Keith Shoates

Prior to his current role as Chief Operating Officer at Student Freedom Initiative, Mr. Shoates served as interim Executive Director responsible for the research, modeling, analysis, staffing, and design of the program; and he raised $150+M in 12 months to launch the program comprised of 2 public and 7 private Historically Black Colleges and Universities across 8 states, 123 STEM majors and ~6,000 eligible students for the Fall 2021 academic year.  

At Vista Equity Partners since 2018 Mr. Shoates is responsible for integrating strategic planning, operations, corporate communications, and corporate initiatives in support of the firm’s Chairman and CEO, Robert F. Smith. He ensured successful payment of college loans for four hundred eligible students and parents resulting from the Chairman’s transformation gift to the Morehouse College Class of 2019. Prior to joining Vista, Mr. Shoates worked as a Director of IT at Integrity Applications Incorporated, where he built the firm’s portfolio with Federal customers. Retired Colonel (USAF), he led multi-disciplinary teams delivering integrated technical solutions to address challenging and dynamic customer requirements.

Graduate of Chapman University, Argyros School of Business & Economics (MBA), Air Command & Staff College (Master of Strategic Studies), and Cornell University, College of Engineering (BS-Electrical Engineering and Master of Engineering). Member of IT Advisory Board at Northern VA Community College and Member of Prostate Cancer Board of Directors.