The Gaggle Story
As an entrepreneur in the field of technology and education, Jeff Patterson, Gaggle’s founder, felt strongly that email was a powerful tool for staying connected with friends and colleagues, and played an integral role in the success of businesses he was involved in. He wanted to bring that power of communication to schools to engage and motivate students. He knew that student safety was a primary concern for schools in allowing use of email, so in 1999, he created a system that filters messages, and allows global to granular control and access for teachers and administrators.
Jeff is frequently asked why he chose the name “Gaggle.” As you may know, gaggle is the name for a large group of geese. According to Jeff, “Our goal was to give teachers an easy way to watch over their gaggle of students, hence the name Gaggle.”
Since the inception of Gaggle as a student email provider, the company has grown significantly and is now so much more than email. We are continually adding popular features for communication and collaboration, all within our safe, filtered, and controlled environment. Gaggle’s collection of tools has grown to include Digital Lockers, Message Boards, Chat Rooms, Blogs, Profile Pages, Homework Drop Boxes, Calendars, a Social Wall, GaggleTube, Zoho Docs, and filtered texting.
Jeff’s vision of student-centric schools using cutting-edge technology to inspire creativity and ingenuity in today’s students remains the driving force in Gaggle’s continuing story.
Company Overview
We recognize that our country is in a turbulent time and has a great need to develop capable, intelligent, forward-thinking leaders for our country’s future. Gaggle has always worked to provide powerful electronic communication tools to students and teachers, and we are poised to expand and evolve to meet the needs of schools as they adapt to learners who are accustomed to being constantly connected to each other and the world around them.
Our People
Gaggle’s people are the key to our success. Our backgrounds and experiences may differ, but we are united in our passion for providing innovative technology and outstanding customer service.
Jeff Patterson, Founder & CEOJeff Patterson is the founder of Gaggle and for the last nine years has led
Gaggle’s technology team. Patterson is the creator of numerous educational
software programs. His products include Sound Companion for HyperStudio, Lesson
Plan Helper, The Reading Success for Kids series, Sound Effects and Music Loops
for Multimedia, HyperStudio Project Resource Kit and Sweet Digizine. Jeff is
also the co-founder of Pixel Genius Entertainment, Inc.
jeff@gaggle.net
Brett Woudenberg, Chief Operating Officer, has 20+ years experience in
business management. Prior to joining Gaggle, Brett was Chairman and CEO at
Trailblazer, a learning management solution for K-12 schools. Brett holds a
Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Masters in Business from the
University of Massachusetts - Amherst. In addition to Brett’s responsibilities
at Gaggle, he has also co-founded two startups in the biometrics and
alternative energy markets and continues to serve as advisor to several
boards.
brett@gaggle.net
Rebecca has over 10 years experience in the management and administration of
large, complex network (LAN/WAN) infrastructures. Her professional background
includes assignments as Network Administrator for a large school district where
she designed and developed large scale systems delivering educational services
across a multitude of locations. Previous to that, she held a Network
Engineering position with a fast paced manufacturing company where she
delivered secure, highly available network management solutions. Rebecca has
the proven expertise to manage, evaluate, and procure technology resources and
create strong cross functional teams with proven implementations of cutting
edge technology such as ERP and SIF systems.
becki@gaggle.net
Tom Petit, VP of Sales, leads both the inside and outside sales teams at
Gaggle. He is a graduate of Boston College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts
in Ancient History/Political Science, and of Hofstra University Law School
where he earned his Juris Doctorate. Over the past 17 years his experience
includes sales management with diverse companies such as Protocol, BearingPoint
and JobDirect.com.
tpetit@gaggle.net
Corey Vail serves as Controller at Gaggle, overseeing all of the financial
and administrative functions for the organization. Corey brings over 15 years
of accounting and finance experience with him to Gaggle, having served in
senior management roles with both large publicly traded companies (LEXIS-NEXIS,
ADM) and privately held mid-sized organizations (Kathryn Beich Fundraising,
Afni). His experience has specialized in streamlining operations through
technology utilization and best practice implementation, often reducing costs
by 15-20% in the face of increasing business volumes. Corey graduated with
highest honors from the honors program at Millikin University, where he earned
a B.S. in Accounting.
coreyvail@gaggle.net