Darek M. Ciszek
About Darek M. Ciszek
Darek M. Ciszek serves as the Head of Product Analytics & Research at Illuminate Education, Inc., where he leads initiatives to enhance product performance and customer satisfaction. He has a diverse background in education policy and analytics, having worked with organizations such as the United Nations and Teach For America.
Work at Illuminate Education
Darek M. Ciszek has served as the Head of Product Analytics & Research at Illuminate Education, Inc. since 2015. In this role, he has been instrumental in founding the first Product Analytics & Research Team, which established a standardized data taxonomy and framework for K-12 education research. He provides strategic guidance for the development of digital K-12 SaaS products that serve approximately 16 million students across the United States. His responsibilities include leading customer feedback survey methods and competitive market intelligence, contributing to year-over-year improvements in Net Promoter Score across various products.
Education and Expertise
Darek M. Ciszek holds a Master of Public Administration with a focus on Public Policy & Management from the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where he studied from 2009 to 2011. He is currently a PhD student at UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, specializing in Learning Sciences, with an expected completion date in 2025. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences with Honors from the University of Chicago, where he studied Comparative Education & Learning Sciences from 2002 to 2006.
Professional Background
Darek M. Ciszek has an extensive professional background in education and policy consulting. He worked as a Policy Consultant for the United Nations in New York from 2010 to 2011. He also served as a Policy Fellow at TNTP for 11 months during the same period. His experience includes roles as a Digital Education Consultant for Partners Relief & Development in Thailand and SPARK Schools in South Africa in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Prior to his current position, he was the Associate Director of Product Management at Achievement First from 2011 to 2015 and a TFA Corps Member and Consultant at Teach For America from 2006 to 2008.
Achievements in Product Development
Darek M. Ciszek has made significant contributions to product development in the education sector. He developed an early warning system that utilizes key usage indicators to identify accounts at risk for churn. His leadership in product analytics has led to improvements in customer satisfaction metrics, including the Net Promoter Score. He has represented Illuminate Education as a speaker at national product conferences, such as the 2019 Pendomonium User Conference, sharing insights on product analytics and research.