Dayton Johnson Executive Search is comprised of specialized recruitment consultants who are dedicated to finding the best talent for leadership opportunities in a range of education companies, and builds upon over 25 years of experience in the education industry as former educators, leaders in state education departments, and leaders in senior sales and strategy for large and small companies.

DAYTON JOHNSON

Founder and Managing Director

Dayton recruits top-quality talent and provides specialized consulting services for a broad range of education companies. His career focus is to help his clients improve their sales and profits. He’s been a trusted adviser to K-12 and Higher Education companies for decades and has recruited hundreds of world-class professionals for rapidly changing environments. His placements of CEOs, Sales and Marketing VPs as well as top-performing talent in Business Development, Field Sales, Product Development, Technical Leadership, Consulting, Professional Development and Implementation have produced substantial increases in revenue and success for his clients.

As a highly-regarded Strategic Consultant in the K-12 Education Industry, Dayton has led the Sales Strategy for eight EdTech start-up companies as VP of Sales. He continues to consult for clients to develop efficient selling processes and sales infrastructure based on market research, data analytics, competitive intelligence and extensive industry expertise.

Earlier in his career, Dayton held Senior Leadership Positions in the K-12 Education Industry including Vice President of National Sales for Scholastic, Inc., and Educational Sales Director with IBM. He’s taught educational technology courses at the University level, served as Director of Instructional Technology with the State Department of Education and was elected for two terms as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Instructional Computing Consortium.  Dayton began his career as a Teacher, during which time he pioneered the application of computer technology to meet the individual needs of special education students.

Dayton has published numerous educational industry articles and has co-authored several books on instructional technology. He has been the recipient of numerous achievement awards and holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration.

Contact Dayton directly at dayton@daytonjohnson.com.

EILEEN JOHNSON

Managing Director

Eileen is a dedicated and passionate recruiting professional with extensive experience in building world-class teams for her clients. Eileen has established Dayton Johnson Executive Search as the premier boutique search firm in the for-profit education industry with an extensive track record of recruiting top-performing professionals that improve the success and profitability of her clients. As a professional networker, strategist and talent scout, Eileen is a trusted adviser to both clients and candidates in the education industry.

Eileen’s industry experience includes more than 20 years of Leadership in Educational Technology Innovation, K-12 Publishing and Teaching. As CEO of Stepping Stone Software, she broke new ground for integrating technology in elementary classrooms achieving significant results in student achievement. She continued her work in Senior Management for education companies including Harcourt School Publishers, ETS, and TextHelp Systems developing marketing strategy and high-performance sales teams to achieve significant growth in market share and revenue attainment.

Early in her career, Eileen was widely recognized for her innovations in K-8 Science Research and was featured on the cover of several education journals for her success in developing hands-on science curriculum. As a leading Educator and Science Department Director, Eileen was recognized for her success in developing business / literacy partnerships and for her results in accelerating the achievement of struggling students.

Eileen earned her B.S. Degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin with an emphasis in Science.

Contact Eileen directly at eileen@daytonjohnson.com.

Associates

BERNIE LINNARTZ

Bernie Linnartz has more than twenty years of experience making greater things happen for great organizations, companies and communities. Bernie is a nationally recognized leadership consultant in structural thinking, organizational development, quality assurance, team building, training, coaching, motivation, planning, process improvement and customer service.

As a Senior Partner with Empowerment Experts, Bernie has provided exemplary consulting in business management, process improvement and project management. He has developed techniques to enhance business growth and successful change in organizational culture. Bernie has been a leader of Boardroom’s I-Power process that has saved thousands of dollars for hundreds of companies. His strengths in dealing with both common and crisis situations to create sustainable growth and success has produced significant results with clients including IBM, General Motors, Pitney Bowes, Chrysler, Ford, Barney’s New York and others.

As the Senior Program Director with the American Management Association in New York, Bernie coordinated programs, leaders and curriculum development in areas of Leadership, Team Building, Executive Effectiveness and Image. He directed AMA’s Strategic Management Certificate Program and AMA’s premier Executive Effectiveness Course. He was awarded AMA’s prestigious individual achievement award for his achievement in Internet Marketing resulting in annual revenue of thirteen million dollars and working with over one thousand top level executives a year.

Bernie has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Development and extensive training in the Malcom Baldridge Criteria for Performance Excellence.

SARAH TESKE

Market Strategist and Business Development Leader

Sarah Teske has almost 10 years of experience advising and working within high-growth companies and organizations in transition. She began her career in the trenches at a nascent technology startup, where she gained unique insight into the needs of growing businesses, the nuances of the mergers and acquisition process, and the dynamics of multi-national conglomerates. With a keen understanding of brand image, market strategy and change management, Sarah has identified, envisioned and executed game-changing ideas for product and service offerings in K-12 education, higher education, nonprofit, marketing services and identity security sectors. She enjoys collaborating with clients and colleagues to articulate and implement market entry, partnership development and scalability initiatives that ensure long-term value.

Energized by the pace of innovation and ambiguity of the education technology industry, Sarah excels at synthesizing complex information and articulating actionable strategies with measurable outcomes.

She holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

PRIYANKA CHANDHOOK

Priyanka is a Management graduate and started her career in executive search with a boutique search firm. Since then she has gained rich experience and currently heads the Vertical responsible for leadership hiring in the Education and Publishing industry. In her career as a search consultant, she has been responsible for spearheading assignments involving search for senior professionals and business leaders for various organizations in the Education industry. She has been a consultant to various start-ups in setting up their entire top management teams.

Her earlier associations have been with British Council and a leading marketing communications firm. For a brief period in her professional career, she also ran a successful entrepreneurial venture in recruitment.

Her strengths include a high degree of focus and commitment as well as the ability to build strong relationships with clients and candidates. She has a particular expertise in establishing a good “fit” both technical and cultural for her clients. Based in New Delhi, India, Priyanka specializes in executive talent for U.S. and international education companies seeking expansion in India, China, Southeast Asia and Africa.