InStride named a 2023 Most Innovative Company by Fast Company

Vivek Sharma

Chief Executive Officer

“America is at the threshold of the Age of And – the age of Business AND Social Impact, Employee AND Learner, Shareholder AND Society. InStride enables CEOs to meet this moment by strategically deploying workforce education to transform their business.”
About Vivek

Chief Executive Officer

Vivek Sharma is an Indian-American business executive, and has extensive experience building and growing profitable businesses through the application of technology & data, having served as CEO & Co-Founder, senior tech executive, board director of public & private companies, data science professor and author.

He is the CEO & Co-Founder of InStride, a public benefit corporation, enabling leading employers to provide career-boosting online degrees and certificates to their employees, through top-tier global universities. Since its inception in 2019, InStride has helped 57,000+ learners and prevented $630M in student loan debt.

Vivek co-founded InStride after six years at The Walt Disney Company, where he was the Senior Vice President, Digital Guest Experience & eCommerce, serving 150M guests annually across theme parks, resorts, cruises, guided travel adventures, restaurants and retail businesses globally. Prior to Disney, he spent four years with Yahoo in Sunnyvale as General Manager for Yahoo Mail & Messenger, and Vice President of Yahoo Search products. Earlier in his career, Vivek was an Associate Partner with the technology practice of McKinsey & Company in their Chicago and Singapore offices for eight years.

Vivek serves as board director for multiple companies, including JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU), where he is the chairman of the Technology committee and a member of the Audit committee, and Kaiser Permanente, where he is a member of the Audit & Compliance Committee and the Community Health Committee. He is the author of two books, “C-SPARK: CEO-led Workforce Education for the AGE of AND” and “WIREFRAMED: Simplifying Digital Innovation for Business Leaders.” Vivek is also an adjunct professor of data science at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, and an active early-stage investor in multiple technology-based startups.

Vivek graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and holds an MBA from INSEAD, France.

“America is at the threshold of the Age of And – the age of Business AND Social Impact, Employee AND Learner, Shareholder AND Society. InStride enables CEOs to meet this moment by strategically deploying workforce education to transform their business.”

Featured in

Strategic Education Can Drive Our Workforce of Tomorrow

Vivek Sharma and Jeannine Kunz
October 2022

Why health care organizations need to invest in workforce career advancement

Vivek Sharma and Heather Brace
July 2022

Can There Be A Great Retention? An Interview With InStride CEO Vivek Sharma

Michael T. Nietzel
February 2022

From innovating Disney parks to tackling workforce education

January 2022

Talent Retention Through Education: A Conversation with Vivek Sharma, CEO of InStride

Happy at Work podcast with Jack Kelly
January 2022

The role of the CEO in solving today’s workforce crises

Work in Progress podcast with Ramona Schindelheim
January 2022

How To Reach Multiple Goals That Conflict With Each Other

Morey Stettner
December 2021

In A Competitive Job Market Free Company-Paid College Tuition Is The Key To Attracting, Retaining And Motivating Workers

Jack Kelly
December 2021

C-Spark: CEO-Led Workforce Education for the Age of And with Vivek Sharma CEO/Co-Founder InStride

All Business Podcast with Jeffrey Hayzlett
November 2021

Nasdaq #TradeTalks

Jill Malandrino
November 2021

LEARN, DELIVER AND CONNECT: INTERVIEW WITH VIVEK SHARMA, CEO OF INSTRIDE

Adam Mendler
October 2021

Free college? This company is making that a reality

Deanna Cuadra
October 2021

Why companies are falling short in their workforce education programs

Vivek Sharma
July 2021

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