LOS ANGELES, CA — August 15, 2019 — Ray Mabus, the 75th Secretary of the United States Navy, who served from 2009-2017, will join InStride as Chair, Board of Directors announced Vivek Sharma, InStride’s CEO and founder. Mabus will begin on August 28, 2019.

“I am honored to have a leader of Ray Mabus’ caliber and distinction join InStride to chair our already distinguished Board of Directors,” said Sharma. “His achievements as a public servant, diplomat and executive are unparalleled, and his worldwide experience will be invaluable as we continue to build our global portfolio of visionary employers and high-quality universities.”

As Navy Secretary during President Obama’s administration, Mabus revolutionized the Navy and Marine Corps by opening all jobs to women, aggressively moving to alternative energy as a warfighting measure, and building more than twice as many ships during his term than in the preceding eight years. Among many awards, he was chosen as one of the top 50 CEOs in America by Glassdoor, the only government official selected.

Earlier in his career, Mabus served as Governor of Mississippi, the youngest person elected to that office in more than 150 years. Mississippi experienced record growth in jobs, education, tourism and exports during his time in office. During his tenure, he was named one of Fortune’s top 10 education governors for successfully passing the B.E.S.T. (Better Education for Success Tomorrow) initiative and for empowering teachers with the largest pay raise in the country.

Mabus also served as United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1994-1996, before taking on the role of CEO of a public company from 2006-2007.

“I am very excited to be joining InStride as Board Chair. With prominent partners Arizona State University and The Rise Fund, I truly believe that InStride can fundamentally change and dramatically expand learning opportunities for people in the workforce,” said Mabus. “By pursuing degrees and credentials through their employers, these individuals will be able to extend their career goals and grow personally and professionally without interrupting their current employment.”

Today, Mabus is a director of two public companies, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, the founding principal of the consulting firm Mabus Group and an advisor to Google Ventures. Secretary Mabus is a native of Ackerman, Mississippi, and received a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Mississippi, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a Law Degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Mabus served in the Navy as an officer aboard the cruiser USS Little Rock.

About InStride

InStride is a global learning services enterprise reinventing the education of today’s workforce by working with employers to provide opportunities for their employees to earn degrees and credentials from the highest-quality universities and colleges. Founded as a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU), U.S. News and World Report’s most innovative university, and The Rise Fund, a global impact investing fund managed by TPG, InStride is a public-benefit corporation that aims to become the indispensable human capital partner of organizations, helping them unlock the full potential of the university ecosystem and provide meaningful, life-changing impacts for their employees.