Interview with Jon Chapman, Founder and President, EVERFI.
Q: Give us a brief explanation of what EVERFI is?
Jon Chapman: For more than 12 years EVERFI has delivered digital, scalable, social impact education to Fortune 1000 companies, sports leagues, primary schools, and higher education institutions. EVERFI’s work has reached more than 30 million learners in the United States and Canada. We have recently been recognised by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.
Q: EVERFI has just bought UK company EdComs, which specialises in education that drives social change. What was the thinking behind that?
Jon Chapman: As we have worked with our global customers, we have seen increasing demand internationally to address many of the same critical topics that we address in North America including programmes on anti-bullying, compassion, digital safety, financial literacy, mental wellness, prescription drug addiction prevention, workplace conduct, and many others. We were looking for a proven international partner to expand our ability to serve more organisations internationally. We sought out a company that was experienced, with a similar portfolio of distinguished brands, had a superior track record, and a stellar leadership team. We found the perfect fit with EdComs. We are fully aligned in our mission and cultures, and collectively we will make a greater social impact globally for generations to come.
Q: What are EVERFI’s plans for the UK and in what timeframe?
Jon Chapman: We are currently tailoring our courses for the UK market so that we can help children, young people, and adults develop the skills they need to be successful in life and in the workplace. It is important that our content meets both the cultural norms of the country and the nuances of interpersonal communication. As our programmes are fully digital, they will be ready for the UK market in the next 3-6 months, although this will depend on the content, length of the course and the desired learning outcomes. Additionally, we are working with our global brands to build customised programmes to address topics that are specific to their social impact strategy or community engagement plans.
Q: How can UK businesses and the education sector benefit from your presence in the UK?
Jon Chapman: EVERFI is a proven leader in fully leveraging technology to deliver curricula that are aligned with established standards-based education. We do this for our business partners so they can serve both external members of the communities they do business in or internally to those that they employ. In either case, our education is grounded in research and metrics so that we can track the impact within a particular community or subject area. EVERFI is also able to immediately offer courses to a limitless number of learners and in a scalable fashion that creates a unique impact as compared to non-digital methods. Our content advances the social good and works well within business and education environments.
Q: How do you see education technology developing across the world over the next few years?
Jon Chapman: We believe that increasingly educational content will be delivered to learners in an on-demand format. To remain relevant, education must be delivered to the learner where and when they want to receive the information. For instance, within the realm of financial literacy education, we are noticing that when people need to make an important financial decision in their lives, they want financial education via their mobile devices. . We will continue to see the critical role that mobile devices and smartphones play in the delivery of education worldwide.
Q: What are the differences between the education technology sector in the UK and in the US and Canada?
Jon Chapman: We see more similarities between these countries than differences. To be fair, each of these countries are leaders in education technology. There is a lot we can learn from one another — mostly around the overall learner experience and how to optimise that for maximum knowledge gain. There is no question that we all want our education to have a lasting effect and a direct impact on society. The most important role each country will play is ensuring we are delivering the right content in a way that will yield the greatest long-term impact.