Charter Management Organization (CMO)

As the current CEO, Mr. Okaiteye brings financial expertise and depth of management to New Designs Charter Schools. As the previous CFO, he oversaw the school finances and has seen the budget grow from $1 million to $13.5 million over the past 10 years. He led the acquisition of two school properties with $20 million in bond financing and is responsible for all construction and remodeling projects. He has developed business and financial systems that ensure our schools run smoothly. 

Previously, Paul worked as a credit analyst and a portfolio manager for a number of financial institutions and as a design engineer for a major utilities company. Prior to joining New Designs, he worked at Washington Mutual as a loan officer.

Mr. Okaiteye holds a master's degree in business administration (MBA) with an emphasis in finance from Pepperdine University's Glazidio School of Business. He is also a graduate of the University of Southern California School of Business Management program and has a bachelor of science degree in electrical/electronic engineering. He holds an Intermediate Level Qualification from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (London) with a managerial accounting emphasis.

Mr. Edward Frimpong is our director of human resources. He has worked with New Designs since January 2006 when he joined our teaching staff and rose to the position of assistant principal. Mr. Frimpong has a deep understanding of the inner workings of the New Designs organization, which gives him the unique perspective and insight to work closely with all members and staff.

Mr. Frimpong holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

As the director of human resources, Mr. Frimpong oversees all hiring and employee related issues including payroll, training and development, and benefits and retirement emoluments. Additionally, he manages employee related legal issues and compliance.

Dr. Hazel Rojas is also the interim principal at Watts School.

Sam Kyeremanteng was named as the New Designs director of business services and chief financial officer in 2017 after working with us as a fiscal independent consultant for several years. Mr. Kyeremanteng has a BS in accounting from San Diego University Business School. He brings substantial expertise in Lawson Accounting Systems, MAS-90, QuickBooks, and Excel, among others.

Mr. Kyeremanteng's past professional experience is as a senior accountant over sources and uses of funds for corporate entities including local government, financial services, health care, education, and the travel industry.