MPI's Board of Directors
David Thayer, chair of MPI's board, is a founding partner at the Harvest MLP Funds, a hedge fund investing in tax-advantaged energy infrastructure. For many years he has served as an Army reservist, having been deployed as an armored cavalry officer with the First City Troop to the Balkans following the events of September 11, 2001. He currently serves as commander of that unit, the oldest of its kind in the nation. He received a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an MA from the London School of Economics, and an MBA with Honors from the University of Chicago.
Kevin Harper is the founder and chief investment officer of Junto Financial. Prior to that, he was a managing director of investment research at Endowment Capital Group LLC, where he was instrumental in launching the fund and raising approximately $500M from endowment and foundation clients. A Pennsylvania Army National Guard veteran, Harper served with the 28th Division in Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia and was awarded the 104th Squadron’s “Enlisted Soldier of the Deployment.” He is also founder and chairman of the ValorTrust Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping disabled veterans. Harper holds a BS from the Wharton School, a BA in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the Wharton School.
Marc Leader is a financial executive at SunGard Availability Services, which provides IT operations support for disaster recovery, managed services, IT consulting, and business continuity management. He is responsible for the company's annual and long-range financial plans, as well as the evaluation of strategic initiatives. He has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Association and PSI Upsilon of Philadelphia. He holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University's Leonard Stern School of Business.
Rob Pfaltzgraff, MPI’s executive director, graduated from Tufts University with a degree in American Studies. He worked for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) from its founding in 1999, designing and creating FIRE’s first website and eventually rising to the position of vice president of development, management, and marketing. He left FIRE in March 2006 to become executive director of MPI, where he is responsible for day-to-day operations, including development, marketing, public relations, and assisting with the production of MPI’s projects. He has executive produced Do As I Say (based on Peter Schweizer’s New York Times bestseller), The Libel Tourist, and The Cartel.
Elizabeth Koch, a freelance writer and editor in New York City, is executive editor of Opium Magazine and host of the Sweet Fancy Moses reading series. She has written articles for Reason's website, Premiere, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Independent Women's Forum, shethinks.com, Columbia Journalism Review, Small Spiral Notebook, Elle, Orchid Lit, Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, and Yankee Potroast. She has also served as a counselor and teacher for underprivileged pre-teens in a variety of capacities and environments. She holds a BA from Princeton University.
