ParentPowered PBC brings in a powerful C-Suite to increase reach and scale to accelerate positive student outcomes.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mary Westervelt, Director of Marketing and Communications
media@parentpowered.com
SAN FRANCISCO (September 19, 2023) — ParentPowered PBC, an education technology company that provides research-based digital family engagement, today announced the appointment of Terri Soutor as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Melissa Palmer as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). These moves coincide with ParentPowered’s preparations for substantial growth as it continues expanding its product portfolio to further enhance student support.
Soutor is an experienced C-suite leader and go-to-market strategist, skilled at building and growing education technology companies. As CEO at FastBridge Learning, Soutor scaled the company over a four year period to $11M ARR at a 45% annual growth rate and delivering more than 25 million assessments to over 1.6 million students across the country and earning the Company the honor of becoming the second fastest-growing private company in the Twin Cities. Her business acumen, leadership and accomplishments have been publicly recognized. She made the list of CEOs in The Real Power 50 by Minnesota Business and was a recipient of a Titan of Technology award from Minneapolis / St.Paul Business Journal. She has served since early 2022 on the ParentPowered Board of Directors and brings an in-depth understanding of the organization’s mission to support student learning.
Palmer has more than 15 years of senior management experience in the education technology and content sector, with a proven track record of developing and scaling winning strategic sales teams. As a senior leader at Illuminate Education, she created and scaled a national sales organization that increased new business bookings from $12.1M to $18.6M over two years. While there, she merged five sales teams into one integrated team that leveraged a “land-and-expand” strategy to increase cross sell from 35% to 55% in the same period.
“Backed by robust research and a track record of success, ParentPowered’s digital family engagement program holds immense promise. We are poised to make a real difference in student learning with a dedicated team and a mission that truly matters. I’m proud and excited to lead the charge and amplify our impact together,” said Soutor.
“The significance of ParentPowered’s positive impact on children and its potential ripple effect across communities cannot be overstated,” said Palmer. “I am proud to join the company at this critical juncture of growth and eagerly anticipate contributing to our impactful journey ahead.”
Founding CEO Ben York, Ph.D., will remain on the Board of Directors and act in an advisory capacity through the transition.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to lead ParentPowered, and I am extremely proud of the work we’ve accomplished. As we evolve to serve more families, I couldn’t be more excited to have Terri at the helm,” said founding CEO Ben York, Ph.D. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with her since early 2022 when she joined the Company’s Board, and I have the utmost confidence that she’s the right person to lead ParentPowered into the future,” he added. “Terri brings a deep commitment to serving families and children to the role, along with a focus on building purpose-driven cultures, rapid scaling experience, and a track record of success,” said Dr. York. “I look forward to continuing to support Terri, Melissa, and the broader ParentPowered team as they usher in the next phase of the Company’s evolution.”
Soutor and Palmer worked closely together after Soutor brought FastBridge to Illuminate in 2019. Reflecting on their time there together, Soutor said, “We knew we were having an impact and accelerating our mission. There was a tremendous amount of gratification for the team and our investors. We look forward to doing the same at ParentPowered. Every decision we make starts with mission, vision, and values.”
Soutor holds a Master of Science in Management from Troy State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Hawaii. Palmer has a Master of Education in Applied Linguistics from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University in Australia and a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from San Jose State University.
Soutor and Palmer step into these roles as ParentPowered is poised to elevate its mission to create easy-to-use tools for great parenting to improve the lives of all children. For more information about ParentPowered’s evidence-based family engagement programs, visit www.parentpowered.com, and stay connected with ParentPowered on social media through Facebook and LinkedIn.
About ParentPowered PBC
ParentPowered PBC is the leading digital family engagement provider for schools, districts, Head Starts, community organizations, and government agencies serving families from birth through 12th grade. ParentPowered makes family engagement easy for all, with evidence-based programs that reach parents and caregivers wherever they are with just-right ways to support their child’s learning and development. The ParentPowered approach fosters positive relationships between caregivers, children, and schools to improve student outcomes. Founded in 2016, the company has partnered with over a thousand educational institutions to serve over one million families across all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
