It’s a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. Where do you begin to combine five companies? To do a five-way is pretty groundbreaking and you have to give Insight Venture Partners, our owners, a lot of credit for that. The five entities have 15 global offices, including one in India, and team members in 31 states.ĭo you know of any other similar roll-ups in K-12 in your 25 years in education businesses? We have 621 employees in this new Illuminate Education. But when I was at McGraw-Hill Education, a divisional president leading the K-12 division stateside, not international, I had 1,100 employees. I’m not at liberty to share details of revenue…because these are private companies. The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.Ĭan you give us an idea of the scale of these businesses, once they are combined? The Illuminate and KDS holding company that existed before the recent acquisitions will be dissolved and there will be one board and one CEO.ĮdWeek Market Brief Associate Editor Michele Molnar recently spoke with Willig about the CEO’s new responsibilities after the merger announcement. Then Illuminate acquired SchoolCity, IO Education, and Alpine Achievement. The private equity firm had the controlling interest in both KDS and Illuminate through a holding company just for them. Together, they will have 620 employees across 15 offices worldwide, with a headquarters in Irvine, Calif.Īlthough the financial terms of the merger were kept private, Insight Venture Partners did explain in an email how the deal was structured. Strategically, the move represents the consolidation of formative assessment and data platforms from Illuminate Education, IO Education, SchoolCity, and Alpine Achievement with a formative item bank provider in Key Data Systems. Willig is a member of the Board of Trustees for Editorial Projects in Education, the organization that produces EdWeek Market Brief. Before that, Willig built and served as president of the company that launched netTrekker. In 2010, she led Math Solutions through its successful acquisition by Scholastic, Inc. In that role, she led all product development and managed an extensive portfolio of preK-12 curriculum and instructional materials, both print and digital.īefore that, Willig was the CEO of Math Solutions, a provider of professional development for U.S. Prior to that, she was president of the K-12 division of McGraw-Hill Education, serving as senior vice president of product. Before assuming this role in July 2018, she was CEO of Key Data Systems (KDS). Christine Willig is the CEO of the newly formed Illuminate Education, as it becomes the hub for a merger with four other companies under its flagship banner.
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