Udemy Bolsters Leadership Team With Two New Hires

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY), a company dedicated to improving lives through learning, today announced two new additions to its leadership team, welcoming Karen Fascenda as its Chief People Officer and Nathan Blain as General Manager of Cohort Learning. Together, these leaders bring more than 60 years of experience to the online learning platform, joining Udemy during a time of pivotal growth as individuals and organizations continue to embrace the power of learning.

“People are at the core of everything we do and Udemy would not be where it is today without our employees,'' said Gregg Coccari, Chairman and CEO at Udemy. “It is imperative that we continue to invest in them, creating a diverse and inclusive workplace environment that embraces a true culture of learning. We look forward to partnering with Karen to help us continue this work as we enter this new chapter for our organization.”

Fascenda is a tenured human resources professional, bringing more than 20 years of experience in organizational development to Udemy, where she will be responsible for driving the company’s global people strategy to enhance employee engagement, talent retention and career development as she continues to promote a strong and inclusive company culture.

“One of the first things that drew me to Udemy was the deep support and compassion that the company provides to its employees,” said Fascenda. “Their people-first approach has generated a rich culture built around continuous learning, allowing anyone, anywhere, to prioritize their professional and personal development. I’m excited to join such an impact-driven organization and leverage my extensive knowledge in human resources to continue stewarding this work, building an effective people strategy that can scale with Udemy as it reaches new milestones.”

Fascenda most recently served as Vice President of People at Gopuff, overseeing the company’s People and Culture teams, tasked with delivering high-caliber people strategies to promote employee engagement and build a strong culture of diverse talent and experience. Prior to joining Gopuff, Fascenda held an array of leadership roles at companies such as Comcast, eBay Enterprise and Siemens. Fascenda holds a master’s degree in organizational dynamics from University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Coccari continued, “The nature of workplace learning has continued to change as companies keep pace with innovation despite growing skills gaps––which they’re increasingly leveraging platforms like Udemy to fill. Nathan’s extensive experience in strategy development and digital transformation will play a critical role as we accelerate our partnerships with organizations across the globe to help them adopt a true learning mindset. We are thrilled to be welcoming Nathan to the team during a time of such pivotal growth for Udemy.”

Blain is a leading corporate strategy expert bringing more than 40 years of industry experience to Udemy, where he will be responsible for overseeing the company’s cohort learning division, driving increased adoption for its leadership development programming which promotes high-impact learning amongst its corporate customers.

“It’s an honor to be joining such a mission-driven and forward-thinking company during a time of monumental change across the learning landscape as organizations become increasingly focused on prioritizing the upskilling and reskilling of their workforce,” said Blain. “Udemy is a true industry pioneer that is redefining the idea of cohort learning for a digital world, and I look forward to driving stronger relationships with Udemy’s new and existing customers to help them prepare for the next wave of innovation to remain ahead of the curve.”

Blain joins Udemy from Korn Ferry where he founded the Organizational Strategy practice and served as a Senior Client Partner. There, he helped Fortune 500 clients overhaul their businesses through refreshed organizational and workforce strategies to increase the speed of digital transformation. Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Blain held several leadership roles at companies such as CEB and Oliver Wyman. Blain holds an M.B.A. in general management from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from Georgetown University, where he taught as an adjunct professor for the McDonough School of Business for eight years.

About Udemy
Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY) improves lives through learning by providing flexible, effective skill development to empower organizations and individuals. The Udemy marketplace platform, with thousands of up-to-date courses in dozens of languages, offers the tools learners, instructors and enterprises need to achieve their goals and reach their full potential. Millions of people learn on the Udemy platform from real-world experts in topics ranging from programming and data science to leadership and team building. Udemy Business enables employers to offer on-demand learning for all employees, immersive learning for tech teams and cohort learning for leaders. Udemy Business customers include Fender®, Glassdoor, On24, The World Bank and Volkswagen. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco with hubs in Ankara, Türkiye; Austin, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Dublin, Ireland; Melbourne, Australia; Mountain View, California; New Delhi, India; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Media Contact:
Ellen D. Kiehl
Director, Corporate Communications
press@udemy.com