Our Team

The People Powering Skillco’s Mission

Behind every feature we build, every partnership we form, and every student we serve is a team of committed, mission-driven professionals who believe in the power of skill-based education.

At Skillco, our team is a blend of technologists, educators, designers, and innovators—all working together to make student success measurable, achievable, and equitable.

We are united by a simple but powerful belief:

When students have visibility into their skills, they gain power over their futures.

Meet the team turning that belief into a platform that’s helping reshape the future of education.

Meet The Team

The People Behind Skillco:

Steve Lockhart
Founder & CEO

Steve is the visionary behind Skillco. With a background in education technology and strategic development, he launched Skillco to address a growing disconnect between academic achievement and workforce expectations.

Jackson Lohman

Developer

Jackson brings Skillco’s functionality to life through robust backend development and technical architecture. He ensures the platform is scalable, secure, and able to serve thousands of students and administrators efficiently.

Josh Yates

User Experience Designer

Josh ensures that Skillco’s platform isn’t just powerful—it’s intuitive. With a background in user experience and human-centered design, he crafts the interfaces and workflows that guide users through the platform effortlessly.

Kaycie Goodman

Senior Software Engineer

Kaycie oversees Skillco’s core infrastructure, focusing on integrations, feature scalability, and backend performance. She plays a key role in translating educational needs into engineering solutions.

Melissa Heppler

Front-End Developer

Melissa transforms ideas into interactive, accessible, and visually compelling web components. Her work ensures that students and institutions experience Skillco in a way that’s both beautiful and functional.

Student Contributors

Real Students. Real Impact.

Skillco doesn’t just serve students—we build with them. Through our partnership with Utah Valley University’s Excellence and Innovation Initiative (e2i), we regularly bring students into our product and development process.

Learn More

Cross-Functional Collaboration

At Skillco, innovation doesn’t happen in silos. Our team thrives on cross-functional collaboration, blending expertise from development, design, education, and analytics to solve real-world problems in higher education.

Each feature we ship is a result of intentional teamwork—where developers sit alongside UX designers, student interns contribute directly to product decisions, and feedback from educators is transformed into actionable platform enhancements.

Whether it’s improving student dashboards, refining skill taxonomies, or scaling data pipelines, our collaborative process ensures we build tools that are not only technically sound, but deeply useful and intuitive for those we serve

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Our Culture

At Skillco, we believe innovation is driven by curiosity, collaboration, and a shared sense of purpose.

Transparency:

Helping students understand the why behind their learning

Simplicity

We remove friction, not add to it

Impact

Every decision ties back to student success

Built by Learners, for Learners

Skillco isn’t just about supporting students—we embody their perspective in everything we do. Many of our team members come from educational backgrounds themselves, and our ongoing partnership with student interns from Utah Valley University gives us constant access to the learner’s voice.

These students don’t just observe—they contribute to engineering, product testing, UX design, and content development, gaining real-world experience while shaping tools that benefit their peers. Their involvement ensures that Skillco reflects the challenges, motivations, and goals of today’s learners.

This feedback loop is what keeps our platform grounded, relevant, and truly student-centered.

How Skillco Works – in 4 Simple Steps

Skillco makes it simple to turn what you learn into real-world skills, track your growth, and showcase your readiness for what’s next.

Step 1: Connect Your Coursework

Sync your transcripts with Skillco or manually input them

Step 2: Your Skill Map

Skillco’s intelligent platform identifies the skills behind each course and project

Step 3: Explore Career Paths

Once you see your skills, you can match them to real-world job descriptions

Step 4: Showcase and Grow

Create a powerful portfolio with class projects, assignments, and achievements.

Skillco Testimonials: Proof in Every Voice

Hear directly from Skillco users about the platform’s impact on education and careers.

“I had no idea how many career-relevant skills I already had. Skillco gave me the confidence to go after roles I never thought were possible.”

– Ashley A., Business Major

“Skillco has transformed how I teach. It’s not just about grades anymore — it’s about empowering students to build real-world skills.”

– Professor Heather, Marketing

“Before Skillco, I couldn’t see how everything connected. Now, I’m confident in the career paths I’m pursuing.”

– Quinton B., Computer Science

"Skillco transforms students' academic transcripts into skill-based portfolios but also helps them recognize the value of their education. By mapping their coursework to tangible skills, students can clearly see how their efforts contribute to their career readiness"

- President Astrid Tuminez, Utah Valley University

"At the heart of Skillco’s innovation is a commitment to empowering students with the tools they need to succeed. Skillco empowers our students to identify and develop the skills they need for success in their academic and professional journeys."

- Kyle Reyes, V.P. of Institutional Advancement, Utah Valley University

"Skillco, empowers students to connect their education to real-world opportunities… At the same time, Skillco enables universities to align with workforce demands, shaping the future of higher education and student success"

-President Cam Martin, Rocky Mountain University

Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers.

Everything you need to know about how Skillco supports students, educators, and institutions.

What is Skillco and what does it do?

Skillco is software that analyzes transcripts, matches courses to skills, and recommends degree programs to help individuals develop the skills needed for their desired jobs.

How does Skillco work?

Skillco uses algorithms to analyze transcripts, identify skills from courses, and match them with job requirements. It then recommends degree programs based on these skills.

How does it help me as a student?

Skillco is a platform that helps you track your academic progress, identify the skills you're developing, and align them with real-world career opportunities. It allows you to create a personal skill portfolio and explore career paths based on your strengths.

Can Skillco help me decide on a career path?

Yes! Skillco provides tools to explore careers based on your existing skills and interests. It also suggests courses and projects that can help you build the skills required for your desired roles.

How does Skillco support educators?

Skillco provides educators with tools to define skill-based outcomes, align curriculum with industry needs, and monitor student progress through real-time analytics. This helps improve retention, engagement, and job placement outcomes.

Can I use Skillco to track student engagement and success?

Absolutely. Skillco offers robust analytics to track skill development, identify at-risk students, and measure engagement across courses and programs. These insights help improve teaching strategies and student outcomes.

What makes Skillco different from other education tools?

Skillco uniquely focuses on skill-based learning by translating academic work into measurable, career-relevant outcomes. It bridges the gap between education and employment by helping both students and institutions stay aligned with evolving industry demands.

Is my data secure with Skillco?

Yes, Skillco is fully SOC-compliant and follows industry best practices for data security and privacy. Your personal and academic information is always protected.

Whether you are a student dreaming of your future, an educator guiding learners forward, or an institution seeking meaningful outcomes—we invite you to be part of our mission.