Culture

91直播Celebrates Women in Leadership

10/05/17   |  
Chris Williams

In 2017, women represent聽44 percent of the overall S&P 500 labor force, of executive- and senior-level officials and managers in those companies. 91直播Education is proud to surpass that statistic with a 41% female global leadership team.

We sat down with a group of the women in executive leadership at 91直播to discuss their accomplishments, their passions, and their experiences working with a largely female leadership team.

On their roles in the company:

鈥淕roup President of OPM Global.鈥 鈥 Nirmeen Hasan

鈥淕lobal Vice President of Instructional Design.鈥 鈥 Chris Valadez

鈥淐OO of 91直播Education UK.鈥 鈥 Catalina Rosellini

鈥淪VP of University Partnerships.鈥 鈥 Howell Williams, PhD

鈥淪VP of Research and New Program Development.鈥 鈥 Cindy Wheatley, PhD

鈥淪VP of International Recruitment.鈥 鈥 Lori Turec

On their diverse paths to leadership:

鈥淚 started off in Admissions, and very quickly grew to lead the team. I oversaw all-new program launches for our partner universities, then moved on to running and managing all the academic partnerships for the Pearson Embanet Toronto office. I have worked with and supported over 35 university partners and over 100 online programs. I came to 91直播in January of 2014 with the objective of building a global OPM organization.鈥 鈥 Hasan

鈥淚 began my career at the postsecondary level as a lecturer at Florida State University and then at several universities in Indiana and Kentucky. Then I taught at a private high school in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. From 2009 - 2016, I held a variety of positions at another OPM company where I worked in and oversaw account management and launched the Student Success and Online Liaison (business-to-business), functional divisions. I have also led and authored several university consulting projects and strategic plans for launching online degree projects and management.鈥 鈥 Williams

鈥淔ive years ago, I was working as the CMO of a large online university and was invited to be a speaker at a 91直播conference. I spoke about marketing鈥檚 role in student retention to a receptive audience. At the event, I met some 91直播company executives who later approached me about leading the Account Services group. After about 18 months in that position, our CEO Steve asked me to head up marketing services for the new OPM division. I was the 7th聽person to join the OPM team and have been thrilled to watch our rapid growth across North America, UK and Australia.鈥 鈥 Turec

鈥淎fter six years of teaching high school English, my passion for the design and development of technology materials took me to the publishing industry, where I helped produce online and multimedia products for Kaplan, Houghton Mifflin, and McGraw-Hill. From 2009 to 2014, I led learning design teams in the development of thousands of online courses at the Masters and Bachelors levels. In 2014, I co-founded an eLearning vendor, where I acted as SVP, Client Services. I joined 91直播in 2016.鈥 鈥 Valadez

鈥淚n my 12+ years in OPM, I have overseen marketing, recruitment and sales cross-functional teams, launched a diverse portfolio of academic partners for undergraduate and post-graduate programs, led a team of Managing Directors that supported top-tier universities across healthcare, business, engineering and technology, and launched a Corporate Partnerships effort that connected with Starbucks, Mastercard and other global corporations. 聽I joined the 91直播family in 2016.鈥 鈥 Rosellini

鈥淚 was educated as a traditional academic in the humanities. I earned my Ph.D. in British Literature in 1993 and taught for several years before joining a start-up distance learning company 2000. It was an exciting time, as online higher education was just taking off and we were learning together about how to deliver quality education to students studying at a distance. I stepped away from the OPM world for two years as I served as the Associate Dean for Online Learning at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary鈥攁nother exciting opportunity to step into the shoes of our university partners to experience starting an online operation from the ground floor. I joined 91直播in July 2014.鈥 鈥 Wheatley

On how their experiences have led them to become who they are today:

