Candace Witherspoon Jackson, MBA
Geneva
Summary
Seasoned leader with a track record of driving business growth at Harvard Business School, adept in quantitative analysis and fostering educational leadership. Excelled in strategic initiatives, securing deals to enhance annual revenues significantly. Skilled in building robust industry partnerships and managing cross-functional teams, improving student performance by 60%.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Assistant Director of Business Development, Custom Programs
Harvard Business School
Boston
03.2022 - Current
- Successfully closed deals averaging $800K per program, contributing to annual revenues exceeding $50M
- Collaborated with CEOs and executive leaders from Fortune 500 companies with annual revenue over $5B, fostering strong relationships and driving business growth
- Led meetings with C-Level and senior executives of large global organizations, playing a pivotal role in scoping, shaping, and selling new business opportunities
- Managed client follow-up processes, ensuring effective communication and updates to internal stakeholders, resulting in enhanced client satisfaction and retention
- Contributed to process and business improvement projects, optimizing efficiency and delivering value to clients and internal stakeholders
- Regularly leads meetings with C-Level and senior executives to scope, shape, and sell new business opportunities, fostering collaboration and driving revenue growth
- Manages client follow-up processes, ensuring timely communication and updates to internal stakeholders, enhancing client satisfaction and retention
- Contributes to process and business improvement projects, optimizing efficiency and delivering value to clients and internal stakeholders
- Tracks and measures lead pipeline, phases of programs in development through delivery, and metrics to measure volume and quality, enabling data-driven decision-making and performance optimization
- Develops and manages the delivery of customized executive education engagements for corporate clients, ensuring alignment with client objectives and organizational goals
- Provides overall management of client relationships, including business development, proposal development, negotiation, program planning and evaluation, and partnership with program teams for program delivery and evaluation
- Balances faculty development priorities, client program objectives, and commercial terms, ensuring sustainable growth and profitability
- Responsible for program development and delivery activities conducted on and off-campus, including venues worldwide, ensuring exceptional client experiences and program outcomes
- Enhances and supports relationships between faculty, researchers, and clients involved in the creation of intellectual capital, fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange
- Works with faculty and staff across the organization to strategically ensure integration and coordination of sales calls and participates in presentations/negotiations to senior executives regarding corporate educational needs
- Supports the development of long-term, multifaceted relationships between custom clients and HBS/Harvard University, fostering loyalty and partnership
- Establishes and implements a leadership development strategy, developing a professional development framework based on those same considerations
- Defines a leadership framework that clearly depicts expectations of leaders, enables an assessment strategy of existing capabilities, and develops behavior-changing development programs to enhance collective leadership capabilities
- Works closely with cross-functional teams, including Engineering, Design, Customer Experience, and Go-to-Market leadership, to ensure smooth integration and alignment around product initiatives
- Conducts comprehensive market analysis and user research to uncover opportunities and guide product decisions
- Establishes and tracks metrics and KPIs to evaluate product performance, user engagement, and overall business impact
- Negotiates terms and agreements with clients, ensuring favorable outcomes that support business objectives and client satisfaction
Executive Board Member / Treasurer
Babe Ruth League (Non-Profit Organization)
Oviedo
01.2019 - 05.2024
- Responsible for the fiscal integrity of the Babe Ruth League, including the proposed annual budget and monthly statements
- Responsible for participating actively in making decisions on behalf of the organization and ensures compliance with federal, state and local laws
- Regularly reports to Board on key financial events, trends, concerns and assessments of fiscal health
- Responsible for fiscal management operating within the approved budget while maintaining maximum resource utilization
Managing Director
The Pointy Pencil Academic Learning Center
Oviedo
01.2016 - 12.2022
- Established, maintained and strengthened relations with school districts, school partners, non-profit organizations and other external partners
- Managed, recruited, trained and scheduled managers and educational staff on new policies and procedures using recruitment best practices
- Developed internal processes and procedures to drive measurable performance improvement up by 22%
- Defined business strategy and execution of all learning programs including onboarding, leadership development, elementary/secondary programs, college programs, technical trainings and adult learning
