Jim Peyser
Managing Partner
Jim Peyser
Jim Peyser is Managing Partner in the NewSchools Venture Fund East Coast office, where he focuses on the firm’s charter school investment strategy, as well as management assistance for a variety of its portfolio ventures. He serves on the board of directors for Achievement First, New Schools for New Orleans, Perspectives Charter Schools, Success Charter Network, and Uncommon Schools.
Jim has a strong hybrid background in education policy, charter school development and business management. From 1999 through 2006, Jim served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Prior to joining NewSchools, Jim was Education Advisor to two Governors of Massachusetts, where he helped shape outcomes-focused policy at the state level on standards, charter schools and school accountability. He also spent more than seven years as Executive Director of Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, where he supported public education innovations, including early charter schools. In 1995, he served as Under Secretary of Education and Special Assistant to the Governor for Charter Schools. Prior to joining Pioneer Institute, Jim held various positions at Teradyne, Inc. in Boston, an electronic test equipment manufacturer.
Jim is a member of the Board of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), and the Massachusetts Center for Charter Public School Excellence. He is a former member of the Educational Management Audit Council (Chairman), the Board of Directors of Boston Partners in Education, and the Board of Overseers at WGBH.
Jim holds a master of arts in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School (Tufts University) and a bachelor of arts from Colgate University. He and his wife Mindy d’Arbeloff have two daughters, Charlotte and Rubye.