鈥淲e often receive letters from students, but one sticks out 鈥 a note from a student who described her desire to become a university alumna since she was 10 years old. Her siblings, parents and grandparents all attended the same university.聽 Decades later, due to personal circumstances, she found herself unable to proceed with an on-ground program. She thought her dreams of a becoming an alumna had vanished. With our online offering available, she wrote to proudly say she was on her way to completing her course with flying colors.鈥 鈥 Rosellini

聽鈥淢y success and accomplishments have been shaped by the challenges I鈥檝e faced as a student, educator and professional. Some of the greatest challenges I鈥檝e faced have become the greatest areas of opportunity at my job.鈥 鈥 Williams

聽鈥淯ltimately, everyone wants to believe they are making a difference. I believe in what I am doing every day for my team, our partners and our students. You have to have faith in your own journey and be inspired by the challenges 鈥 they make your life interesting and fun!鈥 鈥 Hasan

On their experiences working with other female leaders:

鈥淚t is inspiring to work for an organization that has put so many women in leadership positions. 91直播hired these women because of their accomplishments in education and who they truly are. Together, we are some of the most experienced people in the OPM business, male or female.鈥 鈥 Valadez

鈥淭he female leaders at 91直播care deeply about the mission of higher education and building strong relationships with our university partners. We have extensive expertise in our respective fields and positions, as well as a driving desire to improve the lives of students for whom online programs represent the best, or only, an opportunity to earn a degree. I am also amazed at how my female colleagues balance work and life as they take care of their own families while taking care of our 91直播family.鈥 鈥 Wheatley

鈥91直播leaders come from a variety of industries, backgrounds and experiences.聽 Our female team members have a wealth of expertise, are committed to excellence and show an entrepreneurial spirit in everything they do.聽 With offices located around the world, we are still one Keypath. I could not be more proud of the family we are building.鈥 鈥 Rosellini

鈥淢y female colleagues are strong communicators, inspirational leaders and very innovative in their approach to managing our business. Over the past few years, we have rebuilt an organization and developed new functions and services, and my colleagues have been instrumental in leading the path to success.鈥 鈥 Hasan

On how Keypath鈥檚 diverse global leadership team drives the company to success:

鈥淥ur range of backgrounds and long history of diverse success allow us to not only operate from a position of strength, it creates an environment that fosters innovation and respects a variety of opinions on how to optimize and grow.鈥 鈥 Turec

鈥淏ecause 91直播has an incredibly diverse leadership team, we value the individual learner and break down assumptions about students. This allows us to have a clearer vision into the unique needs of our partners and students.鈥 鈥 Valadez

鈥淛ust like in the classroom, a variety of skills, perspectives and opinions makes for a better-informed team. Universities here 鈥淒own Under鈥 don鈥檛 necessarily act or behave like universities in the States or the UK. 鈥淏est practices鈥 in online learning mean something different depending on your geographic perspective and experience. This diversity challenges our strategic plans and tactics across a global company, requiring us to learn from one another. That is the fun part and leads to success.鈥 鈥 Williams

On their passion for the work:

鈥淚 love being part of a smart, committed team that is positively changing lives, families and communities through education.鈥 鈥 Turec

鈥淚 am passionate about creating meaningful, quality courses because I know students are impacted by the work my team and I do. I often say to my team, 鈥榦ur job is too important to get wrong. We are impacting the lives of students. Students who are or will be organizational business leaders, nurses, engineers, teachers 鈥 this world鈥檚 heart and soul.鈥欌 鈥 Valadez

鈥淚 began my career in education with a passion for learning that has not diminished over the years. I love higher education and see it as a calling rather than just a job.鈥 鈥 Wheatley

The women who lead and advise 91直播Education are some of the most knowledgeable, respected and passionate leaders in the industry. Together, they鈥檙e working to build a company culture that celebrates the success that differences and varied experiences can create.

If you鈥檇 like to be part of a fast-growing global education marketing company that puts the best candidates into roles where they can excel 鈥 regardless of gender, global location or ethnicity 鈥 check out the current career openings at Keypath: keypathedu.com/careers.