micro-credentials
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Sanford Kenyon
Sanford Kenyon is an education-technology executive who led BloomBoard, a Pittsburgh-based company that helps teachers advance their careers and pay by earning micro-credentials tied to real classroom practice. After roughly five years in executive roles at PayPal and eBay, he spent more than a decade in K-12 software - as President & CEO of SchoolMessenger (Reliance Communications) and a VP in Blackboard's K-12 business - before joining BloomBoard in 2015 as Chief Revenue Officer and becoming CEO in early 2017.
Boundless Learning
Boundless Learning is a Boston-headquartered education technology company that designs and manages online degree programs, short courses, and workforce-aligned learning for universities and organizations worldwide. Spun out of Pearson Online Learning Services after private-equity firm Regent LP acquired the unit in 2023, the company builds and operates more than 450 online programs serving roughly 17,000 learners across 150-plus countries, with marquee short-course partnerships including three schools at the University of Oxford. Led by CEO Joshua Richards, it operates in the Online Program Management (OPM) market, handling everything from recruitment and course design to technology and learner support so academic partners can extend their reach online.
BloomBoard
BloomBoard is a Pittsburgh-based education technology company that helps K-12 school districts grow, advance, and retain their own educators. Its platform turns on-the-job classroom experience into pathways for teacher certification and college degrees, pairing districts with higher-education partners so paraprofessionals, substitutes, and support staff can earn credentials while continuing to work and get paid. Built originally around competency-based micro-credentials developed with the nonprofit Digital Promise, BloomBoard now runs turnkey, district-branded 'Your-District U' programs aimed at solving the national teacher shortage from within.
Ziplines Education
Ziplines Education is a San Carlos, California-based career accelerator that partners with universities to deliver flexible, cohort-based online non-credit certificate courses in high-growth fields like AI, project management, digital marketing, business analytics, and Salesforce administration. Founded in 2017 as GreenFig and relaunched as Ziplines Education in 2024 under CEO Sara Leoni, the company blends live instruction, on-demand content, and real-world work simulations to help adult learners close the gap between traditional education and the skills the digital workforce actually demands.