Michael R. Cernauskas

Chief Financial Officer

312.376.2313

Michael Cernauskas is NACSA’s Chief Financial Officer, leading NACSA’s business and administrative operations. Mike is a Certified Public Accountant with over 20 years of major non-profit management experience. He previously served as Vice President of Finance and Administration for a 26,000-member international nonprofit association with budgets in excess of $20 million and 70 staff. In that capacity, he successfully administered numerous federal grants.

Most Recent Posts

No Shortcuts to Student Success: The Case for Statewide Annual Assessments

When I think about why I’ve dedicated my career to advancing and strengthening the ideas and practices of authorizing, I think about the students I’ve met over the years—bright, curious...

Raising the Bar: NACSA’s Updated State Policy Recommendations

NACSA believes that strong laws enable strong authorizing. In turn, strong authorizing leads to strong public education outcomes for students, families, and communities. That’s why we regularly update our state...

A New Path Forward: NACSA’s Bold New School Application Guidance

I’ll never forget a foundational principle I learned nearly two decades ago, while authorizing in Indianapolis: It should be hard to gain approval to start a new charter school. But...