Senior Director; Bend, Oregon

Dedicated to leveraging analytics and strategic foresight to forge transformative policy in education systems across the country.

Mitch serves as a leading expert in data analytics and financial modeling for school systems, state education agencies, early childhood agencies, and social impact investors around the country. With over a decade at Afton, Mitch has worked to translate complex data to reveal strategic insights that have directly contributed to transformative changes in state and local funding policies and practices, aimed at promoting funding equity and adequacy. His personal mission is to empower leaders and policymakers with insights and knowledge to create lasting positive changes in communities, and he is driven by a strong belief in the power of data, analytics, and community engagement to maximize resources in this way.

Mitch is Afton’s foremost data expert and has led dozens of consulting engagements providing strategic financial leadership and innovative education policy development. His engagements include:

• Conducting critical school funding formula studies and analyses informing key policy improvements and a more equitable distribution of resources for several large public school districts, a statewide charter school board, and a state department of education.
• Guiding school districts and charter management organizations on strategic and financial sustainability plans through quantitative and fiscal impact analyses of various operating scenarios and strategic priorities.
• Spearheading the development of statewide early childhood geographic equity and access tools, which have been instrumental in broadening access across the state.

Before joining Afton, Mitch served as a Senior Financial Analyst at Allstate Insurance Co., where he played a key role on the finance and strategy team for Encompass Insurance. He earned his BS in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s College of Business and is a CFA Charter holder.