Sara O'Byrne, M. Ed.

Senior Manager, Customer Success @ Renaissance Learning

About

Motivational leader leveraging command of Project Management, Account Management, Customer Success Management, Education Trainer and classroom teacher to make products relatable and worthy of reinvesting. As the Manager of the top GRR team of Customer Success Managers 3 years running, I support my team in the customer journey as we quickly pivot in this ever changing ed-tech environment. Owning our numbers, onboard as a thought partner, and nurture to identify risk, has been my recipe for success. Annual product kick off planning an execution is an important part of the year and oneI have enjoyed delivery of, "The Power of Storytelling," to CS & Sales Departments, and "Value Add vs Veteran Moves" to the CS Department.Active involvement internally in my company is one of my favorite forms of community building. I lead the CS Resource Committee, currently lead the CS Process Committee, and am an active member of the Mentor Program and Culture Committee.Working toward PMP. Gallup Strengths: learner, arranger, achiever, self-assurance, strategic.

Country

United States

City

Kennett Square

Industry

Education Management

Skill

Student Engagement, Behavior Management, Curriculum Innovation, Time Management, Critical Thinking, Organization Skills, Easily Adaptable, Continuing Professional Development, Effective Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement, Coaching & Mentoring, Team Motivation, Professional Development Programs, Distributed Team Management, Enmotional Intelligence, Adult Learning Theory, Customer Journey Mapping, Business Strategy, Operation Key Results, Project Team Management

Experience

Senior Manager, Customer Success

Renaissance Learning

2021-10 - Present · 5 yrs

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States

Strategic leader with deep customer success expertise, professional learning strategy and implementations leading to strong ROI. Exceptional in building my team to be active listeners and to become strategic thought partners. Encourage data use to drive customer health, spearhead retention and improve internal efficiency. Delivered training to Customer Success and Sales on Multithreading, Storytelling and Value Add vs Veteran Moves. I create clear and compelling reasons for my team to consistently rise above and always offer their best efforts. As a result, I have been a top performing retention and expansion manager in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Member: Customer Success Leadership Accelerator

Ed-tech Leadership Collective

2024-10 - Present · 2 yrs

The Customer Success Leadership Accelerator is a professional peer group for K-12 ed-tech leaders. Members actively participate in a structured format where they provide one another fresh perspective as well as candid feedback in a safe space. The Accelerator is a collaborative environment where members problem-solve issues they’re facing, while developing the skills and knowledge to anticipate obstacles they’ll face in the future.

Customer Success Manager

Savvas Learning Company

2019-4 - 2020-11 · 1 yr 8 mos

• Managed 4 Professional Development professionals dedicated to my executive level accounts. • Primary relationship owner of executive level accounts in PA, NJ & MD with over $20M in product purchases, providing product management, technical support and business review to prevent account churn. • Built culture of data insight for customer retention and revenue opportunities over $700,000. • Drove adoption of new integrations through sales partnership, leading risk assessment and quickening time to value through organized onboarding processes. • Proven success with year-over-year retention and expanded purchases totaling over $1M

Lead Education Consultant

Pearson

2016-7 - 2019-4 · 2 yrs 10 mos

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Provided training and coaching for integrated literacy, math, and intervention resources in elementary and middle schools in executive level accounts. • Managed Pearson's largest account, $19M, supporting 147 schools in the School District of Philadelphia. • Awarded Employee of the Quarter in Fall 2017 for exceptional client feedback and support. • Cross-trained to assist over 130 schools with the enVision math program, enhancing educational support. • Partnered with Multi Lingual Department on best practices in literacy and math with Tier 1, 2, 3 level students

Early Literacy Specialist

Children's Literacy Initiative

2014-8 - 2016-7 · 2 yrs

Philadelphia, PA

• Served as a Literacy Coach for the School District of Philadelphia, enhancing teacher capacity in a Turnaround School. • Delivered professional development hours to Philadelphia teachers during mandatory summer institute training. • Developed and delivered professional development sessions on classroom culture and language arts for K-3 educators. • Implemented weekly coaching cycles with 14 teachers, focusing on reflective planning and lesson modeling. • Collaborated with a team of 40 Literacy Specialists to create a guiding document for literacy coaching assessment used in over 100 schools.