Insights and Experience: A Warm Welcome to Tech Leader Caroline Gaffney, our New Independent Board Member

We started 2022 with a bang by acquiring Looop, the UK’s leading LMS. Today we have even more good news to share: we’re welcoming the wonderful Caroline Gaffney to our board of directors!

Caroline is a VP Product and Chief of Staff to the CEO at LinkedIn. After joining in 2010, she became Director of Product Management before moving to Instagram to build and scale the company’s growth team. She then moved back to LinkedIn where she has been for the last four years. Prior to moving into tech, Ms. Gaffney worked at McKinsey and Gap Inc, after attending Princeton University and Harvard Business School.

The product and tech experience Caroline brings to 360Learning is unrivaled, and so is her passion for making learning more engaging and dynamic. That’s why we’re so thrilled to be welcoming her to the 360Learning Board!

And what would an introduction be without some of Caroline’s thoughts on joining our family and the future of Collaborative Learning?

5 questions with Caroline Gaffney

To welcome Caroline, we asked her a little bit about what motivated her to join us.

1. Welcome to 360Learning! What made you decide to join our family as a board director?

Thanks, glad to be here!

The 360Learning team’s mission and strategy is aligned with my interests and background. I am excited to help the team grow and bring Collaborative Learning to more organizations.

2. Tell us a little more about your transition from working at McKinsey to leading product functions at tech giants like Meta’s Instagram and LinkedIn. What do you consider to be your most notable achievements, especially in your current role?

At McKinsey, I learned important skills from strategic thinking to problem-solving to communications. With that solid foundation, I was able to transition to leading product teams in the consumer tech space. What drew me to product roles was the ability to quickly identify a pain point or user need and build a solution to solve it.

I am incredibly proud of the work my teams did at both LinkedIn and Instagram to help people build networks, learn new skills, and keep up to date with their interests.

3. Any advice you could share for Learning and Development teams based on your experience of creating products for learners?

My advice for Learning and Development teams is to truly understand the needs of your employees and build solutions and programs tailored to those needs. To do this well, it’s also important to have an ongoing dialogue and gather feedback to ensure your learning solutions are having an impact.

4. Given the transition to hybrid and decentralized workplaces over the last 18 months, what do you expect the future of learning to look like?

The future of learning will need to adapt to the hybrid working reality we are all facing. Historically learning was done in person, often with one teacher and many students. In the future, learning will be done in a variety of ways–some online, some in person, with content created by a variety of teachers who deliver it in many different ways.

5. Why do you think Collaborative Learning has the potential to transform the way we learn today?

Collaborative Learning will make learning more dynamic and engaging. When anyone can be a teacher, there will be more content accessible to learners. This content will be fresher and will be provided in different formats to support all types of learners.

My advice for Learning and Development teams is to truly understand the needs of your employees and build solutions and programs tailored to those needs.

Welcome, Caroline! We can’t wait to see what the future has in store

After such an eventful start to the year, we’re thrilled to be able to welcome Caroline on board to help drive the future of Collaborative Learning. Following Caroline’s appointment, the 360Learning Board will comprise ten directors.

We believe Caroline’s track record in shaping some of the most influential developments in technology will leave 360Learning in an even better position to become the world’s number one corporate learning platform.

Welcome, Caroline!

Official Biography:

Caroline Gaffney is currently VP of Product and Chief of Staff to the CEO at LinkedIn. Before her current role, she led the growth product team at Instagram, helping the app to reach over 1 billion monthly users. Previously at LinkedIn, she ran different parts of the consumer product including homepage, feed and Lynda.com. She started her career at McKinsey & Company, working on strategic projects in the media and retail industries.

Caroline holds a BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.