REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Course Hero, an online learning platform where members can access over 20 million course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators, today announced that they have appointed Sue Olson as the new Vice President of People. Olson is an established, technology-focused people leader, having led teams at DemandTec (acquired by IBM) and Turn (acquired by Singtel).
Before signing on to Course Hero, Olson put the organization, its leader, and its people through rigorous scrutiny.
“I was immediately attracted to Course Hero because it’s a mission-driven company—and their mission of helping people graduate was something I could really get my head around,” said Olson. “But before I accepted, I wanted to be sure that they were doing the right things to achieve their mission.
“When I went in to interview, what I hoped to see was so much more than happy employees,” continued Olson. “I was looking for a healthy organization as it’s defined by Patrick Lencioni in The Advantage. And that’s exactly what I found. I found people engaged in healthy debate. I found team members embodying the values that live in their vision for the company. In short, I found a relatively young company that was enjoying the fruits of a very mature culture—one that had clearly been carefully cultivated by the leadership team.”
“Hiring Sue as our VP of People demonstrates Course Hero’s continued commitment to investing in our greatest strength: our employees,” explained Course Hero’s cofounder and CEO, Andrew Grauer. “I'm thrilled and thankful to partner with Sue to build, engage, and support the best team and culture as we continue our efforts to help millions of students learn and graduate.”
Olson shares Grauer’s enthusiasm for continuing to focus on employees and culture. “Our strategy is shaped by our employees,” she said. “One of the ways we put that into practice is by carrying out engagement surveys to learn what employees like, want, and need, and we plan according to the feedback we receive. This past April, Course Hero ranked 25th in the Bay Area’s Best Places to Work, and third for Wellness. We’re proud of that ranking, and we’ve got a formidable slate of initiatives on the docket to help us rank even higher next year!”
Among Olson’s most exciting initiatives in 2018 is recruiting, supporting, and developing Course Hero’s women leaders. This week, Course Hero is a proud sponsor of the 2018 Grace Hopper Celebration—the world’s largest gathering of women technologists. Additionally, a delegation of seven team members representing the Marketing, Engineering, Product Management, Analytics, and People teams is in attendance.
About Course Hero
Course Hero is an online learning platform where members can access over 20 million course-specific study resources contributed by a community of students and educators. The platform includes practice problems, study guides, videos, class notes, and step-by-step explanations to help with every college class—from economics to literature, biology to history, accounting to psychology, and everything in between. Course Hero has been recognized as one of the 2017 Technology Fast 500 by Deloitte.
Connect with Course Hero at www.coursehero.com or on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.
