ELMHURST, Ill. — May 7, 2024 — Chad A. Stevens, Ph.D., has been appointed as the CEO of TinkRworks, which provides a ready-to-teach, supplemental STEAM curriculum and project kits for K-8 educators. TinkRworks co-founder Dr. Anu Mahajan, who has been CEO since the company was founded in 2016, will continue to serve on the leadership team as Chief Innovation Officer alongside Stevens and co-founder Gil Levendel who will remain Chief Technology Officer.
“TinkRworks completely aligns with my mission of helping students find their passion, supporting our incredible educators and making an impact on the educational system,” said Stevens. “I am both humbled and excited to lead TinkRworks toward even greater innovation and deeper impact.”
Stevens has established a distinguished career in education technology, most recently as the chief strategy and marketing officer at ParentSquare. In 2023, he was recognized as EdTech Chronicle’s Best C-Level Officer in Education/EdTech, and he was named a Top 100 Influencer in EdTech by EdTech Digest. He has served on the board of CoSN (Consortium for School Networking) since 2019 and was recently inducted into the Volunteer Hall of Fame.
Prior to ParentSquare, Stevens was at Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he was the leader for K-12 education and its inaugural K-12 employee, launching the business in 2016. Before AWS, he was at CDW-G as its first chief education strategist.
Stevens began his education career as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of instructional technology and chief technology officer for the Clear Creek Independent School District in Texas. He holds a B.S. degree from Tarleton State University, a M.S. in Educational Management from the University of Houston – Clear Lake and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Texas A&M University.
“The industry needs more leaders like Dr. Stevens. He not only has a proven track record of driving innovation in edtech companies, but he spent 14 years as a K-12 educator and administrator prior working in the private sector,” said Rachel Kern, Vice President at First Trust Capital Partners, LLC and a TinkRworks board member. “We look forward to working with him to create more opportunities for students to participate in hands-on STEAM and envision themselves as future STEAM leaders.”
About TinkRworks
TinkRworks is a supplemental K-8 STEAM solution that supports project-based learning and transforms learners into innovators. It includes a standards-rich curriculum, innovative hands-on project kits, professional development, and a web-based learning platform and coding environment that students use to bring their projects to life. TinkRworks comes ready to teach and can be implemented in a variety of settings, including classrooms, makerspaces, after school programs, and summer school. For information, visit TinkRworks.com.
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