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Christopher Hedrick

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Photograph of Chris Hedrick taken in 2022
Christopher Hedrick (2022)

Christopher "Chris" Hedrick[1][2] is an entrepreneur and expert in learning, global health, international development, and technology.[3]

NextStep

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Hedrick is CEO of NextStep Interactive,[4] a venture-capital backed company that trains low-wage and unemployed workers in job skills and industry certifications and places them in high demand entry-level healthcare jobs such as certified nursing assistant, the most in-demand job role in the country.[5] The company has played a prominent role in the effort to expand the supply of frontline healthcare workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures and Village Capital awarded NextStep the 2020 Frontline Health Worker Prize for creating the most unique product solving a major pain point for frontline health workers and the patients they serve.[7] Investors in the company include JAZZ Venture Partners, Pioneer Square Labs, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, SEI Ventures, ZOMA Capital, and Springrock Ventures. NextStep currently operates in the states of Colorado,[8] Oregon and Washington.[9] In 2023, Care Academy acquired the NextStep learning platform and nursing assistant training content.[10]

Kepler

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Prior to founding NextStep, from 2014 through 2016 Hedrick was CEO of Kepler,[11] a university program based in Kigali, Rwanda that blends technology-based learning, intense local seminars and education-to-employment support to offer U.S.-accredited degrees at very low cost.[12] Kepler's aim is to dramatically expand access to high quality college education across Africa.[13] Hedrick led growth of Kepler from a start up class of 50 students to over 400 students on two campuses, one in Kigali and the other a unique program in partnership with the UNHCR based at the Kiziba Refugee Camp in western Rwanda.[14][15]

Peace Corps

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From 2007 through 2014, Hedrick led the U.S. Peace Corps efforts in malaria prevention across Africa[16][17] and was the Country Director for the Peace Corps in Senegal.[18][19] Hedrick grew Peace Corps/Senegal to become the largest Peace Corps program in the world at the conclusion of his tenure there.[20] Hedrick led the development of the Peace Corps/Senegal Food Security initiative which is the largest USAID-funded Peace Corps food security project in the world under the global Feed the Future program.[21] The Peace Corps program in Senegal under Hedrick's leadership was awarded the prestigious Learning Spotlight Award in 2010 for innovation in its training programs.[22] In 2012, he was awarded the Director's Distinguished Service Award, the agency's highest honor, for his work in creating and coordinating the Peace Corps Stomping Out Malaria in Africa initiative.[23] After partnering with Peace Corps Senegal in a major bed net distribution effort, the international NGO Malaria No More called Hedrick "part international diplomat, part community health worker, part development MacGyver" in its annual report.[24] In 2014, the government of Senegal awarded him the title of "Champion of the Fight Against Malaria." Hedrick promoted the concept of the "New Peace Corps," the professionalization and modernization of Peace Corps programming and service, including enhanced partnerships with USAID and other development institutions and improved utilization of technology, a vision summarized in an article in the Yale Journal of International Affairs.[25] Hedrick, his Peace Corps volunteers, and staff co-authored numerous peer reviewed journal articles based on their work and partnerships developed while Hedrick led the Senegal program, particularly in the field of public health.[26][27][28][29][30]

Intrepid Learning Solutions

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From 1999 to 2007, Hedrick was the President and CEO of Intrepid Learning Solutions,[31] a Seattle, Washington-based learning technology company which he co-founded with Dennis Heck. Under his leadership, Intrepid was named by Inc. magazine[32] as one of the fastest-growing companies in America.[33] Hedrick raised investments for Intrepid from venture capital companies Madrona Venture Group, FTV Capital, and Rustic Canyon Partners and from individuals including William H. Gates, Sr. While Hedrick was CEO, Intrepid signed a landmark contract to provide outsourced training services to the Boeing Company, landed other clients such as Microsoft, United Airlines, Autodesk, and Bank of America, and was named one of the Top 20 Learning Outsourcing Providers in the world.[34] In 2014, the training outsourcing arm of Intrepid was sold to Xerox to bolster its learning services division.[35] In 2017, Ingram, through its corporate education and training division Vitalsource, acquired Intrepid's learning technology management platform and line of business in a cash transaction.[36]

Science and Technology Advisor to the Governor of Washington State

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Previously, he served as the Science and Technology Policy advisor to Gary Locke, the Governor of Washington state, subsequently U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Ambassador to China. During his tenure as the governor's advisor, Washington was named as the state government that most effectively used information technology.[37] While serving as the Science and Technology Policy advisor, Hedrick also was named to lead the Washington State Year 2000 Office, appointed by the Governor to be the public face of the state's Y2K preparations.[38]

Gates Library Foundation

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Prior to joining the Locke Administration, he was the founding Director of Strategy and Operations for the Gates Library Foundation,[39] the predecessor organization to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Hedrick organized and presented the original proposal to Bill Gates to create a $200 million private philanthropic initiative focused on expanding access to the Internet and providing training and technical assistance to public libraries serving low-income communities.

