Mentor Collective, higher education’s preferred edtech platform for peer mentorship, announces two changes to company leadership. Mentor Collective’s founding CEO Jackson Boyar will transition to an Executive Chairman role and has appointed Erin Mayhood, the current Chief Product Officer, to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Mayhood will lead all aspects of the company and focus on deploying Mentor Collective’s peer-powered student success platform – already in use by 200 colleges and universities – to close equity gaps and drive college enrollment and retention.
Almost ten years after founding Mentor Collective, Jackson Boyar will step down from his current role as CEO. As Executive Chairman, he will continue to play a vital role in overseeing the company’s long-term growth. Under Boyar’s leadership, the company has transformed how universities and colleges harness the power of mentorship. Partners like Florida Atlantic University, University of Arizona Online, and Saddleback Community College, have seen impressive gains in student belonging and persistence when implementing the company’s unique peer mentoring solutions. In 2023, Mentor Collective was named to the Inc. 5000 List for the fourth year in a row and was listed as one of the 50 best fully remote startups by BuiltIn.
“Mentor Collective would not be half the company it is today without Erin’s dynamic leadership across product, engineering, marketing, and operations,” said Boyar. “Erin is an exceptional leader, and human, who has a deep connection to the exact issues Mentor Collective enables institutions to solve and an impressive track record of helping high-impact companies to scale.”
Mayhood is a veteran Edtech leader and former higher education administrator who brings a wealth of experience to the role. Most recently, she spent seven years in executive leadership roles at Interfolio before joining Mentor Collective in 2020. Erin launched Interfolio’s first B2B Enterprise solution and helped the company define and win the Faculty Information System category in US and UK higher education.
“We are bombarded every day with headlines about how disconnected young people are, how universities and colleges are struggling to cope with the wellbeing crisis that has gripped the nation,” said Mayhood, “Mentor Collective’s mission is to make life-changing relationships integral to every student’s education. As a first-generation college student, I experienced the transformative power of mentorship in my own life. The importance of human connection and relationships to student success can not be underestimated, particularly for students like me who may not always have been given a clear path to follow. I am delighted and honored to lead this mission-driven organization, to build on the Founders’ exceptional leadership, and to accelerate Mentor Collective’s momentum as a category leader in student success.
“We are delighted that Jackson is stepping into the Executive Chairman role. Jackson has been the keeper of the Mentor Collective mission from inception and has been pivotal to the company’s success. We have witnessed first-hand Erin’s visionary approach and exceptional leadership skills. She is the perfect CEO for Mentor Collective in the next phase of the company’s evolution. We are thrilled to have Erin as the first female CEO in the Resolve Growth Partners. We are confident that her leadership will propel Mentor Collective to further expand its impact on higher education within this country. Every student deserves a mentor who can help them thrive in college and beyond,” said Jit Sinha, Co-Founder of Resolve Growth Partners.
Committed to enhancing the student experience through the power of peer relationships, Mentor Collective’s impact on student engagement, belonging and persistence are unparalleled in the industry. Under Mayhood’s leadership, Mentor Collective is poised for further growth and to make a lasting impact in the world of higher education.
To learn more about the Mentor Collective visit mentorcollective.org.
About Mentor Collective
Mentor Collective is an education technology provider that drives student belonging and retention through research-backed, scalable peer mentorship solutions. Supported by Lumina Foundation, Mentor Collective’s proprietary approach to student success brings student insights to the forefront of strategic planning. The company partners with 180+ institutions to unlock the transformative power of peer relationships and catalyze student success practices with actionable peer insights.
