About Us
Current, transitioning in or out, or finding your way back — we meet education professionals wherever they are in their working lives and help them build a career that actually works.
To help education professionals reach their fullest potential through professional development, mentorship, and entrepreneurial support — rooted in the belief that every education professional deserves the tools, resources, and opportunities to excel, no matter where they are in their career.
A world where no one’s talent goes underused, underpaid, or unseen — where every education professional, from current faculty to career-changers, has a clear path forward and a community behind them.
Our Story
Ella Epshteyn, EdD, spent close to twenty years in higher education — largely in faculty support roles. From that vantage point, she watched the same thing happen again and again: highly educated, deeply capable people struggling to find sustainable work, juggling part-time jobs just to make ends meet.
“This wasn’t only an adjunct problem.” Instructional designers, administrators, career-changers — education professionals of every kind were facing the same underemployment, pay disparities, and lack of flexible options.
In 2020, she wrote a book — You Are HigherED! — about using collaborative entrepreneurship in teaching and learning to build better career outcomes. She interviewed people across the field about their struggles and their wins along the way. Even those who pivoted into adjacent fields, completing every additional training asked of them, often still struggled to land work that paid what they were worth.
Plenty of organizations offer education and professional development. None offered holistic career support — the kind that accounts for every facet of the problem, and meets people wherever they are in their journey. So she built the one that should exist.
However you’d like to show up, there’s a place for you at You Are HigherED!
Lend your time and skills to our programs, events, and day-to-day operations.
Share your experience and guide an education professional through their next step.
Fund workshops, mentorships, or the annual conference and put your name behind the mission.
Lead engaging learning experiences that help people build skills, confidence, and meaningful career pathways.
Stay connected with the latest programs, career resources, events, and opportunities from You Are HigherED! Be the first to know what’s happening and never miss an update.
