Our Story
Our Journey: Unlocking the Power of Education
At Craft, we are on an exhilarating journey, and this is just the beginning. It took us a remarkable 12 years to perfect the art of apprenticeship-based accreditation and create an entire technological system known as “Craft.” This system is designed to do something extraordinary: convert on-the-job learning into valuable academic credits.
We are thrilled to share that we are now offering this revolutionary system to the world. Our mission is to empower community colleges and universities to collaborate with employers across all industries. Together, we can transform practical on-the-job training and experience into rigorous, quantifiable degrees.
This venture is not merely exciting; it is transformative. It will open doors to a world of opportunities and create new pathways for millions of talented and diverse professionals, spanning fields like healthcare, cybersecurity, and many others.
We understand the profound impact education can have on individuals and society as a whole. Our goal is to make education accessible and meaningful to all, irrespective of background or circumstances.
We invite you to join us in reshaping the landscape of higher education. Together, we can unlock the full potential of college degrees, allowing individuals to reach their highest aspirations.
Thank you for being a part of this transformative journey.
Sincerely,
Mallory Dwinal-Palisch
CEO
Craft Education
Our Team
Mallory Dwinal-Palisch
Mallory Dwinal-Palisch has dedicated her career to innovative educational models. She began as a Spanish teacher with Teach for America and, later, co-founded a public charter school in the San Francisco Bay Area. After that, she co-founded an apprenticeship-based university that helps over 100 school districts grow their own teachers. Mallory graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Economics, Spanish, and International Studies; additionally, she holds a Ph. D. in Education from Oxford University (dissertational focus: rural teacher shortages), which she attended as a U.S. Rhodes Scholar, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Scott Sumi
Scott Sumi is an experienced startup operator that loves employing his engineering and team leadership skills while adapting to an ever-changing technology landscape. His career has run the gamut from Union Pacific Railroad scheduling systems to solution architecture at IBM to co-founding a fintech startup prior to the pandemic. In 2021, Scott was introduced to Mallory through a mutual investor and her vision and mission of Craft Education to help people get credit for the work they’re already doing really resonated with him. Scott’s perspectives on how to structure teams and technology work for high-performance productivity is on display every day at Craft as they grow.