Primrose Schools® CEO Jo Kirchner Wins Gold Stevie® Awards in International Awards Competition for Women in Business

Jo Kirchner, CEO of Primrose Schools, a high-quality early education and care leader with 480 schools, was named the winner of two Gold Stevie® Awards in the Female Executive of the Year and Lifetime Achievement categories at the 19th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs, employees and the companies they run — worldwide. The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the world’s premier business awards.

Under Jo Kirchner’s leadership, Primrose Schools expanded from four schools to 480 schools across 33 states.

“It is an honor to receive the Female Executive of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards. This recognition reflects the unwavering commitment and dedication of our organization to providing the best and most trusted early education and care for children and families across America,” said Jo Kirchner, CEO of Primrose Schools. “Despite the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, we have continued to grow to ensure more children have access to high-quality early education and a foundation for future success.”

Under Kirchner’s leadership, Primrose Schools expanded from four schools to 480 schools across 33 states. Kirchner joined the organization in 1990, assuming the role of CEO in 1999, and led the strategic direction to transform Primrose into the industry-leading national brand. She is passionate about providing children and families with the highest-quality education and care, supporting the organization’s belief that who children become is as important as what they know.

Kirchner’s dedication to the Primrose mission of forging a path that leads to a brighter future for all children goes far beyond accelerating Primrose growth; it includes her work with the Early Care and Education Consortium, advocating for public-private partnerships and a more equitable and sustainable version of early education and care, and supporting the Primrose Schools Children’s Foundation^®, which she founded in 2005 to combine fundraising efforts at Primrose schools across the nation for an even greater impact on the lives of young children.

More than 1,500 entries were submitted this year for consideration in more than 100 categories, including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Company of the Year, Startup of the Year, Women Helping Women, and Women Run Workplace of the Year. Kirchner won in the Female Executive of the Year category for consumer services companies with 11 to 2,500 employees and in the Lifetime Achievement category for business.

Maggie Miller, president of the Stevie Awards, said, “In its 19th year, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business received an outstanding body of nominations from women in organizations of all types, in 27 nations. We are gratified by how meaningful it is to women to win a Stevie Award, and how impactful it can be on the futures of their careers and their organizations. We congratulate all of this year’s Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners for their achievements.”

Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

Primrose Schools is the leader in providing premier early education and care to children and families in the United States. Founded in 1982, there are 480 Primrose schools in 33 states today. Each school is independently owned and operated by Franchise Owners who partner with parents to help children build the right foundation for future learning and life. Primrose believes who children become is as important as what they know. The Primrose-exclusive Balanced Learning^® approach is created from the best early education wisdom and balances purposeful play with nurturing guidance from teachers to encourage curiosity, creativity, confidence and compassion. For more information, visit www.PrimroseSchools.com, connect with us on Facebook and Twitter, explore our blog, sign up for our emails and find a Primrose school near you.

Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards^®, The International Business Awards^®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.