Edtech Insiders

Send us a textAudrey Wisch is the CEO and Co-Founder and Curious Cardinals, a global community where K-12 students discover and pursue their passions, build confidence, and unlock their greatest potential with the guidance of college mentors they aspire to be.Audrey started Curious Cardinals as an undergraduate at Stanford University; after teaching her first workshop on mass incarceration to high school students at the start of the pandemic, Audrey decided to mobilize her most ambitious peers at Stanford and beyond to join her in teaching the topics they were passionate about to K-12 students and serving as their near-peer mentors. Since then, Audrey has taken time off from Stanford to pursue Curious Cardinals full time, now a community of over 400 college mentors mentoring students around the world. The company has raised $6.8 million in seed funding led by Anthos Capital and Audacious Ventures, and has been featured on CNN and Bloomberg. Audrey was also recognized in the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 Education and Youngest category.Recommended ResourcesCurious Cardinal student Matthew’s video game that he has been building with mentors over the past two years can be seen here and a video of Matthew + his parents here.Failure to Disrupt by Justin ReichSystem Error by by Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami andJeremy M. Weinstein Infinite Game by Simon SenakCurious Cardinals is Hiring!Lucy Chen is hiring for two roles on my team. Both work directly with the most amazing part of Curious Cardinals: our mentors, a community of the most passionate and ambitious college students in the world! 1. Mentor Success Manager (mid-level) Looking for a system-minded ops person with strong learning background to scale our current ways of supporting mentors and preparing mentors to teach. 2. Mentor Talent & Community Manager (entry- OR mid-level)  Looking for a passionate community person to recruit and curate the mentor community. Strongly prefer someone with prior experience managing both virtual and in-person communities. 

Send us a textIn this Episode, Guests:Nishaad Balachandran of Avathon Capital on Private Equity for Edtech Kavitta Ghai of Nectir on the launch of Soma, their new AI community toolBig Story: Byju's Properties Raided by Indian AuthoritiesExplained: Why Edtech start-up Byju’s is facing heat from EDOther articles discussed:Teachers Feel Growing Obligation to Incorporate ChatGPTCalifornia bill proposes 50% school staff salary hike over 7 yearsBias in AI: Do Chatbot Tutors Work Better When They're Upbeat — and Female?Unionization Efforts Spread Through Higher Education As Colleges Double Down

Send us a textMichael Wegerbauer is the Vice President, Learning Solutions/Educational Publishing at M & R Consultants Corporation (MRCC). With 25 years of experience focused on technology in education, project management, process improvement, technology consulting, and business development, Michael spent 6+ years at UCLA developing solutions to support both administrative and educational initiatives and 12+ years at MRCC supporting learning technology, rich media, and content development.Founded in 1996 MRCC is an accredited IT solutions company that has dedicated over 25 glorious years to supporting clients and partners across the global spectrum. They offer a vast suite of services under Learning, Publishing, Technology, and IT Staffing.Recommended ResourcesYour Kid's Going to Be OK by Michael Delman

Send us a textNews Covered: MICROSCHOOLING:New Research Reveals The Breadth And Impact Of The Microschooling Movement ForbesINDIA: THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-NOTSUnacademy To Be Profitable At Group Level In April: CEO Gaurav Munjal UpstartEd-tech Firm Simplilearn Plans Acquisitions, Expansion Amid Funding Winter : Business StandardupGrad to expand Study Abroad programme in Africa, South-East Asia and Middle East The Hindu Business LineEdtech Startup BrightChamps Makes Third Acquisition, Enters B2B Arena The Economic TimesWoes Of The Funding Winter Continue To Jitter Indian Edtechs; Are There Any Hopes Of Revival? INC42EVIDENCE IN EDTECH AND LEARNING LOSSEdTech Evidence Toolkit by the Office of Education Technology: Supporting Schools’ Use of Evidence to Guide EdTech Adoption | US Department of EducationCOVID-19 Hit Schools Unequally, But Data Shows Learning Recovery Is Equally Slow EdsurgeSKILLS-BASED HIRING LEADS TO HIGHER ED EXPERIMENTATIONStudents Want More Workplace Skills From Colleges. Will Higher Ed Adjust? | EdSurgeAs ‘Skills-Based Hiring’ Becomes All The Rage, These Education Leaders Want To Overturn A 117-Year-Old Way Of Measuring Students’ Experiences- ForbesColleges Push 3-year Degrees As Enrollments Fall, Costs Rise The Washington TimesMore Than 40 Million Americans Have Now Attended College Without Earning A Degree

