HighWired.com Appoints Don Young CEO To Lead World's Largest Network of Online High Schools

Monday January 10, 11:06 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release

Young's Leadership Expertise to Complement Management Team of Seasoned Education, Technology Entrepreneurs

WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 2000-- HighWired.com (http://www.highwired.com), the world's largest online community of high schools, today announced that Donald R. Young has joined its management team as president and chief executive officer to lead the company as it continues to grow its network and business opportunities.

Young comes to HighWired.com from a position as the executive vice president for Cabot Corporation, a $2 billion dollar manufacturer of industrial and electronic chemicals. During his nine-year career at Cabot Corporation, Young played an important role as the company expanded its strategic focus to serve several fast growth markets. In addition to extensive leadership and operational expertise, Young also brings significant technology-focused investment management experience from his positions as partner at Cove Capital Associates and Fidelity Ventures Limited.

Young will focus on the rapid execution of the business strategy, securing additional funding and recruiting key personnel in order to help HighWired.com continue its phenomenal growth. In just a little more than a year, HighWired.com, which provides high schools with the ability to create customized Web sites through free, easy-to-use Web-publishing tools, has created the largest international online network of high schools, serving teachers, students, guidance counselors, advisers and coaches.

``It's an exciting time to join HighWired.com as the company continues to develop online business opportunities while at the same time creating a more enriching high school learning experience,'' said Young. ``HighWired.com has already carved out a leadership position in the online education market with its strong foundation in technology and education. I'm confident my leadership, operational and financial background will greatly complement the HighWired.com management team as we continue to expand our quickly growing network of online high schools.''

``With Don's experience and leadership, HighWired.com is well-positioned to stay at the forefront of the quickly developing online education market,'' said Eduventures.com CEO Thomas Dretler. ``Clearly, this move reinforces HighWired's strong position in the education industry and enhances its ability to develop significant revenue streams."

``Don's financial expertise and investment experience is an extremely valuable addition to HighWired.com's management team that already includes some of the brightest technology and education experts in the field,'' said Mark Johnson, co-founder and vice president of marketing of HighWired.com.

``We'll greatly benefit from Don's seasoned leadership, which will lead to new opportunities for funding and business partnerships.'' said Matt Flaherty, co-founder and vice president of business development of HighWired.com.

Young graduated from Harvard College with distinction and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Prior to college, he was a first-round draft choice of the Atlanta Braves Baseball Organization where he played for three seasons.

About HighWired.com

Founded in April 1998, venture-backed HighWired.com provides free Web-publishing tools for the five major areas of high school life: classrooms, activities, newspapers, guidance and sports. HighWired.com provides high schools within its network with easy-to-use interactive products that allow teachers, students, guidance counselors, advisers and coaches to participate in a collaborative online learning experience. HighWired.com partners with educational and media organizations to provide the highest-quality products and services enabling the company to house the largest online international network of high schools. To date, the network includes over 5,600 schools in all 50 U.S. states and 53 foreign countries. HighWired.com is headquartered in Watertown, Mass. For more information about HighWired.com's products and services, please e-mail info@highwired.com or visit the Web site at www.highwired.com.