Remote work was supposed to erode company culture. The argument was familiar by the early 2020s: camaraderie needs hallways, and loyalty needs a shared roof. Employees at Risepoint, scattered across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, may have a counterargument.
The education technology company, which partners with more than 100 universities and colleges on online degree programs, earned four 2026 Comparably Best Places to Work Awards: Best Career Growth, Best Leadership Teams, Best Sales Teams, and Best Product & Design Teams. Comparably’s awards come entirely from anonymous employee feedback gathered over 12 months, across categories that evaluate leadership, career growth, compensation, work environment, and team effectiveness.
A Workforce That Uses What It Builds
Risepoint employs more than 1,400 people, and the composition of that workforce reads like the student body of the universities it serves. Of that group, 9 in 10 hold college degrees, and 4 in 10 were the first in their families to attend college. Roughly half have worked in education before joining, and 43% have spent a decade or more in higher education.
The most telling figure may be this one: 15% of employees have enrolled in the very degree programs Risepoint supports. A sizable slice of the workforce has sat on the student side of the experience, fitting coursework around a full work week the way most students in those programs do. The company encourages the overlap: it reimburses tuition for employees who enroll in Risepoint-supported programs.
Chesley Fernandes, a team member who earned an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, described what that looks like in practice. “I completed my degree at the same university I now support and can relate to the students I work with every day,” she said. “With this connection, I can reassure them through my own experiences that they are not alone and can succeed in their program.”
Career Growth, Measured From Within
Of the four awards, Best Career Growth may be the hardest for a remote company to win. Advancement in distributed organizations can favor whoever happens to be most visible. Building career paths without a hallway to be seen in takes deliberate structure: defined development programs and leaders trained to develop people they rarely meet in person. Comparably gives the award to employers whose people rate their room to advance, learn, and grow professionally as strong, and Risepoint employees put the company in that group.
“These awards are especially meaningful because they come directly from employee feedback,” said Fernando Bleichmar, the company’s CEO. “Our people are at the center of everything we do. We are committed to fostering a culture where employees feel supported in their growth, empowered to make an impact, and connected to a shared mission.”
Trust That Travels
The Best Leadership Teams award turns on whether employees trust the executive team and the direction it has set for the organization. That kind of confidence is built differently over video calls than over lunch tables, and it tends to be more fragile. The award sits alongside earlier Comparably recognitions for Best CEO, Best Company Culture, and Best Company Work-Life Balance, a pattern that points to something sturdier than one good survey cycle.
Employee accounts echo the rating data. “The work culture is amazing at Risepoint,” said Jazzie Santos-Rogers, a senior manager on the growth marketing team. “Not only do you have amazing peers to collaborate with on a daily basis, but management is knowledgeable and supportive on every level.”
The remaining two awards, Best Sales Teams and Best Product & Design Teams, recognize the departments that anchor opposite ends of the business: the people who build university partnerships and the people who build the tools those partnerships run on.
The Mission Underneath
Risepoint concentrates on regional universities, the institutions that serve their surrounding communities and educate much of the local workforce. Its partner institutions span 40 states and five countries, and the programs it supports lean toward fields where demand stays strong: healthcare, education, business, and public service. Most students in those programs are working adults.
That focus shapes the culture being rated. Employees who came from education, were first in their families to finish college, or earned degrees through the programs they now support have lived the mission from both sides. When that workforce hands its employer four culture awards in a single year, the verdict carries credibility no headquarters could supply.
