Our Leadership Team
Our Leadership Team
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Don King
FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN & CEO – HU
MANAGING PARTNER – KCG
Don King is a Big-4 CPA who began his career in public accounting, where he worked primarily on Real Estate, Energy, and Higher Education clients. His Hand-Up Financial Group, Inc. (HU) and King Consulting Group, LLC (KCG) both leverage teams that have over 100 years of Higher Ed experience in a variety of Institutional Finance/Accounting, Legal and Student Finance roles.
Don previously served in a variety of roles in the post-secondary education industry. He has held executive level finance positions focused on operational and financial oversight of multi-state and multi-national educational institutions. He also served as an external auditor and executive recruiter.
Don has two decades of experience in the GAP Funding Industry with particular expertise in building and managing programs through partnerships with schools, third-party servicers and sources of capital. His team also has experience analyzing millions of federal and private student loan records for hundreds of thousands of students.
Don serves on the Regional Board of HOPE International, a global faith-based nonprofit focused on addressing both physical and spiritual poverty through microenterprise loans and development.
Don holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Accounting, Summa Cum Laude, from the College of William & Mary.
Mike Brase
BOARD MEMBER – HU
SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR – KCG
Mike Brase began his career as a Big-4 CPA in public accounting, where he worked primarily on Financial Services, Manufacturing and Governmental/Non-Profit clients. He has spent the last 20+ years leading and advising management within the health care and education service sectors.
Mike previously served in a variety of roles in the post-secondary education industry, including Vice President of Finance with responsibilities over accounting, budget/forecast, student accounts, receivable management, collections, key regulatory measure oversite, cash forecasting and business analytics. His teams have provided support to operations on such things as pricing decisions, maximizing sources of funding, analysis on the impact of anticipated scholarship programs, acquisition integrations and monthly insight on financial results.
Mike has led many large-scale change efforts in his Finance roles including working with cross functional teams to implement new business models, company-wide and functional performance metrics, system conversions, business reengineering and process improvements – all with significant return on investment.
Mike serves on the Board of The Leadership Institute (TLI), an international ministry that focuses on training generations of leaders through the integration of spiritual formation and leadership development.
Mike holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
William Calhoun
BOARD MEMBER – HU
SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR – KCG
William Calhoun brings a rich history in post-secondary education and publicly-traded companies as he assists clients with revenue growth, risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance. William helps Cicero clients accomplish these objectives by bringing a creative consumer focus, unique experience in this space, and dedication to the needs of our clients’ students and customers. These characteristics have allowed William to develop and coordinate growth, compliance and risk-mitigation strategies across admissions, education, career services, marketing, accreditation and licensing, and internal education departments.
Career Highlights:
- Developed and rigorously managed overall strategy in investigations by Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, individual state attorneys general, the Securities & Exchange Commission, various Offices of the Inspector General, federal and state education departments, and by the Department of Justice;
- Law clerk to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and editor-in-chief of the BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW;
- University and departmental honors graduate of Brigham Young University, where he was also a two-time ITCA Academic All-America, First Team tennis player, and magna cum laude graduate of J. Rueben Clark Law School.
Andrew Min
BOARD MEMBER – HU
Andrew Min is a 20-year veteran of Risk Management who began his career in consumer lending.
Andrew currently serves as AVP of Credit Risk Management, Risk Analytics and Process at Mechanics Bank Auto Finance
Andrew previously served in a variety of roles in the consumer lending industry. He has held various Risk Management positions focused on operational and program oversight of multi-state consumer lending programs.
Andrew has five years of experience in the GAP Funding Industry with particular expertise in building and managing programs through partnerships with schools, third-party servicers and sources of capital. He also has experience analyzing millions of federal and private student loan records for hundreds of thousands of students.
Andrew holds double Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Management Science from University of California, San Diego.
John Spruill
BOARD MEMBER – HU
John Spruill has over twenty-four years of experience in the Automotive Industry and has successfully created and led large engineering organizations to on-time launches of hundreds of new vehicle models and aftermarket products. With extensive expertise in Reliability and Validation Testing, Emissions and Crash Safety Homologation, Powertrain Design and Development, Engine and Vehicle Calibration, and Product Design and Development.
Career Highlights
- John currently works for Canoo, Inc., (GOEV), a startup EV company, where he is In-charge of Reliability, Test, and Vehicle Attributes.
- At Tesla (TSLA) John founded and grew a test organization from infancy to maturity over the course of 10 years, inclusive of creating in-source test capabilities which ultimately led to the build out of an all new 300k sqft test center. John helped Tesla launch all new products from Roaster to Model 3.
- At Saleen John was responsible for all Engineering Design and Development activities and Program Management for new Vehicle Programs, notably; Saleen S7 Supercars, Saleen S331 Trucks, Saleen S281 Mustangs and S121 Focus.
John is active in philanthropic endeavors as a donor partner to Hand-Up Financial Group, Family Life Ministries, Living on the Edge, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, as well as with many churches and missionaries around the globe.
Mr. Spruill earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.