Our Leaders

Craig Powell - ConnectEDU

As CEO and Founder of ConnectEDU, Craig Powell is on a mission to ensure that the company remains focused on providing every student from every neighborhood with the tools, resources and expertise needed to maximize their educational potential and career prospects.

Today, 9 years after launching ConnectEDU, Craig’s primary responsibilities consist of setting the company’s strategic direction, directly engaging and supporting critical partners, driving product innovation, and ensuring that the seasoned ConnectEDU team has the means necessary to execute on the company’s mission. This sense of mission was born from the lack of educational guidance he received growing up in a working-class family in rural Missouri, in contrast to the attention he gained once he attended a private East Coast high school.

As an undergraduate at Brown University, prior to starting ConnectEDU, Craig founded and operated IvyTutors, a study-skills and tutoring company, grounded in the theories of generational mentoring. While operating IvyTutors, he developed an even deeper understanding for the emotional and financial struggles that families face in the education planning process, regardless of socioeconomic background. Craig’s IvyTutors’ experience convinced him that technology was the only way to meet all students’ individual needs by democratizing access to crucial expertise.

Between building out IvyTutors and starting ConnectEDU, Craig worked as a member of the professional investment team at Nautic Partners, a $2B private equity fund in Providence, RI.