FIRE welcomes Kurt Jaggers to board of directors

FIRE is excited to announce that private equity investor and free speech advocate Kurt Jaggers has joined our board of directors.

A member of FIRE’s Ember Club for many years, Kurt recently became a senior advisor at TA Associates after a 30 year career at the global private equity firm. During his time at TA Associates, Kurt sponsored 30 investments, mainly in technology companies, and served on the investment committees of more than 30 additional companies. 

“Kurt has been an enthusiastic supporter of FIRE’s non-partisan free speech mission, and I am thrilled that he is now bringing that enthusiasm and commitment to our board of directors,” said FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff. “His success in the private sector and overall business acumen will help to keep FIRE on the path to a sustainable future defending the free speech rights of all Americans.”

Kurt served on the boards of most of the companies in which he invested, helping seven of those companies complete initial public offerings and continuing to serve on those boards after going public. Kurt also held numerous executive positions during his time at TA, including on the Executive Committee, Portfolio Committee, and Core Investment Committee. He was also head of the Menlo Park office and co-head of the North America Technology Group.

“I have been a long term supporter of FIRE and welcome the opportunity to become more directly involved as a member of the board,” said Jaggers. “I look forward to contributing strategic and operational insights as FIRE expands its mission and organization and working collaboratively with FIRE’s board and team to continue its successful expansion.”

Prior to TA, Kurt held engineering, management, and consulting positions at California-based technology companies ROLM Corporation and Network Equipment Technologies, and Boston Consulting Group, respectively. 

Kurt also supports local nonprofits such as the East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring organization. He serves on the board of directors of this organization, which provides academic, athletic, mentorship, and parent empowerment programs to under-resourced students in the community.

Kurt graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. and M.S., Phi Beta Kappa, in electrical engineering and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

“Free speech is essential to preserving our democratic society,” said Jaggers. “Given the increasing incidents of viewpoint discrimination and violations of free speech rights by powerful institutions, FIRE’s mission is more relevant and critical than ever.”