Leader

Id
109  
Name
Diana Stepner  
Job Title
VP of Innovation Partnerships & Developer Relations  
Company
Pearson  
Headshot
DianaStepner[5].jpg  
Company Logo
Pearson-Logo (140x60).png  
Bio Full
<p class="p1">Diana Stepner is the VP of Innovation Partnerships &amp; Developer Relations at Pearson - a company which has been innovating since the Industrial Revolution. She helps business units accelerate digital innovation, drives global partnerships with startups, builds relationships with developer communities- including incubators and start ups- and runs the Pearson Catalyst for Education accelerator program. Diana's passion is to bring innovative user experiences, products, and partnerships to life by applying technologies that are not always ready for primetime.&nbsp;</p> <p class="p1">She has focused her career&nbsp;on helping companies turn emerging trends into product reality, realize the value of open innovation, and collaborate with disruptors (both big and small). She is known for thriving in chaos, connecting with fringe developments, strong public speaking, inspirational team leadership, and an ability to translate between business and tech.&nbsp;</p> <p class="p1">Innovation Background: Diana built the Future Technologies team and &ldquo;Champions&rdquo; community of 150 digital thought leaders to actively explore trends three to five years before mainstream adoption. She established the Catalyst accelerator and created a pipeline of start-ups that could provide potential solutions to business challenges. She led maker education efforts, including hardware and maker space partnerships.<br /><br />Team Leadership Background: Diana has led global teams consisting of developers, designers, and product managers for start-ups as well as corporations. She has guided technology organizations on transitioning to mobile. And she has managed emerging media projects at a leading digital agency for clients in sectors ranging from beverages to hospitality to technology.&nbsp;<br /><br />Product Management Background: Diana launched new consumer and eCommerce sites for websites with operations across 36 countries. She established first user experience guidelines for leading cloud-based sales / CRM platform. She applied design thinking and lean start-up practices to introduce rapid prototype development to education leaders.<br /><br />Marketing Background: Diana advised global Fortune 100 customers on incorporating proper user experience practices, including user scenarios (stories) and personas. She leveraged insight to define features, develop prototypes, conduct usability tests, and provide actionable design recommendations.</p> <p>Previously, Diana worked in Emerging Media at Razorfish and UX at Salesforce.com. In addition, she led Product Management in Western Europe for Monster Worldwide. She has a MIMS from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Boston University.&nbsp;</p>  
Created
2015-01-28 14:15:42  
Modified
2018-04-25 10:30:45  

Actions

Related Innovator Profiles

Id
21 
Summary Bio

Diana Stepner is the VP of Innovation Partnerships & Developer Relations at Pearson - a company which has been innovating since the Industrial Revolution. She helps business units accelerate digital innovation, drives global partnerships with startups, builds relationships with developer communities- including incubators and start ups- and runs the Pearson Catalyst for Education accelerator program. Diana's passion is to bring innovative user experiences, products, and partnerships to life by applying technologies that are not always ready for primetime. 

 
Answer 1

We help teams across Pearson gain insight into emerging trends - what we call developments “on the fringe.”  For example, over the last few years we have witnessed the consumerization of education. Students, teachers, and learners, for example, have similar expectations and behaviors in the classroom as they do outside.  As a result, they crave rich digital experiences and believe learning can take place anywhere and at any time. 

Acknowledging that technology is helping to drive change in education to deliver on the expectations of learners and teachers. We have been able to quickly identify and connect Pearson teams with startups - particularly through connections with incubators and accelerators (RocketSpace, 1871, 1776, MaRS and LearnLaunch). Then via Catalyst, Pearson’s accelerator, we’re able to build pilots collaboratively with the startups – all the while providing mentoring and insight that will help them grow and scale effectively.  We’re also championing the next wave of creators and makers by being involved with maker spaces where learners of all ages gain hands-on skills, whether it be in electronics, arts, science, or beyond.   

 
Answer 2

It’s human nature to gravitate towards the familiar - things that have already shown they are effective and work from a business perspective. But education is becoming increasingly consumerized, therefore, we need to deliver experiences that match the ones learners have outside of the classroom. This requires education companies to innovate more quickly, like other technology companies, while also ensuring that all products are delivering the expected outcomes.

 
Answer 3

Pearson has a history of innovation. The company’s origins were in the construction business during the Industrial Revolution. In fact, the story goes… “Pearson became one of the world's largest building contractors at a time when the industry controlled development of the transportation, trade and communication links that fuelled world economies.” Pearson had a similar forward-thinking approach when deciding to focus on education, especially the shift to digital, recognizing that technology was changing the way people learn. 

We started a Future Technologies team in 2011 to explore emerging technological developments and create prototypes that could be shared across the business.  A network of 150 digital thought leaders, called Champions, was created to help promote the sharing of best practices and increase visibility into new platforms and products across the business.  

We also introduced a developer platform to enable developers both inside and outside Pearson to experiment with our content.  In 2012, the Pearson Catalyst accelerator program was introduced. It is an open innovation program that enables anyone from across the company to submit a real business challenge.  We then make a selection of those challenges and publish them so that startups can apply to be part of the program. The startup most capable to address each challenge is selected and works alongside a Pearson team to build a pilot solution.  Each of these initiatives encourages open innovation. The focus is on collaboration and sharing; breaking down the corporate walls.  

Other innovation activities also include a new product lifecycle program to help the company adopt agile product development methodologies and a corporate-wide efficacy statement.

 
Answer 4

I’m actually hoping technology is going to take more of a back seat over the next two years.  I don’t mean that technology will lose importance. It will remain a critical factor. But it will become invisible and serve as an enabler. We’re already seeing the emergence of this trend with the Internet of Things and the rise of data science.

On business models, open and free is always going to be a contender – especially as quality continues to rise. Yet it’s how the information is presented that will be the differentiator. In education, the increasing focus is on personalized and adaptive learning - that means ensuring the right content is presented to you at the right time and being able to quickly filter through the content to find the relevant information you need.  I also don’t think we’re close to the end of the sharing economy.

More on the “fringe,” I am intrigued to see how the bitcoin blockchain is applied in new ways, including in education.

We are seeing the rise of competency-based learning, which introduces more flexibility and a focus on learning practical skills or competencies, especially those that apply in the 21st century.  It’s also important to have a global outlook. Mobile developments in Africa, digital experiences in China, and creative approaches to learning in Australia cannot be overlooked.

 
Answer 5

I’m a big fan of Rallyteam.  The company launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco back in September 2014. The focus is on employee empowerment.  Most companies have valuable side projects that don’t get done simply because of lack of resources, funds, visibility or all three.  With Rallyteam, a marketplace of projects is created.  People in a company can submit a project or indicate they want to work on a specific type of project.  Employees are able to gain and apply new skills all the while completing real, tangible projects for their employer.  It’s a really exciting model - one that can help keep employees engaged and enable learning. 

