May 23, 2014

Email  |  LinkedIn  |  Twitter  |  Google+ Scottsdale-based Parchment Inc. has landed Ethan Beard , a former Facebook and Google director, as the newest member of its seven-member board of directors, the company said this week in a statement. Beard takes the place of Ted Mitchell , a former president of Occidental College who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Under Secretary of Education this month. President Barack Obama nominated Mitchell for the post last year. Parchment, which is one of the Phoenix Business Journal’s “10 Companies to Watch” this year , is a software company that electronically sends and receives academic transcripts for both secondary and postsecondary education. Its CEO Matthew Pittinsky co-founded BlackBoard Inc., a widely used software company that allows schools and corporations to host classes online. Beard most recently spent five years with Facebook, starting out as director of business development and then worked his way up to director of developer relations. Before Facebook, Beard had spent another five years at Google serving in several director positions in areas of new business development and social media. Beard joins Parchment at a time of rapid growth. Parchment exchanged about 100 transcripts in its first year, 2003, and broke the 1 million threshold seven years later. By the end of 2013, that number had exploded to 12 million. The Scottsdale company also landed another $10 million-round of funding earlier this year , bringing the total amount raised to $45 million since early 2011. “The opportunity to join the Parchment board has special meaning to me,” Beard said in a statement. “Parchment is one of those rare opportunities to develop a high-impact platform in education, a sector central to addressing so many critical social issues. Credentials play a pivotal role in education, and the mission that Matt Pittinsky and his team have established at Parchment is truly exciting to be part of.” Kristena Hansen covers residential and commercial real estate. Related links: