Anita Anatharam, a professor at a top 10 university and Founder/ CEO of LeaderLync, recognized an educational problem that has never been accurately addressed or solved: Higher education institutions and employment recruiters want students to showcase their interpersonal skills, but students were never taught to identify and develop them. This gap reflects the saying, “You get hired for your technical skills, you get fired for your [lack of] soft skills.” There needed to be a way to increase the transparency between students and higher education institutions and employment recruiters.
After a few years of brainstorming sessions, collaboration, and hard work, Spect, a one-of-a-kind app from LeaderLync, was born. Spect provides a progressive learning environment that goes beyond just looking at the quantitative data found in SAT, ACT, and GPA values. Spect monitors student progress and provides a quick and easy way to track soft skills and other important achievements, such as community service hours, awards, and extracurricular activities. By empowering students to visually recognize and “track” the development of these activities over time, they will inevitably be able to leverage them for professional success.
LeaderLync is a forward-thinking company that disrupts the current education industry. We believe soft skills are more beneficial than defining a student based on their GPA or standardized test scores. Spect is an app that is just the start of changing the way we view education.
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Gainesville is a special place for the startup world. The hub of innovators found around Innovation Square is a close-knit group that is incredibly supportive of one another. Additionally, the University of Florida’s and Santa Fe College’s culture and influence help create an environment where graduates want to stay in Gainesville and develop their entrepreneurial skills.
“How do we prepare our children to be successful in today’s world? 21st-century learners need to develop a set of soft skills that are in high demand in today’s workforce. Employers are extremely focused on interpersonal skills, analytical reasoning, complex problem-solving, agility, and adaptability. Finding a way to provide an educational environment that sustains and promotes these soft skills is paramount. The ability to track these skills is essential yet challenging. Spect has solved this problem by creating a way to help learners build a soft skill portfolio. As a parent of five and a director of a progressive learning environment, I am absolutely thrilled to collaborate with Spect in order to foster both formal and informal learning!”
—Jaynie Wilkins-Earley, Parent and Co-Founder, Ignite School House
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