Leah Jewell
Managing Director, Career Development and Employability
Pearson
San Diego, CA USA
“Have fun exploring, but be deliberate about it. Don’t just assume things are going to come your way.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationLeah Jewell
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Growing up, my goal was to be a teacher.
Both of my parents were high school teachers and extremely passionate about their work, but they discouraged me from following in their footsteps because they knew how challenging the field could be.
In high school, I became interested in pursuing medical illustration and even apprenticed alongside a professional for a few years.
Due to criticism and discouragement from my mentor, I ended up deciding not to pursue medical illustration as a career.
Decided to stay close to home and attend the University of New Mexico, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies.
My first job out of college was working for Prentice Hall, an educational publishing company—while I was working there, Prentice Hall was acquired by the Pearson organization.
I started out working in sales, but eventually got promoted into roles in marketing, editorial, and various leadership positions.
I've now worked for Pearson for over 32 years and currently serves as the managing director of career development and employability.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Certification/License
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Stanford University
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Stanford University
Career
Managing Director, Career Development and Employability
I lead a team building learning solutions for high school, higher ed, and adult learners.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Business
Learning / Being Challenged
Day to Day
As the managing director of employability solutions, I work with a team to build out learning solutions and services that help students in high school and higher education and provide career readiness for adults. I identify, negotiate, and grow industry association partnerships. I gather customer insights in order to define the problems that need to be solved and ensure solutions are built with a plan to measure learner outcomes through data analytics. I also attend speaking events.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for high school students
Explore your options and experiment with different possibilities. However, try to do this exploration as cheaply as you can. If you are unsure about what you want to do, then go to a community college or take vocational classes.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Parents:
"Don't be a teacher."
