EdCircuit Staff 
New Chief Experience Officer, VP of Marketing, and VP of Sales will spearhead initiatives to redefine digital learning delivery and serve more students and educators nationwide
Phoenix, Ariz.–—August 14, 2019 –—Shmoop, the award-winning digital publisher providing comprehensive test prep resources and certified online courses, is pleased to announce the hire of Mike Soldan as Chief Experience Officer (CXO), Jennifer Osgood as VP of Marketing, and Heather Foidart as VP of Sales. These accomplished leaders will join recently-named CEO Andy Rahden in guiding ambitious initiatives to upgrade Shmoop’s user experience, enhance content development, provide support to more schools and districts, and much more.
“It’s an exciting time at Shmoop, as we embark on new initiatives with the goal of making high-quality educational content accessible to more students, educators, and schools. We are fully committed to these efforts, and it is my pleasure to announce the addition of these three accomplished leaders who will be critical pieces of our team,” said Rahden. “Mike, Jennifer, and Heather are the type of passionate, innovative leaders who will bring great value to the schools who work with Shmoop, and they will each be at the forefront of our major initiatives to enhance content development and upgrade the user experience for all.”
Under Rahden’s leadership, Shmoop is striving to fundamentally shift the standardized approach to digital learning while improving accessibility to information that will increase students’ ability to learn the skills necessary to achieve progress faster and more affordably. The following new members of the leadership team will support these efforts, as well as furthering additional important objectives:
Mike Soldan, Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
Soldan has a track record of success in improving education and training programs, and building high performing, innovative teams. As CXO, he will lead product, engineering and content teams that concentrate on Shmoop’s efforts to upgrade user experience for students, teachers and school districts. Some of his initial work will include a total code base rewrite using modern product management and engineering methods, such as user-centered design and microservices architectures. He’ll be focused on driving the Experience teams to deliver industry-leading value to all of Shmoop’s users in a single strategy and vision targeting competency-based learning. In addition, Soldan will be expanding the Experience team presence to a brand new office in the heart of the “Silicon Slopes” in Utah.
Before joining Shmoop, Soldan was the VP of Pluralsight’s Professional Services and Solutions Architect teams, where he helped the largest companies in the world create effective upskilling cultures and implement digital training programs to future-proof their workforce. Prior to Pluralsight, he was a founding member and product leader for one of Verizon Communications’ largest product and new business innovation arms, focused on Internet of Things (IoT) programs and products.
Jennifer Osgood, VP of Marketing
Osgood is a performance-driven digital marketing leader with a decade of brand strategy and marketing experience, and her vision will set the course for all of Shmoop’s marketing efforts. She is currently implementing plans to refine and improve Shmoop’s digital marketing ecosystem. In partnership with the Experience team, she is focused on onboarding an ecommerce platform to provide a clean and unified single point of online entry for Shmoop users, where they can quickly discover and purchase digital learning resources. In addition, refining Shmoop’s brand image and messaging will be a core focus aimed at creating market differentiation and brand affinity with students, parents and educators alike.
Prior to Shmoop, Osgood directed global marketing initiatives for the on-demand division of the largest private sector transit operator in North America. She also experienced success developing the go-to-market strategy for the first pain specialty hospital in the U.S., and previously managed a boutique marketing agency which helped healthcare organizations educate patients and improve care via traditional and digital marketing initiatives.
Heather Foidart, VP of Sales
Foidart is passionate about inspiring young minds, and in her role at Shmoop she will put this vision into action by connecting schools and districts nationwide with Shmoop’s comprehensive resources. She is currently focused on delivering Shmoop’s resources to each and every classroom and parent across the country. Her own passion for lifelong learning is driving her team to equip students and propel them toward achieving their greatest potential. Exceptional customer experience is foundational to Shmoop’s ambitious growth plan and mission to democratize education for all learners.
Foidart comes to Shmoop with more than 15 years’ leadership experience in sales and service in high-tech organizations. Most recently, she was a senior consultant for Oracle’s Fortune 100 customers, leading the Customer Experience organization. Prior to Oracle, she was an integral leader at a FinTech startup, Solium (a company later acquired by Morgan Stanley), in the role of VP of Sales and Head of Customer Service.
Shmoop works with schools across the nation and its online content is viewed more than 46 million times per month. This recent interview in EdTech Digest provides insights into Rahden’s vision for the company and upcoming initiatives. To learn about Shmoop’s comprehensive digital curriculum and test prep offerings, including how to purchase a license for a classroom, school or district, visit https://schools.shmoop.com/.
About Shmoop
Shmoop offers hundreds of thousands of pages of original content. Its Online Courses, Test Prep, Teaching Guides, Learning Guides, and interactive Study Tools are written by teachers and experts and balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous concepts. Shmoop sees 8 million unique monthly web visitors across desktop and mobile platforms. The company has won numerous awards from EdTech Digest, Tech & Learning, Tech Breakthrough, and the Association of Educational Publishers. Launched in 2009, Shmoop makes the magic happen based out of Scottsdale, Arizona (www.shmoop.com).
