Founder & CEO  /  Contact Raj Thakkar

Role at CSBM

As Founder and CEO, Raj is the driving force behind all of CSBM’s current and future initiatives and is responsible for the growth and sustainability of the company. Widely regarded a national expert on charter school finance, Raj has presented at conferences and workshops across the country and has been featured in numerous publications. In February 2013, he graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative, designed to help small businesses grow and create more jobs. He was named Small Business Person of the Year for the NY district by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2011 and 2018, and under his leadership, CSBM was also awarded Small Business of the Year for Eastern Region of the U.S. by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2009 and 2017. Raj was named a 2013 Top Entrepreneur by Crain’s New York Business. He was also recognized as one of 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center. Never losing sight of CSBM’s mission, Raj maintains strong ties with all of our clients to ensure that our work is enabling them to focus on student achievement.

Prior Experience

Before founding CSBM in 2006, Raj served as the Chief Financial Officer for Explore Charter School.

NYU Stern School of Business, MBA in Finance

Hofstra University, BS in Engineering Science