About Electives
01Our vision:
Learning should be fun.
Corporate training doesn’t have to suck. At Electives, we’ve made learning enjoyable for learners, easy for HR and effective for businesses — reinventing an industry that’s been stuck in boring, one-size-fits-all solutions.
02Our mission:
To help people grow.
We deliver personal and professional development through live classes, AI simulations and real-time analytics — empowering learners to thrive and People teams to demonstrate real impact.
Electives was born from a love of learning...
and a frustration with stale corporate training.
Cofounders Krikor Dzeronian and Jason Lavender met at MIT Sloan, where a guest lecture by a mountaineer who summited Everest six times changed their perspectives forever.
The vivid stories of teamwork at extreme altitudes made Krikor and Jason wonder:
Why aren’t more corporate training experiences powerful?
That question fueled their obsession. They discovered:
Most employees want live, human-centered learning — not pre-recorded modules.
It’s hard to source top-tier training at scale.
Traditional corporate training rarely stands out or drives measurable impact.
In 2020, Krikor and Jason launched Electives — reinventing how we learn, who we learn from and the format of workplace learning.
Today, Electives makes it easy for companies to deliver live classes and AI simulations that employees enjoy while providing real-time analytics to prove learning effectiveness.
It's learning that works.
Trusted by growing, people-focused companies.
The manager training series with Electives was one of the best management training I have seen.
The Electives catalog is comprehensive and caters to our diverse live learning needs and audiences. Their facilitators are experts in their fields, making learning with Electives a valuable experience very time.
Working with the Electives team is working with trusted advisors.
It was fun to see how engaged our leaders were throughout the series.
Electives has given LinkSquares accessibility and options that we otherwise wouldn’t have had for learning & development. It’s clear that their curation of instructors is thoughtful and premium. Using Electives within our organization has driven engagement and education!
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Reviews
THE PERSONAL + PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEARNERS CRAVE.
Do you want to help organizations create meaningful learning impact?
Our core values:
We are bold and try new ways of solving old problems.
We embrace differences and actively seek and respectfully express perspectives. Our best learning comes from our differences.
We have each other's backs and always look for ways to elevate each other. We succeed and fail as a team.
We have 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.
We take ownership. We roll up our sleeves and act when we see opportunities for improvement.
We commit to the best ideas regardless of where they come 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.
Request a demo.
Do you love to engage + inspire?
Electives is actively recruiting instructors that deliver engaging, timely and enjoyable learning experiences.
If you're an unforgettable storyteller, we want to hear from you!
Frequently asked questions
Electives is learning that works.
- Electives is effective for your business. CEOs want results from HR programs… Electives work for the business, aligning curriculum with business priorities. Electives arms you with the reporting you need to quantify progress.
- Electives is enjoyable for learners. Corporate training doesn’t have to suck… Electives works for learners because it delivers the personal and professional development learners crave. Electives offers live classes led by the best trainers + always-available AI simulations to practice real-world scenarios.
- Electives is easy for HR. People teams are being asked to do more with less… Electives works for you by replacing cumbersome legacy L&D systems with a modern one that’s easy to deploy, operate and justify.
Electives is learning platform that makes it easy to implement, design, execute and measure effectiveness.
At any point in time, you can toggle these learning experiences on and off:
- Live classes:
- Private classes: Love learning programs delivered exclusively to your team. Perfect for deep dives, team building and developing a shared language. Our private classes are customizable to meet your business needs.
- Electives Membership: A schedule of live sessions delivered to members, offering broad learning opportunities. Members pick the classes they want to attend, they have the opportunity to network with peers from other organizations, and they can stack their classes to earn certificates.
- AI Sim: An interactive AI-based simulator that provides a safe space for employees to practice realistic workplace scenarios. The AI Sim is available 24/7/365 for on-demand, personalized learning.
Electives caters to growing, people focused companies that need a modern alternative to stale, pre-recorded training. If you’re a lean People team looking to level up your employees without juggling a dozen different vendors, Electives is for you.
- Perfect for companies with 500+ employees, scaling fast or investing in talent development.
- Ideal for People leaders who need to justify L&D impact to their CEOs/CFOs.
Great for teams that want easy deployment, high engagement and proven ROI.
Our instructor community features professors, C-suite executives, astronauts, Olympic athletes and coaches, comedians, poets, songwriters, historians, best-selling authors and more — all sharing real-life experiences and leadership lessons that resonate with employees.
We follow a proprietary, multi-step process to ensure every instructor delivers enjoyable, impactful and high-quality sessions:
- Community sourcing: We research industry trends, tap our network and collect referrals from top organizations to discover exceptional talent.
- One-on-one interviews: Our learning experiences team interviews every prospective instructor to confirm authenticity, teaching style and topic relevance.
- Pilot classes: Instructors conduct a pilot for our Electives pilot community (which includes employees from our client partners). We gather detailed qualitative and quantitative feedback.
- Ongoing excellence: Instructors must maintain high ratings and deliver live, unforgettable and impactful learning experiences to remain in our community.
This rigorous process ensures each class is led by someone who’s passionate, authentic and engaging — resulting in consistently high NPS scores.
