Desmond Lovell is a strategic corporate finance executive with 20 years of experience in Public Education and Financial Services. Mr. Lovell currently serves as the Vice President of Finance at IPS‑Florida, the Florida affiliate of Texas‑based IDEA Public Schools. IPS‑Florida operates six schools serving approximately 6,000 students in Jacksonville and Tampa under the Florida Department of Education’s Schools of Hope Program.

Prior to joining IPS-Florida, Mr. Lovell served CFO of California College of ASU, an accredited non profit college and affiliate of Arizona State University. Mr. Lovell has more than ten years of financial leadership in the charter school sector serving the communities of East and South Central communities of Los Angeles; six as Vice President of Finance for Alliance College-Ready Schools with 25 schools serving 12,000 scholars and four as the Director of Finance for Green Dot Public Schools with 25 schools serving 15,000.

Prior to his career in charter schools, Des held various corporate finance & investment banking positions at leading financial institutions including JP Morgan, Barclays Capital and GE Capital where he led over 60 complex debt and equity financings for both large and small companies. Des received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BBA-Finance from Howard University. Mr. Lovell is an active board member with three non profit organizations dedicated to serving young adults from under-resourced communities, STEM Prep Schools, First Place for Youth and Skill Up.