John F. Gamba, Jr.

Director

A serial entrepreneur and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, John Gamba, Jr has been dedicated to transforming education for most of his career. In 1999, John co-founded PACE – The Partnership for Academic and Community Excellence. PACE was the first school-to-home communications network, connecting thousands of schools to millions of homes nationally and eventually sold to Blackboard, an international industry leader in education. John focuses on improving lives through education, having served on the boards of Penn’s School of Nursing, and Ft. Myers, FL-based African Caribbean American Center (AFCAAM) and Dunbar High School, the world’s first Microsoft Certified School.

John currently serves as Entrepreneur in Residence and Director of Innovative Programs at Penn’s Graduate School of Education. In this role, John mentors education entrepreneurs, helps incubate new EdTech ventures and oversees the Milken Education Business Plan Competition, which has awarded millions of dollars to world-wide education enterprises. John’s work in the Gamba Family Foundation blends his focus on education reform with his passion for entrepreneurship and family engagement to help students become more college and career ready.