Executive Team
Michael joined our team as Chief Learning Officer at the beginning of this year while he is currently completing dissertation research on psychological presence in learning. Working from the Salt Lake City office, Michael connects with our team across the globe in order to understand and develop strategies to drive the learning we create to be more impactful. Using his expertise and personal passion for education, Michael ensures that our learning benefits not only students, learners, and clients, but that it also supports everyone on our team to progress in their own professional and lifelong learning endeavors.
Michael has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Brigham Young University, a Master’s Degree in Educational/Instructional Technology from Boise State University, and a Ph.D. in Instructional Psychology & Technology from Brigham Young University. Michael has over 15 years of professional experience working in the learning industry, including 3 years in business management, 9+ combined years in instructional design and training, and 10+ combined years in learning engineering and strategy. Michael has earned several awards for conference presentations based around learning and education and in addition has released two of his own publications: What sunshine is to flowers: A literature review on the use of emoticons to support online learning; The Next-Generation CBE Architecture: A Learning-Centric Standards-Based Approach.
Meg Knight
Global Director of Strategic Initiatives and Human Performance
Cape Town
Meg is currently the Global Director of Strategic Initiatives and Human Performance. In this role she is responsible for spearheading and driving technological and process improvements across the organization as needed. She liaises with partners and clients globally to ensure we are at the forefront of the global education technology conversation, and brings back into the company best practices.
Additionally, she is responsible for developing and implementing our people management strategy, ensuring Construct Education has the right people in the right roles for delivery of our courses.
Previously, she was the Chief Operating Officer in our Cape Town office. As COO, Meg liaised with our global teams to drive process and productivity and ensure our world-class learning design is implemented to the client's satisfaction.
Meg has earned a Master’s Degree in Education Management and a Diploma of Teaching from the University of Auckland, a Bachelor of Commerce in Business/Managerial Economics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal/University of Natal as well as completing Seth Godin’s altMBA in Entrepreneurship and Impact-Making. She attended TEDGlobal twice to ensure she stays at the forefront of international design and education best practice and innovation. She has co-founded 5 different companies, has 10+ years of experience serving as a COO, and is highly skilled in strategy and learning design.
David Philipps
CEO
London
David began working with Construct as our CFO and COO in 2018. He has since moved to the role of CEO where he oversees and manages the company’s fast-growing business and leads our team of 75+ employees working in not only our U.S., U.K., and South Africa offices, but also working remotely across the globe.
As CEO he is responsible for leading our day-to-day operational delivery and commercial engagements, driving our company culture based around high-performance, and consulting with the board to agree upon the strategic direction of the company. David is CIMA certified and has 4+ years of experience in management, 6+ years in directing, and a combined total of 5+ years of experience in serving companies through the roles of CFO, COO, and CEO.
Michael Atkinson
CLO
Salt Lake City
Fred DuBois
Commercial Director
London
Fred began working for Construct last year as a Senior Partner Manager and has recently earned the title of COO in our London office. In his new role, Fred works with project managers to review project scope and get teams prepared.
Fred has earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Science Business and Innovation from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, a Minor in Sustainable Energy Technologies from Technische Universiteit Delft, a Master’s Degree in Management and International Management from the University of Sydney, and an Executive Education in Disruptive Strategy from Harvard Business School. Fred has a combined 3+ years of professional experience in the areas of consulting, directing, project management and operations, has co-founded his own agency, and is proficient in both English and Dutch.
Lorcan McHugh
Global COO
London
Paul Oosthuizen
Chief Financial Officer
Cape Town
Lorcan joined the Construct team in 2019 as our Global COO, after previously serving on our Advisory Board. He oversees sales and delivery across all regions while supporting other executives in developing and implementing strategy. Through providing direction, keeping the global team up-to-date on new industry developments, and re-evaluating and enhancing our operations, Lorcan helps enable each individual team to serve our clients in a meaningful and efficient manner.
Lorcan is an experienced senior Finance and Change executive, comfortable moving across functional roles and industries who has worked in a wide variety of roles including, International Enterprise and Strategic Risk Executive and International Liquidity Executive for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the CFO of a Ugandan NGO. He relishes the challenge of driving change in a new environment.
