Board of Directors

Dean Johnston

Dean Johnston is currently President of Santa Barbara Business College, as well as a member of the board of trustees of two non-profit, four-year colleges in California and Florida. He has spent his entire higher education career in private career colleges.

After graduating from Tiffin University in Ohio, Mr. Johnston began his career as an accounting teacher. He has since held the position of president at three institutions in three different states.

Among the notable leadership positions during Johnston's career is his election to Commissioner on the Accrediting Commission of Independent Colleges and Schools. He also served on the board of directors of the Career College Association. He has served on the board of directors and chaired the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools and was appointed to the California Student Aid Commission in June 2005. Mr. Johnston has a passionate, engaging style and a deep understanding of education finance.

John Bates

John Bates is a Principal at Arlington Capital Partners and joined the company in 2000. Mr. Bates has led or co-led investments in the education (BrightStar Education Group) and marketing services (PlattForm Holdings) sectors. He currently serves on the board of Advanced Health Media, BrightStar Education Group, PlattForm Holdings and Capital Partners for Education.

Mr. Bates holds an M.B.A. degree in Finance and is a Director's List recipient from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a graduate of Princeton University with a B.A. in Political Economics.

Beginning his investment banking career as a financial analyst in the Natural Resources Group at Lehman Brothers, Mr. Bates executed transactions for clients such as British Gas, the Freeport-McMoRan entities, Pennzoil, Santa Fe Energy Resources and Schlumberger. He started his business career as an analyst at Price Waterhouse. Mr. Bates has over 15 years of transaction and business experience.

Jeffrey Freed

Jeffrey Freed is a Founding Partner of Arlington Capital Partners and has shared overall responsibility for all management and investment activities of the Firm since inception. He is currently a member of the board of directors of BrightStar Education Group and PlattForm Holdings.

Mr. Freed graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration with an M.B.A. He also graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and College of Arts and Sciences dual degree program with a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. in Oriental History.

Prior to co-founding Arlington, Mr. Freed was the President and Chief Investment Officer of Westbury Capital Partners, L.P. He also previously served as a Principal at Oak Hill Capital Partners and at Adler & Shaykin. He began his career in 1985 as one of the original members of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. Mr. Freed brings 21 years of private equity and business experience, having actively participated in nearly 30 transactions worth over $3 billion in enterprise value.

Evans Gebhart

Evans Gebhardt currently serves as Managing Partner of 3 Peaks Consulting, a management and leadership consulting firm. He came to this position following an executive management career at both Fortune 100 and start-up organizations.

Prior to 3 Peaks, Mr. Gebhardt held variety of executive general management roles in very diverse settings, following receipt of his M.B.A. in Marketing from the NYU Stern School of Business.

As President on Cendant's U.S. Consumer Travel Group, Mr. Gebhardt led the real world turn around CheapTickets.com, a then $1 billion, 2,000-person company. Mr. Gebhardt was also President of Cendant’s International Consumer Travel Group and responsible for the integration of several new acquired companies accounting for $2 billion in turnover. Mr. Gebhardt also was also instrumental in the start up of Eos Airlines; under his leadership, sales grew 10-fold in just 12 months. Mr. Gebhardt consistently provides leadership and can-do attitude that tap the potential of organizational employees, resulting in major growth.

Michael Platt

Michael Platt is the Chairman of Ad Venture Interactive, as well as the founder and former CEO of PlattForm Advertising, where he guided the development of the trendsetting full-service Marketing firm. He also currently serves as Past-Chair of the Imagine America Board of Directors.

After studying at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, Mr. Platt pursued his entrepreneurial spirit. At age 23, he became Vice President of Marketing for Stage II Apparel, the world's largest importer of branded men's activewear. He represented athletes in the product endorsement arena, hosted a sports talk show, and owned and operated a professional wrestling organization. He finally landed in the education marketing business, founding PlattForm Advertising in 1989 and transforming it into the largest full-service marketing firm in the education space, focusing on Interactive marketing and lead-generation.

In 2004, Mr. Platt was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of Business Services. He was also recently lauded by the Career College Association with its "Irreplaceable and Indispensable" award.

As a pioneer of direct-response and interactive marketing for postsecondary education space, Mr. Platt has clearly earned his place as a renowned leader in the education marketing industry.

Dave Admire

Dave Admire serves as Chief Executive Officer of PlattForm Advertising. While at PlattForm, he has served in numerous roles within the company, helping to establish the company's foundation for success. Mr. Admire served as President and Chief Interactive Officer prior to taking on his role as CEO.

Mr. Admire graduated from MidAmerica Nazarene University, following his career in the military. He then pursued his current career path in the postsecondary education marketing sector.

Dave joined PlattForm Advertising in 1998 as a Media Buyer. He was subsequently promoted to Media Director. Mr. Admire successfully engineered the expansion of the company's Media department until his promotion to President of the company. As President of PlattForm, he revolutionized the focus of the company by introducing new ideas and expansions across all divisions.

Rich Baumer

Richard Baumer is the founder of VentureDirect Worldwide (Now PlattForm Advertising) and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from its inception in 1983 until 2008. Mr. Baumer earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and Marketing from American University in 1978. Prior to founding VentureDirect, Mr. Baumer worked for Young & Rubicam in New York. He later became the National Advertising Coordinator at the financial services firm, Merrill Lynch.