Jobs at Coursello

Eric Westendorf, the company’s CEO and a former principal, conceived of Coursello after he left LearnZillion, the digital curriculum company he co-founded while principal in 2011. ​ Eric saw that school districts’ appetite for online courses was expanding. In the past, districts used online courses at the margins - to help students recover credit or to address unique student needs. But districts were starting to use online courses to address mainstream challenges - teacher shortages and the need for more course options. Covid-19 accelerated this trend. But existing online courses were not designed for this use case - they were isolating and more focused on compliance than engagement. Eric saw a need for a new type of online course - one that combined the flexibility of asynchronous learning with the interactivity of synchronous, small group discussion. ​ Soon after Coursello’s inception, co-founders Chris White and Jamie Forrest were on board. Like Eric, both Chris and Jamie were fathers who saw the inadequacy of online learning when their own students’ were suddenly learning from home. Eric, Chris, and Jamie began talking about courses designed for online engagement; about ways software might support small group discussions; and about building a company designed for inclusion and rooted in the conviction that product companies are empathy companies, companies that understand the progress their users are trying to make in the world. Together, Eric, Chris, and Jamie developed Coursello’s mission and core values. We celebrate difference and diversity and we recognize it as core to our mission and values. Our mission is to make high-quality courses accessible to all students Our core values are: We see obstacles as opportunities We use software to bring out the best in people (not the other way around) We leave our egos at the door We make decisions based on a diversity of perspectives We draw strength from our lives outside of Coursello