Every Learner’s New Director Has a Vision For Impactful Digital Learning

Laura DaVinci feels Every Learner Everywhere has a special sauce for impactful digital learning strategies that colleges and universities can benefit from, and is eager to share it.

“What makes us unique,” DaVinci says, “is the combination of centering students in a digital learning strategy with evidence-based teaching practices. And we concentrate on the faculty and other professionals who most directly impact students. Our network partners deliver clear but customized guidance on how digital strategy can be implemented equitably in the classroom.”

DaVinci, who, as of December 2024, is transitioning to the role of Director, is so clear on what makes Every Learner unique because she has been with the organization almost from its launch over seven years ago. “The reason I stay with Every Learner is a passion for helping students and because the staff and partners have the same commitment,” she says. “We all share a vision of a world in which every learner has full access to digital learning strategies that support excellence in learning outcomes.”

DaVinci points to the foundation of resources, events, original research, and services programming the network has established over the last years and says it’s time for Every Learner to be better known as an option for professional learning.

“We are well known for our work with the current funder grantees, but we aren’t broadly known,” she says. “We have a clear reputation for equitable digital learning that a lot of the institutions need. One of my goals as Director is to make sure more colleges and universities are aware of what we have to offer.”

Hybrid learner

DaVinci is taking on her new leadership role at the same time she is completing her capstone project for an Ed.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University in a hybrid program.

“It’s been very interesting to work on this degree partly online, because some instructors use the evidence-based teaching practices Every Learner elevates, and I’ve seen them in action,” she says. “Experiencing it as a student, I see how faculty come off as thoughtful. It really does bring them closer. It’s invigorating to see these practices out in ‘real life.”

DaVinci also has an MBA, and her background before Every Learner included college teaching experience and new program development especially in organizations that support student success. She has over 15 years of grants experience, writing $35 million in grants and managing about $50 million.

As she puts it, her education has been in business, and her business has been in education.

First steps

Since her promotion to Director, DaVinci has been meeting extensively with the Every Learner team and with network partners to identify opportunities for progress. A key priority is planning for sustainability, in part by working toward the right mix of foundation support and fee-for-service activities.

Driving that is the need to be mindful about what institutions need. “That was a key theme in our staff retreat,” DaVinci says. “We’re effective when we actually support the institutions, the faculty and all the professionals who are most impactful for the students.”

With that in mind, one new initiative for 2025 is adding a new delivery model for professional learning services that allows faculty and other professionals to enroll in a cohort individually. Previously, all engagements involved teams from each institution.

She says the team is also committed to making clear the breadth of Every Learner’s vision. People who haven’t checked in on the organization since its earliest work might associate it with adaptive learning courseware, because that was the focus of their initial pilot projects.

“But over the years we’ve clarified our commitment to working with institutions to support all students through evidence-based teaching practices,” DaVinci says. “That was less visible in the very beginning. We’ve also gone through a lot of growth and become more collaborative.”

For example, in 2024, four new partners joined the network. Each of the partners contributes something unique to the mission of helping institutions implement equity-centered and evidence-based digital teaching and learning.

“I’m very grateful for their confidence in me, and I’m so appreciative of their work,” DaVinci says. “They’re all here for the same goal of making sure students have what they need to be successful. It’s so refreshing to have conversations with the network and see their commitment and their drive. I couldn’t ask for better partners.”

Innovating and extending impactful digital learning

DaVinci says the Every Learner team has a lot of creative ideas about how to make progress on their mission to help institutions implement equity-centered and evidence-based digital teaching and learning. In addition to the new services format in 2025, she says to watch for new courses, including some with experts who will help faculty with the changes brought on by AI.

Every Learner will also be launching a new section of the website dedicated to evidence-based teaching practices, which will heavily feature real examples from the field.

DaVinci says collaboration with new partners has always been a source of vitality and innovation in the organization, and “a lot of that comes from personal interaction during conferences. So this year will have a renewed focus on being visible in the field. After six years, we have a lot of learning and a lot of resources to share.”