Mission & Values

My past roles have equipped me to create an organization focused on driving systemic change, having witnessed significant transformations in healthcare and education in both corporate and academic settings. As a president of a for-profit company, I had always placed service over profit, driven by a strong aspiration to give back to the community.

From 1995 to 2019, WebStudy began as a for-profit SaaS provider of learning management software (LMS) to a Philadelphia-based consortium. This period, particularly from 1996 to 2003, marked a pivotal chapter as colleges underwent a major transformation, shifting from correspondence and video conferences to delivering distance learning through web-based courses. We played a crucial role in facilitating this transition. The interdepartmental communication problems that a large system encounters often revolve around silos, where departments operate independently, leading to fragmented workflows and lack of coordination.

In 2019, after twenty-three years of supporting one hundred colleges in eight states to transition to online delivery, WebStudy Inc. ceased operations. 

Our motivation to apply what we learned stems from a deep-seated desire to resolve these interdepartmental communication challenges and foster cohesive, integrated approaches that drive effective systemic change. 

WebStudy Foundation was established to empower communities in accelerating systemic change towards lifetime learning. There is an urgent need to respond to demographic, economic, and technological shifts in our nation. The cost of inaction is higher than that of iterative change.

As a follower of the late Clayton Christensen and his theories of Disruptive Innovation, I’ve studied how to apply these principles so employers and educational providers can adapt to rapid automation and meet modern job demands. Philanthropists are increasingly called upon to fund this process of change within current systems to educate a greater number of people in underserved populations.

Christensen advocated for higher education to innovate rather than fear closures, recognizing that disruptive innovation often starts at the market’s bottom and moves up, potentially displacing established players. There is a critical need for convergence among providers of both formal and informal learning programs. Workforce certificates should complement, not replace, degree programs.

“How can different organizations innovate new practices to work together better, save resources, and make sure everyone gets a fair chance at education and good jobs?”

I turned to experts to learn how they do large-scale collaboration. The next part of our website will explain more. As we finish this part, we should ask: 

“Are our communities ready to work together to make sure everyone gets a fair shot at education, job training, and good jobs?”

Let’s collaborate on a both/and approach.

Gisele M. Larose, Executive Director