Alex Cranberg
Chairman, Aspect Holdings, LLC
Mr. Cranberg is Chairman of Aspect Holdings, LLC. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of Texas at Austin in 1977 with a BS in Petroleum Engineering and received an MBA from Stanford University in 1981.
After leading General Atlantic Partners’ oil and gas investment activity from 1981-1992, Mr. Cranberg founded Aspect Energy. Aspect has drilled over 700 exploration wells and made numerous oil and gas discoveries in Texas and Louisiana, Belize, Peru, Hungary, and Kurdistan. Aspect applies its exploration expertise as well for the discovery and development of helium and geothermal resources. Aspect has founded numerous venture technology-driven oilfield service companies, the leading U.S. potash producer, a wind power developer and a prominent firm in the cancer drug discovery space.
Mr. Cranberg was named to the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Hall of Fame in 2010 and was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin in November 2016.
Mr. Cranberg served on The University of Texas System Board of Regents for 6 years until 2017. While on the Board of Regents he served as the founding Chair of the UT System Lands Advisory Board which oversees the System’s vast West Texas oil and land holdings. He also served as Chairman of the Health Affairs Committee of the Board.
Mr. Cranberg has been active in education philanthropy, governance, and policy advocacy. He founded the Alliance for Choice in Education, which has provided over $100 million in scholarship support for children from low-income families to attend private K-12 schools. Mr. Cranberg created and funded the Horace Mann Scholarship Challenge, whereby he committed to fund the college education of the 600 attendees of the public inner city Horace Mann Middle Schools. He also has served on various boards of the national school choice organization, Alliance for School Choice, and on the Board of Trustees of Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Cathy Cranberg
Chief Executive Officer - Family Office
Work, love, and play blend harmoniously in Cathy Cranberg's life as a creator, connector, and investor. Through empowering communities to embrace every possibility, cultivating a curious mindset, and embracing joy, she is committed to intergenerational growth and enriching the professional, personal, and social well-being of others.
An experienced, conscious leader, Cathy has held various executive positions in Fortune 500 companies including Novartis and General Electric, where she served as Managing Director and Vice President, respectively. She joined the Board of Directors of Aspect Holdings, LLC in 2015 and also serves on the Board for One Map Mineral Services. Cathy has consistently and successfully led businesses to their peak performance and has received many accolades for her professional contributions.
Leveraging her ability to engage with people at varying levels of knowledge and understanding, Cathy created Authentic Agility Games, a social enterprise that produces card games that challenge players of all ages to engage in meaningful and educational conversation. Her intention is that this fun, yet thought-provoking dialogue will give individuals the foundation to transform their worldview and build stronger relationships. Authentic Agility Games donates a portion of its proceeds to more than a dozen nonprofit organizations across the nation that advance education, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
In addition to her business endeavors, Cathy has invested in real estate since buying her first home at the age of 23. She understands the balancing act that busy, career-driven women face daily. As a result of her love for positively impacting women's lives, she has partnered with a variety of organizations, including Golden Seeds, SheEO, and Generation W. Cathy also serves on the National Advisory Board of The Policy Circle, encouraging women to be more active in public policy discussion and civic engagement.
With a deep commitment to advancing quality education for all and lifting up families, she is a founding board member of the Alliance for Choice in Education (ACE) Texas. She and her husband Alex helped expand ACE nationally. The organization, which has a 90% graduation rate, has provided scholarships for more than 60,000 low-income K-12 students since its inception. As a two-time captain of George Washington University’s nationally-ranked women’s basketball team, Cathy served on the Athletic Advisory Board of her alma mater. Cathy also serves as a Board of Trustee for the Episcopal School of Jacksonville. She is dedicated to helping students and athletes to be the best version of themselves.
Cathy earned a Master’s of Business Administration from Wingate University and an Executive Leadership certification from Stanford University. While Cathy has held many titles throughout her career, among the most important to her are wife and mother.
