Alejandro Ramírez

Chief Financial Officer

About – Alejandro Ramírez

Alejandro serves as Chief Financial Officer for the Noble Network of Charter Schools, leading a team responsible for the organization’s finances, audit, accounting, compliance, risk management, and financial planning and analysis functions. He joined Noble with 15 years of financial management experience in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. He was most recently CFO with Camillus House in Miami, FL and VP of Finance with Phoenix House in Brooklyn, NY, both organizations operating in the behavioral health and social services spaces. During his career he has closed over $165M in financing transactions including private equity, bridge loans, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and New Markets Tax Credits. His accomplishments also include turnarounds, implementation of enterprise-level systems, developing long-term financial forecasts, and writing business plans.

Alejandro holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a M.Sc. in Civil Engineering also from MIT, and an active CPA license. He is a proud alum of the Antioquia School of Engineering in Medellín, Colombia.

He lives in Naperville with his wife (Larisa) and their 7-year-old son (Nicolas).

Why do you work at Noble?

I work at Noble because of the multi-generational impact that education has on our students, families, and the city of Chicago in general.

Who was your favorite teacher while growing up?

Don Rubén Isaza, our science teacher. He had an encyclopedic knowledge on almost any topic imaginable, and taught us how to think through problems, arrive at hypotheses, and communicate them clearly.

Favorite thing about Noble or favorite Noble moment?

The caliber of its staff and their devotion to the mission.

What do you/your department do at Noble?

The finance department assists the rest of the organization in the stewardship of our financial resources, connecting the dots between the numbers and Noble’s mission and strategy. In this capacity, the finance team plans, implements, and controls all financial-related activities of the organization. The functions I oversee include:

Accounting, Controllership and Internal Controls:
Responsible for all accounting operations of Noble, including issuance of financial reports, annual audits, internal controls; and monitoring of finance policies, accounts payable, student billing; and management of all finance-related systems and workflows.

Financial Planning and Analysis
Responsible for annual budgets, forecasts, and other kinds of ad-hoc, forward-looking analyses to support strategic decision-making.

Compliance and Risk Management
Responsible for insurance, risk management, and compliance with CPS and ISBE requirements, as well as management of our federal Title funding.

Start at Noble?

2018

Hometown:

Medellín, Colombia

Education:

Escuela de Ingeniería de Antioquia (B.Sc. in Civil Engineering)
MIT (M.Sc. in Civil Engineering, Construction Management)
MIT Sloan School of Management (MBA)

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