# Sarah Chou

> Sarah Chou is the co-founder and CEO of Informed K12, an Oakland-based software company that helps school districts trade paper forms and manual approvals for digital workflow automation. A former district administrator who ran an $8M professional development program in Providence, she met co-founder Qian Wang at Stanford's Graduate School of Education in 2012. After their first idea (a teacher-collaboration tool called Chalk) failed, they noticed that the real pain in schools wasn't a lack of ideas but a mountain of paperwork. Informed K12 now serves hundreds of districts with a team of 70+ people, most of whom come from education or social-sector backgrounds.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Informed K12
- **Organizations:** Informed K12, Imagine K12, StartX, Providence Public Schools, Cupertino Union School District
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** M.A., Educational/Instructional Technology, Stanford University, Graduate School of Education, B.A., Economics and Art Semiotics, Brown University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Informed K12 from a failed first idea into a workflow automation platform used by hundreds of U.S. school districts, Built a 70+ person company where roughly 65% of staff come from education, activism, or social-sector backgrounds, Backed by Imagine K12, StartX, and Lightspeed Venture Partners

## Career timeline

- **2009-2011** — Professional Development Systems Manager at Providence Public Schools, administering an $8M professional development and curriculum program for 2,000+ teachers and 900+ paraprofessionals
- **2011-2012** — Learning and Technology Fellow at Cupertino Union School District, running project-based blended learning with iPads in grades 1-3
- **2012** — Met Qian Wang at Stanford's Graduate School of Education; co-founded the company (originally Chalk / Chalk Schools)
- **2012-2013** — Pivoted from Chalk, a district best-practice community, after listening to administrators describe their paperwork burden; refocused on workflow automation as Informed K12
- **2015** — Signed first license with Fremont Union High School District; refined product through weekly district feedback loops
- **2016** — Raised seed/early funding; backers included Imagine K12, StartX and Lightspeed Venture Partners
- **Present** — Leads Informed K12 as CEO with a 70+ person team serving hundreds of school districts nationwide

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Informed K12 from a failed first idea into a workflow automation platform used by hundreds of U.S. school districts
- Built a 70+ person company where roughly 65% of staff come from education, activism, or social-sector backgrounds
- Backed by Imagine K12, StartX, and Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Earlier managed an $8M district professional development program serving thousands of educators in Providence

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Continues as CEO of Informed K12, which now serves hundreds of districts with a 70+ person team focused on finance, HR, and operations workflows.

## Links

- Website: https://informedk12.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-chou-2a589242
- Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/informedk12
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/informedk12

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/sarah-chou
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21