Edtech Insiders

Send us a textBen Whately is the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of Memrise. A psychologist by education, with a Masters in Experimental Psychology from Oxford where he focused on neural networks and computational modeling of human learning, Ben has spent the last 15 years looking at ways to learn and teach languages.While at Oxford, Ben became fascinated by how we learn languages. In the past, he’d always been able to pass language exams, but would find himself totally unable to actually use the language abroad. While studying psychology, he formed a theory for why this is, and Memrise has been a journey of bringing that theory into reality. He believes that people fundamentally learn languages to connect with other people or because they are enamoured of the culture of that language, and Memrise strives to embody this experience of connection.Building on his neuroscience and language acquisition background, Ben pioneered the use of LLMs to create the world’s first AI language partner using GPT-3 technology, Membot. Ben is also a prolific angel investor, investing in and advising more than 50 companies in the UK startup ecosystem, with a focus on AI, machine learning and climate tech.Recommended Resources:Language Learning on Memrise

Send us a textMichael Chasen is the co-founder and CEO of Class Technologies Inc., the maker of Class. He is an entrepreneur who has dedicated his career to improving the way people live and learn. Most notably, Chasen served as co-founder and CEO of Blackboard Inc., a pioneering edtech company with software used by over 20,000 institutions in more than 70 countries by 20 million teachers and learners worldwide.Recommended Resources:The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm GladwellOutliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm GladwellMalcolm Gladwell PodcastFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. DubnerFreakonomics Podcast

Send us a textCharles Abelmann is the director and producer of the short documentary English Hustle. He is an educator with a background in research, policy and practice. Earlier in his career, he worked at the World Bank managing education projects in a wide number of countries including China and Mongolia. He has also led public and private schools including being the Director at the Laboratory Schools at the University of Chicago while also having an appointment at the university as a lecturer. He currently is a filmmaker and an executive coach certified by the International Coaching Federation and holds an M.A and Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.Recommended Resources:English Hustle on englishhustle.orgEnglish Hustle on newday.comEnglish Hustle on Vimeo

Send us a textEllie Bertani is the President and CEO of the GitLab Foundation, with the mission of improving lifetime earnings and economic mobility of workers worldwide. With a background in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors, she brings a shared value, cross-sectoral approach to drive sustainable impact.Prior to joining the GitLab Foundation, Ellie spent ten years in the private sector, with roles at Wells Fargo and Walmart. Much of her work focused on frontline worker economic stability and mobility, and included work on instant access to earned pay, scheduling predictability, removing hiring barriers, and developing internal learning and career pathing programs. In 2020 Ellie was awarded Walmart’s highest recognition, the Sam Walton Entrepreneurship Award, for the development of LiveBetterU, the largest free educational benefits program in the US, and Walmart’s most successful diversity & inclusion program. Earlier in her career, Ellie spent nearly ten years in the nonprofit and public sector, including positions with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. State Department, Third Sector Capital Partners, and Rotary International. She received her Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.Recommended Resources:A Time to Build by Yuval Levine

Send us a textSacha Litman is a core member of the Public Sector practice at Boston Consulting Group and the global lead for analytics in education, employment, and welfare (EEW) for that practice. Sacha is an expert in talent gaps, higher education turnarounds, pricing, and student financing.Sacha advises higher education, employer, and state leaders on building education/employer partnerships that close talent supply/demand gaps in order to improve students' employment outcomes; employer talent acquisition costs and retention; higher education enrollment, brand perception; financial sustainability; and states' ability to attract and retain talent and employers. He has extensive experience in pricing and analytics, and designs models such as outcomes-aligned student financing, financial aid optimization, HR/workforce analytics, and schedule optimization.Sacha is a former edtech founder and CEO, with the entrepreneurial skills to build pioneering new approaches. Before joining BCG, he was the leader of Public Sector Advanced Analytics for McKinsey & Company, and CEO of the education analytics firm Measuring Success.Recommended Resources:A Turnaround for Higher Ed in the US by Sacha Litman, Tyce Henry, J. Puckett, and Lina BankertWhy Student Financing Must Align with Outcomes by Sacha Litman, Claudia Newman-Martin, Matt Beckett, and John PinedaHow Higher Ed and Employers Can Partner to Power Talent Pipelines by Sacha Litman, Lane McBride, Tejus Kothari, Claudia Newman-Martin, Ruth Ebeling, and Frank Breitling

