About This Episode
In this powerful episode of Edu Unlocked, host Ashish Fernando sits down with trailblazing educator and entrepreneur Dr. Mallory Dwinal Palisch—Co-Founder of Reach University and Chancellor of Craft (now part of WGU)—to unpack the future of higher education.
Mallory shares her deeply personal story of why she’s obsessed with solving one problem: bridging the gap between the classroom and the real world. From her dad’s business being wiped out by the Mississippi River floods to launching four purpose-driven startups, her journey is anything but ordinary.
Topics we cover:
1. Why the traditional college degree doesn’t work for everyone
2. The power of apprenticeship-based degrees
3. How to build a career based on skills, not just credentials
4. The scrappy truth behind startup life
5. What it’s like joining forces with Western Governors University
6. Real advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in edtech
Whether you're in education, hiring talent, or just trying to make sense of your own learning path, this conversation is packed with gold.
Drop your thoughts and questions in the comments—let’s unlock the future of education together!
Host & Guest
Dr. Mallory Dwinal
GuestExecutive Director, Craft Education; Founder and Senior Advisor, Reach University
Mallory Dwinal-Palisch, Ph.D., is an accomplished education innovator and social entrepreneur committed to reimagining higher education and workforce development through technology and apprenticeship-based learning. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Craft Education, a nonprofit division of Western Governors University dedicated to building the national ecosystem for work-based pathways that bridge education and employment. Through this work, she helps streamline regulatory data, address labor shortages, and unlock opportunity for working learners while delivering real-time talent solutions for employers.
Dwinal-Palisch is also the founder and senior advisor to Reach University, a pioneering apprenticeship-based institution that enables school districts across the nation to “grow their own” teachers by awarding academic credit for on-the-job experience. Prior to founding Reach, she co-founded Oxford Day Academy, an experiential learning charter school in East Palo Alto, California, inspired by her early work as a Spanish teacher with Teach for America.
A Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Fellow, Dwinal-Palisch’s leadership merges educational innovation with scalable systems design—advancing equity, access, and efficiency across the higher education landscape.
Key Achievements:
1. Executive Director of Craft Education at Western Governors University, leading efforts to expand work-based learning pathways across higher education and the workforce.
2. Founder and Senior Advisor of Reach University, a national model for apprenticeship-based degree programs addressing teacher shortages and educational access.
3. Co-founder of Oxford Day Academy, an experiential charter school focused on real-world learning and student empowerment.
4. Founder of Craft Education System (acquired by WGU), a technology platform enabling universities to replicate apprenticeship-based learning models.
5. Rhodes Scholar with a Ph.D. in Education from Oxford University, where her research examined rural teacher shortages and workforce development.
6. MBA from Harvard Business School, recognized as a Social Enterprise Fellow, Presidential Scholar, and Goldsmith Fellow.
7. BA, summa cum laude, from Northwestern University with triple majors in Economics, Spanish, and International Studies.
8. Founder of the Coalition Network, connecting senior leaders with startups to drive impact and innovation.
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 00:45 Mallarie shares her father's story, how the Mississippi River floods destroyed his business, and how lack of a college degree limited his chances to rebuild. This forms the emotional core of her motivation.
- 2 03:24 She explains her fourth startup’s mission: breaking the wall between classroom learning and real-world application.
- 3 04:24 Her academic background is highlighted—PhD in Education and deep-rooted passion for education reform.
- 4 11:02 Explanation of their solution: combining apprenticeship data and educational credit systems across two federal departments.She introduces the concept of apprenticeship degrees—crediting rigorous work-based learning with formal academic recognition.
- 5 17:22 She recounts a low point: taking photos of urinals for building code compliance while classmates enjoyed corporate perks—a brutally honest startup moment.
- 6 27:10 WGU's massive scale: They currently produce 5% of America’s teaching workforce each year, and their goal is to double it.
Key Quotes
"We’re not lowering the quality. We’re not lowering the standards. But how do we fix the cultural, bureaucratic barriers that keep us from valuing real-world experience?"
"Entrepreneurship is the place you go if you cannot do anything else… because those other jobs pay better and probably have more impact."
Resources
Supercharge Your University CRM