Hobsons U.S. Executive Management
Craig Heldman - President
Craig Heldman's tenure with Hobsons began in 1995, with his appointment as national sales director. During this time, Craig directed the restructuring and expansion of the sales organization for Hobsons. In 1998, Craig was promoted to vice president of new business development, where he oversaw the expansion of Hobsons' product offerings and established strategic partnerships that solidified Hobsons' leadership position within the industry. Craig was promoted to his current position as President of Hobsons U.S. in 2002. He is responsible for all facets of day-to-day operations and Hobsons U.S. strategic planning.
Prior to joining Hobsons, Craig held a variety of sales management positions with Procter & Gamble USA. Craig is an active participant in a number of industry organizations, including the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers, National Association for College Admission Counseling, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, and Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, where he holds a position on the Corporate & Philanthropic Council. Craig holds a Bachelor of Arts in finance and marketing from Michigan State University. Craig currently chairs the Hobsons U.S. executive board and is a member of the Hobsons international board.
Clay Bond - Vice President of Domestic Undergraduate Publishing
Clay Bond joined Hobsons as a sales representative, focused on the southern United States market. Clay also helped to launch efforts focused on the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and Christian markets, which evolved into a focused niche strategy. In his current role as vice president of Domestic Undergraduate Publishing, Clay oversees the management of all day-to-day domestic sales activities as well as strategies for new product development. Before joining Hobsons, Clay began his selling career with a Berkshire Hathaway equipment company, working with large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Clay holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in international relations and professional English writing from the University of Redlands, as well as an MBA from the Peter Drucker Graduate Management Center in Claremont, California.
Jeremy Cooper - Vice President of International & Graduate Publishing
Jeremy Cooper joined the Hobsons U.S. office in May 2007 as the vice president of international and graduate publishing, and oversees the management of all day-to-day international and graduate activities. He came to the U.S. office from Hobsons UK, where he previously served as Deputy Managing Director.
Since 1994, his long and varied Hobsons career has seen him work in sales, marketing, distribution and operations. Most recently, Jeremy successfully launched the UK business's Research and Technology Divisions and Service Center, an outsourced inquiry management solution for UK universities.
Jeremy holds a degree in media, as well as a master's from the University of Leeds in the UK.
Paul Freedman
Paul Freedman officially joined Hobsons as the EMT managing director when his company, Academic Engine, was acquired and folded into the EMT division in 2004. Paul founded Academic Engine in 1999 while still a student at the University of Chicago. Even at that time, Paul had extensive exposure to higher education institutions, having served in research and administrative roles at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the National Opinion Research Council at the University of Chicago. Academic Engine was born from his desire to introduce emerging tools such as directed search to the technology-starved higher education market. For more than five years, Paul built a product development, sales, and service organization from the ground up. Under his stewardship, the company acquired nearly 150 clients in the education market, expanded from a single product offering to a comprehensive suite of communication management solutions, developed several successful partnerships and market-expanding commercial relationships, and weathered the financial storm of the dot-com bubble. Today, Paul oversees Hobsons' presence in the higher education technology market.
Norm Goldrich - Global Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer
Norm Goldrich has been with Hobsons for more than 13 years. As the Global COO & CTO, Norm manages all aspects of operations and technology for Hobsons. His role includes the following areas: back-end and front-end technical development, database development, CD-ROM and DVD development, quality assurance testing, customer technical support, infrastructure support, network architecture, disaster recovery, company operations, capital expense management, contract negotiation, and leases, as well as acquisition due-diligence reviews. Globally, Norm manages the operational and technical directions for all Hobsons offices and companies.
Prior to joining Hobsons, Norm was a consultant for eight years with Procter & Gamble. Additionally, Norm has also designed both hardware and software, including satellite controllers, high-speed laser surgery controllers, data acquisition, and communications controllers.
Sasha Peterson - EMT Managing Director
Sasha Peterson is the EMT Managing Director and is responsible for all commercial activities within the EMT group. Sasha implemented the Client Development model at EMT in 2004 which was a new approach to service focusing on personal attention and a consultative engagement. Based on the success within EMT, this model was expanded into the Hobsons publishing divisions in 2007. Prior to joining the Hobsons team in 2004 as part of the Academic Engine acquisition, Sasha was the VP of Sales and Operations at Academic Engine leading the organization to an expanded client base of more than 150 institutions and establishing the Client Development philosophy. Sasha is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.
Chris Sapita - Executive Vice President, Strategic Business Development
Chris Sapita has been committed to Hobsons for more than 14 years as one of the original team of employees that launched the U.S. division and its products in 1993. Her role in higher education extends even further, having served in student recruitment, admissions, and financial aid at the University of Dayton before joining Hobsons. Chris's interest in student recruitment initially began as a college student working in admissions and helping to recruit new students via phone campaigns and campus visits. Since joining the company, Chris has focused her energy on the product development and client service areas of the company. Her current role as executive vice president of Strategic Business Development is to support and promote the business development efforts of Hobsons, so as to expand the services available to our client base of more than 1,500 institutions.
Stephen M. Smith - CEO of Naviance
Stephen M. Smith is chief executive officer and co-founder of Naviance and serves as a member of the Hobsons U.S. executive board. Prior to Naviance, he led e-learning client engagements for major corporate clients including OgilvyOne Worldwide, IBM, Pfizer, Nestlι, and others.
Previously, Mr. Smith was vice president of digital product development at Peterson's, then a division of The Thomson Corporation, where he played a key role in transforming a traditional print publishing business into the premier on-line services company in the field of education information and admissions. Mr. Smith led a major business development initiative within The Thomson Corporation to develop CollegeQuest.com and to expand petersons.com, which were collectively ranked as one of the top 100 websites by Yahoo! Internet Life. Prior to joining Peterson's, Mr. Smith worked with the Thomson Technology Services Group as a founding member of its Internet consulting practice.
Mr. Smith also serves as a practitioner faculty member at The Johns Hopkins University where he teaches graduate level coursework in marketing and technology. Mr. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, cum laude, and an MBA from Cornell University.