Meet the Patrons Q&A with Jane Ross, EMEA Education Lead with Zoom

Posted by Learnovate

As part of The Learnovate Centre’s Meet the Patrons series, we speak to Jane Ross who is EMEA Education Lead at video communication experts Zoom.

Zoom was founded in 2011 in San Jose, California and the service was launched globally in January 2013. Now with more than 5,000 employees worldwide, Zoom has become a household name across the world.

Zoom provides a video-first Unified Communications platform for hybrid learning environments, administrative uses and community engagement with a single cloud-based platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, content sharing, webinars, and cloud phone.

The company has customers globally across a number of verticals including, but not limited to, education, healthcare, government, financial services, manufacturing, legal, IT services, SaaS companies, retail, oil and gas, and the consumer market.

Jane has been EMEA Education Lead at Zoom for just over a year and is involved in co-ordinating and managing the Sales, Marketing, Product, Event, Legal and Executive functions for the development and support of the education vertical in EMEA.

Jane has always had a passion for technology having worked in technology since 1992. As an engineer by profession with a degree in Telecommunications Management at DeVry University, she has the unique ability to take complex subjects and make them accessible to everyone.

With that learner mindset, she is now responsible for working with universities, schools and the education community at large, to truly understand how to connect with students and drive learning and innovation on virtual platforms.

What are the biggest lessons you learned in your career?

Choosing a career in technology as a woman back in the early 1990s was uncommon. I definitely felt like a trailblazer at times but was lucky to always be surrounded by people – both men and women – who were supportive and willing to be mentors. I’ve taken this same approach with direct reports and colleagues over the years to help those around me be the best they can both personally and professionally.

How would you define your work style and how has this changed over your career?

I’ve always approached my work with a sense of curiosity and open-mindedness. I also try to remain humble because there’s always something to learn if you’re willing to hear it. I learn new things from my two boys – aged 10 and 11 – every day. In fact, they inspire much of what I do on a daily basis here at Zoom in support of Education. 

Why is R&D important in the learning technology industry? 

R&D is instrumental in the continued growth and innovation of new technologies. It’s through brainstorming and experimentation that solutions are uncovered for both current and future problems. Zoom announced in December 2020 that we are expanding our presence in Singapore by setting up a research and development centre and hiring hundreds of additional engineering staff for the new operation. This new centre is an addition to the existing R&D centres in the United States, India and China.

How should we prepare for the future of work?

Flexibility is key for both learners and educators to be prepared for any eventuality.  If done correctly, both the institution and the students can benefit. Institutions can create new streams of revenue and students can take the enriched learning experiences and apply them to the ‘real world’.

Why is membership of Learnovate important to your company?

Zoom continues to look for partnerships that will help us drive our understanding of, and thought leadership in, the Education market. Education is a number one priority for us globally and partnering with an organisation like Learnovate helps us to identify and address the needs of our community.

What does Learnovate do well?

In the short time that we’ve been a Patron Member, Learnovate has been incredibly proactive and engaging. Within the first couple of weeks, we were introduced to people and projects that aligned with our business priorities. The people at Learnovate are incredibly helpful and a delight to interact with.

Register for Learnovation

Find out how to transform learning experiences at the online 2021 Learnovation Summit on 12–13 October 2021. Find out more at www.learnovate.ie and register today.