Middle States Association (MSA) accredits and supports more than 3,000 schools across 117 countries. For over a century, the organization focused primarily on institutional improvement. But as we see tech and AI reshaping education, MSA saw an opportunity to extend its impact by serving educators directly.
CEO Christian Talbot, who brings 23 years of school experience, including two terms as Head of School, put it simply: “It’s the people, not the systems, who drive real school improvement.” That insight sparked Evolution Academy, a new initiative centered on professional development and credentialing for educators that’s fast, flexible, and designed for time-strapped educators.
To launch Evolution Academy, MSA had experimented with virtual workshops but quickly hit roadblocks. “It’s tricky to get educators in Africa, the US, and Asia on a live call for 30 minutes,” said Amber Berry, VP of AI and Strategy. “We were managing everything with spreadsheets and video links. We needed a more scalable and human-centered solution.”
To bring its content to life as engaging, asynchronous courses, MSA turned to Honor. The decision was based on their robust features as well as their philosophy around the future of education. “Honor is the Apple experience: no fluff, no noise, just focus,” said Berry, pointing to Honor CEO Joel Podolny’s previous experience as Founding Dean of Apple University.
MSA launched a pilot on Honor with its new Responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAIL) credentialing initiative. Moving from spreadsheets and video links to Honor’s platform marked a major shift, with an immediate impact on scalability and learner engagement.
Honor’s intuitive course-building tools made it simple to create and launch content quickly, while Evolution Academy benefited from a fully branded experience and hands-on support from Honor’s customer success team. Together, these elements positioned MSA to scale professional development that’s aligned with its vision for real-world learning.
MSA launched a full course marketplace as part of Evolution Academy, built in just weeks without outside technical support. The platform quickly became a central hub where educators worldwide could discover and complete professional learning aligned with MSA’s evolving goals.
This move not only advanced MSA’s mission but also unlocked a sustainable new business model. The org now offers a growing catalog of branded, credential-granting courses, with plans to introduce a subscription-based approach. Evolution Academy has become central to MSA’s long-term strategy, driving recurring revenue while deepening engagement with its members.
And with Honor at their side, the possibilities keep expanding. “Honor has opened up entirely new ways of thinking about our business,” said CEO Christian Talbot. “At the end of the day, our purpose is to inspire wise change. Honor is already helping us do this while revealing new paths we hadn’t considered before.”
