CSDC Management

Frank Riggs is President and CEO of CSDC and a member of its Board of Directors where he serves as chairman of the Credit Committee. He joined the CSDC Board in January 2000 and, from September 2000 through February 2002, served as CSDC's first Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining CSDC he was Vice President of Government Relations for Educate, Inc.

Frank has substantial private-sector business experience in real estate development, finance, and education, and a record of public service having represented California's First Congressional District for three terms (from 1992-94 and 1994-98).

While in Congress, Frank sat on the House Appropriations, Banking and Financial Services, and the Education and the Workforce Committees. From 1996-98, he chaired the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families, where he authored the Charter Schools Expansion Act of 1998, and sponsored legislation to improve programs covering special education, vocational and technical education, literacy, teacher training, and bilingual instruction.

Frank is a U.S. Army veteran, former California police officer, and a summa cum laude graduate of Golden Gate University in San Francisco where he received the Associates Award as the outstanding graduate of the baccalaureate program in the College of Business and Public Administration.

Michelle G. Liberati

Michelle Liberati is CSDC's Executive Vice President and Project Manager of the Building Block Fund, with overall administrative responsibility for the program, including evaluating and reporting organizational performance vis-à-vis program goals and objectives, underwriting transactions and facilitating communication between CSDC's charter school clients, commercial banks, potential landlords and its credit committee. She is also responsible for marketing and outreach.

Michelle has been with CSDC since its founding and has had management responsibility across all areas of the organization. She works with the president and board of directors to implement strategic and business plans, identify potential funding sources and manage corporate assets and personnel.
Prior to joining CSDC, Michelle was the Program Director of Women's Leadership Programs at the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. She also worked as a legal assistant for the Federal Education Association and served as a substitute teacher for the Arlington County, Virginia Public Schools.

Michelle holds a Master's degree in education policy from George Washington University and a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Tulane University.

Tim Summers

Tim Summers began his tenure at CSDC in November 2006 as a part-time accountant and compliance manager for CSDC New Market Fund, LLC (a CSDC-majority owned and controlled joint venture with City First New Markets Advisors, LLC - a subsidiary of City First Bank of DC) that received a $40 million NMTC allocation in 2005 for the sole purpose of increasing the volume of financing and private sector capital available for charter school facilities in low-income communities. During this time he performed all of the internal accounting, coordinated audits, and met compliance requirements for the CSDC subsidiaries.

In May of 2007, Tim joined the team on a full-time basis as the Accounting and Compliance Manager whose responsibilities expanded beyond CSDC New Market Fund, LLC to include reporting and accounting for the entire CSDC organization. His responsibilities include payroll, coordinating audits and maintaining the books for CSDC and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and meeting compliance requirements under the various programs.

Mr. Summers received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Geneva College in Accounting and Business with a finance concentration. He began his career by working two years in public accounting as an auditor. During this time he gained a wide range of experience that included financial audits, tax preparation, benefit plan audits, and consulting projects with the Department of Justice including the Enron Task Force. He is nearing completion of a Masters of Science in Finance from Loyola College in Maryland and will then be a CPA candidate.

Rebecca Secrest

Rebecca Secrest is CSDC's Executive Assistant and is responsible for the overall administrative operations of the office and provides direct support the officers of the corporation. She is also responsible for the program’s portfolio monitoring and lease management, and acts as a liaison between CSDC and its charter school clients, commercial banks and landlords.

Rebecca directly interacts with the Board of Directors, attends all Board meetings, and serves as Assistant Corporate Secretary of CSDC.

Prior to joining CSDC, Rebecca worked in the financial industry, gaining experience in both the fixed income and equity sides of the industry. After leaving the financial industry, she focused her career on marketing as the primary Marketing Coordinator for a transportation engineering firm.

Rebecca holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing/Communication from the University of Pittsburgh.