by Mindtools
Shabnam has had an illustrious career in senior positions across a range of education and information businesses and brings very broad and deep global leadership experience to Mindtools.
For the past almost four years, Shabnam has worked at leading exam board AQA initially as Board Trustee and thereafter as Executive Director, Strategy and Business Development.
Prior to AQA, she has worked for leading brands such as Macmillan, Reed Elsevier, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Discovery Education and Cambridge University Press & Assessment in senior full-time and advisory roles encompassing commercial strategy, business development and profit/loss management. She specializes in both domestic and international education and has lived and worked across a number of countries in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions, and the USA. Her experience covers all school years, higher education, English language teaching and workforce learning across the spectrum of digital content, software as a service (SaaS), assessment, education services and education delivery.
Shabnam shares her thoughts on joining Mindtools as Chief Executive.
“I am delighted to have been appointed to lead Mindtools at this exciting time in its growth trajectory. I believe that the Mindtools on-demand digital learning resources, its global footprint and talented team uniquely position it to capitalize on the increasing demand for reskilling/upskilling solutions. I am grateful to John for his tremendous contribution and look forward to playing my part in making sure Mindtools continues to deliver market-leading workforce learning solutions and services.”
Outgoing Chief Executive John Yates joined Mindtools in May 2020, in the depths of lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic. He successfully steered the business through the integration of three acquired businesses, a replatforming of the main Mindtools content library, and in 2022, change in ownership with the acquisition of Emerald Group by the Cambridge Information Group.
He leaves the business at a time that Mindtools, now operating as a standalone business outside of the Emerald Group, is exploring new product enhancements such as Skill Bites and credentialing for its consumer and enterprise customers, alongside partnerships with market leaders, Learning Pool, to leverage the capabilities of generative AI.
Tragically, in February 2022, John and his family suffered a deep personal loss, with the death of their daughter; and he has more recently been diagnosed with heart failure. He leaves to spend time with his family after a long and varied career.
“Mindtools is a wonderful organization, and I have had the support of warm, committed human beings throughout my time here. I am very sorry to have to leave, but I’m delighted to have led the recruitment of a brilliant new CEO. Shabnam will bring new energy and a new vision to this brilliant place.”
