Alumni Spotlight: Derek Gordon

Derek is currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Pathbrite an early stage start-up in the education technology space. Pathbrite is a company with a focus on People Portfolios. The company’s motto is “The best way to collect, track and showcase a lifetime of learning and achievements, and to go beyond flat resumes or timelines to really stand out from the crowd.” Derek has also served as the Communications Director for the San Francisco AIDS foundation. Derek states “I’ve witnessed the majesty that is tens of thousands of people walking to raise money to end the HIV pandemic and the heartbreak of watching too many wonderful men still in the prime of their life cut down by AIDS.”

Derek holds a degree in Mass Communications from Cal State East Bay. Derek states that earning his degree has enhanced his ability to write efficiently and to write well. In his career he credits story-telling as being at the heart of everything he has done up until this point. Derek said, “My Mass Communications training also taught me to be a strong public speaker and to organize information effectively.”

Since graduating Derek has had a relationship with the same extraordinary man for 24 years, who he shares a home with in San Francisco that he says he fell in love with more times than he could count. Derek loves to cook and enjoys wine, he loves to travel and tend to his garden in his spare time. Derek said, “I have a passion for urbanity and loves cities, the people in them and their customs. Virtually every city I’ve ever visited I’ve wanted to move to for awhile to really deeply learn it and know it and understand it.”

Derek’s advice to CSUEB students is to “learn to write well. Learn to present yourself well. And never stop learning. The world changes at an amazing pace these days and you can’t possibly imagine the sorts of skills and knowledge you’ll need 25 years from now, so never stop learning.”

http://www20.csueastbay.edu/news/blog/2012/06/derek-gordon-cmo-pathbrite-csueb-alumnus.html

Twitter: twitter.com/derekgordon; twitter.com/djg2theworld; twitter.com/dailycasserole.

Facebook: facebook.com/derekgordon

Derek’s blogs: http://www.getthefive.com/search/?q=derek+gordon and http://dailycasserole.com

Pathbrite’s CMO encourages students to never stop learning

Alumnus Derek Gordon, ’86 mass communications, a San Francisco based marketing veteran loves story telling. “I discovered that I love to tell the stories about people at work changing the world,” he said. “So, after some initial twists-and-turns, I started my current path working with non-profits. I ran communications for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation for about seven years and then Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for two.”

It was at this time that a friend had convinced him to work at an Internet start-up during the tech boom of the late 90’s. Gordon considers it the best move he ever made because his company invented e-learning and he enjoyed an enormously successful IPO. Gordon is now working as the Chief Marketing Officer at Pathbrite, an early stage start-up in the education technology space.

Gordon’s says his advice to CSUEB students is to “learn to write well. Learn to present yourself well. And never stop learning. The world changes at an amazing pace these days and you can’t possibly imagine the sorts of skills and knowledge you’ll need 25 years from now, so never stop learning.”

With such a vibrant track record in the marketing field Gordon is a great example of what you can achieve at CSUEB!