Irvine, Calif., Sep 13, 2016 The education nonprofit MIND Research Institute has named industry executive Brett Woudenberg as its Chief Operating Officer. Woudenberg will oversee core operations of the organization, including education partnerships, social impact development, outreach and engagement, program implementation, talent development and finance. He will lead cross-functional teams to increase student and teacher access to MIND’s award-winning programs and services. MIND’s visual math program, ST (Spatial-Temporal) Math® currently helps over one million students and 44,000 teachers dive into deeper learning, increasing conceptual understanding and math proficiency scores across the nation.
Woudenberg most recently served as COO of Sapling Learning and later the STEM Group at Macmillan Learning, a top publisher with products serving secondary and post-secondary education markets. He was also COO at national online learning platform provider Gaggle, and President and CEO at Trailblazer Learning, an online professional development solution for K-12 schools. In addition to a track record of reaching and exceeding revenue and expansion goals throughout his career, Woudenberg has extensive experience building and executing growth strategies for cloud-based learning environments and digital content products in the education marketplace.
“Over the past 18 years we have been researching and developing innovative approaches to teaching math which not only deliver higher test scores but completely transform the way people appreciate, learn and understand mathematics both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Matthew Peterson, Ph.D., MIND Research Institute Co-founder and CEO. “Brett’s industry knowledge, business experience and proven leadership skills will enable the organization to grow and scale its services while our scientists, educators and engineers continue to push the envelope on powerful learning solutions.”
MIND's patented ST Math software and educational techniques provide a uniquely comprehensive solution for interactive, spatial temporal, and animation-based mathematics instruction. The organization’s researchers and educators work with over 3,200 public and private schools across 45 states. As a nonprofit social benefit organization, MIND raises both earned income as well as philanthropic support from corporations, foundations and individual donors to fund program development, implementation and operations.
“MIND is a unique organization developing disruptive technology while addressing some of the most critical issues in education today through a social impact business model,” said Woudenberg. "The talent and passion of the MIND team, its board members and school and philanthropic partners is contagious. I am particularly impressed by MIND's innovative solutions rooted in learning science, and the effect on student success proven in thousands of schools. It was a compelling attraction to join the mission. I look forward to contributing to this exciting expansion phase for MIND, helping as many students as possible achieve their true potential."
Originally from Michigan, Woudenberg holds a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from Grand Valley State University’s Seidman School of Business, and an MBA from University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management. He has served on boards and working committees for EdNET, Software Information & Industry Association (SIIA), Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
About MIND Research Institute
MIND Research Institute is a neuroscience and education social impact organization, dedicated to ensuring that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems. MIND's distinctive visual approach to math and problem-solving is the basis of its innovative, research-proven ST Math® programs for elementary and secondary schools. The visually-based ST Math program has been shown to double or triple schools’ growth rates in math proficiency. Through its MathMINDs movement, MIND engages the community in hands-on mathematical experiences outside of the classroom in an effort to shift the cultural perception of math from being scary and frustrating to exciting and essential. MIND's programs currently reach more than one million students and 44,000 teachers at 3,200 schools in 45 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.mindresearch.org.
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