Thomas Reams, Chief Financial Officer of Nightingale Education Group, began his career in the world of numbers as an auditor before moving into private equity. He found that work exciting, yet something was missing. He wanted to be part of an organization that would change the world, and that desire eventually led him to Nightingale Education Group.

When Reams joined in 2019, the company’s annual revenue was just $18 million dollars. Under his financial leadership, Nightingale Education Group has since grown more than tenfold in revenue, employees and student enrollment. Two factors drew him to take the organization to the next level: its unique distance education model and its deep commitment to investing in people.

He saw tremendous potential in the mission to make nursing education accessible, particularly for those in rural communities across the country who lacked opportunities to pursue the profession. Coming from a background where you simply see numbers, Reams was captivated by Nightingale Education Group’s human-centered culture and wanted to be somewhere the organization’s most valuable asset, its people, genuinely came first.

That orientation defines how he leads the finance function. Reams looks at how a spend advances the mission, always searching for ways to deploy resources toward the best outcomes. He leads with a systems mindset and a mission-driven one, understanding that metrics matter while asking whether spending decisions will create meaningful, long-term impact.

His deepest conviction is a belief in the human capacity for good. Reams holds that when people are given the right opportunities and circumstances, they can do incredible things regardless of where they come from or what they look like. Many assume a Chief Financial Officer must focus primarily on the dollar, yet he insists that focusing only on numbers loses the rest of the story, the story about people.

His recognition as a Titan 100 Honoree reflects a finance leader who treats his role as a mission driver rather than a gatekeeper. Doing the right thing is not always the easiest thing, he says, and that principle has guided him through a decade of extraordinary growth built on both discipline and heart.

Looking to the next five years, Reams charts a bold path. He envisions Nightingale Education Group scaling its distance learning model to reach roughly two and a half times more learners, using that growth as a foundation to transform how nurses are educated, trained and supported throughout their careers.

He recognizes a landscape reshaped by artificial intelligence and rising concerns over student debt, and he positions Nightingale Education Group as a catalyst for positive change. The company plans to keep shaping policies that make nursing education more accessible and affordable so aspiring nurses from all backgrounds can enter the field.

Beyond enrollment, the vision centers on creating a skilled, readily available nursing workforce representative of the communities it serves, supporting the full life cycle of a nurse. For Reams, every figure on the balance sheet ultimately points back to a person whose future it helps build.

Editorial Note: This profile reflects information submitted by the honoree at the time of their Titan 100 recognition in August 2026. Professional roles and affiliations may have changed since publication.