 
Leader Id
109 

Related Programs

(default) 24 queries took 0 ms
NrQueryErrorAffectedNum. rowsTook (ms)
1SELECT `Menu`.`id`, `Menu`.`slug`, `Menu`.`referrer`, `Menu`.`url`, `Menu`.`report_id`, `Menu`.`other`, `Menu`.`created`, `Menu`.`modified` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`tracking_routes` AS `Menu` WHERE 1 = 115150
2SELECT `Article`.`id`, `Article`.`date`, `Article`.`title`, `Article`.`author`, `Article`.`publisher`, `Article`.`description`, `Article`.`url`, `Article`.`program_only`, `Article`.`innovator_news`, `Article`.`created`, `Article`.`modified`, `Article`.`modifier` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`articles` AS `Article` WHERE `Article`.`program_only` = '0' ORDER BY `Article`.`date` DESC LIMIT 8880
3SELECT `Program`.`id`, `Program`.`title`, `Program`.`subtitle`, `Program`.`summary`, `Program`.`description`, `Program`.`image`, `Program`.`thumbnail`, `Program`.`date`, `Program`.`feature`, `Program`.`enable`, `Program`.`created`, `Program`.`modified`, `Program`.`modifier`, `ArticlesProgram`.`id`, `ArticlesProgram`.`program_id`, `ArticlesProgram`.`article_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`programs` AS `Program` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_programs` AS `ArticlesProgram` ON (`ArticlesProgram`.`article_id` IN (1365, 1361, 1359, 1360, 1358, 1363, 1354, 1355) AND `ArticlesProgram`.`program_id` = `Program`.`id`) 440
4SELECT `Leader`.`id`, `Leader`.`name`, `Leader`.`job_title`, `Leader`.`company`, `Leader`.`headshot`, `Leader`.`company_logo`, `Leader`.`bio_full`, `Leader`.`summary`, `Leader`.`category`, `Leader`.`featured`, `Leader`.`program_only`, `Leader`.`game_changer_only`, `Leader`.`enable`, `Leader`.`created`, `Leader`.`modified`, `Leader`.`modifier`, `ArticlesLeader`.`id`, `ArticlesLeader`.`article_id`, `ArticlesLeader`.`leader_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`leaders` AS `Leader` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_leaders` AS `ArticlesLeader` ON (`ArticlesLeader`.`article_id` IN (1365, 1361, 1359, 1360, 1358, 1363, 1354, 1355) AND `ArticlesLeader`.`leader_id` = `Leader`.`id`) 000
5SELECT `Tag`.`id`, `Tag`.`tag`, `Tag`.`created`, `Tag`.`modified`, `ArticlesTag`.`id`, `ArticlesTag`.`article_id`, `ArticlesTag`.`tag_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`tags` AS `Tag` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_tags` AS `ArticlesTag` ON (`ArticlesTag`.`article_id` IN (1365, 1361, 1359, 1360, 1358, 1363, 1354, 1355) AND `ArticlesTag`.`tag_id` = `Tag`.`id`) 000
6SELECT `Article`.`id`, `Article`.`date`, `Article`.`title`, `Article`.`author`, `Article`.`publisher`, `Article`.`description`, `Article`.`url`, `Article`.`program_only`, `Article`.`innovator_news`, `Article`.`created`, `Article`.`modified`, `Article`.`modifier` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`articles` AS `Article` WHERE `Article`.`innovator_news` = '1' AND `Article`.`program_only` = '0' ORDER BY `Article`.`date` DESC LIMIT 4440
7SELECT `Program`.`id`, `Program`.`title`, `Program`.`subtitle`, `Program`.`summary`, `Program`.`description`, `Program`.`image`, `Program`.`thumbnail`, `Program`.`date`, `Program`.`feature`, `Program`.`enable`, `Program`.`created`, `Program`.`modified`, `Program`.`modifier`, `ArticlesProgram`.`id`, `ArticlesProgram`.`program_id`, `ArticlesProgram`.`article_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`programs` AS `Program` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_programs` AS `ArticlesProgram` ON (`ArticlesProgram`.`article_id` IN (1247, 1245, 1244, 1217) AND `ArticlesProgram`.`program_id` = `Program`.`id`) 000
8SELECT `Leader`.`id`, `Leader`.`name`, `Leader`.`job_title`, `Leader`.`company`, `Leader`.`headshot`, `Leader`.`company_logo`, `Leader`.`bio_full`, `Leader`.`summary`, `Leader`.`category`, `Leader`.`featured`, `Leader`.`program_only`, `Leader`.`game_changer_only`, `Leader`.`enable`, `Leader`.`created`, `Leader`.`modified`, `Leader`.`modifier`, `ArticlesLeader`.`id`, `ArticlesLeader`.`article_id`, `ArticlesLeader`.`leader_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`leaders` AS `Leader` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_leaders` AS `ArticlesLeader` ON (`ArticlesLeader`.`article_id` IN (1247, 1245, 1244, 1217) AND `ArticlesLeader`.`leader_id` = `Leader`.`id`) 000
9SELECT `Tag`.`id`, `Tag`.`tag`, `Tag`.`created`, `Tag`.`modified`, `ArticlesTag`.`id`, `ArticlesTag`.`article_id`, `ArticlesTag`.`tag_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`tags` AS `Tag` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_tags` AS `ArticlesTag` ON (`ArticlesTag`.`article_id` IN (1247, 1245, 1244, 1217) AND `ArticlesTag`.`tag_id` = `Tag`.`id`) 000