Microsoft

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The Gates Library Foundation grew out of a program called Libraries Online[40] that Hedrick created and managed[41] at Microsoft. At Microsoft, Hedrick was a prominent advocate of bridging the "digital divide."[42] He managed Microsoft's relationships with the United Negro College Fund and with the University of Washington and the state community college system, where he developed and managed a software donation that was the largest in industry history at that time. This donation was announced at a joint event between President Bill Clinton and Microsoft CEO Bill Gates which Hedrick proposed and managed.[43]

Earlier career

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He has also been a senior administrator at the Peace Corps, where he worked for Carol Bellamy;[44] served in the administration of Washington Governor Booth Gardner; was elected to the Olympia, Washington School Board; and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal. He worked for Congressman Don Bonker in Washington, D.C., directed his Olympia, Washington district office and managed Bonker's last two successful re-election campaigns,

Hedrick was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University[45] and graduated with honors and distinction from Stanford University. He is a graduate of Olympia High School and was elected as a Director of the Olympia School District in 1991. In 2013, he was inducted into the Olympia High School Hall of Fame.[46]

Non-profit Leadership

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Until he moved back to Senegal, he was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Evergreen State College,[47] board member and Treasurer for the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH),[48] the largest recipient of Gates Foundation funding for global health, and the Chairman of the Board of the Digital Learning Commons.[49] He also served on the Board of Directors of LINGOs, a non-profit promoting sustainable global development by helping to build the capacity of the people delivering programs around the world.[50][failed verification]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Chris Hedrick Twitter page". Twitter. January 2, 2011. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  2. ^ "Chris Hedrick on Medium". Medium. Archived from the original on 2022-01-31. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  3. ^ "How They Did It Podcast: Philanthropist and Entrepreneur Chris Hedrick". How They Did It Podcast (hosted on Spotify). Archived from the original on 2022-01-31. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  4. ^ "NextStep: The New Way CNAs get hired and thrive". www.nextstep.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  5. ^ "Startup Raises $3M to Help Displaced Workers Transition to the Health Care Economy". Archived from the original on 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  6. ^ "Reskilling Workers for Frontline Health Care Roles During COVID-19". Training Industry. November 10, 2020. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  7. ^ "Lifting Up Social Enterprises That Empower and Support Frontline Health Workers". Johnson&Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation. November 20, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-25. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  8. ^ "Virtual CNA training helps combat caregiver shortage and unemployment rates". KOAA News. October 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  9. ^ "Seattle's Morning News: Interview with Chris Hedrick, CEO of NextStep, a tuition-free caregiver training program". KIRO News Radio: Seattle's Morning News. March 5, 2021. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  10. ^ Filbin, Patrick (2023-01-26). "Caregiver Training Platform CareAcademy Makes First Acquisition, Expands Reach". Home Health Care News. Archived from the original on 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  11. ^ "Kepler web site". Kepler. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  12. ^ "Video: Kepler: A new model for university education worldwide". YouTube. July 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  13. ^ "Kepler Twitter page". Twitter. April 21, 2014. Archived from the original on May 16, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  14. ^ "Kepler Partnership with UN Refugee Agency for Refugee Higher Education in Rwanda". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  15. ^ Hedrick, Christopher (Fall 2015). "Unlocking Student Potential In Rwanda". World View Magazine. p. 22. Archived from the original on 2016-01-09. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  16. ^ "Peace Corps news release on "Stomping Out Malaria" training". Peacecorps.gov. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  17. ^ "Peace Corps news release "Peace Corps and President's Malaria Initiative Announce Malaria Partnership"". Peacecorps.gov. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  18. ^ "Peace Corps Senegal Facts". Peacecorps.gov. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  19. ^ "Peace Corps Senegal Web Site". Pcsenegal.org. Archived from the original on July 8, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  20. ^ "Serving in the Peace Corps". WashingtonPost.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  21. ^ "Peace Corps/Senegal Food Security program". Pcsenegal.org. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  22. ^ "Learning 2010 Conference Learning Spotlight Award video". Learning2010.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  23. ^ "Peace Corps Volunteers Extend Malaria Efforts to Villages and Towns Across Africa". 24 April 2013. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  24. ^ https://www.scribd.com/doc/52407988/Malaria-No-More-Stakeholder-Report-2010 Archived 2016-01-21 at the Wayback Machine Malaria No More Stakeholder Report 2010
