Gregory A. White

Charter school network president Gregory A. White was born on October 18, 1963, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Gertrude White and Jerome White. He graduated in 1981 from the Park School of Baltimore, in Brooklandville, Maryland, and received his B.A. degree in economics and development studies in 1985 from Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, and his M.B.A. degree in general management in 1990 from Harvard Business School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

White began his career as an assistant field officer at the Enterprise Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1985. In 1986, he became an assistant research analyst at the Rouse Company in Baltimore. After business school, White moved to Chicago and became an account officer at Continental Bank in 1990 and a fixed income salesman at Salomon Brothers in 1993. White founded Corporate Advisory Services in 1995 and served as its president for eleven years. In 1998, White co-founded Chicago Venture Partners, L.P., and served as a partner for eight years. From 2003 to 2013, White served as an adjunct professor in the entrepreneurship program and the Department of Finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, in Evanston, Illinois. In 2006, White became vice president of strategy and operations at the Chicago Community Trust. In 2008, White became the first president and CEO of LEARN Charter Schools, in Chicago, Illinois.

White has served on the boards of LEARN Charter Schools, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Beacon Academy, the Park School of Baltimore, Christ The King High School, National Louis University, Lakefront Supportive Housing, and the Chicago Transit Authority Citizens Advisory Board.

White has been a recipient of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship and a Broad Academy fellowship in urban public education.

White and his wife, Leslie Davis, live in Chicago, Illinois. They have two children: Chad White and Cameron White.

Gregory A. White was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on November 3, 2021.