10SELECT `Event`.`id`, `Event`.`name`, `Event`.`date_start`, `Event`.`date_end`, `Event`.`date`, `Event`.`not_exact_date`, `Event`.`location`, `Event`.`description`, `Event`.`url`, `Event`.`image`, `Event`.`category`, `Event`.`event_type`, `Event`.`created`, `Event`.`modified`, `Event`.`modifier` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`events` AS `Event` WHERE `Event`.`category` = 1 ORDER BY `Event`.`date_start` DESC LIMIT 3330
11SELECT `Brainwafe`.`id`, `Brainwafe`.`issue`, `Brainwafe`.`ednote_title`, `Brainwafe`.`ednote_content`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_headshot`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_logo`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_logo_url`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_title`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_subtitle`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_content`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_headshot`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_logo`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_logo_url`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_title`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_subtitle`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_content`, `Brainwafe`.`contributed_title`, `Brainwafe`.`contributed_subtitle`, `Brainwafe`.`contributed_content`, `Brainwafe`.`enable`, `Brainwafe`.`current`, `Brainwafe`.`url_hash`, `Brainwafe`.`modifier`, `BrainwavesEvent`.`id`, `BrainwavesEvent`.`event_id`, `BrainwavesEvent`.`brainwafe_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`brainwaves` AS `Brainwafe` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`brainwaves_events` AS `BrainwavesEvent` ON (`BrainwavesEvent`.`event_id` IN (129, 127, 53) AND `BrainwavesEvent`.`brainwafe_id` = `Brainwafe`.`id`) 000
12SELECT `Program`.`id`, `Program`.`title`, `Program`.`subtitle`, `Program`.`summary`, `Program`.`description`, `Program`.`image`, `Program`.`thumbnail`, `Program`.`date`, `Program`.`feature`, `Program`.`enable`, `Program`.`created`, `Program`.`modified`, `Program`.`modifier`, `EventsProgram`.`id`, `EventsProgram`.`event_id`, `EventsProgram`.`program_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`programs` AS `Program` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`events_programs` AS `EventsProgram` ON (`EventsProgram`.`event_id` IN (129, 127, 53) AND `EventsProgram`.`program_id` = `Program`.`id`) 110
13SELECT `Event`.`id`, `Event`.`name`, `Event`.`date_start`, `Event`.`date_end`, `Event`.`date`, `Event`.`not_exact_date`, `Event`.`location`, `Event`.`description`, `Event`.`url`, `Event`.`image`, `Event`.`category`, `Event`.`event_type`, `Event`.`created`, `Event`.`modified`, `Event`.`modifier` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`events` AS `Event` WHERE `Event`.`category` = 0 AND `Event`.`date_end` >= '2025-04-28' ORDER BY `Event`.`date_start` asc LIMIT 3000
14SELECT `Report`.`id`, `Report`.`date`, `Report`.`title`, `Report`.`subtitle`, `Report`.`summary`, `Report`.`author`, `Report`.`body`, `Report`.`upload`, `Report`.`image`, `Report`.`internal`, `Report`.`url`, `Report`.`featured`, `Report`.`program_only`, `Report`.`related`, `Report`.`enable`, `Report`.`created`, `Report`.`modified`, `Report`.`modifier` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`reports` AS `Report` WHERE `Report`.`id` IN (3, 5)220
15SELECT `Tracking`.`id`, `Tracking`.`referrer`, `Tracking`.`user_id`, `Tracking`.`non_member_id`, `Tracking`.`report_id`, `Tracking`.`report_download`, `Tracking`.`other`, `Tracking`.`date` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`tracking` AS `Tracking` WHERE `Tracking`.`report_id` IN (3, 5) 000
16SELECT `Download`.`id`, `Download`.`user_id`, `Download`.`non_member_id`, `Download`.`report_id`, `Download`.`tracking_id`, `Download`.`date` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`reports_download` AS `Download` WHERE `Download`.`report_id` IN (3, 5) 32320
17SELECT `Program`.`id`, `Program`.`title`, `Program`.`subtitle`, `Program`.`summary`, `Program`.`description`, `Program`.`image`, `Program`.`thumbnail`, `Program`.`date`, `Program`.`feature`, `Program`.`enable`, `Program`.`created`, `Program`.`modified`, `Program`.`modifier`, `ProgramsReport`.`id`, `ProgramsReport`.`report_id`, `ProgramsReport`.`program_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`programs` AS `Program` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`programs_reports` AS `ProgramsReport` ON (`ProgramsReport`.`report_id` IN (3, 5) AND `ProgramsReport`.`program_id` = `Program`.`id`) 110
