Christian Faulkner is an Implementation Delivery Lead on the Implementation & Services team, and he joined EA in 2023. He is from Park City, Utah, and attended the University of Utah.
How would you describe your role on the implementation team?
At EA, the implementation team and the Delivery Lead role are charged with delivering our products and services to our partners on time and on budget. I really enjoy what I do because I get to work closely with the talented people behind the scenes here at EA, while also working closely with our Partners and external stakeholders. Internally, I work to enable our project teams and remove roadblocks wherever possible so that we can deliver tools that are impactful for our partners. Externally, I do everything from communicating progress, to training on our products, to gathering feedback and collaborating on solutions.
What interested you in working at EA?
As many EA-ers will say, I was drawn to EA by the mission and the opportunity to work in education technology as part of a nonprofit organization. This is key for me because I believe that it is our duty to provide a public education system in this country that gives all kids the opportunity to flourish. Providing the best for the next generation means putting students first, and it means prioritizing the public good. I love that we’re able to work and contribute within this paradigm at EA.
What skills do you possess that you find helpful in your role?
In my role, I think it is critical to step outside of my domain and look past a project’s direct needs to understand the priorities of others. For example, this might mean taking the time to understand another internal team’s processes so I can more effectively provide them with what they need to begin work. Or it might mean learning about and engaging with an external partner organization’s broader policy concerns and priorities. Showing that I know and care about these details helps to build trust and makes projects more successful.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your role?
I love working directly with school districts when possible and hearing about instances where EA solutions helped on the ground in schools and classrooms. Connecting the technology to student outcomes and progress is really rewarding.
What is your favorite project that you’ve worked on at EA?
I really enjoyed working on our project with MOREnet and Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD) in Missouri. This project helped to provide a specialized education provider like SSD with greater visibility into the students they serve across the county, while also providing data solutions for other more typical school districts. The project has been a nice mix of work that demonstrates our solutions’ ability to help districts with more traditional use cases, while also extending and adapting them to meet a more specific need.
If you had to choose a different team to work on at EA, which team would you pick and why?
There are many great teams at EA, but I would probably choose the Data Engineering team. By no means do I currently have the technical chops, but I would love to be involved in and learn more about the behind-the-scenes work that keeps our technical solutions running as expected. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with this team and learn from them. I have lots of admiration for what they do.
What changes do you anticipate in your field in the next year?
More broadly in our field, there continues to be a focus on student transitions to the workforce, and developing more connectivity between the skills required by the job market and those developed in our school systems. EA is well positioned to contribute meaningfully to this effort by leveraging our expertise in K-12 interoperability and in the standards and infrastructure that make it possible. I’m excited to see our contributions materialize in this space in the coming year.
What is something you enjoy in your free time?
I spend a lot of time chasing around my two kids (5 and almost 2 years old), but we like to get outside and enjoy the surrounding beauty in Utah. This includes hiking and skiing near my home in Salt Lake City and enjoying all there is to do around the national parks in southern Utah. I also enjoy golf, which I try to play once a week!
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a pilot when I grew up. While I didn’t ultimately follow this path, when I have more free time, I’d still love to learn to fly.
What is something that you would tell your younger self about your career?
I’d tell my younger self that there’s no correct path and that curiosity, hard work, and staying open to new things will lead to all kinds of interesting and fulfilling opportunities.
