About Electives
Life is a journey.
At Electives, we believe life is a journey with infinite possibilities and destinations. We invite you to join us and learn alongside us.
01Our vision:
Humans learning from humans, for a better world
For too many years, corporations leveraged massive libraries of content without enough consideration for learning quality or impact. We’ve changed the corporate training game by bringing out the old rule book. We’re taking education back to its roots: humans learning from humans. Our focus is on connecting people to create understanding. Together, we believe we can create a better world.
02Our mission:
To help people grow and connect.
Electives is helping people grow and connect by bringing the world’s experts – the known and the unknown – into their lives. We’re delivering unforgettable learning experiences and creating lifelong learning impact.
The Electives founders absolutely love learning.
But corporate training? That was another story.
Electives cofounders Krikor Dzeronian and Jason Lavender met at MIT Sloan. A guest lecture by a mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest six times changed their lives.
Krikor and Jason were captivated by the vividness of the mountaineer's story and how he explained why effective teamwork is the difference between life and death.
After that lecture, Krikor and Jason came together to solve the following:
How can we provide more people with unforgettable learning experiences?
Who are other experts people could be learning from?
How can we make it easier for corporations to create meaningful learning impact?
Krikor and Jason discovered that the corporate training industry was suffering and that almost all employees prefer live training to the pre-recorded training that has become ubiquitous.
They also uncovered three primary challenges with corporate training:
It's hard to source great training at scale.
Employees are not engaging with pre-recorded content.
Training isn’t differentiating the employee experience.
In 2020, Krikor and Jason became obsessed with changing what we learn, who we learn from and the format of our learning at work. That is when they began to build Electives.
Trusted by a long list of people-focused companies.
As the head of HR, employee education is something I take very seriously. Electives allows me to bring meaningful learning to employees in a fun and relatable way.
The manager training series with Electives was one of the best management training I have seen.
Working with the Electives team is working with trusted advisors.
It was fun to see how engaged our leaders were throughout the DEI series.
I am beyond impressed with our Electives classes at Blend!
Electives classes inspired us to take action in our allyship journeys here at Superhuman!
Our organization has been inspired, motivated and touched in countless ways from our partnership with Electives.
Let's chat
With Electives, you can deliver training your employees will love, from people they'll never forget.
Learn more about the Electives library
Learn more about the Electives library
Learn more about our library
Learn more about our library
Let us help you build the learning program that is right for you.
Decision making can be complex! Especially when there are so many good choices and so little time in the day. That's why we offer customized onboarding. We'll help you define your objectives, map your strategy and develop a plan for meaningful learning impact.
Contact our sales team to learn more
Learn more
Reviews
we tap into the human desire to learn, grow and connect.
We love to learn.
At Electives, we all have a role in creating the company, communities and world we want. We seek to inspire people to be more and do more. These are our core values:
Approachable.
We strive to make learning as accessible as possible. We want anyone and everyone to feel comfortable coming to us with their challenges and ideas.
Authentically human.
We are true to ourselves and aim to help others be true to themselves. Above all, we remember that we are humans, and we’re connecting humans. We’re tech-enabled but all about the people.
Frank.
We simplify ideas when possible. When tough conversations are needed, we lead the way.
Empathetic, inclusive + respectful.
We take actions to help everyone feel a sense of belonging.
Inspirational + motivational.
We believe in better, and we try to spread that belief. We seek to motivate those around us to take action to create better.
Trustworthy.
We ensure the people we work with (internally and externally) can trust us to deliver the best and have their best interests at heart.
Do you want to help organizations create meaningful learning impact?
Our team:
Is bold and tries new ways of solving old problems.
Embraces differences and actively seeks and respectfully expresses perspectives. Our best learning comes from our differences.
Has each other's backs and always looks for ways to elevate each other. We succeed and fail as a team.
Has a growth mindset. We are building something that does not yet exist. We do not have all the answers, but we are confident we can find them.
Takes ownership. We roll up our sleeves and act when we see opportunities for improvement.
Commits to the best ideas regardless of where it came from. Innovation is more important than tenure or titles.
We play the long game. We don't take shortcuts. We make decisions that build products and relationships for the future.
View our open positions
View our open positions
Find out how Electives can help you create meaningful learning impact.
Electives is the better way to bring live learning to your teams.
Share your insights and innovations.
Are you a people leader who is passionate about nurturing employee growth and building meaningful connections in the remote/hybrid work landscape? We want to hear from you! Apply now to be interviewed for “People developing people” to share your innovative insights on shaping the future of work. Together, let’s empower the next generation for success.
Apply to teach
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Frequently asked questions
Electives is an enterprise live learning platform that streamlines your planning, curation, administration and measurement, which means you can deliver better quality learning with less effort.
Electives instructors are real people sharing real-life experiences and leadership lessons. They give valuable advice as they tell stories and express feelings people are often afraid to share.
We source and vet traditional and nontraditional instructors with a proprietary, multi-step process designed to ensure an experience people will love.
- Community sourcing: We source instructors through top-of-funnel research, word of mouth and referrals.
- One-on-one interviews: Our learning experiences team interviews all prospective instructors to ensure their authenticity, while confirming their content and teaching styles align with the Electives mission and our current needs.
