The Insight Schools team is a leader in designing, building and
operating online high schools.
Our accomplished team consists of experienced educators and innovators who have led some of the largest online high school organizations in the country. All together, we’ve led the development of hundreds of online courses and worked with over one million students and families in all 50 states and throughout the world.
- Keith Oelrich, Founder and CEO
Keith Oelrich is a pioneer of the virtual school movement. The virtual school programs he has led have collectively educated over 700,000 students. Prior to launching Insight Schools, Mr. Oelrich served as president and CEO of KC Distance Learning from 2002 until 2005. Mr. Oelrich was the architect of KCDL’s virtual school vision, and led the company through a period of tremendous growth and transformation. Under Mr. Oelrich’s leadership, KCDL became recognized as one of the leading companies in K-12 online learning and grew to become the largest private online high school in the nation. KCDL operates Keystone National High School, an accredited independent study program; in addition, while at KCDL, Mr. Oelrich launched iQ Academies, a national cyber-charter school management company that develops high quality high schools to educate students who are looking for outstanding educational alternatives to traditional schools.
Read Keith’s full biography - Elizabeth Ruis, Chief Operating Officer
Elizabeth brings a unique combination of skills and experiences that are relevant for success in her role at Insight. Most recently, Elizabeth was the Chief Operating Officer at Acelero Learning, Inc. in New York, where she helped the company increase their revenue by over 250% over a 12-month period while significantly increasing the number of children who received services and improving quality of services provided. Before working with Acelero Learning, she was a Regional Vice President at KinderCare Learning Centers, the nation's leading private provider of early childhood and school-age education and care, serving more than 300,000 children. At KinderCare Elizabeth was responsible for managing over $100 million in annual revenues, 182 learning centers and 2,500 employees. Prior to KinderCare, she was an executive with Enterprise Rent-a-Car, where among other things she relocated to London, England and led the startup of the company's U.K. operations. Elizabeth graduated from Willamette University in Salem, OR with a Bachelor's of Science in Economics.
- Ed Harris, Executive Vice President, Finance and Strategy
Ed Harris joined Insight Schools at the Company's inception in 2005. From 2002 to 2005, Harris was the founder and CEO of Razor Capital LLC, a private financial advisory company based in Bellevue, Washington, and also served as a member of the Board of Directors for several public companies, including Edison Schools, a New York based operator of charter schools. From 1998 to 2002, Harris was one of the senior members of a team of investment professionals at Seattle-based Vulcan, Inc., responsible for managing the portfolio of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. While at Vulcan, he directed investments in numerous innovative technology and service companies, and served as Chairman of Apex Learning. From 1992 to 1998 Harris was CFO of three Seattle-area technology companies, including Starwave, which was acquired by the Walt Disney Company, and Claircom, which was acquired by AT&T. From 1985 to 1990, Harris was an investment banker at Salomon Brothers in New York, where he worked on numerous financing and merger and acquisition transactions for major global corporations. Harris moved to Seattle in 1990 and spent two years at Boullioun Aviation, an aircraft leasing company founded by the former President of Boeing, Tex Boullioun. Harris received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Rutgers University in 1982 and a Master in Business Administration from the Columbia University in 1985. He graduated from both schools with academic honors. Harris has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle.
- Kirt Nilsson, Senior Vice President, Operations
Kirt joins Insight Schools from KC Distance Learning, Inc., where he was Director of Marketing. At KCDL, Kirt led the building of a marketing infrastructure and the company’s successful expansion of its direct-to-family and cyber charter school segments through Keystone National High School and iQ Academies utilizing a mix of channels that included the web, television, radio, print, events, direct mail, and public relations. Kirt was also instrumental in leading the development of Keystone National High School’s virtual and on-the-ground community efforts. Prior to KCDL, Kirt was Director of Professional Services at @Once, a full-service eMessaging firm in Portland, Oregon that was acquired by InfoUSA. In that role, he directed a team that developed online marketing strategies to drive sales for major retailers that included Home Shopping Network, JC Whitney, Orvis, and Ritz Cameras, specializing in applying direct marketing techniques and segmentation to performance-based contracts. Prior to that, Kirt was the Director of Marketing at Household Credit Services, where he and his team originated over one million credit card accounts annually accounting for over $200m in receivables. Kirt received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from George Washington University and both his Masters in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Boston University. Kirt has volunteered with SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), a volunteer program dedicated to early literacy, and is a member of NETImpact, the American Marketing Association, and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
- Brian Rose, Senior Vice President, School Development
Brian joins Insight Schools from Fios Inc. where he served as Director of Business & Corporate Development. Brian was the steward of Fios' go-to-market strategy, specifically responsible for industry analysis, strategic plan development, investor relations, and development of business partnerships and alliances. Brian was also a key member of the executive team that successfully closed a $6.5 million dollar venture round resulting in key operational investments that positioned Fios to exceed market average growth. Prior to Fios, Brian engaged in a decade of entrepreneurial ventures including roles as Vice President of Business Development for Tangis, a start-up focused on voice recognition software applications, Vice President of Sales, eBusiness Solutions Group, an internet company, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Intrinsyc Software (TSX: ICS). Brian currently serves as the Committee Chair for Portland Central Young Life, an urban ministry serving inner city kids. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronic Engineering from Oregon Institute of Technology.
