InStride, the premier provider of global enterprise education, experienced strong growth since its launch earlier this year. In less than a year, the company developed a global university network, partnered with nearly 30 corporate clients to enroll 15,000 of their employees in university courses and assembled a team of more than 60 full-time staff members. 

At a time when education has shown its potential to create sustainable advantage for companies and change the lives of working adults, InStride helps employers provide career-boosting degrees to their employees, through leading global universities. 

“By partnering closely with employers, InStride is able to design strategic enterprise education programs that deliver measurable business outcomes and help address recruitment, retention, upskilling and re-skilling challenges,” said Vivek Sharma, CEO of InStride. “I’m proud of the world-class team of InStriders (InStride’s term for its team members) we have assembled with their backgrounds in higher education, technology, product development, and corporate partnerships.” 

Adding gravitas to an already senior level Board of Directors, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus joined InStride as board chair in August.  Mabus is the longest-tenured leader of the United States Navy and Marine Corps since World War I and was the youngest Mississippi governor elected in 150 years. The current board includes members of InStride’s two founding partners, TPG’s The Rise Fund and Arizona State University (ASU), U.S. News and World Report’s most innovative university for five straight years. 

During the year, InStride built a growing network of high-quality, research-intensive global universities across the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Australia that have more than 200+ online courses and proven support systems for working adults. Bolstering its global footprint, the company has also announced agreements with the University of New South Wales Sydney (#45 in the world according to the 2019 QS World University Rankings), Dublin City University (QS Top 50 Under 50), Universidad Tecmilenio (5-star ranking QS Stars for online education) and Tecnológico de Monterrey (#40 World University’s Graduate Employability Rankings).

Building on the successful partnerships ASU initiated with clients such as Starbucks and Uber, InStride currently works with 29 corporate partners, including seven Fortune 500 companies with more than 15,000 learners (employees) enrolled. Aramark launched the Frontline Education Program in October through InStride to provide full tuition coverage for college degrees for hourly associates across the U.S. Their first group of employee-learners begin classes in January 2020. 

“These forward-looking employers recognize the importance of continually developing their talent in order to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving world–they see it as an integral business strategy,” said Sharma.