HotChalk Media Kit

Edward Fields, Founder & CEO

Edward Fields built his career on the personal computer as a revolutionary medium for innovation, communication and education. His vision: to give teachers worldwide the tools and resources they lack but desperately need to do their job effectively and efficiently. This vision inspired Fields to develop HotChalk, the first complete online resource for teachers, parents and students.

Education is a crucial part of Fields’ family story. Both his parents were educators, with his father chairing the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics department at Harvard and mother teaching art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. As a parent to four children -- two of whom currently attend public school in New York City -- Fields is a staunch advocate for educators, students and parents. He and his wife Renee experienced as parents the frustration that parent teacher conferences often brought, and this encouraged the formation of HotChalk. This active involvement in education underscores Fields’ belief that government support for teachers and schools is not sufficient to advance and sustain America’s education system.

Before establishing HotChalk, Fields was founder, president and CEO of ProductFactory, which provided product development program and portfolio management solutions to Global 1000 enterprises. There he worked with notable firms such as Eclipse Aviation and GlaxoSmithKline on groundbreaking product development programs. Prior, Fields was director of Interactive Publishing at The Learning Company, an education software company that focused on the consumer market. Fields led a division there that delivered more than 7 million consumer CD-ROMs per year to worldwide consumers.

Fields is married to Renee Antonellis Fields, HotChalk’s Chief Talent Officer. He earned his B.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Denver and has served on the board of the San Jose Repertory Theater. An active political fundraiser, in his spare time he collects contemporary art and pursues high-octane activities such as scuba diving, long-board surfing, off road motorcycle racing and piloting airplanes. He resides in New York and Los Gatos, CA.

> View Edward's Blog, 'Teachers Matter'