Innovative Leadership

David P. Berg brings more than two decades of executive leadership experience across iconic consumer brands to his role as CEO of Primrose Schools. With a career defined by strategic growth, operational excellence and a deep commitment to customer experience, David is passionate about building purpose-driven organizations that deliver lasting impact.

As the son and father of educators, David is deeply inspired by the mission of Primrose Schools. He believes in the transformative power of early education and is committed to honoring the brand’s legacy while accelerating its future.

At Primrose, David is focused on evolving the organization’s strategy, strengthening its culture, and expanding its impact to continue to deliver the best and most trusted early education and care to children and families across America.

Prior to joining Primrose, David served as CEO of European Wax Center (EWC). Under his leadership from 2018 to 2023 – and again as interim CEO in 2024 – EWC experienced transformative growth, expanding their footprint from 650 to over 1,100 franchised locations nationwide.

David’s career also includes leadership roles at Carlson Hospitality Group, Outback Steakhouse, GNC Holdings, Best Buy International, and Z Wireless. He has served on the boards of Planet Fitness and EWC Ventures, and he holds a B.A. in Economics from Emory University and a J.D. with honors from the University of Florida College of Law.

Kristin Goran joined Primrose Schools as Chief Legal Officer in April 2018.  In this role, she leads the legal and franchise administration functions and advises the company on a broad range of legal and strategic issues to help strengthen and grow the brand.  Prior to joining Primrose, she served as Vice President, Legal at Focus Brands (now GoTo Foods), the parent company of seven foodservice franchisors.

In private practice Kristin specialized in intellectual property law, focusing primarily on pharmaceutical and medical device patent issues.  She received her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, and her Juris Doctor from Emory University.

Kristin is passionate about supporting non-profit causes, both inside and outside of Primrose.  She provides legal support to the Primrose Schools Children’s Foundation.  Also, she currently serves on the board of Goodwill Industries International, which supports a network of more than 150 local Goodwill organizations that provide programs for people who face barriers in their employment. She previously served on the board of Camp Kudzu, a nonprofit that provides camp programs to children and teens with Type 1 diabetes throughout Georgia, for six years.

Rob Gray joined Primrose in 2018 and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer. He is an experienced CPA with strong leadership attributes, progressive management experience, global business exposure, project management expertise and invaluable Franchising, Fortune 50 and Big 4 audit experience across various industries.

He has a proven ability to deliver high quality results, professionally develop teams and execute within complex and fast-paced business environments.

Rob holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Georgia State University.

Annette Heng joined Primrose in September 2016 and leads strategic efforts to foster a brand-driven, high-performance environment for Primrose School Franchising Company and the Primrose schools system. She has worked in education for more than 30 years, having previously served as a regional vice president for Aramark Education, among other roles for the company. Heng holds a bachelor’s degree from National Louis University and a master’s degree in education from Erikson Institute and Loyola University, and currently pursuing her Doctorate in Strategic Leadership. She and her School Excellence team are responsible for building trusted relationship while providing on-going support for all Franchise Owners and schools across the system. This support incudes quality assurance, compliance, school training and development, new and mature school performance and communications.

Dr. Amy Jackson is an experienced business leader and educator who has dedicated her career to ensuring children have access to high-quality early learning experiences and care. As chief early learning strategy officer, she will expand strategic partnerships to facilitate thought leadership and advocacy to support efforts that support access to high quality early learning and care for all children.

In this role, Jackson will provide strategic leadership, research and continuous improvement for the brand’s proprietary Balanced Learning® curriculum. She will also expand strategic partnerships for research-based innovation to strengthen the exclusive, time-tested Balanced Learning curriculum, created from the best early education wisdom to help children build the foundation they need for learning and life.

Nick Koros joined Primrose as chief development officer in March 2023. In this role, he leads the overall growth and development strategy for Primrose School Franchising Company to ensure even more children have access to high quality education and care.

Nick has extensive experience helping industry-leading brands strengthen their presence in competitive markets through multi-unit real estate projects and aligning the objectives of franchise owners, real estate partners and other key stakeholders. Trained in working across multiple disciplines to reach common goals, his career is built on producing innovative growth strategies on both a national and global scale.

Koros is well qualified as he holds a Juris Doctor as well as a Master of Business Administration and received his bachelor’s in economics and sociology from UCLA. He has also obtained a master business strategy certification from Cornell and is LEED Design accredited by the US Green Building Council.

