Now managing director for OpenLearning in Australia, Cherie Diaz has had an interesting career trajectory: after starting out as a classroom teacher, she made the move to the corporate world with Ernst & Young, before progressing through a series of roles and then taking on the OpenLearning gig this past July.

It’s an interesting one: OpenLearning raised an $8.5 million Series A round led by two Malaysian companies earlier this year to help fund its further expansion across Australia and into Southeast Asia.

The startup now has more than 1.3 million students on board learning through the massive open online courses created by its university and vocational education partners. Along with Australian clients including UNSW, the University of Melbourne, and the Federal Government, the startup also has Malaysia’s 20 public universities and 34 public polytechnics on board.

Gina sat down for a chat with Cherie about her career path, the evolution of OpenLearning’s approach to education, and the growth of the company moving forward.

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