Louis brings more than 35 years of senior-level financial planning and analysis, strategy and operating management experience to the Rocketship board. He is also an advisor to a number of startup companies, and serves on the boards for All Across Africa (East Africa and San Diego); Someone Somewhere (Mexico City); Vega Coffee (Nicaragua/Colombia and Santa Barbara) Nemi Tea (United Kingdom); Indiana University Foundation (Black Philanthropy Circle Chair and Former Audit Committee Chair) and the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University (Executive Committee Member).
Louis’s educational experience inspired him to help propel Rocketship’s mission. He is the sixth of seven children and the first to graduate from college in his family. Louis was educated in the Philadelphia public school system; one that was plagued with very high dropout rates for people of color. College and its benefits were never more than a “passing” topic of conversation in his public school experience. Despite that, in many respects he became the exception to most of his peers. This would not have been possible without existing philanthropically supported programs that he was able to access. As he began to achieve a relatively unimaginable degree of success, he’s committed to do as much as possible to give back and to help enable others with backgrounds similar to his to have unencumbered access to high quality education alternatives as he strongly believes that this is fundamental to accessing the fruits of the American dream.
He strongly believes that Rocketship has been and continues to be a critical catalyst in combining a high-quality elementary education with a parent engagement component that dramatically increases the chances that kids from neighborhoods like the one that he grew up in have the opportunity to realize their dreams.
Louis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Westmar College and a Master of Arts degree from Brown University. He received his MBA in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
