As lead AnLarian, Tate’s primary focus is to continue to lead AnLar such that the company stays true to its founding principle: AnLar is a people-centered organization that focuses on how the company can best serve each individual and the community/team they are part of. His mantra continues to be: focus on taking care of yourself, your teammates, and the organization (in that order), and good work will happen. And from this simple yet somewhat counter-cultural principle, he has worked with his colleagues at AnLar to facilitate an environment where people can take risks, face new challenges, and achieve great things. Tate is also the president of Otis Education Systems, Inc. and founder of AnLar Group, a growing community of companies and organizations that share this people-centered philosophy.
Before founding AnLar, Tate served at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) as the Deputy Director for Technical Assistance for the Race to the Top grant programs, and before that, fed his appetite for education reform and data while working as the Senior Program Officer for the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Program. Working directly with state education agencies allowed him to blend his love for politics and strategy with his passion for improving the education system. Before his time at ED, Tate served as Director of Operations and Programs for a national civic engagement start-up and a non-profit organization helping U.S. governors and states improve their education policies. He began his career in education at the head of a classroom. A National Board Certified Teacher in secondary mathematics, Tate earned state and national awards and recognitions during his high school math teacher years. Despite his many roles throughout his career, Tate will always reflect fondly on the school and community at East Wake that taught him more about himself than he taught them about math. Tate earned a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina — both in education policy.
When he’s not trying to help everyone with their IT issues (and espousing the benefits of Google over Apple), Tate may be found coaching his son in soccer, embarrassing his daughter any way he can, or wearing down his wife with his latest passion or obsession. He enjoys anything construction-related, reliving one of his favorite summer jobs with his older brother. He was also elected to serve on the local school board because he is a glutton for punishment.
