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Please provide a briefing on Naviance, including everything we need to know about their history, senior leadership, and core product categories.
Hello! Thanks for your request to provide you with a summary of Naviance's history, senior leadership and core product categories. The short version is that Naviance was founded in 2002 after Steven Swanson got curious whether there was a way to quantitatively determine how a student would perform statistically before entering a chosen college. I have also provided you with a comprehensive overview of Naviance's current services and how the company has evolved over time.
Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGY
I first directed my research towards the official website of Naviance, with the objective of gauging the kind of products they are trying to market and to which audience they believe their services would be most beneficial.
From there, I redirected my research towards credible company databases such as Bloomberg, Hoovers, and Owler, hoping to gain better insight about the mission, vision and strategy of Naviance.
After which, I redirected my research towards press releases documenting the entire company timeline of Naviance.
COMPANY SUMMARY
Naviance is an American "college and career readiness software provider" that partners with high schools and other K–12 institutions to provide students with college planning and career assessment tools.
COMPANY HISTORY
Back in 1988, Renee Swanson's father Steven Swanson was curious whether there was a way to quantitatively determine how a student would perform statistically before entering a chosen college. This curiosity eventually led to him developing a software program that used the grades and test scores of past students to determine his daughter's chances of acceptance at different universities. The guidance counselors were impressed, used the software for other students and told colleagues at other schools about Swanson's product. For more than a decade, Swanson spent nights and weekends developing software programs for specific high schools across the country. Stephen M. Smith and Shaun Fanning joined Swanson 14 years later to found Naviance in 2002, a start-up firm that turned Swanson's software into a Web-based system that helps high school students decide where to apply for college.
Hobsons, a Cincinnati publishing and technology company that focuses on higher education, acquired Naviance in 2007.
In 2012, Naviance was featured in several news articles where Shelly Landry, Minneapolis Public Schools’ lead counselor and former president of the Minnesota Counselors Association, stated that Naviance has greatly helped increase the rate of graduates headed to college in Minnesota.
In 2016, Hobsons announced that it would be expanding its Naviance services to the Australian and Asia-Pacific markets.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Bloomberg, a company background and insights database, currently includes Naviance in their directory. According to their records, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Naviance is Stephen M. Smith. Shaun Fanning is the Executive Vice President and also a Co-Founder. Dr. Todd Bloom Ph.D. is the current Chief Academic Officer. Greg M. Smith was stated to be the Director of Technical Operations and Archana Mehta is the current Director of Client Services.
CORE PRODUCT CATEGORIES
Naviance's Middle Schools solutions is catered towards younger students currently in grades 6-12. The program aims to help enrollees gain college awareness, explore their choices for college majors, and learn about the difference admission processes and requirements.
Naviance's High Schools solutions aims to help high school students understand their strengths and weaknesses, find connections between their interest and potential careers, set short-term and long-term goals, and develop self-knowledge and personal motivation.
3.) ACTIVE MATCH
The basic function of Naviance's Active Match is to link students with future colleges and future employers they are compatible with. This is done by monitoring student enrollees of the service through tests, surveys and interviews. Through this process, they are able to complete a full profile of the overall performance, conduct, and specialties of each student. From there, colleges companies are now able to consult the same service to find good fit students or potential future employees that fit their criteria. At the same time, Active Match also presents students more opportunities and allows them to have a clear view of their career choices ahead of time, and backed with scientific data.
4.) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Naviance's professional development services helps schools get the most out of their programs through courses that provide teachers, counselors, principals, and administrators with the knowledge and skills needed to fully realize the value of Naviance.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, Naviance was founded in 2002 after Steven Swanson got curious whether there was a way to quantitatively determine how a student would perform statistically before entering a chosen college. I have also provided you with a comprehensive overview of their current services and how the company has evolved over time.
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