
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