GW Board of Trustees Elects New Officers

The George Washington University Board of Trustees has elected its officers. Mark Chichester, B.B.A. '90, J.D. '93, has been elected chair; Todd Klein has been named vice chair; and Jeffrey Flaks, M.H.S.A. '96, will continue to serve as secretary.

The new officers will begin their three-year terms on June 1. Current Chair Grace E. Speights, J.D. '82, will conclude her term at the end of May.

"Mark, Todd and Jeff bring deep experience, sound judgment and a strong commitment to the mission of the university," said Speights. "Their leadership and partnership with the administration will be important as the university seeks to elevate its trajectory as an AAU member and advance the goals of the Strategic Framework. I am confident the Board will be in excellent hands under their leadership."

The GW Board of Trustees is responsible for the university's governance, and as a result, this assembly is integral to determining how the university meets the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Trustees play a key role in overseeing fiscal, academic and physical operations. They also provide leadership for strategic initiatives - all of which are designed to enhance GW's academic and student life.

"GW is fortunate to have such seasoned, dedicated and strategic leaders at the helm of its Board of Trustees," said GW President Ellen M. Granberg. "I look forward to our continued work together to advance GW's aspiration to raise even higher."

About the newly elected officers:

Mark H. Chichester is a strategic advisor and venture builder with more than three decades of executive and governance experience spanning international affairs, federal health, and non-profit leadership. He is Entrepreneur-in-Residence of the professional services subsidiary of the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM), prior to which he served as senior advisor to the Under Secretary of Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest integrated health system in the United States with more than 400,000 employees. He previously co-founded Atlas Research, an award-winning federal healthcare transformation consulting firm, which followed stints as vice president at The Aspen Institute and as executive director of the Institute for International Public Policy at UNCF. He began his career as staff to the Director General of the Foreign Service at the Department of State.

Chichester has an extensive record of board and public service. His past leadership includes serving on the boards of the National Education Association Foundation, where he was chairman, and the Forum on Education Abroad. He has also engaged in policy matters through involvement with the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff's Eisenhower National Security Series Working Group, and the U.S. Trade Representative's Trade Advisory Committee on Africa.

A graduate of GW with degrees in business and law, Chichester has received numerous honors, including the George Washington Award, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal for Outstanding Contributions in Human Rights and the Baer Leadership Award. A fourth-generation Washington, D.C., native, he attended Sidwell Friends School. He has participated in prestigious leadership and fellowship programs, including the Aspen Institute Executive Seminar and the Shapiro Fellowship in the Republic of Korea.

Todd Klein is managing partner at Revolution Growth. He joined Revolution after serving as co-founder, Managing Director, and Chief Investment Officer of SWaN & Legend Ventures and Interim COO of Anonymous Content.

Klein has been involved in financing and building more than 150 venture and growth-stage companies in the media, consumer, technology, education, and healthcare sectors. He has served on more than 30 corporate boards, including current and prior Revolution Growth companies CAVAand TemperPack. He is also an observer at Carbon Robotics,and PathosAI. His earlier investments include Pinterest, Square, and Airbnb. He is also a member of the George Washington University Board of Trustees, where he worked with humanitarian José Andrés to create the Global Food Institute.

Klein began his career at Salomon Brothers and later JP Morgan Chase. He earned a B.B.A. from the University of Texas and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Jeffrey A. Flaks is a nationally recognized healthcare leader and president and CEO of Hartford HealthCare, an $8-billion system serving more than 28,000 people each day. He has transformed the organization into a highly integrated network of more than 500 locations with 48,000 colleagues, including 8,000 employed and aligned providers.

Flaks led a systemwide quality and safety transformation that earned the 2025 AHA Quest for Quality Prize and "A" safety grades from the Leapfrog Group. He pioneered the Institute Model for integrated specialty care that elevated Hartford HealthCare's national standing, including the Cancer Institute's designation as the nation's first Care Partner of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

He received the 2025 Steven Schroeder Award for Outstanding Healthcare CEO for advancing quality and affordability, and he was named the 2026 Press Ganey Innovator of the Year for his contributions to healthcare innovation that improve patient care, safety and quality.

A driver of innovation and education, he built strategic partnerships with Google, Amazon, MIT and others, and launched the Center for AI Innovation in Healthcare. He has also created academic pipelines across Connecticut, supporting scholarships, mentorship and workforce development. Hartford HealthCare was recently named Connecticut's top employer for career development.

A graduate of GW with a master's degree in Health Services Administration, Flaks serves as vice chair of the Connecticut Hospital Association. He holds honorary doctorates from Trinity College, Eastern Connecticut State University and Sacred Heart University.