— DreamBox Learning, the Bellevue, Wash.-based digital education company, has added Jennifer Agustin, a former LinkedIn marketing executive, as its new vice president of marketing.
Agustin’s role will be to help evangelize DreamBox’s Intelligent Adaptive Learning technology for K-8 mathematics “using thought leadership and content to promote customer success and engage new audiences,” according to a company news release.
“Jennifer brings an entrepreneurial perspective to our leadership team,” Jessie Woolley Wilson, CEO of DreamBox Learning, said in a statement. “Her invaluable enterprise technology marketing experience and business acumen from high-growth companies will be tremendous assets to DreamBox as we continue to grow and strengthen our position as a leader in the future of learning.”
Agustin was previously the senior director of marketing at Bizo, which was ultimately acquired by LinkedIn. She helped the company build its content and lead generation functions. She also managed the social and product marketing teams. At LinkedIn, she was tasked with growing the company’s Marketing Solutions business.
“I’m excited to help shape the next evolution of DreamBox,” Agustin said. “I was inspired to join the company because, as a parent, I am a firm believer in the role technology can play in helping our kids learn and grow. As a marketer, I believe the company is in a unique position to tap into the passion of every single member of a school’s community — from educators, parents and beyond — to help promote its mission of radically transforming the way the world learns.”
— Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center announced that it has appointed Dr. Bruce Clurman as its executive vice president and deputy director, effective Nov. 1.
Clurman, in his 25th year as a physician and researcher at Fred Hutch, will step into the leadership position vacated by outgoing executive vice president and deputy director Dr. Mark Groudine.
According to a news release from the Seattle-based organization, Clurman will work alongside Fred Hutch’s other executive vice president and deputy director, Dr. Fred Appelbaum. Clurman will also serve on the board of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutch’s clinical care partner.
“We recognize that we need to have more team-oriented science to address some of the biggest problems in the biology and therapy of human disease,” Gilliland said in a statement. “I don’t think there’s anybody who we could bring in, either internally or externally, that can do what Bruce is able to do, because of the history that he has here and the scientific credibility that he has. He’s respected across all of our different, very broadly-based disciplines of science.”
— Patrick Husting, former founder and CEO of Redmond, Wash.-based software company Extended Results, has launched a new company called Atlas Insights.
Husting said that after five months of non-stop development and testing, he launched his new software company with the aim of giving users better access to the data that they need to do business.
“I started this new effort out just wanting to validate some decisions we made at my previous company (Extended Results),” Husting told GeekWire. “Basically, trying to figure out if we made the right or wrong software architectural decisions.”
Husting said he believes he is “fundamentally creating a new structure and methodology for future software firms on how they should be built and run.”
Atlas Insights is doing the opposite of the big data vendors, Husting said. And in just a few weeks, he says “so far so good,” as he already has a few paying customers, with his largest being a $2 billion company.
Prior to starting Atlas Insights, Husting said he took a year off before deciding to be a developer again. He dabbled in virtual reality, starting a company called RadicalVR before eventually putting the effort on hold.
“I couldn’t find any customers to buy,” Husting said. “Lots of investments and news around VR, but mainly customers looking for free VR content. I don’t write software for free.”
— Revel Consulting, a firm with offices in Seattle and San Francisco, has added Laszlo Kismarton and Nicole Ponzio to its leadership team as it focuses heavily on digital transformation and experience as its path to success.
Kismarton joins Revel as a client service partner to expand the firm’s retail offerings for both the traditional retail industry as well as companies that increasingly market directly to consumers. He will lead Revel’s efforts to strengthen its technology platform, product and service offerings. Kismarton previously held leadership roles with Accenture Interactive, Acquity Group and Razorfish.
Ponzio will be a senior manager at Revel and lead the firm’s Experience Design Community by strengthening its offerings in creative strategy, customer experience, business process and product design disciplines. She most recently led customer experience innovation at Nordstrom and held senior product design roles at Target.
“Laszlo and Nicole know how to transform digital opportunity into operational reality, which is a challenge for even the most sophisticated companies,” Vikas Kamran, Revel CEO, said in a news release. “Both are proven business leaders, game-changers for our clients, and the perfect partners for Revel as we continue to execute on our vision for the future.”
