SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hack Reactor group of in-person and online programming schools focused on student career outcomes, announced today the hiring of Roger Piskulick to the role of chief operating officer. He brings two decades of experience in financial leadership, largely in the education sector. Piskulick will provide key management in charting Hack Reactor's growth, allowing the company to increase its quality and reach.
Piskulick has held executive-level financial roles in several sectors, with extensive experience in education technology, most notably at Blackboard where he served as vice president of finance and operations. While at Blackboard he helped scale the business from $15 million to over $250 million in revenues and participated in their successful IPO in 2004. He also served as chief financial officer of GlobalEnglish where he was instrumental in reengineering the software license model and the orchestration of a successful liquidity event by way of a sale to multinational education and publishing company Pearson PLC. Most recently, Piskulick served as the chief financial officer of the Apollo Education Group's Lightspeed division, where he oversaw the operations of the start-up division's launching of the SkilledUp marketplace. He has also worked with global accountancy and business consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
"In order to continue to scale our company, we needed to find someone with strong experience in management and finance, an understanding of the education industry and a deep commitment to our company and values. Roger was an ideal fit for the role," says Hack Reactor CEO Anthony Phillips. "Operating a mission-based business requires a deep understanding of both the product and how students benefit from it. Roger has shown throughout his career that he can grow major education firms in both depth and breadth. Bringing him on isn't about the bottom line, though he'll help that as well – it's about improving every aspect of the company."
As COO of Hack Reactor, Piskulick will oversee the high level financial and management structure of the organization as it expands to include more schools and initiatives. His hiring signals a new chapter in Hack Reactor's history, as it becomes an increasingly prominent force on the education landscape.
"I am thrilled to join Hack Reactor and eager to bring my experience scaling high-growth education technology companies to the organization," said Piskulick. "Hack Reactor's market leadership and impressive commitment to quality outcomes for its students make this a very exciting opportunity. I'm looking forward to working with such a talented team and playing a key role in expanding the business."
About Hack Reactor
Hack Reactor's mission is two-fold: to empower people and to transform education through rapid-iteration teaching. Hack Reactor designs and conducts advanced immersion education programs that train students 11 hours per day, 6 days a week, over 12 weeks. Our curriculum cultivates mastery of computer science fundamentals and the JavaScript programming language. The Hack Reactor network of technology schools educates more software engineers every year than Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology, combined. Hack Reactor maintains a 99% employment rate and a median graduate salary of $110,000. Alumni work in a variety of mid- to senior-level engineering roles at industry leaders like Google, Adobe, LinkedIn, Uber and Amazon, as well as at several growing technology companies. For more information, visit: www.hackreactor.com.
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