Avery Ma is a leader in the Technology space with a background in eCommerce and Software Development in the college retail, apparel, and workwear industries in Nebraska, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska Lincoln (Go Big Red!) and lives with his family in the greater Atlanta area.

Pam Turner serves as Chief of Staff at Primrose Schools, partnering with the Executive Leadership Team to advance strategic growth, operational alignment and enterprise transformation. She leads cross-functional priorities, streamlines decision-making and ensures cohesive execution across key functions, including Operations, Franchise Development, Marketing and Technology.

Pam has held senior leadership roles across national franchise organizations, where she led systemwide initiatives, elevated franchisee engagement and delivered high-impact enterprise projects. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Florida State University and is known for driving clarity, alignment and results across complex, multi-unit systems.

Dr. Jana is a pediatrician and award-winning author of more than 30 children and parenting books. Currently on faculty at Penn State University’s Prevention Research Center, she has over 20 years of experience working with parents, educators, media, academia, government organizations, nonprofits and corporations alike. From early literacy advocate and nine-year owner of a Primrose school to advisor to the world’s largest toy company and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Jana is a social entrepreneur dedicated to addressing the most pressing needs of children, families and communities. She has given three TED talks and over 100 talks and keynotes to audiences as far-reaching as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the World Bank and the British Parliament. In addition to serving on the Early Learning Council, Dr. Jana co-authored the Primrose Wonder and Venture children’s book series, advises on health and nutrition and serves as strategic consultant to the CEO.

Dr. Kathy Cabe Trundle served as the lead author of the next generation of Balanced Learning, and her leadership in science education spans 40 years. Before joining the faculty at Utah State, she served as the Department Head of STEM Education at NC State (5 years) and as a Professor in Early Childhood Science Education at Ohio State University (13 years). Dr. Trundle has more than 200 publications, including research articles and books that focus on early childhood science, and she is an author with National Geographic Learning. Her research includes the integration of art into STEM learning (STEAM), and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding allows her to explore garden-based learning, biodiversity and sustainability with children and their teachers.

Dr. Douglas Bell has expertise in early childhood curriculum, early literacy, early social-emotional development and working with young dual-language learners. He has published and presented on local, state, national and international levels.

Dr. Carol Donovan received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in Multicultural Teacher and Child Education with an emphasis in reading and writing. Her research interests include children’s and teachers’ selections and uses of books for science, children’s genre knowledge development, and children’s writing development.

Dr. Jennifer S. McDonel is co-author of the Harmony & Heart® music program for Primrose Schools. She has over three decades of teaching and mentoring experience with students from birth to adulthood and is a recipient of the Donald N. Dedmon Distinguished Teaching Professor Award at Radford University. She mentors undergraduate students in research both locally and abroad in Nepal. Also a composer, her band works are published through Boosey & Hawkes, and her early childhood compositions and activities are featured in music teaching resources as well as in the ZERO TO THREE “Problem Solvers” early childhood mathematics curriculum. Her album, Little Beats: Counting, Shapes, and Sets is available on all streaming services and received GRAMMY Award consideration.

Rebecca Parlakian serves as Senior Director of Programs at ZERO TO THREE where she directs a portfolio of projects related to child development, parenting, early learning, social-emotional skills and high-quality teaching and caregiving. In her role, Rebecca has co-authored five parenting and professional curricula and developed resources for teachers, home visitors and parents. Rebecca’s written work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the peer-reviewed Young Children, and she has been quoted by media outlets including the New York Times and the Washington Post. She holds a master’s degree in infant/toddler special education from the George Washington University where she currently teaches as an adjunct professor.

Dr. Linder’s research centers on supporting and sustaining teacher quality and family engagement in early childhood mathematics. She has published extensively on early mathematics and is a co-author on the Balanced Learning curriculum for Primrose Schools and a K–5 mathematics curriculum (Math Out of the Box) funded by Dupont. Dr. Linder is a co-editor of the STEAM and STEM columns in Teaching Young Children and currently serves on the editorial board for Investigations in Mathematics Learning. She is also the lead editor on the Handbook of STEM Faculty Development (2023). Her most recent research is focused on investigating the role of the parent/caregiver in promoting mathematics understandings in young children through the use of take-home math bags, an initiative called Project MathPack. Dr. Linder teaches hyflex courses for doctoral students in Teaching and Learning and examines instructional practices through hyflex approaches.