JB Simpkins

• Seattle
• LinkedIn

Hello! I’m JB Simpkins, an MBA candidate at the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington

JB Simpkins's Bio:

JB Simpkins's Experience:

• Senior Budget Manager at Microsoft at Slate Group Consulting

  April 2020 - Present | Bellevue, WA

  I have provided budget analysis and support for finance related activities for the Dynamics Product Marketing team at Microsoft, resulting in retained budget of over $0.5M.

• William H. Gates Sr. Fellow in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The Technology Alliance

  September 2019 - June 2020 | Seattle, WA, United States

  For this fellowship, I created a marketing plan for the TA's inaugural Public Policy Conference, focused on AI. I also developed a system of metrics to quantify key drivers of Washington's innovation economy and the organization's annual report.

• MBA Consultant at Microsoft

  September 2019 - December 2019 | Redmond, WA

  For this project, I analyzed financial performance of comparable games in order to project revenues for an unannounced title for Xbox Studios.

• SaaS Product Management Intern at Autodesk

  June 2019 - August 2019 | San Francisco

  In this role, I analyzed the revenue and pricing models of several software as a service (SaaS) providers active in the education space in order to inform my recommendations for Autodesk’s SaaS models for education.

• Student Research Fellow at Foster Business Research Group

  April 2019 - June 2019 | Seattle

  In this position, I conducted research for the Foster Business Research Group in support of the k-12 Education Group at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I analyzed accessibility of data aligned with Gates' indicators, communicating both the results of my analysis and my recommendations for potential investments in a white paper and presentation to Gates leadership.

• MBA Consultant at NetHope

  April 2019 - June 2019 | Seattle

  I developed a framework to incentivize NetHope’s member NGO’s to invest in digital skills by highlighting the effectiveness of in-workflow learning and quantifying the value of digital upskilling in terms of a modified ROI that expresses benefits in terms of impact on the organization’s ultimate mission.

• MBA Consultant at Google

  January 2019 - March 2019 | Seattle

  For this project, I developed a framework to evaluate strategic product integrations and partnerships to target a new user segment for Google's Be Internet Awesome internet safety and citizenship app and curriculum. This project culminated with me presenting recommendations to product and marketing teams.

• Coordinator of Research, Assessment, and Accountability at Universal Academy

  June 2014 - August 2018 | Coppell, TX

  As Coordinator of Research, Assessment, and Accountability I was responsible for ideating, designing, and iterating new products, services, and processes, overseeing local, state, and international assessment administration, setting strategic goals, and developing and implementing tools to achieve them. One such tool used historical assessment data to project future performance. Using this tool, teachers were able set interim goals, group students more efficiently, and perform more effective targeted intervention. District wide, implementing this tool led to a 30.5% increase in the college and career readiness rate for the year 2016-2017. Another tool I created had a similar impact. Using statistical data, I was able to develop a model that delineated precise numerical relationships among mathematical concepts. This allowed teachers to more efficiently arrange their curriculum and led to an increase in material mastery of almost 89% among economically disadvantaged students. Meeting the College and Career Readiness target or Mastery target is correlated with a much higher probability of success during a student’s first year in college. Giving our students better access to earning a college degree was important to me, as many come from disadvantaged backgrounds. These students may go on to become the first college graduates in their families’ histories, and I am very proud of my role in helping that dream come to fruition. Our district greatly benefitted from the use of these tools. One historically high performing campus nevertheless ranked 2nd in 2017 and 1st in 2018 among similar schools in the category of student growth and earned all 7 available distinctions from the state. Another campus doubled the number of distinctions it earned. The district was among the few to earn an overall A rating in 2018. https://universalacademy.com

• Assistant Principal at Universal Academy

  June 2009 - June 2014 | Coppell

  As an assistant principal, I worked hard to retain great teachers, develop their skills, and facilitate their personal and professional growth. Attrition is an important issue facing most districts, but it is particularly pernicious for charter schools, which receive less funding and are generally much smaller than an ISD, making it difficult to replace teachers when they leave. One of my priorities as assistant principal was to create an environment that was more affirming and supportive, so that teachers would stay longer and our students could benefit from their experience. An area I identified for improvement related to formal evaluations. These had been conducted annually, based on minimal observation, and often felt like an ambush to teachers. In response to this feedback, I developed a transparent and cumulative evaluation program. I audited classes weekly and provided constructive feedback that was aligned with our summative evaluation tool. Teachers had a record of their performance from these observations, so summative evaluation results were not surprising. Teachers felt supported because they understood I was trying to help them grow. Additionally, I co-founded an initiative to provide opportunities to teachers to take on leadership roles by forming committees to address areas for improvement that they identified. This reinforced their status as stakeholders and increased their investment in the School and its mission. Subsequently, teacher turnover dropped by 35%. I encouraged our teachers to invest more time with students from disadvantaged backgrounds, partnering with them and their parents to improve their educational outcomes. This initiative proved fruitful, and in 2014 the middle school I managed was recognized as one of the top middle schools in Texas by the nonprofit organization Students at Risk. The same year I was the recipient of the Transformational Leadership Award.

• Math and Science Coordinator at Universal Academy

  June 2007 - June 2009 | Coppell

  Initially, I was promoted to math coordinator. Up to this point, math had been one of my school's weaker areas. From my experience as a math teacher, I knew that the textbooks we were using were inefficient and that our students would be better served if we created our own curriculum. I partnered with math teachers to develop logically sequenced, rigorous materials. This change resulted in a decrease of almost 67% in our math failure rate. As a result, I was recognized and received an award for Best Results. The following year, science was added to my purview. Up until this point, my school had never attained the highest rating available from the state of Texas. Now that I had made significant improvements to our math program, administration wanted me to improve our science program. I worked closely with our science staff to ensure that they were teaching effectively and that their instructional practice was aligned with state assessments and our strategic goals. This intervention paid off as our passing rate on the state science assessment improved by over 35%, including a 120% improvement among the key African American demographic. This performance allowed my campus to earn the highest rating, Exemplary, that had previously eluded us. Every year since, we have received the highest rating available.

• Teacher at Universal Academy

  August 2003 - June 2007 | Coppell

  I taught a variety of subjects including 5th grade reading, science, and social studies and 5th-8th grade math. My first year teaching middle school math, I recognized that our curriculum was inefficient and poorly structured and developed my own curriculum instead. My 8th grade class, half of which had failed the state math assessment as 7th graders, showed dramatic improvement. As 8th graders, every one of them passed the math assessment the first administration, which had never happened before at our school. The same year my peers nominated me for Teacher of the Year, and I was a top 3 finalist for that award.

JB Simpkins's Education:

• University of Washington

  2018 – 2020
  MBA
  Concentration: Product Marketing
  Activities:  770 GMAT  Dean’s Merit and Martha Sensenbrenner Scholarship recipient  Brian F. Dammeier Endowed Fellow  Dean’s List (Winter 2020)  Undergraduate Admissions Application Reader (Winter 2020)  Product Marketing Specialization  Foster Student Ambassador  Member, Leadership & Management Society  Member, Foster Technology Club  Member, Outdoor & Sports Industry Club  Member, Net impact

• University of North Texas

  1997 – 2002
  Social Sciences
  Activities: National Student Exchange

• University of Hawaii Hilo

  2000 – 2001
  Activities: Outrigger Canoe Club

JB Simpkins's Interests & Activities: