Redesigning Learning for the Connected Age

LRNG is a bold new endeavor to close the opportunity gap by transforming how young people access and experience learning, and the paths they can take to success. Working together with schools, city leaders, businesses, and community institutions such as libraries and museums, LRNG is redesigning learning for the connected age.

Using a technical platform as a connector, LRNG is building an ecosystem of learning that combines in-school, out-of-school, employer-based and online learning experiences into a seamless network that is open and inviting to all youth. The LRNG platform will debut in Spring 2016.

Major cities across the country are rich with opportunities to learn in many places. LRNG connects the dots, making it easy for any young person to find fun and engaging learning experiences and pursue learning pathways that cross traditional institutional silos. LRNG also creates opportunities for young people to learn together with peers and mentors who have shared interests, which research has shown deepens learning engagement.

LRNG holds the promise of delivering immediate, transformative change to the millions of youth who are locked out of traditional paths to success. LRNG will quickly scale up nationwide to ensure today’s young people have the opportunities they need to thrive in 21st century life and work.

LRNG is based on the principles of Connected Learning, a learning approach that emerged from more than 10 years of research supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to explore how digital media is changing the way young people learn and what they need to know.

Connie M. Yowell, CEO

Connie is the visionary and CEO of LRNG. She brings considerable experience from the MacArthur Foundation, where as Director of Education she oversaw a $200 million effort over 10 years to support research and design experiments in Digital Media & Learning. Prior to joining the Foundation, Connie was an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, publishing scholarly work that examined the complex interplay among young people’s emerging identity, their social context and achievement. Connie briefly served as Policy Analyst in the U.S. Department of Education during the Clinton Administration and has worked closely with teachers and administrators to develop programs for youth development.

In 2004, Connie received the Distinguished Fellows Award from the William T. Grant Foundation, an award to support scholars seeking to bridge research and practice, under which she worked with the National Writing Project to develop approaches that integrate web 2.0 technologies into the social practices of teachers.

Connie earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale, and her PhD from Stanford University.

Jessica Lindl, COO

Jessica is the COO of LRNG. She has spent over 15 years overseeing companies and teams that design, develop, market and sell deeply impactful learning offerings to the global education market. In her work at organizations like GlassLab, Scientific Learning, Riverdeep (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and The Learning Company, she has worked to improve learning outcomes for all children by blending effectiveness with ground-breaking engagement. She also serves on the board of Education for Change, a Charter Management Organization serving disadvantaged youth in Oakland, Calif.

Jessica is a graduate of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, where she received a Master of Business Administration with a focus on entrepreneurship and education. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two young sons.

Granetta Blevins, CFO

Granetta is the Chief Financial Officer of LRNG. Granetta has served as the CFO for private and nonprofit organizations and held numerous management positions in public companies. Granetta was recently Acting President of Georgetown College, where she led the college through a difficult transition with her uncommon vision and contagious optimism. Granetta brings a combination of strategic planning, financial savvy and extraordinary judgment for which she has become known. Since 2000, Granetta has been part of the executive management team of four successful education related start-up companies, spanning from online educational resources to an accelerator/seed fund.

Granetta holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration from Georgetown College, a Master of Business Administration from Xavier University, and a Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa from Georgetown College.

Ben Dapkiewicz, Chief Technology Officer

Ben is the driver of the technology implementation and key contributor to the product strategy of LRNG. Responsible for providing direction and leadership on the overall technology strategy, he plays an important role in the delivery of the product and its sustained growth. Ben has several years of experience in technology, leadership and hands-on engineering, having successfully launched four impactful learning games, an expansive learning platform for schools, and several third-party software integrations in just three years. Ben is a quick study, known for rapid implementation and clear communication.

Ben is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and holds a master’s degree in Game Design and Development. Since then, his experience and expertise has expanded to all major areas of technology. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and daughter.

