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Affiliation | Republican |
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2015-01-01 |
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Name | Mark Jacobs |
Address | West Des Moines, Iowa , United States |
Email | None |
Website | None |
Born |
Unknown
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Contributor | ev |
Last Modifed | RBH Feb 14, 2016 03:13pm |
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Info | Mark Jacobs is a successful businessman and advocate for improving Iowa public education. He is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 2014.
Mark was previously CEO of electric energy company Reliant Energy. Originally joining Reliant as CFO in 2002 when it was near bankruptcy, Mark was an integral part of a team that managed a turnaround that saved the company. In 2007, at the age of 45, he was named CEO, one of the youngest at the helm of a Fortune 500 company. Mark successfully navigated Reliant through an unprecedented series of extreme challenges, including the financial meltdown of 2008 and the devastation caused when Hurricane Ike ripped through the heart of the company’s service territory. Earlier in his career, Mark spent thirteen years in New York advising companies and business owners on high level strategic and financial matters.
This background has given Mark valuable experience in solving complex problems. His success came from building consensus by bringing together people with different interests and creating alignment around common objectives.
In addition to his leadership role in business, Mark continues his long track record of leadership in civic and social issues, especially public education. His fervent belief that every child deserves a quality education led him to KIPP Houston Public Schools, a high performing charter school network serving over 9,400 economically disadvantaged students and one of the great success stories in education reform. He served KIPP as a board member for six years, most recently as board chair.
After a successful career in business, Mark returned home to Iowa to give back to the state that gave him his start. Mark founded the non-profit organization, Reaching Higher Iowa, to raise awareness of the need for improvement in Iowa public education. Some of Reaching Higher Iowa’s priorities include promoting accountability in public education; attracting the best teachers and broadening the pathway into teaching; and, ensuring that families have options for the best environment for their children. He successfully advocated for a measure of accountability in the education reform bill that the Iowa legislature recently passed into law. Mark also taught a capstone business strategy class to graduating seniors at Iowa State University in the spring of 2013.
Mark’s parents moved his family to Iowa in 1958 when his father founded a small business, A.B. Dick Products Company of Des Moines. Now called Infomax Office Systems, the company is in its 55th year of business and employs 65 Iowans. It is still family owned and operated by Mark’s brother Steve.
Mark graduated from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines in 1980 and holds a B.B.A., cum laude, from Southern Methodist University (1984) and a Master of Management, with distinction, from Northwestern University (1989). Mark and his wife, Janet, have three children; Clark, Christy, and Sam. The family resides in West Des Moines.
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