Ron Collins is Chief Financial Officer of Academic Partnerships (AP). He is responsible for all aspects of AP’s finances, including budgeting, accounting, treasury, and investments.

An experienced finance and operations leader, Ron previously was COO and CFO at Exiger, a software and analytics company. Earlier in his career, he served as CFO of Update Legal, as Treasurer at Altegrity, and as a principal at Providence Equity Partners.

Ron’s passion for education dates back to his first job out of college – serving as a math teacher in Central Africa while in the Peace Corps.

Ron holds an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, where he also earned a B.A. in Environmental Economics. Ron and his wife have three children. In his spare time, he likes to read and explore the world on his bike.

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What traits do you admire in a leader?

I have had the benefit of working with some great CEOs over the past 15 years and have always been grateful for their determination to use data, analysis, and iteration for well-informed decisions and then to take some risk–because without calculated risk and investment there cannot be success.

Which AP culture pillar resonates most with you and why?

Driven is the AP culture pillar that resonates most with me. One of the great things about finance is that we get to work with a wide set of data that crosses multiple functions. It is then our challenge to try to bring that together on a predictable basis and share it with our peers to help spur data-driven decisions and the ability to test hypotheses across time.

What would you name your autobiography?

The Importance of Showing Up, Patience, and Looking Three Moves Ahead