- Developed academic programs, created instructional resources and coordinated actively with administrators to maintain high curriculum standards for learners of all levels and ability
- Forecasted revenue, expenditure, budgets and profit by using ERP software to develop financial models and analytical frameworks for start-up businesses during inception and beginning stages of operation
- Utilized ERP business processes to organize leads/opportunities, customer accounts, and employee tasks and responsibilities
- Created CRM reports to analyze customer relations
- Created measurable SOW’s to address needs including tasks, deliverables and performance expectations
- Demonstrated success establishing and executing technology product strategy at the leadership level
- Embodied storytelling skills, including written, verbal, and numeric communication
- Built alignment, persuasion, and coaching skills and recruited and grew high-performing product managers
- Negotiated contracts and agreements with partners and vendors, ensuring beneficial terms and fostering long-term partnerships
Education Consultant
Savvas (formerly Pearson)
06.2018 - 09.2020
- Motivated and influenced educators and district leaders to make sound decisions regarding learning outcome choices for teachers and students
- Provided targeted support to administrators and educational coaches by assisting customers with implementation strategies and providing lesson planning, pacing and technical support
- Responsible for driving and meeting revenue targets for assigned region(s) contributing to the achievement of revenue targets as a team
- Delivered engaging presentations for each sales cycle to include exhibits/conferences, pre-work/issue setting workshops, meetings/campaigns, pilots and program activations
- Utilized Salesforce as the primary CRM software and provides professional development / in-service workshops at conferences or on the digital platform, GoToWebinar
- Furloughed as a result of COVID-19
Content Coach / Facilitator
Instruction Partners
Orlando
03.2018 - 09.2018
- Trained district directors, school administrators and grade level leads to strengthen knowledge and methods of effective teaching practices in the classroom
- Facilitated the improvement of education directors defining goals, setting milestones and instructing team leaders about motivating their team members
- Coached teachers, administrators and district personnel how to build their understanding of the standards and the underlying content while facilitating adult learning
Professional Educator / Instructional Leadership Team
Seminole County Public Schools (USA) / ADNOC Schools (UAE)
Seminole County
08.2006 - 05.2016
- Implemented changes to instructional and assessment practices to over 150 educators, improving student performance by 60%
- Represented department during curriculum development meetings and encouraged appropriate links across the curriculum
- Used evaluations and data to make recommendations in how to improve and edit curricula on an annual basis
Education
Certificate of Specialization in Leadership and Management - Leadership Principles, Negotiation Mastery, Power & Influence For Positive Impact
Harvard Business School Online
Boston, MA10.2024
Master of Business Administration (MBA) -
Strayer University
Orlando, FL12.2010
Bachelor of Science in Education (BS) -
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL12.2006
Associates Degree (AA) -
Florida A & M University
Tallahassee, FL12.2003
Professional Teaching License - Education (ESOL Endorsed); Exceptional Student Education (ESE) K-12; Business Education 6-12
Skills
- Quantitative Analysis
- New market research
- Corporate governance
- Operations management
- Staff management
- Recruitment and hiring
- Human resources
- Grant proposals
- Industry partnerships
- Learning & Development
- Executive education
- General Operations
- Financial Management
- Strategic Initiatives
- Business Planning
- Project Management
- Data Analysis
- Business Development
- Sales Management
- Instructional Design
- Communication
- Educational leadership
Timeline
Assistant Director of Business Development, Custom Programs
Harvard Business School
03.2022 - Current
Executive Board Member / Treasurer
Babe Ruth League (Non-Profit Organization)
01.2019 - 05.2024
Education Consultant
Savvas (formerly Pearson)
06.2018 - 09.2020
Content Coach / Facilitator
Instruction Partners
03.2018 - 09.2018
Managing Director
The Pointy Pencil Academic Learning Center
01.2016 - 12.2022
Professional Educator / Instructional Leadership Team
Seminole County Public Schools (USA) / ADNOC Schools (UAE)
08.2006 - 05.2016
Certificate of Specialization in Leadership and Management - Leadership Principles, Negotiation Mastery, Power & Influence For Positive Impact
Harvard Business School Online
Master of Business Administration (MBA) -
Strayer University
Bachelor of Science in Education (BS) -
University of Central Florida
Associates Degree (AA) -
Florida A & M University
Professional Teaching License - Education (ESOL Endorsed); Exceptional Student Education (ESE) K-12; Business Education 6-12
Similar Profiles
Dennis Kenney (He/Him/His)Dennis Kenney (He/Him/His)
Public Speaking Expert + Educator at Harvard Business SchoolPublic Speaking Expert + Educator at Harvard Business School
Juan VerasJuan Veras
Media Services Technician Intern at Harvard business schoolMedia Services Technician Intern at Harvard business school
Sri Ram S GuntupalliSri Ram S Guntupalli
Sr. Software Asset Management Analyst at Harvard Business SchoolSr. Software Asset Management Analyst at Harvard Business School