Parsons Executive Education
Goal: Within an established university (The New School), operate with a start-up mentality to create a brand new unit focused on design-led executive education. In time, generate revenue to be re-invested into the university.
Prior to this, executive education was not a new idea at The New School. However, past iterations of it were informal or one-off situations. Pushed by a partnership to run an executive program with ESSEC Business School in France in early 2020, the idea to create a formal executive education unit at The New School as an offshoot of the Parsons School of Design (also a part of The New School) was born.
I joined the team in 2021, helping prepare for its launch in 2022. Subsequently I managed the unit and its programs for 2 years until July 2024. My formal role during those 2 years was program manager, project managing and leading the execution of all programming. I also handled all administrative needs related to keeping the unit running behind the scenes.
In that time, here were some achievements:
Revamped a multi-year financial and business plan to better reflect operating conditions and new realities imposed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The end result was a leaner operation than planned while attempting to not reduce output.
Stewarded an agreement with ESSEC Business School from a fee-for-service arrangement to a full partnership to jointly manage an Executive Master’s program in Luxury Management and Design Innovation. Part of this stewardship included a visit to the school in Paris to further solidify relations.
Built out the team to a core group of 8 (including myself), 7 of which were hired specifically for Executive Education, and 1 integrated from another part of the university into the unit. I managed the hiring for 4 out of 8 of these roles as well as the hiring of faculty, independent contractors, and temporary employees.
Project managed the Executive Master’s in Luxury Management and Design Innovation (EMiLUX) in an ongoing manner to ensure academic, recruitment, marketing, and operations team members were acting in lockstep with one another. Key to this was making sure financial goals were being met and that the ongoing partnership with ESSEC Business School was being managed.
Embarked on trips to Asia to maintain and build new relationships with a variety of companies in the luxury hospitality, fashion, and retail spaces, educational institutions, and incubators.
Created and managed a variety of SOPs, templates, and tools to ensure the unit ran smoothly. Two key successes:
Worked with labor relations and faculty affairs to carve out new practices for hiring faculty specifically for executive education coursework and teaching.
Built, managed, and socialized a shared drive to better facilitate collaboration and efficient file management to maintain business operations.