Team Members
Anand Kesavan
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
As a seasoned investment banker, charter school executive, and senior leader of a large philanthropic organization, Anand is passionate about solving educational inequalities, creating efficient financial markets, optimizing school financial models to send more resources to classrooms, and using philanthropy to do so in a scalable and sustainable manner.
Prior to founding Equitable Facilities Fund, Anand led the Structured Finance Group and ran the Facility Fund for the Charter School Growth Fund, where he helped identify the nation’s best schools and invest in them. Prior to CSGF, he served as Chief Financial Officer of KIPP Austin Public Schools. Prior to KIPP, Anand spent more than a decade in senior investment banking roles, financing more than $10 billion in public projects including state revolving funds and K-12 schools with a specialty in credit ratings & quantitative structuring.
Anand is a graduate of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Education Pioneers Fellowship.
Michelle Getz
Partner & Chief Credit Officer
Michelle is charged with building Equitable Facilities Fund’s credit platform and leading a thorough credit diligence and approval process for each charter school loan. Additionally, she leads the loan closing, loan servicing and portfolio management processes.
She brings with her nearly 30 years of professional experience, including 18 years at Nuveen Asset Management. During her time at Nuveen, Michelle developed and refined their charter school investment methodology and implemented it via analysis of over 300 charter school organizations to determine viability and credit worthiness for investment. Michelle has also served as an Internal Auditor for the Coca-Cola Company and an External Financial Auditor with Deloitte & Touche.
Michelle earned a BS from Auburn University and an MS from the University of Houston. She is also a CPA in the states of Illinois and North Carolina.
Aarthi Sowrirajan
Director, Senior Portfolio Manager, BlackRock
Aarthi Sowrirajan is a Senior Portfolio Manager for BlackRock’s Alternative Solutions Group (ASG) within BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI). An experienced impact investor, Aarthi manages the implementation of the BlackRock Impact Opportunities (BIO) Fund – a private markets, multi-alternatives fund focused on investing through a racial equity lens. Previously, she worked for Turner Impact Capital, a real estate investor and developer, managing the charter school development process from start to finish.
Aarthi is an active board member of the Equitas Charter School. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Wharton School.
Kevin Alin
Senior Advisor - Equity & Impact
Kevin is a founding member of the EFF team and leads the strategic planning efforts for the organization’s $500M commitment to schools run by leaders of color. He also advises EFF leadership on team culture and talent development with an emphasis on equity and inclusion.
Kevin is the founder of New Frontiers Development Group: an innovative platform that invests in the revitalization of latent neighborhoods. He most recently served as VP at the Fund For Our Economic Future where he leveraged more than $120M in philanthropic investment to bring accessible and inclusive economic growth for all residents of Northeast Ohio.
Prior to that, Kevin served as the Executive Director of School Choice & Enrollment for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and in 2010 he co-founded Citizens Leadership Academy, a high-performing expeditionary middle school in Cleveland, Ohio. Since its launch, CLA has now grown to over 400 students enrolled over two campuses. Kevin now serves the students and families of Citizens Leadership Academy from the Board of Directors.
Kevin, his wife Tara and their two beautiful daughters live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Sam Alnagar
Investment Analyst
Sam supports EFF’s efforts to to underwrite and originate loans to high-impact charter schools throughout the US. He is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Education Finance Analyst (EFA) Program sponsored by EFF and Civic Builders.
Prior to joining EFF, Sam was an Associate at Magellan Research Group, a primary research firm that connects institutional investors with leading experts across various industries. Prior to joining Magellan Research Group, Sam held internships across wealth management, media, and clean energy. Sam holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a primary concentration in Finance from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.
Wendy Berry
Investment Principal - Lending & Research
Wendy is a facility financing specialist with deep credit expertise. At EFF she conducts bond market research, builds and leads our internal underwriting process, and works closely with our Chief Credit Officer on greenlighting transactions and due diligence efforts. For the past decade, Wendy has focused on the evolving charter school sector, where she has been a thought leader in improving credit standards for the burgeoning market.