- Roger Hanley, Vice President, Instruction and Quality Assurance
Roger comes to Insight Schools most recently from Elluminate, Inc., a leading provider of web conferencing and eLearning solutions where he was the Vice President / Director of Academic Strategies. At Elluminate, Roger worked with academic and not-for-profit agencies to promote and support synchronous, real-time collaboration within the academic landscape and virtual classroom modalities. Roger's career in public education spans twenty years, during which he conceived of, initiated and began operating the Rocky View Virtual School – Canada’s then-largest virtual school. Roger's experience in starting Canada's premier virtual school led to a number of speaking engagements, including various teachers' conventions and education/technology specialist councils. Roger went on to become General Manager of Virtual High Schools at Apex Learning, a leader in the eLearning industry. Roger sat on the Board of Directors of the Alberta Online Consortium for 7 years, sits on the Board of the California Consortium of Virtual Educators and is a frequent speaker at distance learning conferences. Roger holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toronto.
- Joanne Luzietti, Vice President, Education Operations
Joanne brings over ten years of operational and strategic leadership experience to Insight Schools. Most recently, Joanne worked as the Director of Marketing and Corporate Outreach for Portland State University. In this role, Joanne developed a career placement strategy for graduate business students centered on strengthening connections with key employers in the Portland business community and increasing accountability among students for their own success. Prior to her work with Portland State University, Joanne led the employer-sponsored division for KinderCare Learning Centers, which operated on-site child care centers for organizations such as Universal Orlando, Northwestern University and The Cleveland Clinic. After Knowledge Learning Corporation acquired KinderCare, she focused on leading existing clients through the integration in her role as Senior Director of Strategic Client Partnerships - supporting over 130 clients nationwide. Joanne earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, followed by her MBA at The Anderson School of Management at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. Joanne continues to enjoy her adjunct faculty position with Portland State University, teaching the capstone business strategy course to undergraduate seniors.
- Larry Capps, Director, Student Services
- Lisa Gillis, Director, Government Affairs
Lisa joins Insight Schools most recently from K12, Inc., a leader in virtual learning solutions to over 30,000 students nationally, and the California Virtual Academies (CAVA). During her tenure on the management team, she was instrumental in the successful development, launch and management of virtual schools resulting in an increase from 1,200 to 6,000 students in CA. Nationally, for K12, she initiated and developed the “blended model” of integrated instruction and served as a key contributor on the K12 National Hybrid Task Force, expanding the program to several states. Lisa spearheaded the effort to recruit, train and develop the Board of Governors for several schools and as the spokesperson for CAVA worked with media to generate positive stories on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, radio talk shows and local publications. Since 1982, Lisa has spanned both the educational and business worlds as a teacher and case manager in the traditional, GATE and Special Education classrooms, Director of Independent Study for the Mark West Union School District, consultant for the California Department of Education and as a Chamber of Commerce Executive Director working in government affairs. In 2000, Lisa piloted the first virtual education program for home-educated students through the Sonoma County Office of Education. She is a graduate of the California School Leadership Academy (CSLA), holds both Administrative and Teaching credentials and has earned a Bachelor of Science in Institutional Management from Oregon State University and a Master of Arts in Education from Sonoma State University.
- Wendy Li, Director, Program Operations
- Rich Maye, Director, Technology Operations
Rich joins Insight from KC Distance Learning, Inc. where he was the Senior Manager of Information Technology. In that role, Rich developed a state-of-the-art proprietary student information system for over 50,000 students, oversaw the operational model and technical infrastructure supporting iQ Academies, and deployed KCDL’s learning management system. Prior to KCDL, Rich worked for the American Academy of Independent Studies, a leading distance education culinary school and developed software for an aluminum manufacturer while attending classes at Pennsylvania’s Bloomsburg University. Rich has attended training or received certifications in Visual Basic Programming, Advanced Database Design, Systems Integration, Project Management, Unix Administration, Business Intelligence, IP Telephony, and LMS Systems. Rich holds an instructor Black-Belt in Japanese jiu-jitsu and rank of Blue-Belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Rich is a registered jiu-jitsu instructor through the American Federation of jiu-jitsu.
- Mary Mertz, Director, Education
- Karla Pollich, Director, Marketing
Karla comes to Insight Schools most recently from Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX), a leading document management technology and service enterprise where she served as a Manager for Segment Marketing Programs, Marketing Planning & Product Integration, and Customer Loyalty and Retention. At Xerox, Karla managed several key marketing programs including a thought leadership marketing lead generation webcast series entitled IT Xchange, as well as a highly successful customer relations Web site called Color Connection, which served Xerox customers worldwide. Prior to Xerox, Karla was a Director of Database Marketing at Compass Learning, an educational software company. Karla is a Lean Six Sigma certified Green Belt and currently volunteers at Rosemont School, a residential treatment facility and school for teenage girls, where she teaches a monthly cooking class. Karla holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University.