We are incredibly grateful for the rich experiences we enjoy through our work. One of the perks of educational content development is being able to interact with interesting clients and work on some truly exciting and meaningful projects. These experiences help us see the world through multiple perspectives, all while we are engaged in creating valuable content.
Here’s how we live by our company’s core values and what our leadership team has to say about what they love about their jobs and what they are grateful for.
“As the founder and CEO of A Pass Educational Group, I have the opportunity to do a great deal of traveling and to meet with some very interesting people. Just today, in Israel, I met three Israeli middle school students who participate in a young leadership program in which they learn STEAM under the auspices of the Igal Ramon Foundation. Ramon was on the Columbia shuttle that exploded while reentering Earth’s orbit. I have had the chance to meet clients, potential clients, and associates in such places as England, Germany, Japan, Israel, and across the USA. I would never have dreamed of seeing such diverse places and meeting such interesting people as I have the opportunity to in this position.” Andrew Pass, CEO
As a content development development company, we invest a lot of time and effort in building and developing our strongest assets: our team of writers and subject matter experts. “I love creating teams for new projects: thinking about how (and who) best to complement various individual skill sets and personalities, and putting people in positions where they will be successful.” Stephen Gibson, Humanities Content Area Director
“The leaders at A Pass have always made me feel empowered to voice my ideas and given me the ability to implement new ways to accomplish the tasks needed in my job. Our culture of building community and working as a team makes it easy to feel like I can ask anyone questions and not feel alone on the job.” Sara Gra, VP of Finance & Administration
Team building doesn’t stop with developing just our talented team of contractors. The A Pass family lives by this value when it comes to supporting each other to help give their best.
“One of the things that I love most about working at A Pass is never having to segment or disguise any part of my identity. It is clear that I am a whole person who is part of this team and that my whole personhood is valued. An example: I was recently traveling for work and was in an important meeting. I needed to excuse myself to get an opportunity to say goodnight to my children before they went to sleep. I was prepared to do what many women do: hide the fact that my family needed me for a few minutes and let it appear that I was just taking a bio-break. Andy spoke up to ask our hosts where I could find a spot to have a video call with my kids for a few minutes given that they were in a very different time zone and wanted to say goodnight to their mom. It meant a lot that I didn’t need to hide part of my identity and that he valued me as a whole person enough not to feel that it was something that should be hidden. It’s this approach that has helped us build a real community here at A Pass.” Sarah Bierman, Chief Operating Officer
Content development comes with its unique sets of challenges. But at A Pass, we embrace them and enjoy the process of finding creative solutions to produce high-quality products.
“I love having the opportunity to connect with people from all facets of the education industry—technology providers, publishers, and administration from K12 and Higher Education, to name a few. Each person has a unique vision, purpose, and challenge, but all are united in the same passion of wanting to create quality educational materials to help improve the world. That motivates and inspires me every day, and I feel lucky to be able to help people bring their visions to fruition.” Pauline Valvo, VP of Business Development
“I’m grateful for our team’s ability to embrace challenge. Our clients come to us with a wide variety of content development needs and our team has rich experience to draw on in meeting those needs. Still, there are always new things to learn and new skills to master. I’m particularly thankful that our contractors, project leaders, and company leaders are willing to face challenges head-on and improve our skills as we master them. And it definitely keeps the job interesting!” Lynsey Peterson, VP of Content Development
One of the things that we pride ourselves on is our consistent attention to detail. Every project gets the same attention and thorough review it deserves. When it comes to maintaining quality, there are no shortcuts.
We can never overemphasize the power of positivity. Whether it’s in our client meetings or internal staff meetings, this is reflected in every aspect of what we do.
“At A Pass, I am most grateful for the community of caring colleagues with whom we work. Working with our teams here at A Pass makes me notice how much good there is in the world and what a difference can be made when we work together.” Regan Wood, STEM Content Area Director
“The thing I love most about my job is the people. We have an amazing internal staff that is collaborative, creative, and is always pushing each other to try new things and achieve new goals. Our team of creative collaborators also extends to our contractors. Without them, we would not be able to produce such high-quality learning. On each project, we have a team that works together and makes the final product a success; it is really amazing to be a part of. Finally, we have had the opportunity to work some amazing clients. Our clients come to us with exciting visions and we get to work with them to make it happen. Our partnership with these clients allows us to take part in creating some really amazing final products. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with so many creative minds!” Meghan Garfield, Director of Career and Technical Education
Above all, the glue that holds us all together is communication and responsiveness. We are guided by a clear communication protocol that helps us respond to questions or issues promptly. We implement this with our clients and internally within our teams to ensure we are doing our best to give you the best.
