Russ Davis of SchoolStatus Chosen as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® Finalist

Ridgeland, Mississippi—April 30—Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Russ Davis, CEO and Founder of SchoolStatus was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2024 Gulf South Award finalist. The Gulf South program celebrates entrepreneurs from Central and South Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize sectors, and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.

Russ Davis was one of the regional entrepreneurs selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

“As someone who grew up in Mississippi and started my career in education technology here in the Gulf South, I’m truly honored to be named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist in this region,” said Russ Davis, Founder and CEO of SchoolStatus. “The experiences I had working in local schools inspired me to start SchoolStatus. We seek to help students grow and graduate by fostering productive partnerships between teachers and families through modern, data-driven communication tools. We strive to bridge the divide between home and school life, fostering greater engagement and creating a collaborative support system tailored to each student’s needs across the Gulf South and beyond.”

SchoolStatus is a leading K-12 education technology company that provides a suite of solutions to facilitate seamless communication and engagement between schools and families. Over the past 12 years, the company has grown and evolved in order to meet districts’ needs for school-home communication, attendance intervention, and educator growth. With a focus on leveraging data insights and personalized outreach in families’ preferred languages, SchoolStatus empowers educators and families to work together in supporting every child’s success.

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage, and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 13, 2024, during a special celebration and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Gulf South, sponsors also include ADP, DLA Piper, Marsh McLennan Agency, vcfo, Big Picture Inc., and Pierpont Communications.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year^® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum^® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year^® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

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Media Contact:
Sydney Stressman
Zer0 to 5ive for SchoolStatus
[email protected]
609.238.6663