AUSTIN, TEXAS (May 13, 2016) –– EY has announced that Charles Thornburgh, CEO and Founder of Civitas Learning, is a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2016 Award in Central Texas. Now celebrating its 30th year, the awards recognize entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. A panel of independent judges selected the finalists, and award winners will be announced at a gala event on Thursday, June 9, in Austin.
Thornburgh fell in love with teaching while an undergrad at Stanford and bought his first education company (for debt) upon graduating. In the 20 years since, he has worked to improve educational access and success at scale, using his entrepreneurial skills to build multiple successful edtech businesses. With no personal or professional connections to the area, he moved to Austin in 2011 to launch Civitas Learning, the insight engine for student success. Today, the company is a well-known Austin success story, recently recognized as an Austin A-List winner by the Austin Chamber of Commerce for innovation and entrepreneurialism. In the past three years, Civitas Learning has grown its work with six college and university partners and 25 employees to more than 285 institutions and system partners and a team of more than 220 employees.
“Charles is on a mission with this work—and it shows,” said Dr. Mark Milliron, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer at Civitas Learning. “It’s like his whole life prepared him to build this company to make a powerful difference in education. The combination of will and skill makes Charles an absolute game changer as an entrepreneur and education technology leader.”
“I’m excited about the awareness this award is bringing to the problem we’re working on at Civitas Learning, and humbled to be considered among an incredibly impressive group of entrepreneurs. This recognition is a huge credit to the remarkable team at Civitas Learning, whose passion and commitment are helping students across the country succeed every day,” said Thornburgh.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries throughout the world. Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at a gala in Palm Springs, Calif. on November 19, 2016.
