Bruce Rauner served as the 42nd Governor of the State of Illinois from 2015-2019. In that role, he achieved equal funding for charter schools, created an historic tuition scholarship tax credit program, and sued AFCSME in a case decided by the U.S Supreme Court in 2018, eliminating the forced collection of union dues in the public sector. Prior to his public service, Bruce was Chairman of private equity and venture capital firm GTCR, where he and his partners helped form and finance the growth of over 200 companies from 1981 – 2012. Bruce serves as a director of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the Foundation for Florida’s Future, the Environmental Defense Fund, Miami Waterkeeper, the Everglades Foundation, and the Nature Conservancy in Florida. Bruce works with the Montana Land Reliance to preserve ranch land and wildlife habitat in Montana and received the Murie-Broome Award from The Wilderness Society for outstanding work in wilderness preservation. A Chicago native, Bruce received a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. He is the proud father of six and grandfather of two, and is an avid fly fisher, bird hunter, backpacker, skier, golfer, and motorcycle and horseback rider.