By Neil Hare
For most people, college is a place for expanded learning and the forging of lifelong relationships before embarking on a career that likely has little to do with that English Lit major. For entrepreneur Devin Schain, however, college was the start of a career focused on the education sector, one that has now spanned almost 30 years and three successful companies.
While at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid-’80s, Schain saw an opportunity to market and sell products to college students. The result was On Campus Marketing, a company he led for 11 years, overseeing annual double digit growth, mainly through establishing alliance marketing deals with over 1,000 colleges and universities.
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Devin Schain, CEO, National Education Initiative[/caption]
Schain sold On Campus Marketing and formed Education Direct, a student loan consolidation company that he grew from startup to over $120 million in revenue in three years. Never one to sit back and rest on his laurels, Schain is at it again with the National Education Initiative (NEI), focused on improving the U.S. education system through innovation and private-public partnerships. “The goal of NEI is to convene corporate leaders, educators, and government officials to have a smart dialogue and drive change to K-12 education, higher education, and lifelong learning,” Schain says.
NEI’s signature event is “National Education Week” held in Washington, D.C., November 10-13, 2014, which will attract over 4,000 attendees. The top issues on the agenda include the affordability and accessibility of post-secondary education, teacher quality, and workforce development. Additionally, there is a key focus on technology with one of Schain’s stated goals to turn the greater Washington, D.C., region into the “Silicon Valley” of education. Schain, a D.C. native, says, “Our unique value proposition in Washington is an existing base of great EdTech companies, a rapidly growing VC and private equity community, an array of successful education entrepreneurs, and the government officials regulating our education system.”
The first day of National Education Week, November 10, will be devoted specifically to celebrating educators, while November 11, Veteran’s Day, will honor veterans by helping service members transitioning from the military to the civilian workforce. “Not only is this a critical issue facing our veterans, many of whom are now leaving the military after the last 10 years of conflict, but it is also the 70th anniversary of the G.I. Bill, so we thought it only fitting to devote a full day to this topic,” Schain says.
The agenda moves to a Thought Leader Summit on the 12th and 13th, with speakers including Katherine Bradley, president of CityBridge Foundation; Campbell Brown, founder of Partnership for Educational Justice; and Joel Klein, CEO of Amplify, former chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, and Board of Directors, ExcelinEd.
After National Education Week, NEI will hold seminars and roundtables throughout the year and continue to provide thought leadership content via the Web, email, and social media to keep the drumbeat going.
For more information on National Education Week, please visit www.nationaleducationweek.com.
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