Remote working was supposed to destroy company culture. The argument was familiar in the early 2020s: friendship needs corridors, and loyalty needs a shared roof. Risepoint’s employees, spread across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, may be conflicted.
The education technology company, which partners with more than 100 universities and colleges on online degree programs, won four Best Places to Work Awards for 2026: Best Career Growth, Best Leadership Teams, Best Sales Teams, and Best Product and Design Teams. The comparative awards come entirely from anonymous employee feedback collected over 12 months, across categories that assess leadership, career growth, compensation, workplace, and teamwork.
Workers Who Use What They Build
Risepoint employs more than 1,400 people, and the makeup of that workforce reads like the student body of the universities it serves. Of that group, 9 out of 10 have a college degree, and 4 out of 10 were the first in their families to attend college. About half had worked in education before joining, and 43% had spent a decade or more in higher education.
The most telling statistic would be this: 15% of employees are enrolled in the same degree programs supported by Risepoint. A large chunk of the staff sits on the student side of the experience, putting in relevant courses during a full work week the way most students in those programs do. The company encourages accruals: it reimburses the tuition fees of employees enrolled in programs supported by Risepoint.
Chesley Fernandes, a team member who received an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, described what that looks like in practice. “I graduated from the same university that I support now and I can communicate with the students I work with every day,” he said. “Through this connection, I can assure them from my experience that they are not alone and can succeed in their program.”
Job Growth, Measured Internally
Of the four awards, Best Career Growth may be the most difficult for a remote company to win. Developments in distributed organizations can favor anyone who is more visible. Building career paths outside of the hallway where you have to be visible takes a deliberate framework: defined development plans and leaders trained to develop people you rarely meet in person. Comparatively, it rewards employers whose people rate their room to develop, learn, and grow professionally as strong, and Risepoint employees put the company in that category.
“These awards are very important because they come directly from the feedback of the employees,” said Fernando Bleichmar, the company’s CEO. “Our people are at the center of everything we do. We are committed to fostering a culture where employees feel supported in their growth, empowered to make an impact, and connected to a shared mission.”
Trust What Goes On
The Best Leadership Teams Award reveals whether employees trust the executive team and the direction they have set for the organization. That kind of confidence is built differently over video calls than over lunch tables, and it’s often more fragile. The award coincides with previous recognitions in the Comparison of Best CEO, Best Company Culture, and Best Company Work-Life Balance, a pattern that points to something stronger than one good round of surveys.
Employee accounts reflect measurement data. “The work culture is amazing at Risepoint,” said Jazzie Santos-Rogers, senior manager in the growth marketing team. “Not only do you have amazing peers to work with every day, but the management is knowledgeable and supportive at every level.”
The remaining two awards, Best Sales Teams and Best Product and Design Teams, recognize departments that support opposite parts of the business: the people who build university relationships and the people who build the tools used by those relationships.
Mission Under
Risepoint focuses on regional universities, institutions that serve the surrounding communities and educate the majority of the local workforce. Our partner institutions span 40 states and five countries, and supporting programs are based in sectors where demand remains strong: health care, education, business, and community service. Many students in those programs are working adults.
That focus shapes the culture being measured. Workers who are coming out of education, who were starting their families to finish college, or who earned degrees through self-supported programs have now lived the goal on both sides. When those workers give their employer four cultural awards in one year, this decision has a trust that no headquarters can give.
