Blog
June 26, 2024
Attain Digital welcomes Jessica Schein to serve the education sector
On June 3, Attain Partners officially welcomed Jessica Schein to serve as a Strategic Account Director for our Attain Digital practice. In her role, she will work alongside Managing Director and Education Market Lead Doug Barrow to accelerate the impactful missions of our education clients.
I could not be more excited to have Jess on our exemplary team. To say she is passionate about her work is an understatement. She is driven, experienced, and truly knows higher education. Jess is a total pro with an outstanding reputation for delivering high-quality work. I’m excited for her to help our higher ed clients to positively improve both their day-to-day operations as well as help them achieve their long-term visions.
Doug Barrow
Managing Director and Higher Education Market Lead, Attain Partners
Bringing years of experience in the higher education industry, her passion lies in helping organizations drive digital transformation. We are excited for her to bring that passion to life at Attain Partners.
Learn more about Jessica’s experience and what she brings to her role in our interview with her below.
Attain Partners (AP): How did you get into Digital Transformation for Higher Education?
Jessica Schein (JS): I got into digital transformation for higher education through a somewhat unexpected path. My journey began during my graduate studies in cell and molecular biology at Michigan State University (Go Green!). In my second year, I became our departmental representative in the Council of Graduate Students. This role gave me a deeper understanding of universities as complex and dynamic organizations, far beyond what I grasped during my undergraduate years as a first-generation college student.
As I became more involved, I was elected to the Executive Board and had the privilege of serving on several university committees. One of the most impactful experiences was chairing the President’s Advisory Committee on Disability Issues (PACDI); this committee’s charge was to advise the university president on policies, programs, and procedures affecting persons with disabilities in the university community. At the time, there was a major overhaul of IT accessibility practices. This experience opened my eyes to the importance of accessibility and inclusivity in higher education.
At this point, I made the decision to transition from the sciences to higher education administration. During this transition, I encountered several transformative digital projects that aimed to make education more accessible to diverse learners. Witnessing firsthand how technology could either enable or act as a barrier to students, particularly first-generation students like myself, and those with various abilities, sparked my interest in digital transformation for higher education.
I realized that by effectively leveraging technology, we could break down barriers and make higher education more accessible and equitable for all students. This realization fueled my passion for driving digital transformation initiatives and has been the driver behind my career in higher education consulting.
AP: What did you do before joining Attain Partners?
JS: My career in consulting began at a boutique consulting firm where I served several roles leading up to my role as Higher Education Practice Director, where I worked with an incredible team of consultants to serve our university partners in an array of digital transformation initiatives including project and program management, organizational change management, systems evaluations, and implementation support services for CRM, ERP, and Research Management solutions.
I then transitioned to leading Customer Success and Partnership programs at a Salesforce Systems Integrator in the higher education advancement space. Here, I had the opportunity to dive more deeply into the technology side of transformation and served over 15 institutions implementing Salesforce to support advancement and alumni relations use cases.
After working in the product space, I gave into the desire to come back to consulting and serve higher education institutions more directly. I then served as an engagement manager and sales leader for an incredible group of clients who were driving digital transformation through the implementation of Salesforce at their institution.
AP: What brought you to Attain Partners?
JS: Consulting is all about the people—clients, consultants, and partners. Through the lenses of my previous roles, I’ve watched Attain Partners evolve into something truly special. Some of my favorite former customers are now members of Team Attain. Colleagues that I’ve respected for nearly a decade are leaders within this organization. Not to mention, the growing community of client partners who chose Attain Partners because they are truly committed to the people, process, technology, and cultural elements of digital transformation. When I had the chance to be a part of this team, I could not pass on the opportunity to be a part of it.
AP: Which of our seven core values speak to you the most?
JS: “Obsess Externally” resonates most with me because I believe there is nothing more important than understanding and prioritizing the needs of clients and staying current with the broader trends in the higher education ecosystem. As consultants, our success depends on our ability to understand and prioritize the points of pride of each client. We must deeply understand their unique opportunities and goals and prioritize them before we can implement any technology or drive programmatic change.
AP: What do you like most about the work you do?
JS: Most of my work is focused on helping organizations start on their paths to digital transformation. Whether a university is preparing for a CRM or ERP transition, these are big decisions and large investments of time, talent, and budget. What I like most about the work I get to do is helping folks navigate those initial decisions and the preparation process in a way that gives them confidence in their readiness. At the end of any sale (and the beginning of any project), I feel like I’ve made an impact when folks step into these large projects with an informed perspective, a positive mindset, and a healthy amount of excitement!
AP: What are the biggest ways you’ve seen technology impact Higher Education Institutions?
JS: Modern technologies like Salesforce and Workday allow institutions to rethink business processes and information access across campus units and create a more robust and coordinated understanding of their constituents and enhanced user experience. In my career, I have seen a trend towards more information sharing across previously siloed campus units and a movement towards supporting self-service and more open information access in higher education organizations. This excites me because of the impact that having access to data has on how colleges and universities serve students. Not only can institutions provide more robust and coordinated services across the journey of a lifelong learner, but they can now fully understand all of the different ways that student Jess, athlete Jess, graduate student Jess, donor Jess, and season ticket holder Jess interact with the institution.
AP: What do you read and watch to keep current?
JS: There is no better way to stay current than to stay connected with colleagues and clients in the higher education ecosystem. I am a big morning LinkedIn scroller. I love to start the day by seeing what folks are up to, and what others are reading, writing, and sharing! I will always take someone up on a book or podcast recommendation—if you have a good one, please send it my way!
Attain Partners – Digital Transformation Experts
No matter if your organization is beginning its digital transformation journey or 10+ years into driving sustained change, Attain Partners is here to help you achieve your goals.
Driving digital transformation from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to Data Services, Analytics, and Applications Modernization, Attain Partners provides end-to-end solutions that help advance our clients’ important missions.
Under the strategic leadership of Partner Reshma Patel-Jackson, our Attain Digital practice aligns our core digital and transformation services to enhance market focus and emphasize delivery excellence, addressing diverse client needs and providing enterprise-wide strategy and technology transformation expertise at scale.
Enterprise Business Solutions – Learn More
Salesforce Innovation – Learn More
Learn More – Jessica Schein
Jessica Schein brings nearly 10 years of leading digital transformation in higher education. Jessica is an enthusiastic changemaker who excels in guiding enterprise clients through the process of preparing for, selecting, and implementing enterprise systems. Jessica has a passion for making higher education accessible to diverse learners by removing barriers by implementing leading-practice business process and technology.
Interested in speaking directly with Jessica? Fill out this form to be connected!
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