Robert Di Bacco is a skilled financial professional with extensive experience in international education.
He has spent the past eight years as the Chief Operating and Financial Officer of the Arizona Charter Schools Association, a non-profit mission-driven organization. In this capacity he prepared detailed budgets, actively safeguarded the organization’s financial and physical assets and managed a staff of twenty. He also guided the finance committee of the board of directors and in conjunction with auditors, developed and oversaw the organization’s financial policies and procedures.
In addition, he helped develop several multi-year strategic plans and executed strategies leading to the organization doubling in size, a five-fold increase in financial reserves and the development of sustainable revenue.
In addition to his financial acumen, he has a great understanding of independent schools, both boarding and day schools.
He gained invaluable experience as an administrator at both The Orme School of Arizona and The American School in Switzerland, plus eight years as the founding director of The Gaia Schools in Chile and Argentina. He is truly an international citizen and is bilingual in English and Spanish with intermediate proficiency in French and Italian.
He has an honors bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario and a master’s in business administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. vhttps://robertdibacco.com/contact-robert-di-bacco/
Robert Di Bacco’s Resume
Professional History
ARIZONA CHARTER SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION, COO/CFO
Phoenix, AZ USA — December 2010-Present
• Create mission aligned, multi-year strategic plans and design donor strategy to fund Association vision
• Manage internal finance functions/staff and direct the Association’s auditors, bankers, insurance brokers and legal counsel
• Guide board of directors finance committee and create financial strategies and
policies resulting in a five-fold increase in operating reserves and clean audits
• Analyze school facility financing options for $15M-$30M USD projects and help
members negotiate fee structure resulting in savings in excess of $1M USD
• Provide operational, marketing and financial guidance to member schools and mediate interactions with governmental entities
• Develop and monitor performance metrics to satisfy funder requirements and federal grant compliance
• Established self-funded health benefits pool for member schools resulting in a tripling of participation and an average premium savings of 20%
• Negotiate contracts with Fortune 500 companies providing over $1M USD in savings to member schools
• Prepare detailed budgets and manage yearly revenues of approximately $3M USD
• Led Association through growth stage resulting in doubling of staff and a 25% increase in revenues
• Restructured fee for service programs that increased earned revenue to 70%
• Negotiated financing and secured the purchase of an office building reducing overhead costs by 15%
THUNDERBIRD EMERGING MARKETS LABORATORY, Consultant
Lima, Peru — April 2010-June 2010
• Initiated development of dynamic lending model to be used by microfinance institutions
• Analyzed data to develop a business growth acceleration strategy for women micro-entrepreneurs
• Completed feasibility study detailing methodology for implementation of one-to-one
mentoring program
THE ORME SCHOOL OF ARIZONA, Director of Outdoor Education
Mayer, AZ USA — August 2007-July 2009
• Restructured outdoor education program to increase quality, improve safety and reduced costs by 20%
• Coordinated events to integrate international students and increased enrollment by 10% after one year
• Assisted in standardizing course curriculums to ensure consistency and continuity
THE GAIA SCHOOL, Director/Founder
Olmué, Chile / Buenos Aires, Argentina — January 2000-August 2007
• Developed and implemented company recruitment and marketing strategy throughout North America and successfully branded The Gaia School as a high-quality provider of study abroad programs
• Prepared detailed budgets and managed yearly revenues of approximately $750,000 USD
• Consistently increased student enrollment (from 15 students in 2001 to over 200 students in 2007)
• Interviewed, hired, and trained staff, motivating a group of 15 employees
• Set strategic vision of organization and executed operational plan resulting in a 0% incident rate over an eight year period
• Negotiated long-term service contracts reducing expenses by 15%
TRAVELERS, Financial Analyst/Underwriter
Toronto, ON Canada — September 1997-October 1999
• Promoted from Financial Analyst to Underwriter after oneyear
• Generated over $1M CAD in premiums through building broker and client relationships
• Increased account portfolio from 50 to 60 clients within oneyear
• Analyzed and rated the risk of construction companies with revenues of $20M- $250MCAD
THE AMERICAN SCHOOL IN SWITZERLAND, Director of Athletics & Travel
Lugano, Switzerland — Summers 1995-1997
• Promoted from Counselor to Director of Athletics & Travel after one summer
• Doubled travel location options for approximately 400 students and coordinated travel logistics across five different countries
• Negotiated travel contracts for trips within Europe and increased profit margins by
approximately 15%
• Led multicultural team to restructure travel program and reduced expenses by 10%
Education
Thunderbird School of Global Management, Master of Business Administration
2010 Phoenix, AZ USA
• President, Thunderbird Entrepreneurship Network
• Awarded Thunderbird Student Scholarship for outstanding academic achievement
Ivey Business School/Western University, Honors BA in Business Administration
1997 London, ON Canada
• Member, Men’s Varsity Soccer Team (1993 National BronzeMedal)
Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE)
1996 Barcelona, Spain
• International Marketing & Finance
Additional Skills & Community Service
• Fluent in English, Spanish;
proficient in French, Italian
• Proficient in website design (WordPress), CRM software
(Salesforce), accounting
software (QuickBooks), Adobe CS and MS 365 cloudservices
• Board member, Arizona Charter Academy (2011-2017)
• Pro-Bono Consultant, Phoenix Collegiate Academy (2010)
• Volunteer, Santa Teresa Orphanage, Chile (2003-2008)
