INNOVATION IN ACTION: HOW CYGNUS IS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Cygnus Education excels in architecting comprehensive marketing and enrollment management strategies for educational institutions.

Our expertise here at Cygnus, refined over years of dedicated service, has positioned us as a trusted authority in the higher education landscape. It’s time to say goodbye to disjointed marketing campaigns and fragmented enrollment strategies.

Backed by decades of experience in the industry, our team has delivered incredible results for institutions, helping them increase their enrollments, expand their initiatives, and optimize their lead management systems. Our state-of-the-art technology effectively mitigates the effects of unqualified leads on enrollment performance while improving operational efficiencies in prospective student funnels.

YOUR TRIUMPH IS OUR TRIUMPH.

That’s why our partnership goes beyond merely providing support – we seamlessly embed ourselves in your university brand, delving into the challenges and pain points your academic and administrative teams face daily.

OUR OBJECTIVE?

To deliver a fulfilling and rewarding educational enrollment experience for your prospective students, leaving a profound impact that nurtures student success and loyalty.

We will help your institution set up systems that will transform student interest into solid intent and real enrollments. With Cygnus Education, you’re choosing a holistic approach that merges experience, technology, and a deep comprehension of the higher education landscape.

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Our Vision

Every student’s journey is exceptional.

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Our Mission

To transform the way higher education institutions connect with high-intent prospective students.

Our Dedication to Your Brand

We are committed to compliance, and this isn’t just a box to check for us – it’s at the heart of our mission.

Cygnus was established on the belief that institutions can connect with high-intent prospective students through ethical solutions that are attuned to the intricate and constantly evolving landscape faced by institutions today. It was our commitment to compliance that led to the creation of ComplyEd, the first self-serve ad platform giving institutions full access to each creative asset running for their brand.

Supported by our CTO, Tony Novak, and a team of experienced developers and technical support professionals, ComplyEd offers the tools institutions need to approve, track and monitor all creative assets in one easy-to-access location.

As a creative and media company that operates fully in-house, we maintain complete control and visibility over all creative assets and campaign execution. This means you can be sure that no creatives (ads, images, copy, landing pages, etc.) will run without your electronic approval.

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OUR STORY

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OUR CEO, MARCELO S. PARRAVICINI FOUNDED CYGNUS EDUCATION IN 2014.

From its very inception, Cygnus has been one of the fastest-growing technology, performance marketing, and enrollment management solutions providers dedicated to higher education. In the first two years, we mainly provided consultancy services in integrated marketing and enrollment management operations.

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SINCE EARLY 2016, CYGNUS EMBARKED ON A JOURNEY TO BECOME A FULL-SERVICE PERFORMANCE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PROVIDER.

Our focus has primarily been partnering with the largest educational institutions in the country to fuel online and campus enrollment growth for both non-traditional and traditional prospective students.

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OUR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS IN 2021 AND 2022 LED TO RECOGNITION AS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING PRIVATE COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES BY INC. MAGAZINE.
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AS WE MOVED INTO 2023, CYGNUS CONTINUED TO DIVERSIFY ITS SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS, MAKING SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENTS IN PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY OFFERINGS.

Marcelo Parravicini currently leads the Consumer Consent Council (CCC) and the Professional Association of Consumer Engagement (PACE). His efforts in establishing a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) aim to promote consumer-centric and compliant best practices across all verticals.

With Marcelo’s direct involvement, Cygnus and partner institutions enjoy front-line access to the latest regulatory changes and practices in promoting compliant, ethical, student-centric marketing and engagement strategies.

OUR INCREDIBLE JOURNEY OF GROWTH

With the help of our fantastic team, we have worked with numerous public and private universities and Online Program Management service providers to expand their marketing initiatives, realign enrollment management efforts, and drive enrollment growth.

We’ve done this exceptionally well, too. We’re expanding and growing at a rapid pace. With the growth and development of our workforce, Cygnus Education has employees spread across the US.

In 2021, the growth necessitated relocation to a new corporate office headquarters in order to support workforce expansion.

Cygnus Education proudly operates as an entirely in-house creative and media buying agency. Our independence from third-party agencies and data aggregators guarantees comprehensive control and clarity of overall creative assets and campaign executions.

Not only that, but our commitment to transparency enables our partners to trace the journey from initial ad impression through to form completion, offering an unrivaled level of insight and trust!

Where We’re Headed & Our Future

Looking forward, here at Cygnus Education we’re poised to continue to revolutionize the higher education landscape by offering advanced technology solutions to help institutions grow and scale.

We’re more than just a company – we are a team with a shared vision of transforming the journey to higher education, helping people achieve their personal and professional goals through learning.

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OUR TEAM

Steeped in a shared vision for higher education, the Cygnus team is comprised of dedicated professionals spanning marketing, enrollment management, and technology.

From insightful copywriters and designers, to adept marketing and client service teams, we foster a synergistic environment ensuring all creative executions echo your brand guidelines and resonate uniquely across various platforms. With decades of experience under our belt, our leadership has navigated the intricate challenges of higher education marketing and enrollment management, helping the institutions we work with to adapt, innovate, and thrive.

