Top industry leaders join executive team at K-12 SaaS company to drive company efficiency

LINQ, a leading K-12 education solutions provider, announced the addition of two experienced professionals to its senior leadership team in its ongoing efforts to support K-12 school districts and state education agencies. Bringing a collective expertise spanning diverse industries, LINQ welcomes Cody Draper as Chief Financial Officer and Jim Gagliardi as Chief Product Officer.

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Cody Draper is the new CFO of K-12 solutions provider LINQ. (Photo: Business Wire)

The hiring of these two industry leaders follows the recent announcement of multiple other valuable additions to LINQ’s leadership team in August 2023.

“At LINQ, we know the challenges in K-12 extend beyond academics and include the intricate management of business and nutrition operations,” said Bryan Jones, CEO of LINQ. “LINQ is committed to reducing manual processes for school leaders, so operational intricacies, especially in product quality and finances, play a crucial role in user retention. With the addition of Cody and Jim to our team, we gained leaders who will guide LINQ and its customers to an even stronger business model that will keep up with the evolution of the K-12 education landscape."

In their roles, Draper and Gagliardi will fortify seamless user experiences through productive business decisions and improve LINQ’s offerings to keep up with the evolving needs of K-12 education actors, enhancing the ability of schools, districts and state education agencies to incorporate technological solutions to address challenges. LINQ currently serves a broad network of more than 47 state agencies and 4,400 districts throughout the nation. This includes the provision of Education Resource Planning (ERP), nutrition management, and payment solutions tailored for districts and state agencies. Additionally, LINQ's solutions provide schools with the ability to easily communicate with parents and guardians and extend support to nearly 2 million families.

Cody Draper, a seasoned finance professional, brings to LINQ a rich background in accounting, FP&A, tax, treasury, and financial operations. He possesses a wealth of expertise in building best-in-class financial teams to provide strategic focus and support to stakeholders and has led business transformation initiatives with involvement in go-to-market, product strategy, and business modeling. Prior to LINQ, he served as senior vice president of financial planning & analysis at Alludo, a multinational software company focused on empowering the knowledge worker. He was also Regional Head of Finance for the Americas at Temenos, a global market leader in SaaS banking software, after Temenos acquired Kony, where he served as vice president of finance. As chief financial officer, Draper is responsible for overseeing LINQ's financial strategy and operations, leveraging his extensive expertise to drive fiscal efficiency and sustainable growth.

Jim Gagliardi joins LINQ with more than 25 years of e-commerce, payments and marketing executive experience. He has served as a prominent executive for global organizations responsible for product management, marketing, partnerships and alliances, engineering, web development, and program management. Before joining LINQ, Gagliardi was the vice president and general manager of ShipEngine, the platform of choice for world-class shipping and logistics. He was also chief product officer for Auctane, the portfolio of brands that includes Stamps, ShipStation, ShipEngine and more. In his role as chief product officer, Gagliardi will lead LINQ’s strategic product and service direction, continuously driving innovation and ensuring a customer-centric approach to providing K-12 solutions.

To learn more about LINQ and how it addresses K-12 education business challenges, visit www.linq.com.

About LINQ

LINQ brings a new level of digital transformation and operation efficiency to K-12 leaders across districts and states. Built by a team of K-12 experts, our solutions include Nutrition for districts and states, Education Resource Planning (ERP), Forms & Workflows for districts and Payment portals for Parents and Guardians. Through our first-of-its kind K-12 Business Platform, LINQ is committed to Empowering the Business of K-12.

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