Instructure Leadership

Dan Goldsmith

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

With more than 20 years of experience in software and services, Dan's career is marked by directing high-performing global teams and achieving outstanding penetration and growth in challenging markets. Which is part of why we’re happy to have him as CEO of Instructure.

In his prior role, Dan spent eight years as a senior executive at Veeva Systems, a cloud-based software company, where he started and ran Veeva's international business, led the company's strategy in new markets and products, and was responsible for Veeva's global engagement and growth in strategic accounts. He helped lead Veeva through a successful IPO and a growth path to a $10 billion market cap.

Prior to Veeva, he worked in various executive positions at top companies, including Accenture, PwC and IBM. Dan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester.

Steve Kaminsky

Chief Financial Officer

Steve came to Instructure in 2012 to manage all of the company’s administrative operations, including accounting, finance, legal, IT, and daily Nerf gun wars. Since he began working with startups in 1995, Steve has been instrumental in raising more than $200 million in funding and building infrastructure for multiple successful acquisitions.

Before shifting his expertise toward startups, Steve worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young, the McDonald’s Corporation, and TriZetto. He earned a B.S. in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Matt Kaminer

Chief Legal Officer

Matt Kaminer is Instructure's chief legal officer. Before joining Instructure in 2015, Matt served as General Counsel and Secretary of Collective Inc., a video and mobile advertising company. And before that (take a deep breath, this is a mouthful), he served as General Counsel and Secretary of Epocrates, Inc., General Counsel for MediMedia USA, Inc., and Assistant General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at WebMD Health Corp. That’s a lot of counseling, generally.

Matt holds a B.S. in computer science from Pennsylvania State University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Marta DeBellis

Chief Marketing Officer

As chief marketing officer at Instructure, Marta is responsible for all aspects of Instructure’s marketing strategy and execution, globally and across all brands. She believes brands must harness creativity, content, and data to not just connect with, but delight customers, through personalized, relevant experiences.

Marta has over 25 years of experience in technology, digital, content, and partner marketing. Prior to Instructure, she held a range of senior marketing roles for Adobe in the USA, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions. Before that, she served as VP, Group Account Director at MRM/McCann and Director, Digital Home Brand Campaigns for the Asia Pacific business at Intel.

Marta holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jennifer Goldsmith

Chief Strategy Officer

As Chief Strategy Officer at Instructure, Jen Goldsmith is responsible for the long-term vision of the company and for creating a path for growth and market differentiation across all product lines. With more than 20 years of experience, including working at Pfizer, Fujitsu, IBM, and Veeva Systems in strategic roles, Jen brings broad knowledge and clear strategic vision to the role.

She will have cross-functional engagement throughout the organization and work in partnership with both product and GTM functions globally to ensure Instructure continues its innovative approach and focus on helping customers meet their goals.

Amanda Buckley

SVP, Strategy & Operations

As SVP of Executive Strategy and Operations, Amanda works with Instructure’s executive leadership team to develop and implement the company’s strategic initiatives, including global growth and operational excellence. Amanda’s passion for tech first revealed itself at age 9, as she wrote programs on a Commodore Vic 20. Today, with more than 20 years of experience, Amanda has proven herself an accomplished software executive, most recently at Veeva Systems as the General Manager of Europe but also in a variety of leadership roles at Peoplesoft, Misys, Temenos, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Amanda has considerable experience in leading sales, presales, and operations for global software companies

Amanda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from University College Dublin and is a qualified chartered accountant.

Mitch Benson

SVP, Product

Mitch is the Senior Vice President responsible for Instructure’s products. Before that, he was primarily responsible for the ongoing development of Canvas, ensuring its position as the most modern, scalable, secure, accessible and easy to use learning platform available.

Prior to Instructure, Mitch served in executive roles at Microsoft, Pearson, and in the not-for-profit and public sectors in Washington State. He graduated from the University of Washington, was a fellow at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and earned an MS in Information Systems from Capella University.

Melissa Loble

SVP, Customer Success & Partnerships

Melissa Loble serves as the Senior Vice President, Customer Success & Partnerships for Instructure, leading Instructure's customer success, services, and partnership organizations. Her personal mission is to drive innovation in our customer experience, which she does—in part—by enabling customers to successfully leverage Instructure’s solutions to create highly engaging and effective learning environments for their communities.

Melissa has spent 20 years in the educational technology world, working for a number of technology suppliers and educational institutions, as well as teaching leadership courses focused on managing technology for educational change. Melissa earned her MA in Educational Policy from Teachers’ College, Columbia University, and an MBA from the Columbia Business School.

David burggraaf

SVP, Engineering

Fascinated by computers since his father gave him his first Timex Sinclair in 1980, David started programming at just 13 years old. Prior to coming to Instructure in 2014, he was the Sr. VP of Product Engineering at FamilySearch. Before that, he spent 12 years at Microsoft, leading the product development team responsible for the Visual C++ suite of tools (the foundation for much of Microsoft's revenue—as well as that of the software industry in general).

Reflecting on what he loves about working for Instructure, David points to its incredible blend of purpose and technology. “Here’s an incredible group of technologists invested in one of the world's most meaningful endeavors, that of advancing education—you don’t find that anywhere else.”

Jeff Weber

EVP, People & Places

Jeff Weber is Instructure’s EVP of People & Places; he's been doggedly fixated on bringing even more awesome talent to Instructure since 2013. Previously, Jeff worked at Ancestry.com—the leading online network for connecting families and the largest provider of family-history information, with 2.7 million paying subscriptions—as SVP of People and Places. That meant around 1,300 people (employees) at 10 places (offices). Not bad for a business built around dead people.