She has authored or co-authored several comprehensive publications on the sector, including the LISC Charter School Bond Issuance: A Complete History Volumes I, II, and III along with numerous articles on the ever-changing charter school facility finance landscape.
Wendy has consulted with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the Local Support Initiatives Corporation, the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, and the Arizona State Board of Education. She was also a senior credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.
Wendy received a BA and MPA from the Rockefeller College of Public Administration at the University of Albany. During her career, Wendy has held Series 7, Series 53, and Series 63 licenses.
Desiree’ Beckett
Vice President of Talent & DEI
Desiree’ is the VP of Talent & DEI and leads EFF’s talent functions, including talent strategy & acquisition, professional development, team culture & staff engagement, diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI), and HR.
Before joining EFF, Desiree’ spent seven years at STRIVE Prep, a K-12 public charter school network in Denver, CO. Over the years, her work has encompassed recruitment, selection, human resources, and intentionally integrating DEI into all Talent functions and across a network of 500+ employees. During her tenure with STRIVE Prep, she participated in the 2019-20 cohort of the Emerging Human Capital Leaders Initiative professional development program, run by USHCA and Education Pioneers. Desiree’ began her career in Education in 2013 as a Teaching Fellow and Citizen Teacher Lead with Citizen Schools, supporting a low-performing school in Houston, TX via Reading Intervention and extended learning time. At the end of her two-year fellowship, she joined KIPP Voyage Academy, the only all-girls school in the KIPP network, as an Associate Teacher before relocating back to Colorado.
Aside from the professional experiences that have driven her dedication to Education, Human Capital and DEI, Desiree’s own educational journey frames her passion for EFF’s mission. She attended charter schools while in middle school, graduated from a Title I high school, and is a first-generation college student with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Africana Studies from the University of Northern Colorado. Desiree’ currently resides in the Denver Metro area with her adopted fur baby, Moo.
James Dennis
Investment Analyst
James supports EFF’s efforts to underwrite and originate loans to high-impact charter schools throughout the US. He has a personal connection with EFF as a charter school alumni.
Prior to joining EFF, James was a Financial Planning Intern at Creative Planning, an independent wealth management firm. He was charged with creating client dashboards that encompassed an individual’s entire financial position. Prior to working at Creative Planning, James held several internships within the wealth management sector and worked closely with advisors for client meetings. James holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics from Yale University.
Andria Fernandez
Portfolio Associate
As a member of the lending team at EFF, Andria supports the loan closing, loan servicing, and portfolio management processes. She comes to the EFF team with an unwavering commitment to the mission of quality education for all students.
Andria’s prior experience lies in teaching, leading school teams, and spearheading campus operations. She served three years on the campus leadership team as Operations Manager for DC Prep Academy, the highest performing public charter school network in Washington, DC. During the pandemic, Andria led the school’s Covid response, developing and executing the strategy for the transition to remote learning and, later, back into the classroom.
Prior to that, Andria spent three years in the classroom, beginning her career with Teach For America and working at a District Public School in the Bronx. She simultaneously completed her MA in Teaching at Relay Graduate School of Education. Andria earned her Bachelor’s degrees from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently lives in Washington, DC with her fiancé, who she is trying to trick into getting a cat and a dog.
Jared Kane
Investment Analyst
Jared supports EFF’s efforts to to underwrite and originate loans to high-impact charter schools throughout the US. He is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Education Finance Analyst (EFA) Program sponsored by EFF and Civic Builders.
Prior to joining EFF, Jared was a Finance Intern at Energy LB LLC, an energy savings company. He was charged with streamlining the proposal creation process. Before working at Energy LB LLC, Jared worked as an Finance Operations Analyst at NETSCOUT. Jared holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from Rutgers Business School.