  25. ^ "The New Peace Corps". Yale Journal. 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2022-01-15. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  26. ^ Dykens, Andrew; Hedrick, Chris; Ndiaye, Youssoupha; Linn, Annē (September 2014). "Peace corps partnered health services implementation research in global health: opportunity for impact". Global Advances in Health and Medicine. 3 (5): 8–15. doi:10.7453/gahmj.2014.031. ISSN 2164-957X. PMC 4268604. PMID 25568819.
  27. ^ Gaye, Seynabou; Kibler, Janelle; Ndiaye, Jean Louis; Diouf, Mame Birame; Linn, Annē; Gueye, Alioune Badara; Fall, Fatou Ba; Ndiop, Médoune; Diallo, Ibrahima; Cisse, Moustapha; Ba, Mady; Thwing, Julie (2020-04-25). "Proactive community case management in Senegal 2014-2016: a case study in maximizing the impact of community case management of malaria". Malaria Journal. 19 (1): 166. doi:10.1186/s12936-020-03238-0. ISSN 1475-2875. PMC 7183580. PMID 32334581.
  28. ^ Henderson, Susan J.; Belemvire, Allison; Nelson, Roman; Linn, Anne; Moriarty, Leah F.; Brofsky, Emma; Diaw, Mamadou; Gittelman, David (2020). "Advancing Malaria Prevention and Control in Africa Through the Peace Corps-US President's Malaria Initiative Partnership". Global Advances in Health and Medicine. 9: 2164956120976107. doi:10.1177/2164956120976107. ISSN 2164-957X. PMC 8842444. PMID 35174005.
  29. ^ Linn, Annē M.; Ndiaye, Youssoupha; Hennessee, Ian; Gaye, Seynabou; Linn, Patrick; Nordstrom, Karin; McLaughlin, Matt (November 2015). "Reduction in symptomatic malaria prevalence through proactive community treatment in rural Senegal". Tropical Medicine & International Health. 20 (11): 1438–1446. doi:10.1111/tmi.12564. ISSN 1365-3156. PMID 26171642. S2CID 23803329.
  30. ^ Dykens, J. Andrew; Linn, Annē M.; Irwin, Tracy; Peters, Karen E.; Pyra, Maria; Traoré, Fatoumata; Touré Diarra, Mariama; Hasnain, Memoona; Wallner, Katie; Linn, Patrick; Ndiaye, Youssoupha (2017). "Implementing visual cervical cancer screening in Senegal: a cross-sectional study of risk factors and prevalence highlighting service utilization barriers". International Journal of Women's Health. 9: 59–67. doi:10.2147/IJWH.S115454. ISSN 1179-1411. PMC 5291333. PMID 28184171.
  31. ^ "Intrepid Learning Solutions". Intrepidls.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  32. ^ "Inc. Magazine". Inc.com. January 1, 1970. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  33. ^ "2007 Inc. Magazine rankings". Inc.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  34. ^ Intrepid Learning press releases Archived December 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ "Xerox acquires part of Intrepid Learning Solutions to help companies train employees". 20 November 2014. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017.
  36. ^ "VitalSource Acquires Intrepid Learning". Publishers Weekly. December 6, 2017. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  37. ^ Center for Digital Government and Progress and Freedom Foundation Digital State Award Archived October 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ "Washington State Releases New Y2K Report". Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  39. ^ "NY Times article on Gates Library Foundation launch". New York Times. June 24, 1997. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  40. ^ "NY Times article on Libraries Online". New York Times. October 9, 1996. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  41. ^ "Microsoft has hired Hedrick to run the program". New York Times. October 9, 1996. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  42. ^ "A Nation Ponders its Growing Digital Divide". New York Times. October 21, 1996. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  43. ^ "Microsoft announces $10 million software, technical assistance grant for Washington State Community Colleges". Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
  44. ^ "Hedrick gets Senior Job with the Peace Corps". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. September 9, 1993.[dead link‍]
  45. ^ "Rhodes Scholars Announced; A First for a Hispanic Woman". New York Times. December 19, 1983. p. Section B, page 13. Archived from the original on February 4, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  46. ^ Pemberton, Lisa (June 5, 2013). "Olympia High inducts three into school's Hall of Fame". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013.
  47. ^ "Evergreen State College Trustees". Archived from the original on September 23, 2006.
  48. ^ "Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH)". Archived from the original on December 10, 2006.
  49. ^ "Digital Learning Commons". Learningcommons.org. Archived from the original on November 1, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  50. ^ "Home". LINGOs. Archived from the original on 2023-01-08. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
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