Send us a textPerry Kalmus is the co-founder of Akala, which is leveling the playing field for college admissions by providing best-in-class college advising to learners who would not have been able to afford it through technology. Before Akala, Perry ran the Princeton Education Network for over a decade together with his co-founder Barbara - who is also his mother. Together, they have helped over 15,000 students achieve their dreams of attending college.Recommended ResourcesYour College-Bound Kid podcastThe Privileged Poor by Anthony Abraham JackWhere You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be by Frank BruniLord of the Rankings by Malcolm Gladwelllesshighschoolstress.com

Send us a textAmy Bevilacqua is a Managing Partner of Green Street Impact Partners. With over 30 years of experience at the intersection of the education, media and technology sectors, she has an abiding passion for advancing innovation and scaling education companies that deliver on learner-centered missions. Amy believes in impact investing in the future of education.

Send us a textAshley Chiampo is the Chief Learning Officer at the Emeritus Institute of Management, an online learning company. Shehas over 20 years of experience supporting people and organizations to reach learning goals and achieve greater effectiveness. Her background includes working with CXOs and senior leaders in small private companies, international development organizations, and multi-billion dollar publicly traded organizations.  She focuses on creating and delivering meaningful learning experiences that can impact learner’s lives. Ashley also holds an Adjunct Faculty position at Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur, an affiliate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to Emeritus, Ashley Chiampo ran an executive coaching company, New Global Mind and worked at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Ashley is a trained group facilitator and a certified executive coach with over 2000 hours of coaching practice. She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) granted by the ICF. Previously she was a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group and a mechanical engineer for PTC. Ashley holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a BA from Brown University.

Send us a textIn this special "live" (or at least, unedited and recorded the same day it is published) episode, Ben and Alex discuss the growing narrative that Edtech company Chegg is 'the first victim of ChatGPT', which has caused a 40% reduction in its stock price this week, and its implications for the sector. 

Send us a textChuck Cohn is the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Nerdy (parent company of Varsity Tutors). Chuck founded the company in 2007 during his junior year of college after experiencing frustration finding the personalized help he needed for a calculus course. He spent his early career working in energy & power investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities (Wachovia) and healthcare private equity at Ascension Ventures, an $800M AUM private equity fund. Chuck bootstrapped Nerdy before leaving his private equity role to focus on growing Nerdy full-time at the end of 2011. Anthony Salcito, Chief Institution Business Officer, leads Varsity Tutors for Schools and is responsible for Nerdy’s efforts to support institutions as they work to transform learning opportunities for students and educators across a range of offerings. Prior to joining Nerdy, Anthony served as Vice President of Worldwide Education at Microsoft. In this role, he was responsible for driving Microsoft’s education engagement and relationships globally, including long-term partnerships with schools, universities and other public sector customers. Throughout his Microsoft career, he helped launch many of the company’s cornerstone education programs and is recognized as a champion for teachers and a global education thought leader.

Send us a textFadl and Nexford University are on a mission to solve the world's biggest challenge: education. As a next-generation university, Nexford is set to positively impact millions of lives globally.Nexford’s two core principles are:• A lack of education is the root cause of most global challenges; and• People should be able to access economic opportunities, irrespective of physical locationNexford is partnered with Microsoft, IBM and LinkedIn – who provide tools, courses and programmes to enrich the learning experience. Nexford also uses machine learning and AI to create a data and skills-driven curriculum designed to match employers’ needs.Fadl became an entrepreneur at 18, and has 20 years’ experience founding digital marketing and technology businesses. He founded and managed the MENA region's leading digital engagement agency - its clients included: Fortune 500s, US State Department, International and government organizations.