We curate Electives classes with learner satisfaction, business relevance and future-readiness in mind. Whether it’s a private program or part of Electives Membership, all classes adhere to these principles:
- Built for real engagement: Live, interactive experiences that encourage dialogue, reflection and immediate application.
- Aligned with business outcomes: We incorporate pre- and post-session diagnostics to connect learning content with organizational goals.
- Continuously updated: Our instructors regularly refine their classes with relevant resources, cutting-edge research and fresh examples.
Because learning needs constantly evolve, we add new classes to the Electives library continuously. 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.
All Electives classes, including private classes and Electives Membership classes, are live and interactive, delivered via Zoom to maximize real-time engagement and networking. Recordings of private classes are available afterward for on-demand review, but the core experience is always live — never stale or pre-recorded.
Yes! Our AI simulator provides a safe space for employees to practice realistic workplace scenarios.
Benefits of the AI simulator include:
- Available on-demand, 24/7/365
- Personalized based on learner needs and performance
- Available in multiple languages
- Can be customized to align with specific functions and roles
Absolutely. Our manager training programs equip current and aspiring managers with real-world skills they can apply immediately. Each session is led by accomplished experts who blend business insights with practical leadership techniques. The AI simulator supplements live learning with realistic practice scenarios available 24/7/365.
Yes! We offer AI readiness training to build a culture of curiosity, adaptability and innovation around AI. These programs cover the impacts of AI, how to use AI responsibly and how to integrate AI tools into everyday work for maximum efficiency. The AI simulator supplements live learning with realistic practice scenarios available 24/7/365.
We know your HR/People team is already stretched thin, so we provide end-to-end support to help you design, execute and measure your learning programs — without burdening your staff.
- Planning support: Electives provides support with program planning, scheduling, marketing and logistics. Our platform incorporates AI-driven tools to help you diagnose, strategize and measure. Plus, we research learning and business trends to design the most relevant programs and provide proactive recommendations to solve needs before your team asks.
- Delivery support: We source the best instructors and content so you can be confident you’ll deliver a high-quality, live learning experience.
- Learning retention support: Post-class learning support includes class recordings, instructor slides, one-pagers, reminders to combat the forgetting curve and 24/7 access to an AI coach.
- Reporting support: Executive dashboards are updated in real time and available 24/7.
- Impact assessment support: Electives provides accessible analytics, including registration, attendance, class ratings and learning impact data. Always available dashboards.
Throughout your journey with Electives, your customer success manager will be by your side every step of the way to ensure success.
Electives lets you bring top-tier live learning to your company with minimal effort — perfectly suited for lean People teams and limited budgets.
Here’s how it works:
- Enroll your organization in Electives Membership. Give your employees instant access to daily live classes on today’s most-needed topics.
- Build your private class program. Define your objectives and we’ll map out a private program that delivers the results you need.
- Gain an extension to your People team. From strategy to logistics, we’re by your side. We’ll make sure your live learning program is a success.
- Get everything you need all in one place. Launch surveys. Analyze data and feedback. Find resources and class recordings. It’s all within the Electives platform.
When you partner with Electives, you instantly gain access to 100s of live classes taught by inspiring instructors, sparking connections and real-time engagement.
Here are more ways working with Electives will benefit you and your organization:
- Effortless L&D management. Our platform streamlines live learning management, allowing you to focus on other priorities.
- Get started immediately. As soon as you enroll your organization in Electives Membership, they’ll have access to live daily classes on today’s most important topics.
- Deliver innovative, relevant learning. Our diverse lineup of exceptional instructors and highly current topics excites employees, keeping them engaged with fresh, meaningful content.
- Drive strategic growth. Electives combines technology with expert guidance to build live learning programs that fuel long-term, strategic growth.
- Tailored to your culture. Our live programs adapt to reflect your company’s unique culture, objectives and growth journey.
- Continuously updated. We’re always sourcing and vetting new instructors and content to keep up with the fast-changing needs of today’s workforce.
- Scalable and adaptable. Designed for both immediate impact and future aspirations, Electives scales as your business grows.
CEOs want results from HR programs… Electives works for the business, aligning curriculum with business priorities. Electives arms you with the reporting you need to quantify progress.
- Electives is aligned with your business needs. We offer AI-driven, customizable diagnostics during pre- and post-learning periods to connect the learning to your business.
- The ROI is quantifiable. Our effectiveness hub lets you view all of your data across the entire Electives platform 24/7.
- Positively impact behavior: >90% of employees say they’ll change their behavior after attending Electives classes
- Increase retention: Training boosts job satisfaction by 78% and retention by up to 61%. (Gallup 2021) This means big costs savings, considering the costs of a new hire can add up to 4x the position’s salary. (SHRM 2022)
- Boost employer brand: 65% of employees say training is very important to evaluating a potential job. (Gallup 2021)
- Optimize training costs: Avoid $32,000+ to create content for each program delivered.
Electives is actively recruiting instructors that deliver enjoyable and effective learning experiences. We are looking for the following:
- Experts with relevant lived experience.
- Unforgettable storytellers.
- Natural instructors who can develop learners.