Dennis Gress

Founder | Educational Strategic Partners (ESP)

Dennis Gress is the founder of Educational Strategic Partners (ESP), a platform built to bring clarity, structure, and accountability to public school finance.

After beginning his career in the trades, Dennis returned to school with a renewed focus and earned his degree in Accounting from Northern Illinois University. He began his professional career with RSM, where he developed deep expertise in financial analysis, audit systems, and risk assessment before transitioning into public school finance.

In district leadership roles, Dennis rebuilt financial systems, corrected structural deficiencies, and restored transparency in complex environments. His work demonstrated that strong financial management is not about guesswork — it is about disciplined structure, clean data, and informed decision-making.

ESP was created to provide school leaders with the same level of financial clarity — built on authoritative public data, structured financial logic, and a practical understanding of how districts actually operate.

Jakub Banbor

Co-Founder | Educational Strategic Partners (ESP)

Jakub Banbor brings a systems-driven, technical foundation to Educational Strategic Partners. Born in Poland and raised professionally in Chicago, he developed an early focus on structured problem-solving, data systems, and disciplined execution.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with honors from Dominican University and gained early technical experience at Argonne National Laboratory. His career has centered on building and supporting complex institutional systems, including academic and student information platforms at DeVry University, where he worked closely with administrative leadership to ensure technology infrastructure aligned with organizational strategy.

At ESP, Jakub leads platform architecture, systems design, and data integrity. He is responsible for translating Illinois school district financial and operational data into a secure, scalable intelligence platform grounded in precision, governance, and long-term vision.