An experienced finance professional with expertise in startup investing has been appointed to the Oak Park and River Forest High School Community Finance Committee.
On Oct. 8 the OPRF District 200 Board of Education unanimously approved the appointment of Rumi Morales to fill the vacancy on the CFC that was created when long-time CFC member Greg Kolar resigned to spend more time with his family as a new father. The CFC was created in 2021 and is an advisory committee to the school board on financial matters.
Morales, who has lived in Oak Park for 11 years, is a partner in the London-based firm Outlier Partners which invests in early stage technology companies. Previously she has worked for the CME and Goldman Sachs. Morales earned a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, where she majored in political science and Japanese Studies, and earned an MBA from New York University.
“I do think I bring a perspective around long-term planning, around very thoughtful risk management, those things that I learned as a private sector investor,” Morales told Wednesday Journal in a telephone interview.
Morales has two children, a daughter who is a freshman at OPRF and a son who is an eighth grader at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School. That provided the motivation for her to apply to serve on the CFC.
“I thought it would be a great way to give to the school while my students are there,” Morales said.
Morales feels especially connected to OPRF because she lives across the street from the OPRF tennis courts. She can hear the band practicing and watch the tennis teams practice and see students coming to school in the morning and leaving in the afternoon.
Morales said she has a lot to learn about school finance and will be initially relying on guidance from her fellow CFC members. But she is not afraid to ask questions and has a probing mind.
Morales serves on a couple of non-profit boards including the board of the Negaunee Music Institute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the board of the National Catholic Reporter newspaper. For about 3 ½ years, from October 2020 until April 2024, Morales served on the board and executive committee of Girl Scouts of the USA.
Thirteen people applied to fill the vacancy and four were asked to interview. Three candidates were interviewed by a committee made up of Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Tony Arbogast, school board members Graham Brisben and Kathleen Odell, who both serve as board liaisons to the CFC, and CFC chairwoman Michelle Mangan.
“We had a very strong pool of candidates,” Mangan said in a text message. “Rumi Morales provides broader financial expertise that rounds out some of the current members’ education finance expertise we already have on the committee. As the committee changes from year to year, with shorter term commitments approved by the board it will be important to continue to balance the makeup of the CFC.”
Before voting to appoint Morales to the CFC two school board members praised her.
School board member Jonathan Livingston said that Morales was a great choice for the CFC.
“I think she brings a tremendous set of skills,” Livingston said.
School board president Audrey Williams-Lee said, “I think it’s great to have her.”
