About This Episode
In this Edu Unlocked episode, we sit down with Vicki Greene, President of GED Testing Service, to dive into the power of second chances and what they mean for real people's lives.
Vicki shares moving stories of GED grads who've defied the odds, transformed their futures, and shown that it's never too late to chase your dreams. We talk about:
- Inspiring examples of GED students who turned their setbacks into comebacks
- The biggest fears that hold people back—and how to break through them
- How the GED opens doors to brighter futures and life-changing opportunities
- Vicki's personal drive to help people rewrite their stories
Whether you're looking for a fresh start or just a dose of motivation, this episode is packed with resilience, hope, and empowerment.
About Edu Unlocked:
Thanks for listening to Edu Unlocked, the podcast for global education leaders and changemakers sharing the latest ideas and innovations.
Host & Guest
Vicki Greene
GuestCEO, GED Testing Service
Vicki Greene serves as President and CEO of GED Testing Service and as Senior Vice President for the Americas within Pearson’s Workforce Skills Division. She leads GED Testing Service, which includes programs such as GED, GEDWorks, and Accelerated Pathways. Vicki is passionate about empowering learners and engaging with the full GED community—students, educators, administrators, employers, and policymakers. She is committed to expanding access and developing innovative pathways that meet the needs of today’s diverse learners. GEDWorks supports employers in strengthening retention through education benefits, while Accelerated Pathways offers a flexible, non-traditional online college experience designed to help learners build personalized upskilling and degree plans.
Vicki specializes in driving rapid growth for large enterprises and global products by aligning operations, strengthening organizational culture, and building highly engaged, customer-centered teams. She has led organizations of 150–400 employees with ownership of $5M–$30M P&L across B2B, B2C, and B2B2C environments in both U.S. and global markets, including regulated and fast-moving industries.
Her leadership philosophy is rooted in people and data. She thrives at the intersection of innovation, impact, and operational excellence—cultivating talent, strengthening relationships, and championing solutions that elevate teams and accelerate revenue growth. Vicki is known for leading with empathy, accountability, and a focus on delivering exceptional results.
Key Highlights:
1. Achieved the highest customer NPS and employee engagement rankings across two different enterprises while leading major operational and business model transformations.
2. Drove a 60% increase in enterprise sales by supporting sales efforts with more than 120 clients, including many Fortune 100 companies.
3. Built a culture of excellence that contributed to 35% enrollment rates and 90% retention among post-secondary learners using delivered products.
4. Launched AI-driven mobile app solutions that attracted 300,000 new annual users and 7,000 users within the first 48 hours.
5. Transformed a 400-person scheduling contact center handling 30,000 monthly contacts into a comprehensive customer guidance hub delivering personalized support throughout the product lifecycle.
6. Played an important role in two strategic acquisitions that expanded market access and modernized the business model of a publicly traded company, while actively serving on the cross-functional M&A team.
Ashish Fernando
HostFounder & CEO, EDMO
Ashish Fernando is the visionary founder and CEO of EDMO, a revolutionary educational technology platform that's transforming how people learn and grow. With over 15 years of experience in education and technology, Ashish has dedicated his career to making quality education accessible to learners worldwide. Before founding EDMO, Ashish held leadership positions at several prominent EdTech companies and worked as an educational consultant for Fortune 500 companies. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Master's in Computer Science from MIT. Ashish is a frequent speaker at educational conferences and has been featured in publications such as EdTech Magazine, Learning & Development Today, and TechCrunch. He's passionate about the intersection of technology and human potential, believing that the right tools can unlock extraordinary learning outcomes for everyone. Under his leadership, EDMO has grown to serve over 100,000 learners globally and has partnerships with leading educational institutions and corporations. Ashish continues to drive innovation in personalized learning, adaptive assessment, and educational analytics.
Key Achievements:
1. Founded EDMO in 2019, now serving 100,000+ learners globally
2. Named 'EdTech Innovator of the Year' by Learning Technology Awards 2023
3. Featured speaker at Global Education Summit 2024
4. Published researcher in educational technology and learning analytics
5. Advisor to multiple EdTech startups and educational initiatives
Show Notes
- 1 00:00 Introduction: Vicki Green's Role and GED's Impact
- 2 01:35 GED Unplugged Podcast: Sharing Learner Stories
- 3 04:28 Vicki's Personal Journey: From High School to GED Leadership
- 4 08:08 GED's Mission: Changing Lives for Generations
- 5 10:28 The Scale of the Challenge: 40 Million Without Diplomas
- 6 15:00 Individualized Learning: Meeting GED Learners Where They Are
- 7 20:13 Career Pathways: Connecting GED Learners to Opportunities
Key Quotes
"One event can change the trajectory of someone's future and in many cases the one event had nothing to do with decisions that they necessarily made it was that life can happen to any one of us."
"The number one reason that holds [GED learners] back is fear of failure... the thing that I tell every GED learner is number one you came back which is the most difficult part as you showed up."
"Once you meet GED learners and you hear their story and you hear who they are and you hear what kind of humans they are you'll never be the same."
Resources
Supercharge Your University CRM