Send us a textFor over two decades, Chicago Scholars, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit leadership development organization, has empowered nearly 6,000 high-performing, under-resourced students to overcome systemic barriers to success in college. Chicago Scholars is the largest education nonprofit in Chicago, a city of over 2.5 million. In addition to its wraparound support for Chicago-based students, Chicago Scholars has created REACH Pathways, a first-of-its-kind app designed to connect top talent with professional opportunities in ways that feel less like homework and more like a video game. Jeffery Beckham, Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer at Chicago Scholars and co-CEO of Reach Pathways. Jeffery is a community leader, artist and tech-entrepreneur known for advancing the fight for equity for youth and marginalized communities throughout the United States. Jeffery lives by the quote: “To whom much is given, much is required.” He strives to support traditionally underserved youth, working as a mentor with the 100 Black Men of Chicago, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity INC. and other Chicago programs. Jeffery is also a self-taught painter and uses his art to advocate for social and economic justice.  His work has been on display around the world.Brooke McKean, the President at Chicago Scholars and co-CEO of Reach Pathways, has over a decade of executive-level experience in fast-paced and start-up environments, in addition to experience managing teams in 12+ countries. Brooke is an expert in change management and has developed dozens of systems, policies, and infrastructure across all areas of operations, including IT, HR, finance, data systems, and beyond. Brooke believes in service-oriented and values-based leadership to ensure that Chicago Scholars embodies the values that define its programs to “be the change.”Recommended Resources:TED-EdTwitter spacesYoutubeStorybirdFinding Nonprofit Sustainability by Brooke MckeanDr. Raj Chetty's Research

Send us a textClay Colarusso is the CMO and SVP of Digital Strategy at American Student Assistance, a national non-profit changing the way kids learn about careers and navigate a path to postsecondary education and career success. Clay and his team focus on creating transformational digital experiences to support today’s youth in the development of their post-high school education and career plans. They recently launched ASA’s latest digital resource, EvolveMe™, which helps teens in middle and high school gain critical life and career skills and earn rewards along the way.Recommended Resources:Gen Z is Struggling: 5 Things They Need For A Bright Future by Tracy Brower, PhD

Send us a textIn this final Week In Edtech until August, we cover:London EdtechX  and ISTEReading/Math Crisis :NAEP Results, Times“Achievement declined across lines of race, class and geography. But in math, especially, vulnerable children — including Black, Native American and low-income students — experienced bigger drops.”“The percentage of 13-year-olds who reported reading for fun has also declined. Last fall, 31 percent said they “never or hardly ever” read for fun, compared to 22 percent in 2012.”Post: National test scores plunge, with still no sign of pandemic recovery“The average math score is now the same as it was in 1990, while the average reading score is the same as it was in 2004.”74: NAEP Scores ‘Flashing Red’ After a Lost Generation of Learning for 13-Year-OldsU.S. history scores hit all-time low among 8th gradersByju’s:Byju's auditor Deloitte, three board members sever ties with embattled edtech startupDeloitte, three board members quit edtech giant Byju’sAI (Alex and Ben)Workera launches Generative AI and ChatGPT assessmentsOnline Learning Firm Nerdy Says Ai Is Writing 30% Of Its Software Code The Business JournalsCreatorUp Launches its Redesigned Learning Store with Courses for Creators, Upskilling them for New Job Opportunities, including in Generative AI

Send us a textDan White is founder and CEO of Filament Games, an educational game company that’s been breaking ground in game-based learning for 18 years. Dan believes that good gameplay and good learning are complementary rather than oppositional forces. An alumnus of Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Dan earned an M.S. in Education Technology under seminal learning game scholars Drs. Kurt Squire and James Paul Gee. Prior to founding Filament in 2005, Dan worked as a teacher, an instructional designer, and a game developer. Dan’s passions include learning games, sustainability, mindfulness, and modernizing institutional education.Recommended Resources:What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul GeeAi Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu LeeIs the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers by Steven Pinker

Send us a textMario Vasilescu is co-founder of Readocracy, an online learning platform that makes all the content you consume count. Readocracy includes a knowledge profile that quantifies and showcases your passions, private insights like a “Fitbit for your information diet”, and social features that reward people for being well-informed. With his team, they are on a mission to create a future where how we feed our minds matters just as much as how we feed our bodies.Mario is a robotics engineer turned designer, digital strategist, and now founder obsessed with media ecology. Prior to entering the world of startups, he led digital innovation projects and digital literacy campaigns for national organizations in Canada and France. He is based in Toronto.