Assessment Industry Veteran Steve Tapp Named ACT CEO

IOWA CITY, Iowa, Oct. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- ACT, the mission-driven provider of the assessments, research, and work-ready credentials designed to support education and workplace success, and a portfolio company of Nexus Capital Management LP, today announced that Steve Tapp, an experienced and dynamic executive from within the assessment industry, has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer. Steve succeeds Janet Godwin, who has led ACT on a transformative journey since stepping into the CEO role five years ago. Janet will continue to serve in a transitional role as Special Advisor to Steve and the Board of Directors.

Steve brings more than 30 years of experience in the educational and assessment markets, most recently serving as CEO of Lifelong Learner Holdings, the parent company of PSI Services, a global provider of high stakes assessments for professional and educational markets, and Talogy, a leading provider of talent management solutions for corporations and employers around the world. During his 15-year tenure as CEO, Steve led the growth of the PSI business from a small U.S. test publisher to an organization with two global leading brands across multiple assessment markets. Prior to PSI, Steve held senior leadership positions at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in both Corporate Finance and Strategy and several years as President of the Houghton Mifflin Assessment Division, Promissor. His extensive experience and knowledge in driving results in the assessment market will be instrumental in leading the next phase of ACT's ambition to transform college and career readiness pathways so that everyone, at every stage, can discover and fulfill their potential.

"I am delighted to accept the role as Chief Executive Officer at ACT," Steve said. "I've long admired ACT's mission-driven focus to provide solutions that change lives through assessment. I look forward to helping propel the organization, built by Janet and the outstanding leadership team, in the next phase of growth, as we continue to support millions of global students in their college and career journeys with impactful, life changing solutions."

During her 35-year tenure at ACT, the last five years as CEO, Janet helped build and guide ACT into a leading provider of solutions that support students and young adults through critical points in their post-secondary and career pathways.

"I've been honored to work at and lead the ACT organization for the past 35 years and through its transformational journey over the past 18 months into an independent, public benefit corporation with the investment support from Nexus. I am excited to hand over the reins to Steve to take the organization to new heights with his depth of market experience," Janet said.

"We want to thank Janet for her commitment to ACT and the 18 months of close partnership with Nexus. She has been instrumental in leading ACT through a truly transformational period, with everchanging educational trends, while focused on creating an organization poised for future success" said Evan Glucoft, Managing Director at Nexus and a member of the Board of Directors. "We are excited to start working with Steve, a proven leader with a long and established career leading organizations in the assessment space. Steve's leadership capabilities, growth orientation, and market experience are a perfect fit for the next phase of ACT's standalone evolution as we continue to build a world class provider of educational and workforce solutions."

About ACT

ACT is transforming college and career readiness pathways so that everyone can discover and fulfill their potential. Grounded in more than 65 years of research, ACT's learning resources, assessments, research, and work-ready credentials are trusted by students, job seekers, educators, schools, government agencies, and employers in the U.S. and around the world to help people achieve their education and career goals at every stage of life.

About Nexus

Nexus Capital Management and Nexus Partners were formed in 2013 to make opportunistic debt and equity investments in a broad range of companies and industries. Our Founding Partners have invested together for over 20 years through multiple economic and financial cycles. We invest in a range of industries and seek to partner with leading companies and management teams in pursuit of generating attractive long-term returns. Nexus invests $50-$300 million per transaction and has the ability to make larger or smaller commitments in selected circumstances.

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SOURCE ACT