Founder, Branch Ideas
I’m a content and product development leader with deep experience across educational publishing and EdTech. Over the course of my career, I’ve helped shape instructional tools that serve real learning goals—whether in a college writing classroom, a K–12 literacy platform, or a hybrid learning environment.
I’ve held senior roles at both traditional publishers and EdTech companies, including as President of Bedford/St. Martin’s, Vice President at Macmillan Learning, COO of Cognii (an AI-based assessment firm), and Director of Content at ThinkCERCA. Across those roles, I’ve led editorial teams; advised on product strategy; and collaborated with educators, technologists, and designers to build online educational experiences that are academically rigorous and and enhanced with technology.
Through Branch Ideas, I work with education companies that need expert guidance on content and products—from early-stage planning to execution. I’m especially interested in projects that bring strong pedagogy into digital formats and that ask serious questions about how technology (including AI) can support—not replace—authentic learning.
I bring a mix of strategic thinking, hands-on experience, and a long view of where educational content has been and where it’s going.
Interesting tidbits from the wayback files: I graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an A.B. in history and literature. As an undergraduate, I was managing editor of the Let’s Go travel guide series and helped introduce its first computer workflow. While working on my M.A. in English at Brown University (thesis on the role of literacy in Austen’s novels), I contributed to the hypermedia version of George P. Landow’s Victorian Web.
To learn more or to connect:
LinkedIn profile for Denise Wydra
