About Peter Reinke

An expert in school culture and nonprofit compliance, Peter spent many years as a member of the Board of Standards of the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), the accrediting body for the state’s private schools. He has also spent almost a decade on the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles’ Commission on Schools which accredits Episcopal schools in Southern California. Peter is an expert in nonprofit audit governance, and has chaired the audit committees for a number of institutions. Peter currently is audit committee chair for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles $50 million-dollar investment trust, and of the Diocesan scholarship fund for first generation college students, which provides $50,000 in scholarships each year to public school students throughout Los Angeles. 

A highly experienced educational leader, Peter led St. James’ Episcopal School for six years before his retirement; upon his retirement the school named him the first Head of School Emeritus in the school’s history to support the transition to a new head for the following year. The board also established an endowment fund in Peter’s honor, both this fund and the Peter S. Reinke Fund at the California Community Foundation supports tuition assistance at St. James’. 

At his retirement as a Head of School, Peter was also honored with the Eldridge Fretwell Award from the Los Angeles Area Scouts for his service and advocacy for the scouting program; St. James’ hosts the oldest scout troop in California. 

Peter is an active volunteer for Brown University and serves on the Brown Alumni Association Board of Governors and on the Brown Annual Fund Leadership Council. He is on the Brown Corporation’s program committee for Tougaloo College, the Mississippi school that worked closely with Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement. Peter previously served on the Brown Corporation’s ad hoc committee on government relations, co-president of the Brown Alumni Club of Northern California and as co-chair of the Inman Page Council of Los Angeles.

Peter serves on the board of trustees and chairs the academic affairs committee for the Wright Institute of Psychology at U.C. Berkeley. He previously was a trustee of Cal’s Canterbury Foundation. Peter is a member of the national governing board for Common Cause, one of the nation’s oldest public interest organizations. He is a former vice-chair of Oakland, California’s public ethics commission. During the first and second Schwarzenegger administrations, Peter served in appointed state offices related to teacher retirement and compensation. Previously, he served on the legislative staff of U.S. Senator John Chafee, focusing on banking, labor, children’s issues and ethics. 

Peter graduated from Brown University (BA) and Columbia University (MA). He has professional certificates from Stanford Law School’s Fiduciary College and from Cornell in professional mediation.