Retired Chairman & CEO

Stride learning, inc.

Nate Davis was raised in a military family. His parents' primary goal was to escape the pre-civil rights South and provide fair opportunities and a strong educational environment for their children. His mother was a teacher and, after 20 years of military service, his father earned a master’s degree in education and became a teacher. Nate has always loved math, science and technology. Combining his love for technology and his parents’ love for education, Nate spent the last 13 years of his career bringing his expertise in technology to meet the challenge of providing quality education to anyone who wanted and needed it. His career covered successful executive and board roles in telecommunications, software engineering and finance (AT&T and MCI), wireless communications (Nextel Wireless), internet access and web hosting (XO Communications), technology-based media (XM Satellite Radio) and, finally, technology-based education (Stride Learning).

Nate’s most visible role was as CEO of XM Satellite Radio. But his love was his work at Stride Learning as its Chairman and CEO, where he focused on how the use of technology and software as a service could help teachers and students succeed.  Stride employs tools such as online curriculum, automated learning management systems, student information systems, electronic gaming, remote learning and other tools that help teachers better engage and motivate today’s technology-savvy students, regardless of geography or economic status. 

Under Nate’s leadership, Stride Learning’s mission was furthered to help learners of all ages reach their full potential through inspired teaching and personalized learning. The company serves customers in the U.S. and across the world, including school districts, corporations, families, nonprofit entities and government agencies. Stride has expanded to serve students from kindergarten to young adulthood, helping them learn basic software development, such as website design, as well as cybersecurity, full-stack software engineering, and training in health care professions like pharmacy technician, phlebotomist, medical billing and coding specialist, EKG technician and many more. Nate’s vision was for Stride Learning to make lifelong learning equally available to all corners of our society.

Nate helped Stride grow from a company with revenue under $0.5B to one now approaching $2.5B. Over the past 20 years, Stride has enrolled well over 2 million students in full-time programs nationwide and has reached millions of others through its other offerings. In addition, Stride has been the leader in offering educational choice and alternatives that proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Stride now counts itself as the largest provider of K-12 services in the U.S. and one of the largest education companies in the world.