# Shannon Penrose

**Chief Revenue Officer** — Los Angeles, CA, United States

> Chief revenue executive with 30 years in K-12 education, from classroom teacher to national EdTech leader. Built three commercial engines generating hundreds of millions in enterprise revenue through district partnerships, professional learning, and mission-aligned growth.

Career Archetype: **Horizon Navigator** (RB-DG) — One of the first Horizon Navigators on Saywise

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/shannonepenrose
- Website: https://shannonpenrose.com

## Experience

### Operating Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Growing Brilliant (2025-09 – present)
United States · Executed full P&L turnaround to profitability within two quarters by rebuilding go-to-market, customer profiles, messaging, and pricing. Reduced customer acquisition cost from $356 to $104 and improved LTV:CAC from 1.18x to 4.04x. Founded The Bridge Project, a national B2B hospital partnership targeting 9 million children, with UCSF Benioff and CHLA as anchor pilots.

### Member Board of Trustees, Rethink Learning Labs (2025-06 – 2025-11)
Board trustee advising executive leadership on growth strategy, early learning product direction, and strategic partnerships. Board Service · Growth Strategy · Educational Technology (EdTech)

### Chief Growth Officer, Eduscape (2025-01 – 2025-09)
Remote · Secured $660,000 in contracted revenue through statewide preferred-provider partnerships with Nevada Department of Education and National Catholic Education Association. Established Eduscape as Nevada's preferred online professional-learning provider and built full national sales pipeline with Salesforce governance and forecast discipline.

### Senior Vice President and Head of Educational Solutions, American College of Education (2023-06 – 2025-12)
Remote · Built the institution's first B2B revenue vertical from zero to $3M in net new contracted revenue in year one, scaled to $6M ARR year over year with 100 percent cohort retention. Designed multi-state stackable pathways aligning K-12 districts, community colleges, and degree programs. Created credit-transcription service converting professional learning into transcripted graduate credit.

### Managing Partner, Learning Ally (2018-06 – 2023-12)
Orange County, CA · Grew net new revenue from $4M to $32M over five-year tenure by architecting and closing eight-figure multi-year partnerships with LAUSD, Miami-Dade, Dallas ISD, Chicago, Boston, and Milwaukee. Built field sales organization from scratch hiring educators as sales professionals. Developed brain-based literacy professional-learning program for 11,000+ LAUSD educators anchoring eight-figure contract.

### Regional Vice President, Frog Street (2017-06 – 2018-12)
Remote · Brought comprehensive PreK curriculum and professional development to districts, Head Start agencies, and early-learning centers. Built early childhood network relationships that informed institutional partnership strategy.

### Director of Professional Development, Discovery Communications (2016-06 – 2018-12)
United States · Built and led Digital Leader Corps, a multi-year professional-learning model embedding digital curriculum into district practice. Structured tailored two-to-three-year consultancy and professional-learning engagements with Metro Nashville, Greenville, Fallbrook, and Pasadena USD, generating $1,879,000 in multi-year earned revenue.

### Senior Director of Publishing, Teacher Created Materials (2013-06 – 2016-12)
Orange County, CA · Led Texas TEA state social studies adoption for Exploring Social Studies, securing an eight-figure contract. Built Mathematics division from inception, developing Focused Mathematics Intervention and Focused Reading Intervention as RTI supplements. Closed TCM's first seven-figure deal with LAUSD Office of Special Education.

### Senior Product Developer, Elementary Education Solutions, Lakeshore Learning Materials (2010-06 – 2013-12)
Carson CA. · Led product development across early-childhood and elementary lines on $12M budget, generating $20M+ in new revenue. Created company's first RTI and differentiated-instruction catalog and STEM kits, opening new district and school-level sales channels.

### Founder & Principal, Shannon Penrose, LLC, shannonpenrose.com (2008-06 – present)
Huntington Beach, CA · Independent professional platform built around three pillars: advisory, authorship, and speaking. The vehicle for my board work, keynote practice, publishing, and the Raising Unstoppable™ intellectual property.Through the advisory pillar I provide board and strategic counsel to education companies, EdTech founders, and institutional partners on category creation, multi-channel scaling across D2C, B2C, and B2B, Independent professional platform built around three pillars: advisory, authorship, and speaking. The vehicle for my board work, executive advisory, keynote practice, publishing, and the Raising Unstoppable™ intellectual property. Advisory: board and strategic counsel to education companies, EdTech founders, and institutional partners on category creation, multi-channel scaling across D2C, B2C, and B2B, and exit positioning. Past and current clients include Age of Learning, Eduscape, Orange County Department of Education, and Saddleback Valley USD. Authorship: Raising Unstoppable™, the trademarked Body. Mind. Heart. Will. framework for building resilient, curious, impossible-to-stop children ages 2 to 18, The flagship article is published. A book, speaker series, and parent community are in development. Speaking: keynotes and moderated conversations on early childhood, parent engagement, educational equity, virtual learning, and the future of early education. www.shannonpenrose.com Executive Advisory · Board Service · Public Speaking

