Ryan Flahive

Entrepreneur, Podcaster, and Climate Activist

Professional Résumé

Ryan Flahive is an Entrepreneur, Podcaster, Learning Technology & Publishing Executive with deep experience in higher education, workforce development, and social impact.

Vice President of Product Strategy at SimTutor

June 2020 – Present // Boulder, CO

As a part of my job, I produce the The Value Proposition Lab (Podcast) where I explore a broad range of ideas around how to visualize, design, and test value propositions and business models that serve customers and create the change I hope to see in the world.

Producer and Host, Climate Changers Podcast

March 2019 – Present // Boulder, CO

Climate Changers is a podcast that features interviews with remarkable entrepreneurs, scientists, activists, educators and other leaders who are taking initiative as we face a growing climate crisis. As the father of 2 girls, I want to be able look them in the eye when they are older and say that I had an impact on their future by working to mitigate and help prepare for the effects of climate change. This show is my first step.

Climate Changers is for people like me who are tired of feeling helpless and want to hear real stories from thoughtful and effective leaders who are on the front lines of building the products and coalitions that will create change. The future is worth fighting for, so join me in this celebration of the heroes who are working to create a new and sustainable resource and energy economy.

Community Event Ambassador, Protect Our Winters

February 2020 – Present // Boulder, CO

Educational Technology and Clean Energy Consultant, Backbowl Strategy

January 2019 – June 2020 //  Boulder, CO

25 years of experience in content strategy & acquisitions, business development, product development and go to market. Worked with a variety of companies that specialize in artificial intelligence, microgrids to empower developing economies, climate activism, student engagement and workforce development. Specialize in hosting virtual training and workshops for entrepreneurs, product teams and clean energy NGOs.

Director of Strategic Business Development and Client Solutions, John Wiley & Sons

June 2016 – 2019 (3 years) // Boulder, CO & Hoboken, NJ

Focused on acquiring new content partnerships with organizations seeking content strategy expertise to extend their brand, serve professional and learner needs, and grow revenues for the partner and Wiley. My mission is to utilize partner and customer relationships and technological innovation to make meaningful contributions to lifelong learning, helping organizations and individuals achieve success through education. Projects include:

  • Higher Education: Prototyping new product models for Amazon Alexa and sales/marketing partnership around adaptive learning with Knewton
  • Technology: Test prep, eLearning and publishing with AWS, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, IBM Watson and Google Cloud
  • Biomedical: Content marketing development for Thermo-Fisher Scientific
  • Medical Device: 3rd Party ethics and compliance certification with AdvaMed (industry association) and Medtronics
  • Data Science/Analytics: Workforce development with American Statistical Association
  • Health and Medical: Test Prep for NCLEX, MCAT, USMLE and NAVLE, workforce training for Nurses, Veterinarians and Allied Health Professionals, and database development for Pharmacists
  • GeoSpatial: Publishing, eLearning and Technology with Esri
  • Engineering: Publishing Partnership with IEEE

Executive Editor, Physical and Life Sciences, John Wiley & Sons

April 2000 – June 2016 (16 years) // Hoboken, NJ

  • Recognized for building strong and lasting relationships, including the 2014 President’s Award for “Lifetime Achievement in Geography Education” by the National Council For Geography Education. This is an unprecedented award that came directly from my customers.
  • Was the very first recipient of Wiley’s 2014 Award for Collaboration and Innovation
  • 2014 “First to Goal” Award for making signing goal before any other editors
  • 2013 “Consistent Signing Performance” Award for making signing goal 14 years in a row, more than anybody else in editorial
  • 2010 “Notable Signing” Award for bringing high-profile new co-author to leading franchise
  • 2007 and 2004 Higher Education, Editor of the Year Award
  • 2005 Pacesetter Award from CEO Will Pesce to “recognize individuals and teams for their outstanding efforts and achievements”
  • Launched 23 first edition titles with a success rate that is 160% of industry average
  • Develop and manage strategic alliances with numerous organizations, including: The National Geographic Society, American Geophysical Union, Lonely Planet, ESRI, Columbia Earthscape and Rand McNally.
  • Helped develop WileyPLUS Learning Space, Wiley’s proprietary new social learning platform, and then launched 4 of the first 5 products sold in this platform.
  • Helped design and launch the Wiley Visual Imprint, a new product model designed to deliver highly visual, student-friendly text and media integration and published in collaboration with the National Geographic Society.
  • Established Advanced Placement teacher training to extend use of Wiley Higher Education content into this important and rapidly growing segment of the market. Under my leadership, Wiley became the #1 A.P. Geography publisher.
  • Work effectively across divisions to ensure that our products, branding, and message are clear, consistent, and driven by proven customer needs and market dynamics.
  • Editorial Leader for Salesforce.com Business Process Committee.

Entrepreneur and Director of Innovation, Hudson River Publishing & Timberline Tonic

2005 – 2019 (14 years) // New York, NY & Boulder, CO

  • Created and launched Timberline Tonic Syrup, a cocktail mixer that now has statewide distribution to wine stores and restaurants in Colorado.
  • Created Hudson River Publishing to craft original books/eBooks and distribute original music and video content.
  • Successfully Kickstarted two projects, including a card game and a crowdsourced cookbook
  • Created www.TheVoicesProject.org to help children around the world explore and share their writing. This project is currently evolving into a literary space for creative women.

US Board of Advisors and On-Site Volunteer in Ghana, OrphanAid Africa

May 2008 – February 2015 (6 years) // Ayenya, Ghana

  • Raised money for and managed on-site construction of a library and solar/ wind-powered “One Laptop per Child” computer lab for orphans and village children in Africa. This library was recently used by WorldReader to test their “One-Kindle per Child” project. Articles about this project have been published in Wired, the Huffington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
  • Wrote book proposal for founder’s book, Who Knows Tomorrow. This proposal was published as an article in Vogue Italy, informed a documentary movie, and was just published as a book/ebook by the Weinstein Brothers.
  • Worked closely with physically and mentally challenged orphans in the specialized schoolroom created for them in Ghana.
  • Designed and launched a new honey-production program to create business opportunities for women in the neighboring community to help support their families, most of which are living off of less than $1 a day.
  • Helped research and design a curriculum to help village women create new businesses in bead and batik production.
  • Designed and implemented a solar and gravity-powered water system that provides continuous irrigation and clean drinking water to a new community of orphanage homes where government water is unpredictable.
  • Manage my family’s non-profit organization: www.PlanetFlahive.com

Sales Representative, Addison Wesley Publishing Company

1996 – 2000 (4 years) // Boston, MA

Education

University of Colorado Boulder

Bachelor of Arts and Certificate of Business Management, Anthropology and Philosophy · (1991 – 1996)

Babson College

Professional Certificate in Entrepreneurial Thought and Leadership · (2019 – 2019)

Strategyzer

Professional Certificate in Value Proposition Design and Business Model Generation · (2019 – 2019)

Seth Godin’s altMBA

altMBA · (2019 – 2019)

The Marketing Seminar

TMS Certificate, Seth Godin’s Akimbo Workshops · (2019 – 2020)