Ed on the Edge

www.dashmedia.coChristopher “Chip” Paucek is a visionary leader and seasoned entrepreneur who has dedicated his career to revolutionizing education and empowering individuals to pursue life-changing opportunities. As the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Pro Athlete Community (PAC), Paucek spearheads connecting the biggest talent in sports with unparalleled educational resources, experiences, and vital personal connections, ultimately enabling them to passionately pursue and shape their futures.Prior to becoming co-CEO of PAC, Paucek served as Co-Founder and CEO of 2U, Inc. During his 16-year tenure, Paucek architected the education technology company into one of the world’s largest online education providers, led a successful IPO in 2013, and grew the company to nearly $1 billion in annual revenue. His contributions earned him multiple accolades including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Goldman Sachs’s Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs Award, and recognition as one of America’s best chief executives by Institutional Investor magazine. Paucek’s entrepreneurial journey began in 1993 when he co-founded Cerebellum Corporation, known for its award-winning PBS television show, Standard Deviants. He also served as CEO of Hooked on Phonics and managed the successful re-election campaign of U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski in 2004.With a BA from George Washington University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, Paucek is an active speaker on entrepreneurship and the global education and technology landscape. While Chip lives in Annapolis, MD with his wife (Gabbi), they stay closely connected to their two sons (Noah and Henry) at Syracuse University through a shared love of all things dogs, Florida, and the Miami Dolphins. (Bio via Pro Athlete Community)

www.dashmedia.coJeff Maggioncalda joined Coursera as CEO in June 2017 and since then helped the company grow to over 140 million learners and 7,000+ institutions, served by high-quality learning content from 300+ of the world’s top universities and industry educators. He previously served for 18 years as the founding CEO at Financial Engines Inc, a company co-founded by economist and Nobel Prize winner William Sharpe. Financial Engines grew rapidly under Jeff's leadership, providing high-quality online investment advice that has helped millions of people save and prepare for retirement. Jeff has also worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and Cornerstone Research, and serves as a director of SVB Financial Group. He holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor's degree in Economics and English from Stanford University. In his free time, Jeff is a lifelong learner and proud dad, and enjoys studying music theory and spending time with his wife and three daughters.

www.dashmedia.coIn today’s episode, we sit down with Belhaven University leaders Kevin Russell (VP for University Enrollment and Marketing), Audrey Kelleher (Provost and VP for Academic Affairs), and Dr. Brett Andrews (Dean of The School of Business). In partnership with GSV, Belhaven offers an online MBA in Entrepreneurship - a program recently named top 10 by Forbes.

www.dashmedia.coIn today’s episode, we delve into the inspiring journey of Jean-Claude Brizard, a visionary educator deeply committed to advancing equitable education and empowering students. Born in Haiti and separated from his parents due to political persecution, Jean-Claude was raised by his grandmother until reuniting with his family in the United States six years later. This formative experience, coupled with witnessing his parents' sacrifices, instilled in him a profound sense of purpose. Jean-Claude's educational path led him from the public schools of Brooklyn to earning advanced degrees in Chemistry and Science Education from Queens College, and later, a degree in School Administration and Supervision from City College of New York. His career began in the trenches of the New York City public school system, where he first encountered the myriad challenges facing students and the pivotal role educators play.Ascending through various leadership roles, Jean-Claude served as the principal of George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, an instructional superintendent in New York City, and later as Superintendent of the Rochester City School District. His journey didn't stop there; he went on to become the CEO of Chicago Public Schools and now leads Digital Promise, a global nonprofit dedicated to accelerating educational innovation. Under his leadership, Digital Promise focuses on bridging the gap between education leaders, researchers, and technology developers, with initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive innovation and equitable learning opportunities. Throughout his career, Jean-Claude has remained relentless in his mission to transform educational systems, driven by his personal narrative and an unwavering commitment to ensure that every child in America has the opportunity to thrive in the digital age. This episode explores his impactful work and the ongoing initiatives at Digital Promise that are shaping the future of education.

www.dashmedia.coBari Weiss is the founder and editor of The Free Press and host of the podcast Honestly. From 2017 to 2020, Weiss was an opinion writer and editor at The New York Times. Before that, she was an op-ed and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal and a senior editor at Tablet Magazine. Weiss is the winner of the LA Press Club's 2021 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism. She is also the winner of the Reason Foundation’s 2018 Bastiat Prize, which honors writing that “best demonstrates the importance of freedom with originality, wit, and eloquence.” In 2019, Vanity Fair called Weiss the Times's "star opinion writer." In 2023, Weiss and The Free Press won the Dao Prize for their work on the Twitter Files. Weiss is a proud Pittsburgh native. Her first book, "How to Fight Anti-Semitism," was the winner of a 2019 National Jewish Book Award. She lives with her wife and daughter in Los Angeles.

