Branching Minds names Mitch Benson CEO, Maya Gat shifts to innovation role

Branching Minds named Mitch Benson chief executive officer effective Oct. 1, 2026, while co-founder Maya Gat moved to chief innovation officer and executive chair. The leadership change puts a proven education software operator in charge as the K-12 company pushes to expand beyond the 2 million students it says it already serves.

Why it matters: - Branching Minds is trying to scale its K-12 MTSS platform to more districts without losing educator trust. - The leadership change pairs growth experience with product leadership as the company aims to expand its reach beyond 2 million students.

What happened: - Branching Minds named Mitch Benson chief executive officer, effective Oct. 1, 2026. - Co-founder Maya Gat became chief innovation officer and executive chair of the board. - Co-founder David Magier stayed on the board and will continue working with Benson on mergers and acquisitions, strategic contracts, and legal strategy.

The details: - Benson joined Branching Minds as president in January 2026. - Since then, Benson has led product, engineering, security, operations, finance, and revenue. - Benson also led the company’s multi-year strategic planning work. - Benson spent more than a decade at Instructure, where he helped grow annual recurring revenue from under $50 million to nearly $700 million. - His Instructure tenure included two private equity transactions, two IPOs, and a shift from a single-product business to a multi-product education platform. - At Instructure, Benson helped lead development of Canvas and oversaw more than $1 billion in strategic acquisitions, including Parchment and LearnPlatform. - Before Instructure, Benson held senior leadership roles at Pearson and Microsoft. - Benson also worked in public education and statewide technology leadership in Washington. - Gat will oversee learning engineering focused on readiness, adoption, and student impact. - Gat will also guide the integration of new capabilities into the Branching Minds platform. - As executive chair, Gat will lead the board and partner with Benson on governance and long-term strategy. - Branching Minds says its platform is used by nearly 300,000 educators across more than 500 districts in 38 states. - The company says its work has improved outcomes for over 2 million students. - Branching Minds says it is a Certified B Corporation with a B Impact Score of 137.6, the highest of any education support company globally. - The company earned a second straight spot on Fortune’s Best Small Workplaces list in 2026, ranking No. 8 nationally. - Branching Minds also received Great Place to Work certification for 2026–2027. - The product won two 2026 CODiE Awards: Best Collaborative Solution for Teachers and Best Productivity and Workflow Tool for Teachers. - The company also won 2026 EdTech Awards for Personalized Learning and Visionary Leadership. - Branching Minds said it can bring academic, behavioral, attendance, social-emotional, and safety data into one unified system. - The company said that approach helps educators act earlier, collaborate more effectively, and drive measurable academic and behavioral outcomes. - More information is available on the company’s website.

Between the lines: - The move suggests Branching Minds wants a CEO with deep platform-scaling experience while keeping Gat close to product innovation. - Benson’s background at Instructure signals a focus on growth, acquisitions, and operational discipline. - Gat’s new role keeps a founder embedded in the product and governance structure, which can help preserve the company’s original educator-first approach.

What’s next: - Benson is expected to lead expansion into more districts. - Gat is expected to focus on improving the product and bringing new capabilities into the platform. - Benson and Gat will share oversight of long-term strategy and governance alongside the board.

The bottom line: - Branching Minds is betting that a founder-led product vision plus an experienced scaling operator will help it grow faster in K-12 education.