### Senior Consultant, Teacher Created Materials (2007-06 – 2010-06)
National consulting on curriculum, professional learning, and product strategy for K-12 and early childhood publishers. Curriculum Development · Professional Learning · Consulting

### Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Principal, Bilingual Educator, Newport-Mesa, Hacienda La Puente, and Rowland Unified School Districts (1991-06 – 2010-12)
Hacienda La Puente USD / Newport-Mesa USD · Twenty-year K-12 career spanning bilingual classroom teaching, principal leadership, and district-level curriculum and instruction oversight. Responsible for instructional program design, school operations, curriculum adoption, and teacher development. Built deep buyer-side expertise in district administration, operations, and procurement.

### Bilingual Educator, Hacienda La Puente Unified School District (1990-06 – 1991-06)
Bilingual classroom educator delivering early elementary instruction. Bilingual Education · Early Childhood Education · Curriculum & Instruction

### Director of Curriculum And Instruction, Unknown (1990-01 – 2010-01)
Recruited as employee #1 to found Newport Coast Elementary School, building staff, operations, and governance from the ground up in a 10-month launch. 20 years of district and school leadership, providing first-hand insight into how superintendents, principals, and teachers evaluate and adopt instructional solutions.

## Education

### M.S.Ed & M.A.Ed in Literacy / Numeracy / Administration, California State University, Fullerton
Grade: PreK-12

### B.A. History and Economics, California State University, Fullerton

## Projects

### The Bridge Project
National B2B hospital partnership targeting sidelined children in healthcare settings · Founded institutional B2B hospital-partnership initiative targeting 9 million children. Built multi-year contracted pricing model positioned as cost-avoidance against $100,000+ Education FTE equivalency, establishing scalable revenue model for early-learning services in medical settings.

### Digital Leader Corps
Multi-year professional-learning model for district digital curriculum adoption · Embedded Discovery's digital curriculum into district practice through structured professional learning. Drove adoption, engagement, and sustained platform renewal across national district partnerships, creating a replicable model for long-term customer retention.

### LAUSD Brain-Based Literacy Program
Large-scale professional-learning initiative anchoring district partnership · Built and led multi-year brain-based literacy professional-learning program serving 11,000+ LAUSD educators. Created delivery infrastructure anchoring eight-figure contract and supporting subsequent major district partnerships. Informed by published MIT research on audiobook efficacy.

### Stackable Credential Architecture
Model converting professional learning into transcripted graduate credit · Designed credential-stacking architecture pairing professional learning with degree and certificate programs. Built credit-transcription service converting completed learning into transcripted graduate credit in partnership with Lexia. Created scalable, state-by-state partnership model with predictable recurring revenue, directly replicable for any organization.

### Focused Mathematics and Reading Intervention
RTI supplement product line for targeted literacy and numeracy intervention · Developed and published Focused Mathematics Intervention and Focused Reading Intervention as targeted RTI (Response to Intervention) supplements. Built new product category that expanded company's reach into district and school-level sales channels serving students with intervention needs.

## Skills

Revenue Generation, Edtech, Nonprofit Leadership, Early Childhood Literacy, strategic parrtnerships, Earned Revenue, Professional Learning Communities, Revenue & Profit Growth, Business-to-Business (B2B), Board Advisory Services, Revenue Management, Executive Advisory, Go-to-Market Strategy, P&L Management, Business Growth Strategies, Leadership Management, Keynote Speaking, Early Childhood Education, Child Development, Revenue Operations, Sales Organization Leadership, District Partnerships, State Agency Partnerships, Salesforce CRM, Pipeline Management, Professional Learning Design, Curriculum Development, Bilingual Education, Instructional Leadership, Customer Success and Renewal, Contract Negotiation, Product Development, Affiliate and Channel Management, Literacy Instruction, Mathematics Education, Special Education, RTI and Intervention, STEM Education, Board Governance, School Operations, Teacher Development, Research-Informed Practice, Healthcare Partnerships

## Credentials

- **National Board Certification** — National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
- **Reading Specialist/Consultant (PK-12)** — California Department of Education (issued 2002-05)
- **Focused Mathematics Intervention**

## AI Fluency

- **Claude** (https://claude.ai)
- **ChatGPT** (https://chatgpt.com)
- **Gemini** (https://gemini.google.com)

---
Source: https://saywise.com/shannonpenrose35 (last modified 2026-09-24T16:16:49.539Z)