Lev Gonick is an educator, technologist, and smart city architect. He has been teaching, working, and living on the Net for more than 25 years.Lev is Enterprise Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University. Enterprise Technology at ASU leads the design and agile management of all enterprise infrastructure, applications, products, services, and analytics. HE also chairs the Sun Corridor Network, Arizona's Research and Education Network.In 2023, Lev was recognized by the ORBIE Awards as Arizona’s top large Enterprise CIO. In 2022, EdScoop named him among the Top 50 Educational Technology influencers and leaders.Before joining ASU in 2017, Lev was co-founder and CEO of DigitalC, the award-winning non-profit organization enabling and celebrating innovation, collaboration, and productivity through next-generation broadband networks, big open data solutions, and IoT for public benefit.Lev was CIO at Case Western Reserve University from 2001-2013. He and his colleagues were internationally recognized for technology innovations in community engagement, learning spaces, and next-generation network projects. Lev's innovations, including the Case Connection Zone catalyzed national projects, including US Ignite and Gig.Inside Business Magazine named Lev one of their Power 100 in 2015. In 2011 Government Technology awarded Lev one of their "Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers in Public-Sector Innovation."​ In the same year, Crain's Business Cleveland named Gonick one of its "10 Difference Makers"​ in Northeast Ohio and Broadband Properties honored him with their Cornerstone Award for "using fiber to build an inclusive society and empower individuals."​ In 2010 he received recognition as "Visionary of the Year" from NATOA. Lev has been recognized by ComputerWorld as a Premier 100 IT leader and honored by CIO magazine with a CIO 100 Award.

www.dashmedia.coMark Naufel is an innovator, a Professor of Practice, and a tech entrepreneur. During graduate school, Naufel was appointed by the Governor of Arizona to serve on the Arizona Board of Regents. Mark is the Founder of Luminosity, Arizona State University’s ‘Skunkworks’ innovation lab, which engages over 100 interdisciplinary students annually. Naufel’s teams have won two prestigious global innovation challenges, including the XPRIZE in 2020. Naufel has served as the Principal Investigator on R&D efforts for many of the world’s most successful companies, including Adidas, Zoom Technologies, Proctor & Gamble, and Starbucks. Through his consulting firm, Naufel has provided support to over 15 startup companies in various domains. Mark is now the founder of Primer - an AI learning companion. 

www.dashmedia.coMichael B. Horn strives to create a world in which all individuals can build their passions and fulfill their potential through his writing, speaking, and work with a portfolio of education organizations. He is the author of several books, including the recently released From Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)creating School for Every Child; the award-winning Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns; Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools; Choosing College; and Goodnight Box, a children’s story.Michael is the co-founder of and a distinguished fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, a non-profit think tank, and teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He cohosts the top education podcasts Future U and Class Disrupted. He is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and writes the Substack newsletter The Future of Education. Michael also serves as an executive editor at Education Next, and his work has been featured in outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, and NBC. Michael serves on the board and advisory boards of a range of education organizations, including Imagine Worldwide, Minerva University, and Guild Education, and is a venture partner at NextGen Venture Partners.Michael was selected as a 2014 Eisenhower Fellow to study innovation in education in Vietnam and Korea, and Tech&Learning magazine named him to its list of the 100 most important people in the creation and advancement of the use of technology in education. Michael holds a BA in history from Yale University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

www.dashmedia.coIn this episode of Ed on the Edge, Michael Moe sits down with Scott Pulsipher. Scott serves as president of nonprofit Western Governors University (WGU), the nation’s first and largest competency-based university, leading all academic, operational, and organizational functions. Pulsipher became President of WGU in 2016 and blends a personal drive for making a difference in the lives of individuals and families through education and a passion for technology-powered innovation. At WGU, he is driving continuous innovation to improve student outcomes by focusing on rapidly advancing curriculum quality, new faculty models, data-driven learning, and an innovative cost model. In 2020, EdTech Digest named him one of the Top 100 Influencers in EdTech. Pulsipher chairs the President’s Forum, a collaborative network of nearly 20 college and university presidents committed to the reinvention of higher education. He also serves as a member of Handshake’s Impact Advisory Board, Trustee for the Committee for Economic Development, and on the board of the American Council on Education. Before WGU, Pulsipher had more than 20 years of leadership experience in technology-based, customer-focused businesses, including Amazon, Sterling Commerce (now part of IBM), and two successful startups that traverse retail, supply chain, banking, payments, and manufacturing sectors. Pulsipher holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Harvard University.

In this episode of Ed on the Edge, Michael Moe sits down with Dr. Bridget Burns. Dr.  Burns is a trusted higher education advisor dedicated to improving outcomes for underserved students. As founding CEO of the University Innovation Alliance, she helps universities rapidly implement and scale innovations that have increased the alliance's low-income graduates by 46% and graduates of color by 85% since 2014. Named one of the "16 Most Innovative People in Higher Education," Dr. Burns draws on her extensive experience in Oregon higher education policy and as an ACE Fellow at ASU to transform how institutions support disadvantaged students. Her work has been featured nationally from The New York Times to 60 Minutes for its ability to spread effective solutions through cross-campus collaboration. Passionate about equity in education, Dr. Burns wants to shift the culture to be more courageous in openly addressing failures so we can collectively redesign the student experience.