Justin Schaefer

Justin Schaefer has over 25 years of experience in sales and strategic account management. Justin began their career in 1996 as a Field Sales Representative for Harcourt, where they were responsible for sales to 18 colleges and universities within WI, MN, MI, IL & IA. Justin then moved to Functional Services Corporation as an Account Manager in 1999. In 2000, they became a Senior Sales Representative for Pearson Prentice Hall, where they promoted collegiate Engineering, Science, Math, Health and Technology textbooks and technological solutions to 17 colleges and universities in southern and central Wisconsin. Justin achieved a 39% increase in territory sales over two years and earned a spot in the Top 10 of 330+ reps two years in a row. In 2004, they joined Cengage Learning as a District Sales Manager, where they led the largest sales district and generated over $29 million in yearly sales revenue of digital and print content. In 2017, they became the Partnerships Director for Raise.me, a Gates Foundation funded early-stage startup focused on improving student recruitment outcomes for higher education. In 2018, they joined CEA Study Abroad as National Director of Strategic Account Sales, where they analyzed, developed, trained, executed and measured the sales & partnership strategy to grow the business. In 2020, they moved to Mentor Collective as VP of Strategic Account Sales and Strategic Account Executive, where they reported to the CEO and sold to executive level university administrators and corporate clients. Justin implemented a sales playbook to accelerate revenue growth, designed, built, hired and developed the account executive team, and collaborated across the organization with Finance, Marketing, Enrollment, and Product Development. Finally, in 2023, they joined Protopia as Vice President of Partnerships, where they help colleges and universities build community with their app-less artificial intelligence system.

Justin Schaefer attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1990 to 1994.