After a long courtship, NoRedInk is thrilled to welcome Steve Gardner and his 26 years of edtech experience to our team as our new VP of Sales and Marketing. A valuable addition to our executive team, Steve will lead the company’s go-to-market strategy, optimizing our potential to help millions more students strengthen their writing abilities and, in turn, their future prospects.
Steve has extensive experience working with high-growth edtech companies in executive roles. Prior to joining NoRedInk, he was SVP of Sales, Marketing and Support at Scientific Learning, VP of Sales at Learning.com, President and CEO of Apta, and founder of NovaNet, a startup that provided full curriculum for all core high school subjects. Over eight short years, he scaled NovaNet to $30 million in revenue before selling it to NCS/Pearson in 2000.
We are excited to see how much more we can accomplish with Steve on our team. NoRedInk is one of the fastest-growing edtech companies, already used in more than 50% of US school districts, and his deep expertise will enable us to significantly build our team and our impact on students nationwide.
“Not only does Steve have extensive experience scaling sales and marketing organizations in the edtech space,” said Jeff Scheur, NoRedInk’s founder and CEO, “but he’s a highly respected leader who’s known for his aptitude, drive, collaboration skills, and strong sense of integrity. He’s an excellent culture fit for our leadership team and our organization.”
To gain further insight into who he is, we posed a number of questions to Steve. Here is what he had to share:
What excites you most about the opportunity at NoRedInk?
I am excited to join a high-growth company with an extremely talented team that is passionate about improving students’ writing skills. With continued investment in growing our sales and marketing organization, we have the opportunity to accelerate our growth and build on the already strong adoption of NoRedInk.
What drew you to Edtech in the first place?
I literally changed my career trajectory after hearing a teacher describe the impact an edtech solution was having on their students. I have always been energized by bringing products to market that help improve student outcomes. NoRedInk is uniquely helping students improve a key skill that will impact their educational and professional success.
What are you passionate about outside of work?
My family is my primary passion. I am the father of three great boys and our youngest just finished his freshman year at Princeton. I am also an avid road cyclist and you can find me out on the Arizona roads most weekends.
What personal connection do you have to education?
I was fortunate to go to some great schools with some amazing teachers that helped me become a lifelong learner. In my work with schools, I know how hard it can be to give every child that same opportunity. Educational technology and solutions like NoRedInk can help schools and teachers more effectively differentiate instruction to address students’ individual needs.
What are you most proud of, personal or career-wise?
I look back on the great companies and teams I have worked with and helped build and am most proud of the difference we have made through that work. I am proud of having a role in helping millions of students become more confident learners.
NoRedInk is hiring! Check out our career page to see our current openings.