Meet the People Behind Our Student Success Initiative
We believe that a comprehensive solution to student success is the way of the future. Connect your own faculty, leverage outside resources, and have visibility into early alerts and analytics on student performance. You don't need to keep pushing products onto your students. You need a student success partner.
Melvin Hines Jr.
Chief Executive Officer
Inspiration
Melvin grew up in the small town of Albany in south Georgia. His incoming freshman high school class contained over 250 students. By the time he graduated, there were only 68 students remaining. This ignited his passion for finding a way to empower students to take their futures into their own hands through higher education.
Achievements
After graduating from the University of Georgia, Melvin received a JD/MBA from Duke University where he started a law forum for social and educational equality. Afterwards, he became a law professor at North Carolina Central University.
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Alex Pritchett
Chief Operating Officer
Inspiration
Through his experiences with various social ventures, Alex has seen the impact that academic and mentoring support has on student success. His passion for technology led to the creation of a program to improve higher education through online coaching and data analytics.
Achievements
During his studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Alex started a mentoring organization for Latino youth. He also co-founded a non-profit microfinance organization that connects citizens at risk of homelessness with education and community resources.
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Morgan Intrator
Chief Customer Officer
Inspiration
As a perpetual teacher and learner, Morgan loves helping other people understand and interact with software. Morgan saw tremendous opportunity in helping other students succeed while he attended community college classes and Vanderbilt University.
Achievements
Morgan used his engineering degree to challenge the way that his employers (GE and Citigroup) operated when it came to generating value for their customers. He led customer development while employed by Citigroup and has a passion for solving any problem that comes his way.
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Chris Webb
Chief Technical Officer
Inspiration
Chris has always been fascinated with building large, scalable technologies that have the ability to impact people's lives.
Achievements
At the age of 15, Chris was challenged to a coding competition by the CEO of a local tech firm. Not only did he win the competition, but Chris sold the resulting code to the CEO's company. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, Chris took his coding prowess to New York where he was a tech consultant for various Fortune 500 companies.
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Cindy Anderson
Senior Product Specialist
Inspiration
While working as a public school teacher, Cindy focused on finding innovative ways to motivate students to succeed. After her time as an educator, she went beyond the classroom to bolster student success.
Achievements
Cindy previously worked at a higher education technology startup until it was sold to a large publishing company. However, her heart remained in the startup world, which eventually led her to Upswing.
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Neha Madhusoodanan
Marketing Lead
Inspiration
Neha's passion for education stems from her time in a school district boasting one of the largest income gaps in the country. After heading mentorship groups for younger students in high school, she looked for a way to impact college students' success.
Achievements
With a natural passion for communication and a Shakespearean vocabulary, Neha dreams about PR and marketing strategy. Before joining Upswing, Neha started a magazine publication in Boston, which garnered thousands of devoted readers in just a couple of years.
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Justin Fowler
Content Specialist
Inspiration
Justin got a video camera for his 10th birthday - he has been filming, creating, editing, and publishing content ever since. You'll often hear him talking about the latest app and why it is better than the technology that you're currently using.
Achievements
Through social media and original content blogging, Justin has been able to develop a massive online following through his YouTube channel which informs people of iPhone shortcuts and tips. He has helped build social media engagement that connects with college students' passions and interests.
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