James Sparkman is a Partner at Alpha Education where he currently leads a national practice representing colleges, universities, and related educational institutions exploring long-term private sector partnership opportunities. He is also the executive producer of the annual event P3•EDU: Innovation and Public-Private Partnership in Higher Education. Prior to founding Alpha Education and P3•EDU, James spent a decade as an investor, advisor, and senior executive working with a range of postsecondary education companies. Previously, James was the co-founder of HigherMarkets, a venture-backed university SaaS company which was acquired by Jaggaer (formerly SciQuest). James also held early executive roles at private equity firm New Mountain Capital and student lender Monogram (formerly First Marblehead). James began his career as a public school teacher in Brooklyn, NY, where he was a member of the first class of Teach For America. James received his B.A., cum laude, from Middlebury College and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.