Que Gaskins, Chief Brand Officer

Que is a branding and marketing visionary as the Chief Brand Officer of LRNG, bringing with him an abundance of experience in brand building, youth marketing, and lifestyle brands. He is best known for helping Reebok transform itself from an athletic shoe company to a lifestyle brand by leading the RBK division and forging pioneering relationships with the likes of Allen Iverson, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Pharrell, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Stevie Williams, the NBA, the NFL, and many other millennial and youth culture icons. Prior to joining Collective Shift, Que founded [QUE-IN], a Philadelphia based brand strategy, creative solutions, consumer marketing and cultural insights agency. Clients of [QUE-IN] include: REVOLT TV & Media; Li-Ning Sports (Dwyane Wade Brand); FRIGO Revolution Wear; Barclays Card US; Samesurf; AFROPUNK; Spalding; Next Gen USA Soccer; and American Collegiate Intramural Sports & Fitness (ACISF). Que has held senior executive marketing positions at Nike, American Eagle Outfitters, Reebok, Dayton-Hudson, and as the Chief Marketing Officer of a digital start-up, Personal.com. In his first taste of entrepreneurship, Que co-founded the ad*itive, an advertising and lifestyle marketing agency.

Que earned his bachelor’s degree with highest honors from Florida A&M University’s School of Business & Industry and his MBA in marketing from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He lives with his wife and three children outside of Philadelphia.

Liz Kline, Chief Product Officer

Liz leads the product and user experience design team at LRNG. Gathering insights from our users, she represents the voice of the customer, guiding product development and managing the product roadmap. With over 15 years experience in education, Liz began her career as an elementary educator. Since leaving the classroom, she has worked in various roles including product marketing, market research, and product management at K-12 publishing and ed tech companies, including Pearson Learning, National Geographic School Publishing, and Scientific Learning.

Liz is a graduate of UC Berkeley and holds a master’s degree in Curriculum and Teacher Education from Stanford. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and preschool aged son.

Kylie Peppler, Chief Learning Officer

Dr. Kylie Peppler is an Associate Professor of Learning Sciences at Indiana University and is the Chief Learning Officer at Collective Shift.An artist by training, she engages in research that focuses on the intersection of the arts, technology and connected learning.

In addition to serving as the Director of the Creativity Labs at Indiana University, she is also the lead of the MacArthur Foundation’s Make-to-Learn initiative, a Distinguished Lecturer for the National Science Foundation, an adviser to the Connected Learning Research Network, and a member of the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan Committee sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.Dr. Peppler has authored or edited 11 books and numerous peer-reviewed research articles, including her recent book commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, New Creativity Paradigms: Arts Learning in the Digital Age (2014). Her research over the past decade has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, Google, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative, among others.

When she’s not engaged in research, she can be found making messy projects and videogaming with her three kids.

Leila Toplic, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer

Leila leads marketing communications and partnerships for LRNG. She oversees the engagement with LRNG’s diverse ecosystem — cities, non-profits, corporations, educators and policymakers — and drives the implementation of LRNG’s vision in local communities and nationally.

Before joining LRNG, Leila served as the Vice President of Marketing and Partnerships at Sama Group, where she oversaw marketing communications and partnerships, as well as individual fundraising for Samasource, Samaschool and Samahope. Prior to Sama Group, Leila spent over 14 years leading brand and marketing strategy and programs at two Fortune 500 companies — Microsoft and Adobe.

Leila’s passion for social causes is rooted in her life experience as a refugee from Bosnia and has manifested itself in a number of ways since Leila and her family fled Bosnia in the mid-90s. This included teaching English and art at the Bosnian Refugee School in the Nagyatad Refugee Camp, founding the first student chapters of UNHCR and UNIFEM while studying at Wellesley College, and serving on the Board of Directors of USA for UNIFEM. Leila currently serves on the Livelihoods Advisory Board of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Leila majored in Peace & Justice Studies and Media Arts & Sciences (MAS) at Wellesley College, with coursework in MAS completed at the MIT Media Lab and completed Microsoft’s Marketing Leadership program at the Kellogg School of Management.

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