Hello, I’m Kirsten Campbell-Howes
I’m a senior edtech leader who has spent her career trying to improve educational outcomes and life opportunities for millions of learners around the world. I’m also a writer, both professionally and recreationally.
Starting out as a teacher of English in Shanghai, China, I quickly moved into the world of edtech startups, where I have spent the bulk of my 25+ year career. Most recently I was the Chief Learning Officer at Busuu where I spent 7 years building the learning design team, learning methodology and content strategy to serve over 120 million language learners around the world. Busuu was acquired by Chegg in 2022.
My specialism is Applied Linguistics, and I hold a Master’s in this subject from the University of Oxford. However I have worked across a broad range of disciplines and business types within education. My areas of expertise encompass digital pedagogy, community-based learning, product management, the application of machine learning/AI to online tutoring and course design, content operations, team leadership and growing, scaling and exiting an edtech startup.
During my career I have been part of edtech businesses which have grown dramatically, had a huge positive impact on learners and achieved financial success. I have also worked for a number of startups which had to pivot into different areas or which didn’t make it. In short, I’ve seen it all!
I am currently consulting and advising startups and established businesses across a variety of education sectors, all with an interest in using technology to drive learning outcomes. I also mentor for the European Edtech VC Brighteye Ventures and am a Venture Partner at Emerge Education.
If you are interested in my writing, I am currently exploring themes around grief, widowhood and renewal here.
Read my take on finding product-market-fit in edtech
Read an interview I did on designing successful consumer edtech
Watch me talk about how to embed community in self-paced learning
Kirsten Campbell-Howes 