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Marcelo Parravicini
Marcelo Parravicini
Chief Executive Officer

A thought leader in higher education marketing and enrollment management, Marcelo Parravicini has helped numerous institutions reignite enrollment growth through the alignment of marketing efforts and the reengineering of integrated enrollment operations. In 2014, Marcelo founded Cygnus Education on the premise that ethical, consumer-centric, data-driven, and compliant marketing and enrollment strategies can help higher education institutions achieve their enrollment goals, evolving with the marketing landscape through an evidence-based, analytical approach. Marcelo is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Angela "Angi" Becerra, ED.D
Angela "Angi" Becerra, ED.D
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER, CHIEF PRIVACY OFFICER

Angi is a dynamic and creative leader with 15 years of experience specializing in recruitment, marketing, admissions, student success, outreach, and business development. Her unique leadership style is result-oriented and supportive. To assist her teams in achieving business goals, she defines clear objectives and provides the resources and coaching they need to be successful. She believes collaboration is key to a successful organization and works tirelessly to drive collaboration among her teams, other departments, and partner institutions. She has a doctoral degree in Higher Education Leadership from Maryville University.

Devin Cassels
Devin Cassels
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Devin has steered Cygnus through rapid growth, ensuring financial stability and scalability. He brings over a decade of experience in finance and strategy, having previously spearheaded new product development for global asset manager SEI. Devin is driven to leverage innovative strategies in analytics and finance to empower the Cygnus team to continue its success in helping partners grow. Devin is a graduate of the University of Richmond and a CFA charterholder.

Andrew Milner
Andrew Milner
CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER

Andrew is a data forward performance marketing leader who has spent his career at the intersection of marketing and technology. Andrew lends his leadership and performance marketing expertise to help clients achieve ambitious enrollment growth goals. Andrew has scaled media campaigns for many of higher education’s largest institutions using the latest advertising technology to augment and increase the effectiveness of his buys. He is currently spearheading the team's marketing operating system, VEGA, which enables institutions to gain efficiencies in their student acquisition campaigns. Andrew is a graduate of Bloomsburg University.

Tony Novak
Tony Novak
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Tony joined Cygnus in 2020, with a background in display advertising and many years of experience building high-performance, high-availability software systems at companies ranging in size from startup to Fortune 500. As CTO, he's now focused on bringing the Cygnus vision to reality through his leadership of the engineering and product teams behind VEGA and ComplyED alongside other in-house technology solutions. Tony is a graduate of Cornell and has a master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford.

Daniel Rehn
Daniel Rehn
Chief Information Officer, Compliance Program Manager

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Margaret "Peg" Catalfamo, SPHR
Margaret "Peg" Catalfamo, SPHR
VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES & COMPLIANCE

Peg has over 20 years of business-based HR experience. Her expertise is in both operational and strategic HR practices. Overseeing all aspects of human resources, talent acquisition and employee engagement she partners with the leadership team to effectively support rapid business growth. Her focus is on serving employees, helping to drive change through collaboration and engagement. Peg is a graduate of Widener University.

Anthony Gigliotti
Anthony Gigliotti
DIRECTOR, PERFORMANCE MARKETING

Anthony Gigliotti is a dedicated team leader who has spent the past 3+ years with Cygnus leading media strategy and training media buyers on how to run successful campaigns for clients. He is focused on deeply understanding clients’ needs and centering campaign strategy around them. Anthony specializes in crafting strategies for reaching high-intent prospective students across established and emerging channels. Anthony is a graduate of Temple University.

Jessica Elam
Jessica Elam
DIRECTOR, CLIENT SUCCESS

Jessica is a dedicated team leader who has spent the past 12 years within higher education enrollment management and over a year driving Client Success at Cygnus. Because of her experience, she has an in-depth understanding that helps her team find intelligent solutions to client needs. She is data-oriented and places a strong emphasis on collaboration to ensure we build effective client relationships. Jessica believes that the key to helping our clients succeed is transparency, quality campaigns, and compliance. Jessica is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University.

Alex van Wert
Alex van Wert
DIRECTOR, PRODUCT DESIGN & MARKETING

Alex is a methodical, empathetic, and evidence-based product designer with over eight years of experience pursuing the mental models of human-computer interaction. Her experience spans stakeholder interviews, agile product prioritization, heuristic analyses, and A/B testing. Alex strives to design with clarity and purpose, creating digital products that target needs. She is the head of design for VEGA, the Marketing Operating System serving clients and our internal Cygnus team. Alex is a graduate of Duke University and has a masters degree in Integrated Design & Media from New York University.

Mike Campbell
Mike Campbell
DIRECTOR, TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Mike has worked in higher education performance marketing for over 15 years, primarily leading SaaS support efforts for Enterprise Accounts. He enjoys building camaraderie with his clients, while guiding them to confidently utilize the software to its fullest potential. Having spearheaded many implementations and integrations throughout his career, Mike is able to draw upon these experiences to provide reliable solutions for his clients. Mike is a graduate of Hofstra University.

David Shelton
David Shelton
DIRECTOR, PARTNERSHIP OPERATIONS

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