SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pluralsight, the global leader in online learning for technology professionals, today announced the appointment of four new members to its board of directors: Arne Duncan, Brad Rencher, Gary Crittenden and Tim Maudlin. This distinguished group brings decades of diverse experience in education, enterprise SaaS, and corporate and web strategy to Pluralsight’s board, and will provide valuable guidance through the company’s next phase of growth.
“Arne, Brad, Gary and Tim are masters of their crafts and we’re excited to have them join the Pluralsight brain trust,” said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. “Each of these individuals has played a significant role in advancing their fields through thoughtful and creative strategies. As we build upon the great momentum we’ve experienced at Pluralsight, we look forward to tapping into their expertise as we sharpen our focus on serving businesses around the world.”
Arne Duncan is currently a Managing Partner at the Emerson Collective, a non-profit organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs focused on improving the quality of public education, advancing immigration reform, and supporting and scaling social innovation. Having served as the U.S. Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2016, Duncan is one of the most notable and highly-regarded thought leaders of twenty-first century education. One of the longest-serving education secretaries and arguably the most influential, he guided a rapid expansion of the federal role in the nation’s 100,000 public schools and saw 40 states adopt key policies. Aligning with Pluralsight’s mission to democratize professional learning for all, Duncan championed significant education causes to equalize learning opportunities while a member of President Obama’s Cabinet, including Race to the Top, Investing in Innovation, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that preserved 350,000 teachings jobs through $100 billion in stimulus funds. Pluralsight is the first company board that Duncan has been appointed to since leaving office in early 2016.
Brad Rencher, Adobe’s executive vice president and general manager of marketing cloud, manages Adobe’s digital marketing business, which accounts for more than $1.5 billion of the company’s operations. Adobe is one of the largest and most successful SaaS organizations in the world, and continues to be one of the fastest growing businesses in the software market. Rencher leads the global product and business organization responsible for building the Adobe Marketing Cloud—the most comprehensive, integrated, and actionable marketing cloud on the planet. Brad led business operations at Omniture before its acquisition by Adobe in 2009, and helped guide both companies through the transition. Under Brad’s leadership, Adobe Marketing Cloud has experienced exponential growth, and has been touted as an industry leader by Forrester and Gartner, among others. He is an industry pioneer with strong creative and strategic skills that will benefit Pluralsight as it solidifies itself as a SaaS leader.
Gary Crittenden serves as the Chairman of HGGC, a leading middle-market private equity firm in Palo Alto, California. Prior to joining HGGC, Crittenden was the CFO at several large companies, culminating with his role as CFO of Citigroup during the financial crisis from 2007 to 2009. During his time at Citigroup, Crittenden reduced costs, sold or exited unproductive assets and raised nearly $100 billion in equity. From 2000 to 2007, Crittenden served as the CFO of the American Express Company, where he architected the spin-off of Ameriprise and where he was named one of the best CFOs in America on three separate occasions. His keen focus on value creation and its relationship to building a sustainable business strategy will be valuable to Pluralsight as the company continues to grow its global presence.
Tim Maudlin is a proven authority in leading web-based companies. A certified public accountant early in his career, Maudlin has a strong background in Web and ecommerce and is an experienced advisor and board member for companies across multiple industries. He currently serves as lead independent director, audit committee chair and member of the compensation committee on the board of directors for WEB.com and holds board positions with Alteryx, Frontline Technologies (Education) and DrillingInfo, among others. Maudlin is the former director of ExactTarget, MediaMind Technologies and Newegg, Inc., the second-largest online-only retailer in the nation, and the former managing partner at Medical Innovations Partners, a venture capital firm. His profound knowledge in advising companies will be a great asset as Pluralsight continues to innovate and bolster its operations.
These four new independent board members join Pluralsight during a period of rapid growth, both in personnel and vision. The company expanded its headquarters in April 2016 and to-date has nearly 500 employees across the globe. Pluralsight’s curated content for IT, dev and creative professionals offers more than 4,700 courses authored by a network of more than 1,000 industry experts.
For more information on Pluralsight, visit www.pluralsight.com.
About Pluralsight
Founded in 2004, Pluralsight is the global leader in online learning for professional software developers, IT specialists and creative technologists. As the world’s largest curated professional development platform for technology disciplines, Pluralsight offers instant access to more than 4,700 courses authored by nearly 1,000 top experts. With individual and enterprise customers in more than 150 countries, Pluralsight serves as a career catalyst, delivering hands-on, practical training for the most in-demand and understaffed jobs of today. For more information, visit pluralsight.com.
