We want to celebrate with you the joy of the many impactful contributions that women educators have made in the United States.
Women in education celebration with balloons

We Joyfully Celebrate Women in Education During International Women’s Month

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Women in education. Creating the leaders of our tomorrow.

Since Congress declared March as the first official Women’s History Month in 1987, there has been a heightened awareness of the role of women in our society. We want to celebrate with you the joy of the many impactful contributions that women educators have made in the United States. That does not diminish the impact of male teachers, but in this month, our focus is on the acknowledgment that women have made in education.

Who are we celebrating? You!
What are we celebrating?

In the 1800s, women began to play central roles in education, in formal and informal education settings, on the frontier, and in the cities. And that is quite an incredible accomplishment considering that in early America, girls were usually taught how to read but not how to write.

According to the Brookings Institute, the teaching profession has slowly become more female over the past several decades. The most recent data indicates that women constituted 76.3 percent of the workforce, compared to 70.5 percent 30 years ago. The same gender that experienced that inequity is responsible for the majority of all learners in the US. A joyful accomplishment, to be sure.

This past year has likely been the most difficult teaching experience in a century. Distance learning, Zoom students, and many women, with learners at home to tend to while teaching, have been delivered an unprecedented challenge. We know from numerous studies that the coronavirus pandemic affected women and girls disproportionately. We honor your resiliency as we all longingly look forward to vaccination potential toward herd immunity. And we will celebrate the bricks, mortar, and outside environment of teaching returns.

And we must give a special shout-out to the leadership that women provide for schools every day. Whether principal, executive director, or other school leadership roles, your courage, integrity, agility, influence, and respect are the compelling reason our teachers – and their learners – succeed.

So please, take a moment to celebrate yourself and the amazing things you have accomplished. And learn more about the famous women whose shoulders we stand upon. We expect to see your name on this Top 10 Most Influential Women in American Education website soon!

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Bill Mortimore

CEO, Board Member, and Lead Investor
Bill Mortimore, CEO, Foundry

A self-described entrepreneur, Bill Mortimore is Foundry’s CEO, Board Member, and Lead Investor. Bill is committed to transforming education, so every student has the 21st Century skills for work and life. For the past decade, he has focused on creating the technology that makes Deeper Learning possible and equitably accessible.  

Having been the founder and CEO of Merge Healthcare (acquired by IBM), where his technology was pivotal in getting physicians to switch from reading radiological films to digital viewing, leading to more accurate diagnoses. Bill leveraged that unique perspective and passion to transform traditional classroom education into Deeper Learning, where students learn 21st Century skills such as critical thinking, communication, creativity, problem-solving, perseverance, collaboration, information literacy, technology skills, and digital literacy.

Bob Sanders

Chief Sales Officer

Bob Sanders, Chief Sales Officer of Foundry

Bob Sanders is here to educate our prospective customers and ensure that Foundry is the right solution for them. Bob is a sales leader with 25 years of experience helping educational clients thrive by providing a solution to their problems, an answer to their needs, and a pathway to their goals.

In his work, Bob is consultative in his approach, asks astute questions, and is a great listener. He easily gains trust and builds relationships and has an easy knack for conversation.

We need more Bobs in the world. We hope you have some in yours.

Beth Frost-Johnson

Chief Marketing Officer

Beth Frost-Johnson, Foundry Chief Marketing Officer

Combine strategy, knowledge, creativity, and fun and you have Beth Frost-Johnson. Beth takes on challenging responsibilities such as teaching the educational marketplace what Deeper Learning, Competency-based Learning, Standards-based learning, and Project-based learning are all about.

Prior to Foundry, Beth was Chief Marketing Strategist at Merge Healthcare, where she launched the first radiological software that could be purchased via eCommerce. It became the #1 radiology viewing software in the world, used in over 70 countries. As a consultant to entrepreneurs, Beth has helped 40+ companies to achieve their preferred exit strategies.

Ask Beth for her Spaghetti Sauce recipe. She won’t give it to you.

Scott Veech

Chief Financial Officer

Scott Veech, Chief Financial Officer of Foundry

Scott is passionate about growing Foundry where he partners with Foundry’s business leaders to build metrics to better understand the business drivers and to grow profits organically or through acquisition.

Among his favorite work-related pastimes are capital raising, financing growth initiatives, implementing a flexible budgeting process, financial planning; ensuring the right tax strategies; investor presentations Cost cutting, and everything else that involves numbers. Scott is masterful, professional, and skillful, and always knows how to kindly ask the right questions at the right time.

Camille Mortimore

Chief Learning Officer

Camille Mortimore, Ph.D., Chief Learning Officer of Foundry

Dr. Mortimore is a pioneer and leader in personalized, learner-centered learning, as well as administrative leadership, organizational development, and change management.  She believes that every student has the right to take ownership of his/her education and deserves to be fully engaged in it, with teachers and mentors being their guides.

Camille was the Founder and Head Learner of an expeditionary, project-based public charter school in Milwaukee’s central city. She has served as superintendent and principal for more than two decades and has extensive experience as an elementary, middle, and high school teacher, parent educator, corporate and higher education instructor, and consultant.

She is passionate about transforming education, and her professional values can be summed up as follows: Educational Equity; Teacher Value and Worth; and Uncapped Student Potential. Camille has earned a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership and an M.Ed.in Administration and Supervision from Marquette University.

Anton van Kimmenade

Chief Technology Officer

Anton Van Kimmenade, Foundry Chief Architect

Mr. van Kimmenade is responsible for overseeing Foundry’s product strategy and development.  His primary goal is to make Deeper Learning accessible from anywhere at any time and to be intuitive in its use. Anton has been a 9-year investor in Foundry. Prior to that, he was chief software architect and development leader for 13 years as a senior technology executive at Merge Healthcare, where he established Merge’s European branch. Anton also was a member of Philips Medical systems in Europe and in the U.S., where he directed QA and software management.

He strongly believes that there is one way to develop technological solutions – the RIGHT way.