Laura Polk

Laura Polk is the current Executive Director of Digital Initiatives and Learner Experience at Thunderbird. Laura has dedicated their career to ensuring that students have the best possible experience when completing their education online.

Laura Polk began their career in 2012 as a Service Platform Expert with the Joint Application Design team at Apollo Education Group. In this role, Laura was responsible for streamlining the online education process and reducing the paper trail for student applications and paperwork. Thanks to Laura's efforts, the Apollo Education Group was able to reduce the pain points for students by 50%.

In 2015, Laura transitioned to EdPlus at Arizona State University where they took on the role of Senior Program Manager. In this role, Laura was responsible for ensuring the successful onboarding of all online programs for various degrees at ASU. Laura's team was dedicated to providing the best possible experience for ASU students all over the world.

In 2020, Laura Polk became the Executive Director of Digital Initiatives and Learner Experience at Thunderbird. In this role, Laura is responsible for leading Thunderbird's digital transformation and creating innovative digital experiences for Thunderbird's global community of learners.

Dr. Laura Polk has a Doctoral degree in Management in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. Laura also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Business from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Journalism & Mass Communication from Arizona State University. Laura is also certified by SCRUMstudy - Accreditation Body for Scrum and Agile as a Scrum Fundamentals Certified and Scrum Master Certified.

Laura Polk reports to Sanjeev Khagram, Dean & Director General. They work with Adam Henry - Executive Director, Enrollment & Student Success, Leadership Team - Director General and Dean, and Tom Hunsaker - Associate Dean of Global Challenge Lab.