- Pilot classes: The prospective instructors that are approved to move forward then teach a pilot class. The Electives pilot community provides qualitative and quantitative feedback, helping determine whether or not we add the instructor to our platform. The Electives pilot community includes employees from all of our client partners.
- Ongoing performance: Once instructors are live on the Electives platform, their classes can be viewed and booked on the Electives platform. Instructors must maintain high scores to remain on the platform.
We only add instructors who deliver impactful and unforgettable experiences into the Electives instructor community.
Electives offers 450+ classes on essential topics like leadership, new manager training, communication skills, DEI, innovation and more. Learn about the Electives library here.
We curate Electives classes with learner desires and employer objectives in mind. Although we offer classes in various formats, our classes are all inclusive, interactive, impactful and unforgettable. All Electives classes are delivered live via Zoom.
Because learning needs constantly evolve, we add new classes to the Electives library every month. We also require our instructors to keep their existing classes updated with relevant resources and examples. Likewise, we are regularly sourcing and vetting new instructors who bring unique expertise and experience to the Electives library.
The Electives live learning platform includes 4 synchronized parts:
- Extraordinary instructors deliver unforgettable experiences. Electives instructors are real people sharing real-life experiences as professors, FBI agents, psychologists, performers, athletes and more.
- Live learning builds memorable connections. We offer 450+ live classes on essential topics like leadership, new manager training, communication skills, DEI, innovation and more.
- Platform tools eliminate your administrative burden. The Electives live learning platform provides a single source for planning, curation, administration and measurement.
- Electives support builds your confidence. We’re technology-enabled but people-focused — which means we’re with you every step of the way. We’ll help you develop and execute learning strategies that meet your organization’s unique objectives.
Electives support helps you develop and execute learning strategies that meet your organization’s unique objectives.
Electives support includes:
- Onboarding.
- Learning strategy sessions.
- Periodic business reviews.
Contact the Electives sales to learn more about Electives support.
Electives can help you:
- Save time and money previously spent sourcing, vetting, procuring, scheduling and managing learning programs.
- Leverage trusted instructors and proven content to deliver impactful learning.
- Impact employee views and behaviors while encouraging positive long-term changes.
- Upskill and reskill employees while building a culture of learning.
- Offload logistics of learning for multiple teams, regions and groups.
- Demonstrate your people-first culture with tangible learning experiences that support your company’s unique values.
- Improve retention through employee engagement.
- Promote remote- and hybrid-team collaboration and communication.
- Deliver content that supports ERGs and creates DEI impact, awareness and action.
The Electives team can help you determine what learning experiences your employees want through tools, like surveys, that help you learn that information from your employees.
We designed Electives for those who want to provide the best learning experiences and create measurable learning impact. We’re making it easy for even the busiest HR, people operations, DEI and business leaders to feel proud of their learning strategies and execution by helping them deliver better quality learning with less effort.
The Electives platform streamlines your planning, curation, administration and measurement, which means you can:
- Save time and money previously spent sourcing, vetting, procuring, scheduling and managing learning programs.
- Leverage trusted instructors and proven content to deliver impactful learning.
- Impact employee views and behaviors while encouraging positive long-term changes.
- Upskill and reskill employees while building a culture of learning.
- Offload logistics of learning for multiple teams, regions and groups.
- Demonstrate your people-first culture with tangible learning experiences that support your company’s unique values.
- Improve retention through employee engagement.
- romote remote- and hybrid-team collaboration and communication.
- Deliver content that supports ERGs and creates DEI impact, awareness and action.
There are many ways to measure the effectiveness of your Electives learning program, including surveys, assessments and performance evaluations. Your Electives support team will work with you to define your objectives, map your strategy and develop a plan for meaningful learning impact — including measurement.
The Electives platform supports individual, team-based and peer-to-peer live learning with a perfect mix of quality, quantity and diversity of content, instructors and experiences.
The Electives platform features:
- Electives Membership, a live learning membership program that lets employees select the classes they want to join each month.
- Private classes, delivered live to organizations and teams. We’ll help you build the series of private classes that best meet your learning objectives.
- Certificate programs with peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
- Learning strategy and execution support.
- Learning impact measurement and analysis.
- 150+ instructors who are real people sharing real-life experiences and leadership lessons.
- 450+ classes covering all your most-needed and most-desired topics in categories like leadership, new manager training, communication skills, DEI, innovation and more.
Electives offers three package types:
- Foundation: Built for companies currently formalizing their learning programs. The foundation package lets companies leverage the Electives platform plus Electives Membership, private classes and certificate programs for select employees.
- Growth: For companies ready to expand their learning programs, our growth package engages a more significant percentage of the employee base. The growth package offers additional platform features and extended support for learning objectives and program management.
- Impact: Our impact package is for companies prioritizing learning across their entire employee base. Offering more learning opportunities, all of our platform features and high-touch support, the impact package is designed to help create your organization’s unique learning culture.
Electives is actively recruiting instructors that deliver inclusive and unforgettable experiences. We are looking for the following:
- Experts with relevant lived experience.
- Unforgettable storytellers.
- Natural instructors who can develop learners.
Electives is an enterprise live learning platform that streamlines your planning, curation, administration and measurement, which means you can deliver better quality learning with less effort.
Contact the Electives sales team. Together, we’ll build the learning program that is right for you.