Cygnus Education, a full-service performance marketing and enrollment management solutions provider dedicated to serving higher education institutions, has hired Don Alava as Executive Vice President of Marketing Services. Don will lead all marketing efforts aimed at strengthening Cygnus Education's position as a performance marketing leader in the higher education vertical. He brings more than 27 years of marketing leadership, driving advertising innovation and building award-winning online marketing strategies.

Before coming to Cygnus, Don was VP of Marketing at a number of institutions including Universal Technical Institute and Lincoln Educational Services Corporation, together serving more than 20,000 students at 38 campuses. In this capacity, he created digital marketing strategies across multiple channels, as well as advanced marketing analytics and attribution modeling.

Don also implemented performance marketing campaigns for Southern New Hampshire University and Drexel University's online degree programs, as well as launched new online MBA programs for the University of Kansas and the College of William & Mary. Don's work has garnered industry recognition such as the gold Annual Admissions Awards, the Webby Award, and USDLA 21st Century Best Practices Award Winner.

Alava has been a popular speaker at higher education conferences including: the Association for Continuing Higher Education Annual Conference, the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning, the Sloan-C International Conference, the Eduventures Summit and the Aslanian Group Seminars (CALEM). Alava holds an M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University and a B.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati.

"We find ourselves incredibly excited and energized having Don join our team," said Marcelo Parravicini, Cygnus' chief executive officer. "Don is a well-respected and proven entity in higher education marketing. He brings to the table a great deal of relevant experience and a deep understanding of the higher education vertical. He will help us augment our capabilities as we continue to provide transparent and compliant solutions to higher education institutions."

About Cygnus Education:

Cygnus Education, one of the fastest growing higher education marketing agencies, is a leader in performance marketing and enrollment management solutions, providing fully transparent, analytics-based strategies that achieve challenging marketing objectives, driving scalable and sustainable enrollment growth.