Our Team

Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek are the founding partners of New Mountain Ventures and have started more than 20 for-profit and non-profit enterprises that have yielded more than $100M in annualized revenues and affected thousands of lives. Their nationally acclaimed book, Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, has been reviewed or otherwise featured in the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and other media outlets. They also write regular blogs and columns for Harvard Business Online, Inc.com, and The Washington Times.

Christopher Gergen is founding partner of New Mountain Ventures and co-author of Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives. He is also Director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative at Duke University (the university’s undergraduate social entrepreneurship program) within the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy’s Hart Leadership Program. Additionally, Christopher is the co-founder and chairman of SMARTHINKING, the leading online tutoring provider globally—serving over 200,000 students from more than 1,000 universities, colleges, and high schools. Other entrepreneurial ventures include starting a coffeehouse/bar dedicated to promoting the arts and music in Santiago, Chile and helping to launch the “Entrepreneur Corps”—a national service initiative sponsored by AmeriCorps*VISTA that placed 400 full-time business volunteers for a year of service in over 90 non-profit organizations across the country. Christopher is also the founding director of LEAD!, a non-profit leadership, entrepreneurship, and service program for Gonzaga College high school students in Washington, D.C. and a founding board member of the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School also in D.C.

Christopher is an advisor to BUILD.org, an innovative non-profit that readies urban youth for college through real-world entrepreneurship experiences, and Root Cause, a national non-profit that works with social innovators and investors to create enduring social impact. Christopher received a Bachelor of Arts with honors from Duke University, a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the George Washington University, and his M.B.A. from Georgetown University. He lives with his wife and two children in Washington, D.C. Contact him cgergen@newmountainventures.com.

Gregg Vanourek is founding partner of New Mountain Ventures and co-author of Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives. Previously, he founded and ran Vanourek Consulting Solutions and served as Senior Vice President of School Development for K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), a national online education company (and market leader), where he helped launch the company during its start-up and led the team that started and managed eight statewide virtual schools with more than 100 employees.

Before that, he served as Vice President for Programs at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a national education foundation, where he also helped to launch a scholarship program for underserved youth. Previously, Gregg was a Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute, a leading national think tank, where he worked on education reform issues and community-based solutions to pressing social problems. At Hudson, he participated in what was then the largest study of charter schools in the nation, including site visits to dozens of charter schools nationwide and surveys of thousands of charter school students and parents and hundreds of charter school teachers.

Gregg has co-authored a book on charter schools (Charter Schools in Action: Renewing Public Education, published by Princeton University Press), several national research reports and book chapters, and dozens of articles for leading newspapers across the country. Gregg holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College (where he graduated magna cum laude). He serves on the Board of the Vail Leadership Institute. Gregg lives with his wife and daughters in Colorado. Email him at gvanourek@newmountainventures.com.

Alison Dorsey is a business associate at NMV, concentrating on sales, business development, and consulting. She recently graduated from Duke University with a BA in Public Policy. While at Duke, Alison founded the woman's water polo program, and Durham Community Consulting, a nonprofit consulting internship program for Duke students in Durham. She also worked with the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative in its transition to a new strategy. Alison is originally from the San Francisco Bay area, and now lives in Durham, NC. Email her at adorsey@newmountainventures.com.

Joey Ham is NMV’s Program Manager, focusing on marketing and business development. He recently graduated with his M.B.A. from the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business. Previously, he worked with the Metro Denver Sports Commission and the University of Denver Event Managment. Joey graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance/Marketing, with minors in Leadership Studies and Italian from the University of Denver, where he also served as Student Body President. Originally from Pueblo, Colorado, Joey now lives in Denver, CO. Email him at jham@newmountainventures.com.

Andrew Skotzko focuses on blogging, social media, and business development. He's previously worked in higher education, entertainment, real estate, and the tech industry. Andrew graduated from the Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Southern California (USC). He is originally from Chantilly, VA, and now lives in Los Angeles, CA. Email him at andrew.skotzko@gmail.com.

Linda Berlis is NMV’s bookkeeper. She is president of Berlis Consulting. Previously, she served as Controller for General Iron & Steel and bookkeeper for Unique Concepts. She has a degree in nursing/psychology and accounting from University of Nebraska Kearney. Email her at berlisconsulting@yahoo.com.

Mary Pamela is NMV’s administrative assistant. She has worked with clients in the U.S., U.K., and India and has conducted research, data entry, focus groups, interviews, seminars, lectures, podcasts, transcription, and Virtual Assistant work. Email her at marypamela926@gmail.com.