18SELECT `Tag`.`id`, `Tag`.`tag`, `Tag`.`created`, `Tag`.`modified`, `ReportsTag`.`id`, `ReportsTag`.`report_id`, `ReportsTag`.`tag_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`tags` AS `Tag` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`reports_tags` AS `ReportsTag` ON (`ReportsTag`.`report_id` IN (3, 5) AND `ReportsTag`.`tag_id` = `Tag`.`id`) 000
19SELECT `MediaCoverage`.`id`, `MediaCoverage`.`date`, `MediaCoverage`.`title`, `MediaCoverage`.`author`, `MediaCoverage`.`summary`, `MediaCoverage`.`publisher`, `MediaCoverage`.`url`, `MediaCoverage`.`created`, `MediaCoverage`.`modified`, `MediaCoverage`.`modifier`, `MediaCoverageReport`.`id`, `MediaCoverageReport`.`media_coverage_id`, `MediaCoverageReport`.`report_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`media_coverage` AS `MediaCoverage` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`media_coverage_reports` AS `MediaCoverageReport` ON (`MediaCoverageReport`.`report_id` IN (3, 5) AND `MediaCoverageReport`.`media_coverage_id` = `MediaCoverage`.`id`) 000
20SELECT `Brainwafe`.`id`, `Brainwafe`.`issue`, `Brainwafe`.`ednote_title`, `Brainwafe`.`ednote_content`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_headshot`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_logo`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_logo_url`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_title`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_subtitle`, `Brainwafe`.`feature_content`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_headshot`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_logo`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_logo_url`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_title`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_subtitle`, `Brainwafe`.`interview_content`, `Brainwafe`.`contributed_title`, `Brainwafe`.`contributed_subtitle`, `Brainwafe`.`contributed_content`, `Brainwafe`.`enable`, `Brainwafe`.`current`, `Brainwafe`.`url_hash`, `Brainwafe`.`modifier`, `BrainwavesReport`.`id`, `BrainwavesReport`.`brainwafe_id`, `BrainwavesReport`.`report_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`brainwaves` AS `Brainwafe` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`brainwaves_reports` AS `BrainwavesReport` ON (`BrainwavesReport`.`report_id` IN (3, 5) AND `BrainwavesReport`.`brainwafe_id` = `Brainwafe`.`id`) 000
21SELECT COUNT(*) AS `count` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`leaders` AS `Leader` WHERE `Leader`.`id` = 109110
22SELECT `Leader`.`id`, `Leader`.`name`, `Leader`.`job_title`, `Leader`.`company`, `Leader`.`headshot`, `Leader`.`company_logo`, `Leader`.`bio_full`, `Leader`.`summary`, `Leader`.`category`, `Leader`.`featured`, `Leader`.`program_only`, `Leader`.`game_changer_only`, `Leader`.`enable`, `Leader`.`created`, `Leader`.`modified`, `Leader`.`modifier`, `InnovatorProfile`.`id`, `InnovatorProfile`.`linkedin_url`, `InnovatorProfile`.`summary_bio`, `InnovatorProfile`.`answer_1`, `InnovatorProfile`.`answer_2`, `InnovatorProfile`.`answer_3`, `InnovatorProfile`.`answer_4`, `InnovatorProfile`.`answer_5`, `InnovatorProfile`.`leader_id`, `InnovatorProfile`.`modifier` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`leaders` AS `Leader` LEFT JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`innovator_profiles` AS `InnovatorProfile` ON (`InnovatorProfile`.`leader_id` = `Leader`.`id`) WHERE `Leader`.`id` = 109 ORDER BY `Leader`.`company` ASC LIMIT 1110
23SELECT `Program`.`id`, `Program`.`title`, `Program`.`subtitle`, `Program`.`summary`, `Program`.`description`, `Program`.`image`, `Program`.`thumbnail`, `Program`.`date`, `Program`.`feature`, `Program`.`enable`, `Program`.`created`, `Program`.`modified`, `Program`.`modifier`, `LeadersProgram`.`id`, `LeadersProgram`.`leader_id`, `LeadersProgram`.`program_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`programs` AS `Program` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`leaders_programs` AS `LeadersProgram` ON (`LeadersProgram`.`leader_id` = 109 AND `LeadersProgram`.`program_id` = `Program`.`id`) 000
24SELECT `Article`.`id`, `Article`.`date`, `Article`.`title`, `Article`.`author`, `Article`.`publisher`, `Article`.`description`, `Article`.`url`, `Article`.`program_only`, `Article`.`innovator_news`, `Article`.`created`, `Article`.`modified`, `Article`.`modifier`, `ArticlesLeader`.`id`, `ArticlesLeader`.`article_id`, `ArticlesLeader`.`leader_id` FROM `bpinorg_dev`.`articles` AS `Article` JOIN `bpinorg_dev`.`articles_leaders` AS `ArticlesLeader` ON (`ArticlesLeader`.`leader_id` = 109 AND `ArticlesLeader`.`article_id` = `Article`.`id`) 000