About BridgED

BridgED is a consulting company and activation team built to “bridge the gap” between K-12 and the business community. BridgED was built by corporate engagement professionals in academia to solve the fundamental challenges of helping companies and districts work together. BridgED acts as a single point of coordination between the business community and school districts using a proven process. The impact is workforce development, internships and hiring, philanthropic giving (scholarships), and ultimately, student success and defining paths forward. BridgED provides parents, teachers and students with awareness, access and understanding of career opportunities.

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Meet the Team

BridgED was built by corporate engagement professionals in academia to solve the fundamental challenges of helping companies and districts work together.

Co-Founder

Christy Bertolo

Prior to starting UNITE and BridgED, Christy led the first ever holistic corporate engagement effort for The Ohio State University. In this role she served as the single point of coordination and liaison between business partners and the university. She managed a portfolio of companies who partner with Ohio State and drove corporate engagement in the areas of philanthropy, research, student hiring and more. In the fall of 2020 Christy lead the campus re-open team and rolled out the operations of the single surveillance COVID-19 testing site that tests nearly 45,000 faculty, staff, and students weekly.

Prior to Ohio State, Christy worked as Vice President of Business Services at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. In her role, Christy worked directly with over 600 companies and organizations throughout the Columbus Region in various industries. During her tenure, Christy helped members add $10m+ in new revenue, 300+ jobs and 200k sq ft in expansions.

Co-Founder

Chris Svec

Prior to starting UNITE and BridgED, Chris led the first ever holistic corporate engagement effort for The Ohio State University. In this role he served as the single point of coordination and liaison between business partners and the university. He managed a portfolio of companies who partner with Ohio State and drove corporate engagement in the areas of philanthropy, research, student hiring and more.

From 2010-2017 Chris worked for Nationwide where he held the title of Director, Sports Marketing. He led a team who managed a portfolio of high-profile sponsorships which included NFL teams, the PGA TOUR, Diversity and Inclusion, Columbus Marathon, and Columbus Zoo properties. Chris also managed athlete endorsement relationships including Earvin Magic Johnson, Tavis Smiley, Hines Ward, Bill Haas, Jack Nicklaus, and USA soccer star Alex Morgan. During his tenure at Nationwide, Chris served as President of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, a Korn Ferry Finals tournament played at Ohio State’s Scarlet golf course. In this role he led a board of prominent central Ohio business leaders and the tournament which generated over $1.7M in donations to Nationwide Children’s annually.