James Sparkman

Biography

James Sparkman is a founding partner of advisory firm Alpha Education where he leads a national practice representing colleges and universities exploring strategic growth and long-term private sector partnership opportunities. He is also currently the co-founder and Executive Director of the P3•EDU event and affiliated initiatives. Prior to founding Alpha Education, 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 SciQuest (now Jaggaer). James also held early executive roles at private equity firm New Mountain Capital and student lender First Marblehead (now Monogram). 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.

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