Preece, an experienced SaaS leader and former COO of LegalZoom, will lead the prominent edtech company through its next chapter of innovation and growth

GoGuardian Co-Founder Advait Shinde will assume an Executive Chairman role on the company’s board of directors alongside a leadership role focused on technology and innovation

LOS ANGELES, March 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GoGuardian, the leading digital learning company combining the best in learning science and technology to drive positive learning outcomes for all students, today announced Rich Preece as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective April 15, 2024. Preece will succeed Co-Founder and current CEO Advait Shinde, who will transition to a new leadership role focused on technology and innovation. Shinde will also continue serving as a GoGuardian board director in the role of Executive Chairman.

Preece’s appointment comes as GoGuardian celebrates 10 years in business serving students and educators with technologies that help make learning safer, more engaging, and more responsive to students’ individual needs. Today, over 25 million public K-12 students use a GoGuardian product as part of their learning journey, and the company is poised to grow its impact even further under Preece’s leadership.

Shinde, who co-founded GoGuardian as a software engineer early in his career, has served as CEO since November 2017 and oversaw a period of extraordinary growth. He successfully led the company through the acquisitions of Pear Deck in 2020, Edulastic in 2021, and TutorMe in 2022, as well as the launch of GoGuardian’s gamified learning solution, Pear Practice, in 2023 — all now elements of the popular Pear Deck Learning ecosystem of learning tools — resulting in expansion that today serves over 1.8 million educators across North America. He also secured strategic investments from Sumeru Equity Partners and Tiger Global Management, valuing GoGuardian at over $1 billion.

“Serving as GoGuardian’s CEO has been an amazing experience, and I’m so grateful for the employees, customers, partners, and countless others who have contributed to our success so far,” said Shinde. “Looking to the future, I’m excited to be returning to my roots, focusing deeply on the technologies and innovations that will shape the future of education. Even more, I’m thrilled for Rich to join us as GoGuardian’s new CEO, harnessing his deep connection to our mission and extensive leadership experience to take our company to the next level.”

Preece, an experienced business leader in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), is the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of LegalZoom, where he has overseen significant growth, and was central to taking the company public in 2022. Prior to LegalZoom, Preece spent 17 years at Intuit, taking on a variety of product, marketing, and general management roles across both US and international businesses, including Senior Vice President and US GM for QuickBooks, where he was responsible for all growth and revenue across the US QuickBooks franchise.

“Advait and the entire GoGuardian team have built an impressive and impactful company with a mission that I feel passionate about,” said Preece. “As a parent myself, I deeply understand the importance of education and its role in helping build a better society. GoGuardian has an exceptionally bright future ahead, and I am honored to help lead this next chapter.”

“We are incredibly grateful for Advait’s leadership and partnership, which has been instrumental in scaling GoGuardian into the successful company it is today,” said Sanjeet Mitra and George Kadifa, Sumeru Co-Founders and GoGuardian board directors. “We are sincerely excited to welcome Rich to collaborate with Advait and the GoGuardian team to lead the company into its second decade. Rich has a terrific background in scaling innovative software companies, and we deeply value his commitment to the GoGuardian mission of better and safer learning on behalf of the students and educators we serve.”

About GoGuardian
GoGuardian aims to help all learners feel ready and inspired to solve the world's greatest challenges by combining the best in learning science and technology across every part of the K-12 learning journey. Our award-winning system of educational tools includes GoGuardian Admin, Beacon, and Teacher to support student safety and productivity, and Pear Deck, Pear Deck Tutor, Pear Assessment, and Pear Practice as part of the Pear Deck Learning ecosystem for curriculum and instruction. GoGuardian’s portfolio is trusted by millions of school leaders to promote effective teaching and equitable engagement while empowering educators to help keep students safe. Learn more at goguardian.com and peardeck.com.

Contact
GoGuardian PR
press@goguardian.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1cc4c172-fe60-4afb-a991-a802001fa0ee