# Sara Leoni

> Sara Leoni is the founder and CEO of Ziplines Education, a Bay Area career accelerator that partners with 30-plus universities to deliver industry-recognized certificate programs in fields like AI, project management, and digital marketing. A former Division I softball player at UNLV and ex-CEO of the $50M course-materials company Rafter, she raised a $6.4M Series A in 2023-2024 to help close the digital skills gap and has helped more than 20,000 adult learners retool their careers. She frames learning as a zipline: intimidating, exhilarating, and continuous, with a clear start and a clear landing.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Ziplines Education
- **Organizations:** Ziplines Education, Rafter
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Attended; All-American softball; Alumna of the Year, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Ziplines Education, partnering with 30+ colleges and universities, Helped more than 20,000 adult learners upskill and reskill, Raised a $6.4M Series A (2023-2024)

## Career timeline

- **2000s** — Builds a 20+ year career across management, marketing, and operations in corporations and startups
- **circa 2007-2014** — Joins Rafter; scales the direct-to-consumer division from $2M to over $50M in three years, eventually serving as CEO
- **circa 2015** — Co-founds the company that becomes Ziplines Education (originally GreenFig)
- **2023** — Announces a $6.4M Series A to help close the digital skills gap
- **2024-02** — Series A funding round dated; company partners with 30+ universities and serves 20,000+ learners

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Ziplines Education, partnering with 30+ colleges and universities
- Helped more than 20,000 adult learners upskill and reskill
- Raised a $6.4M Series A (2023-2024)
- As a Rafter executive, scaled the D2C business from $2M to $50M in three years
- Led efforts that saved students roughly half a billion dollars on course materials
- All-American softball player at UNLV
- Alumna of the Year, Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, UNLV
- Featured speaker at ASU+GSV Summit, Dreamforce, and the UPCEA Annual Conference
- Member, Forbes Business Council

## Latest updates

- **2024-02** — Ziplines Education's $6.4M Series A round dated; company reports 30+ university partners and 20,000+ learners served
- **2024-10** — Featured in Trending in Education's 'Bridging the Skills Gap' conversation on adult learning and AI readiness

## Links

- Website: https://ziplines.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sleoni/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ZiplinesEdu
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ee15DrPbA
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZiplinesEducation

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/sara-leoni
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-29