EdGate About Us

EdGate has a staff of professional educators and sales consultants with years of industry experience who understand the pressures of selling into the K-12 market. Based in Gig Harbor, Washington, this group of 30 EdGate staff will take extraordinary steps to meet publisher deadlines and requirements. EdGate receives additional administrative support from EDmin.com.

Staff Biographies

	Sandra Schugren – General Manager With 30 years of experience in management positions, Schugren has worked in both the public and private sector. She has overseen the administration of several urban public libraries, served as Director of Technology in a large school district and worked as a consultant to plan and develop information systems for a number of businesses. As a founding member of EdGate in 1997, she has served as Vice-President of Product Development and General Manager for EdGate Correlation Services. As GM for EdGate Correlation Services, she focuses on excellence in staffing, technical systems and customer service. Sandra’s interests include travel, yoga and equestrian sports.

	Leslie Kolber – Sales Consultant (Chicago) Leslie Kolber brings over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in educational publishing to EdGate Correlation Services. Throughout her career, she has successfully created winning partnerships with national retailers, major corporations and publishers. Leslie strength is in her commitment to customer satisfaction and her willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Leslie earned a BA in Marketing Communications with a concentration in Public Relations from Columbia College, Chicago. She is on the advisory board of Hey U.G.L.Y, a non profit organization that helps teens build self esteem. She lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in Northbrook, IL.

	Tracy Olstad – Sales Consultant (Gig Harbor) With over 20 years of combined experience in sales and customer service management, Tracy brings a broad range of skills to the EdGate team, most important of which is her commitment to high quality service and meeting clients needs. During her years of service, she was recognized for her devotion and ability to create solid relationships with her customers. In her role as an Administrative Services Coordinator, she won the Team Excellence Award for her contribution and support of the National Sales team and her leadership of three customer service branches. In her spare time, Tracy enjoys the outdoors and spending quality time with her family.

	Jeremy Ashcraft – Technical Manager Jeremy has been a part of the EdGate team since the summer of 2000. Jeremy also serves as senior technologist for SchoolNotes.com and other EdGate/EDmin properties. With a Computer Science degree from Purdue University and previous experience in the Bio-Tech, Health Care, and Sales Incentive industries, Jeremy has been designing and building Internet-based solutions for over ten years. In his spare time, Jeremy coaches high school pole vaulting, contributes to various open source projects, and makes guest appearances on technology blogs and podcasts.

	Kristie McCarley – Support Manager Kristie McCarley has over 20 years of experience working in business and education. Prior to coming to EdGate in 1997, she worked for 13 years in a public school district beginning as an Executive Assistant and moving into the role of Web Designer and Technology Instructor for staff development. Ms. McCarley currently serves as the Standards and Support Manager for EdGate Correlation Services.

At EdGate, we manage projects with teams of curriculum experts. Each team has a Project Manager who is responsible for client engagement and contract management, subject standards and monitoring of correlation work.
	Jodi Waugh - Language Arts Jodi has been EdGate's English Language Arts Project Manager for over 9 years, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience from her years in the K-12 classroom. A former commercial pilot, Jodi demands accuracy and attention to detail. As a Project Manager, she uses her problem solving skills to ensure that EdGate exceeds our client's expectations on all fronts.

	Rich Street - Mathematics Rich is one of the founding employees of EdGate and has had experience as a Product and Project Manager. He manages the Math correlation team and math projects. He has had many years experience teaching a variety of subject s and grade levels from elementary to high school, and was also a District Technology Curriculum Specialist.

	Larry Johnson - Science Larry Johnson has been a Project Manager with EdGate since 2004. Larry's extensive science background gives him very broad expertise to serve the needs of his clients. Larry's management style is very friendly and attentive to detail. His experiences include 30 years of curriculum development and 24 years teaching in all science areas to junior and senior high students, and managing the science departments at several schools. Larry has also taught geology at the college level. He has earned several science awards throughout his teaching career. Larry has a BS in Geology with Chemistry minor, and BA in Education, and a MA in Education and Technology. He enjoys spending time with his family, loves nature and outdoor activities.

	Jennifer Larson - Social Studies Jennifer Larson has been in the education field for 15 years with the last six working at EdGate managing the Social Studies team. Her problem solving skills, desire for excellence and commitment to customer service has made Jennifer an asset to EdGate's remarkable group of dedicated educators. Correlating a myriad of material from multimedia projects, to textbooks, to daily news stores, Jennifer gets to combine her love for history and politics with outstanding publisher content. In her leisure time, Jennifer enjoys kayaking, golf, and gardening.

	Lisa Waugh - Health and PE / Career Technical Lisa has been a part of the EdGate family for 7 years, overseeing a team that reviews, segments, and summarizes archival film footage from documentary and other educational films, designed to augment lectures and classroom text. Her teaching experience includes life skills and vocational education. Lisa has worked as a consultant for a major telecommunications company, has a Masters Degree in Psychology and brings over 25 years of experience in managing projects, data, and human resources.

	Kathleen Ideguchi - Project Manager Kathleen Ideguchi has been with EdGate for 10 years with a strong technical background and a Master in Business Administration. As a project manager, Kathleen works with clients that have digital and online content. She has extensive knowledge of EdGate’s correlation and product delivery tools and works with the technical team to implement improvements to EdGate products.