John Eriksen

Chair
The Drexel Fund
Minneapolis, MN

John Eriksen is Chair of The Drexel Fund, a nonprofit venture philanthropy fund that fuels the creation of diverse and innovative private schools for low-income students, including many Cristo Rey Network schools. Prior to co-founding The Drexel Fund, Mr. Eriksen worked at the Leadership Roundtable with a focus on Catholic schools. John began his career in education as a high school teacher in Baton Rouge, La. through Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE), and at age 34 became one of the youngest Catholic school superintendents in the country in Paterson, N.J.  Mr. Eriksen earned a B.A. in economics, history and government from the University of Notre Dame, as well as an M.A.T. from the University of Portland and an M.P.P. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is an Aspen-Pahara Institute Fellow.