Mission-aligned

We value people that want not only want to see the mission succeed, but want to be part of the journey as we build a world-changing company. We select for people willing to make a years-long commitment.

High IQ, low ego

We value and select for high intelligence — experience and training can be provided. We're interested team players looking for team outcomes — not scoring personal wins or allocating blame. Faced with hard challenges, we focus on solving problems and the future outcome. "No jerks" is a rule.

Energy and ownership

We value high agency — people that take responsibility and ownership for creating solutions, even when it looks impossible. Many unanticipated problems will arise in a company like Woolf, and team members must find a solution for impossible-looking problems. A bias for action is combined with the ability to get alignment quickly with teams and managers. (For more see this and this.)

Organization

We value highly organized people because improvements compound for diligent contributors and managers, whereas messy habits are unlikely to change and create zones of unreliability in the company.

Communication

Clear, main-point-first, rational communication focused on future-looking solutions, rather than generally backwards-looking, diagnostic blame allocation. Pragmatic communication means that we extract the relevant business requirements and actions from emotionally charged issues and situations in order to focus on communicating the best next steps. We encourage accurate communication to increase context for others participating in a decision.

High trust, high integrity

We work as a team and depend on each other for our mutual success. Truthfulness, trustworthiness, and integrity is an absolute requirement, and negative signals are taken very seriously.

Excellence and commitment

We value excellence in all things and people that can inspire excellence in the team. We work hard to make what we do excellent, and we encourage this attitude in others.

Curiosity and inventiveness

We're operating in an industry in which the status quo is taken for granted. As a team of innovators, we encourage employees to gain a deeper understanding of existing processes, and to invent potential improvements.

Diversity and internationalism

We welcome talent from all corners of the world — irrespective of race, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Our diversity of backgrounds and perspectives strengthens our mission to increase access to world-class higher education. To support our international diversity, we follow a defined code of conduct : laïcité (secularity). Our team protects the opposing views held by Woolf’s colleges, academics, and students without promoting any particular views on matters of national/international debate, matters of deep moral concern, and matters of liberty.