Jeff brings years of in-house HR and organizational development experience to Instructure, having worked for companies like Shell Oil Company, Amoco Oil, and Novell. Jeff holds an M.B.A. with an emphasis in organizational behavior from Brigham Young University.

Mark Landwer

SVP, Bridge Sales

In June 2018, Mark Landwer joined Instructure as SVP of Bridge Sales, bringing a career of sales experience (with an emphasis on sales strategy) with him. Mark began his career in the printing industry, where he sold computer systems and learned process, workflow, and technology. He has 22 years of business experience that includes a rare combination of Sales and Operations—and encompasses hardware sales, software sales, and services. Before joining Instructure, he spent 13 years at CareerBuilder in Sales, Sales Management, Managed Services Leadership, Sales Operations, and Sales Executive Leadership. Before that, he worked at staffing firm Robert Half International.

Mark holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Jeff Ross

SVP, Sales

When Jeff isn’t fly fishing, camping, or hunting in the great outdoors, he brings his knowledge of hooks and lures indoors to build great sales teams focused on teamwork, collaboration, and performance. Joining Instructure in November 2016 as VP of Sales, Jeff is always on the hunt for innovative ways to do what’s best for Canvas and Bridge customers.

Before coming indoors at Instructure, Jeff was Chief Sales Officer at Pluralsight, where he established offices globally and led sales and customer success teams. Before that, he was Director of Sales at MarketStar, where he built large and small teams to accelerate sales for Fortune 100 companies.

Zach Wily

Chief Architect

As Chief Architect, Zach spearheads how to best build Instructure’s powerful, user-centered learning platforms. When Zach joined Instructure in 2010, he was employee number nine. Not only did he bring more than a decade’s experience as a software developer, manager, and consultant, he also brought Instructure’s unofficial black and white mascot (though it’s less unofficial by the minute)—the panda.

Zach has worked as a software developer for a number of companies, including Mozy. He studied computer science at Brigham Young University.

Matt Baker

SVP, Education Strategy

Matt is a sales and business development executive with 20+ years of experience in the US and international marketplace, including lots of time spent in Asia and Latin America. Matt specializes in market research, product distribution, reseller channel development, and sales leadership and team building—and that’s just where his expertise begins. He’s also well-versed in structured sales strategies, sales optimization tools, international trade practices, and SaaS delivery models, and he knows his way around a wide variety of markets, including Fortune 1000, higher ed, K-12, and nonprofit.

Troy Martin

GM, APAC

Troy likes to build things—and disrupt things. So it made sense in 2014, after a career of business-building, when he leapt at the opportunity to join Instructure and disrupt the LMS status quo (plus facilitate the best educational experience possible) with Canvas. He loves Canvas because it’s the perfect blend of purpose and technology. And, of course, he wants to make teaching and learning easier.

Before Instructure, in the business-building stage of his career, Troy founded multiple start-ups within the digital media, publishing, and eCommerce spaces—including Reddo Media, one of Australia’s most highly regarded and multiple-award winning developers of content-rich apps for tablet and mobile devices.

Kenny Nicholl

GM, EMEA

Kenny has spent his working life helping educational institutions and corporate organisations adopt new technologies and develop beneficial partnerships. As Instructure’s GM of EMEA Kenny Nicholl continues in that sweet spot, leading our EMEA team and helping our clients change their institutions and businesses for the better via Instructure’s software.

Before joining Instructure in 2014, Kenny was Commercial Director for Hobsons EMEA, overseeing a successful refresh and relaunch of the Hobsons brand. Prior to that, Kenny was Head of Sales at THUS, a cable & wireless business.

Emily Foote

VP, Talent & Development

Emily has always been driven by the ideal of providing equal education opportunities for all learners. That's why she co-founded Practice, a patented learning methodology that leverages the power of practice and feedback to increase learners' competencies and confidence. The power Practice has to help people reach their full potential is why Practice proved a great fit for Instructure. A former Teach for America and KIPP teacher, special education lawyer and luddite, Emily is passionate about technology’s potential to help educators in both the corporate and education markets scale great teaching and learning.

Emily received her B.A. and M.S. Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from Drexel Law graduating cum laude from law and undergrad.

Hilary Scharton

VP, K-12 Product Strategy

Hilary Scharton loves education and has worked in it, in some form or another, for her entire career. As VP of K-12 Product Strategy for Canvas, she sets the strategic vision for how Canvas makes its products even more awesome for students and teachers across the globe, while focusing on leveraging technology to support improved instruction and equitable access for all students.

Prior to joining Instructure in 2012, Hilary served as a psychologist for Utah school districts, spending her time focused on RtI and PBIS for schools and classrooms as well as Special Ed assessment. Before that, she worked in higher ed teaching classes in psychology, education, and English at Utah State and Illinois State Universities.

Jared Stein

VP, HE Product Strategy

As Instructure’s VP of Research & Education, Jared Stein collaborates with educators and technologists to identify current and future challenges in education and corporate learning—and to envision ways Instructure can provide solutions. Jared began working with educators in the early days of the Web, designing blended and online learning strategies that emphasize real-world learning, openness, learner engagement, and usable design.

His book, “Essentials for Blended Learning, A Standards-Based Guide,” was published in 2014. Jared earned a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in second language teaching from Utah State University.