Executive Leadership

Dr. Mark A. Elgart
President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Mark A. Elgart currently serves as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer for Advance Education (AdvancED), the parent organization for the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).  His visionary leadership and collaborative skills were pivotal to the successful unification of the 11 SACS CASI states, the 19 North Central states, and the National Study of School Evaluation (a research organization) under the umbrella of AdvancED.  Under his leadership, AdvancED is recognized as a leader in achieving educational quality.

Elgart is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the new, innovative "AdvancED Performance Accreditation” model, as well as the nationally acclaimed "AdvancED School System Accreditation" model.  Through his leadership, accreditation has been transformed into a systems-oriented process that focuses on institutional performance with respect to Standards of Quality, student performance in all program areas, learner and stakeholder engagement.

Elgart is active and influential in helping policy leaders at the state and national levels shape and enact policy related to educational quality, continuous improvement, and accountability.  He is also a national and international trainer and presenter on the topics of accreditation, school improvement, leadership, and accountability in education.  Elgart currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Knowledge Alliance and Measured Progress.  He is also a National Advisor for Learning Forward.

In July 2011, he was recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the 100 most influential people in Metropolitan Atlanta.  Elgart also represents AdvancED as a lead business partner with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

Prior to joining SACS CASI in 1995, Elgart served nine years as a math and science teacher, as well as a school administrator at the middle and high school levels, which included six years as a middle school principal.

Kenneth I. Bergman
Chief Legal Officer

The mission of AdvancED’s Legal Department is to provide AdvancED with innovative legal solutions, advocacy, and a dedication to quality customer service, as well as serve as a primary resource and partner in all aspects of organizational operations, growth, and development.

Mr. Bergman serves as Chief Legal Officer for AdvancED and handles legal matters ranging from intellectual property; statutory, regulatory and legislative analysis; contract review and negotiation; and drafting of corporate and legal documents.  He also provides advice and guidance on AdvancED corporate and accreditation issues, as well as training on a variety of Board and Governance issues.  He is a former partner in the law firm Dreger, Coyle, Bergman, Pieschel & Reemsnyder, LLC and is well-versed in corporate law, employment law, intellectual property, real property, and civil litigation.

Mr. Bergman earned his Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Emory University.  He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia (School & College Law, Corporate Counsel Law, Business Law, Intellectual Property Law, Real Property Law and Litigation Sections), Association of Corporate Counsel, and the American Bar Association.

Annette Bohling, J.D.
Chief Accreditation Officer

The mission of the Accreditation Division of AdvancED is to provide accreditation services of the highest quality to institutions and education systems around the world through an ongoing process of meeting rigorous standards, engaging in continuous improvement, and demonstrating quality assurance through internal and external review.

Dr. Bohling joined AdvancED in 2006 and serves as the Chief Accreditation Officer to lead the organization’s Accreditation Division, which manages and oversees the accreditation functions, policies, and procedures for accredited institutions and school systems in the AdvancED network around the world. Bohling’s professional career spans 37 years, including the fields of education and law. Her experience includes teacher, administrator, deputy state superintendent, interpreter/translator, and attorney. She was the chief architect in the design of Wyoming’s assessment and accountability system under No Child Left Behind.

Bohling’s degrees are from the University of Tulsa College of Law, University of Wyoming, Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University.

Albert Mayo
Chief Information Officer

The mission of AdvancED’s Information and Educational Technologies Division is to develop and implement comprehensive technology solutions designed to support and enable continuous improvement in education.

Mr. Mayo serves as the Chief Information Officer for AdvancED where he has spearheaded the development and implementation of web-based solutions for school improvement and accreditation processes.  Mayo has proven skills in planning and implementation of e-business and core IT technologies, including enterprise web-based applications and systems/network infrastructure. He has a solid background in the full software development life cycle, effective project management methodologies, and process re-engineering.  Throughout his extensive career, he has worked in organizations of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, in a variety of industries.

Mayo holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science degree from Georgia Tech in Electrical Engineering. He is bilingual with fluency in Spanish.

Ludwig van Broekhuizen, Ph.D.
Chief Innovation Officer

The mission of the Innovation Division is to implement an innovative strategy that positions AdvancED as a knowledge leader for education worldwide.

Dr. van Broekhuizen joined AdvancED in 2012 and serves as the Chief Innovation Officer to lead the organization’s Innovation Division, which includes research and development in support of AdvancED’s accreditation and school improvement initiatives.  He will guide the research agenda for the organization—focusing on a strong connection between research and practice.  Dr. van Broekhuizen’s previous experience includes working as the Executive Director of the SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina since 2004.  There he was instrumental in SERVE competing for and winning nearly $40 million in funds from the United States Department of Education provided to support programs and projects that impact Pre K-12 educations issues.  Dr. van Broekhuizen’s past achievements include the development of a model of professional development for early reading improvement in diverse settings.  He also was a Senior Evaluator for the first national evaluation of the federally funded Star Schools Program and Partnerships in Education Program.

He holds a doctorate in Linguistics from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.