Donald Schmidt

Regional Director of Global Partnerships - MEA at ETS

Speaker

Don Schmidt is a dynamic international education executive with almost 30 years’ experience in leadership, business development, and project management across corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors in the Middle East, Asia, and the U.S. As the ETS Regional Director for Global Partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa, he drives global client management and strategic partner acquisition across diverse markets, sourcing and negotiating with distributors, publishers, integrators, and government entities to build testing, learning, and delivery ecosystems for both academia and the workplace.

Don is responsible for cultivating long-term relationships and leading new partnerships and integrations across ETS Solutions—including TOEIC, PSI solutions, and YSS/ITP—while expanding business with existing growth partners. In this role, he serves as a trusted advisor to ETS Solutions teams and external stakeholders, using strong relationship-building skills to identify mutually beneficial opportunities and best represent products, services, and solutions.

His expertise includes managing multi-disciplinary teams, leading large-scale projects, activating sales pipelines, and achieving revenue growth in highly competitive, cross-cultural environments. Previously, Don led Amideast Saudi Arabia’s field office and project portfolio, overseeing corporate English-language training, test-prep, scholarship, and exchange programs, and launching innovative learning models for government, corporate, and nonprofit clients. He holds an Ed.M. from Boston University, degrees in anthropology and linguistics from Indiana University, and advanced certifications in project management, business strategy, and measurement assessment & statistics. Don is recognised for strategic vision, operational excellence, and fostering impactful education and workforce collaborations.