SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Hackbright Academy, the Bay Area’s leading engineering school exclusively for women, today announced that Alice Hill has been named its new chief executive officer. Formerly a senior executive at acclaimed Silicon Valley companies including CNET, Slashdot, SourceForge, Dice, and eBay, she assumes her position as Hackbright continues to build and foster an exceptional experience for students, alumnae and hiring partners alike. Over the last two decades, Hill has been a leader in global innovation for the tech industry, and brings extensive board-level and governance expertise.

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Alice Hill Takes Helm at Hackbright Academy as New CEO (Photo: Business Wire)

Hackbright works to increase the number of role models for women in tech, and Hill understands what it takes to blaze a path to the top in the male-dominated technology industry. This makes her uniquely capable of providing insight and direction for those who wish to pursue careers in technology. Having run large-scale engineering departments, and led globally recognized tech brands, Hill has the knowledge and experience to translate strategy into action and help prepare graduates to meet hiring partner needs. Her personal passion to change the ratio of women in tech is an ideal match as Hackbright looks to remove barriers for women to achieve successful careers in software engineering.

“I am passionate about developing future women leaders in the field of technology, and Hackbright is a rare place where women can grow and thrive in an empowering environment,” said Hill. “At a time when the issue of diversity in tech has never been more crucial to our future, companies are ready for the tremendous opportunity that more women engineers represents. An all-women school amid too few options to learn and develop coding skills among other bright, ambitious women, Hackbright’s culture stands out for its focus on the tools, guidance, and mentorship to achieve great things. Together we’re changing the ratio one woman at a time.”

Hill has extensive industry expertise with large scale web development, open source developer communities, online tech media, product development, and technology recruiting platforms. Notably, she previously served as CTO for eBay Classifieds’ Incubator Markets and as head of eBay’s quality assurance center in Shanghai, and is well known for her past leadership roles at outstanding tech companies including serving as VP/general manager for CNET Networks where she launched and ran many of CNET’s flagship online businesses.

“As our search for a new CEO began, we considered the many qualities essential in Hackbright’s next leader. Alice Hill stood out as a visionary, an innovator, and a pragmatic problem solver who understands both the challenges and opportunities of connecting a skilled and ready workforce with hiring partners. We are proud to have her on board,” said Kevin Gilligan, chairman and CEO of Capella Education Company, the parent company of Hackbright Academy.

Hill’s past work also includes executive roles with Slashdot Media where she served as president, managing director at both Dice.com and at Maker Media, widely known as the publisher of MAKE Magazine and the producer of Maker Faire, and she headed up the IT and online operations for Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). She was a founder of business advice start-up Bizmore.com, a subsidiary of Vistage International owned by Michael Milken, Thomson-Reuters and Larry Ellison.

Winner of multiple awards for design, usability, and innovation, Hill received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and Oxford University, and is the author of more than 500 published articles on technology and online media, including technology commentaries for The New York Times, Businessweek, and dozens of other technology and business publications.

About Hackbright Academy

Based in San Francisco, Hackbright Academy is the Bay Area’s leading engineering school for women. Its mission is to increase the representation of women in tech through education, mentorship and community. Hackbright’s flagship fellowship is a 12-week immersive software development program where women learn the skills to become full-time software engineers. Hackbright alumnae are represented at companies including Eventbrite, SurveyMonkey, New Relic, GoDaddy, Amazon, and Pinterest. Hackbright is a wholly owned subsidiary of Capella Education Company (NASDAQ: CPLA).

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