Meet The Team
The people at Noodle have designed, built, and managed some of the best online undergraduate and graduate programs in America.
After four years at Penn State for undergrad as a Telecommunications major and also helping lead the largest student run philanthropy called THON, Matthew found himself working at a special education school as a behavior staff member. He then took a position at a tech start-up company that helped non-profits increase their fundraising through a mobile platform and event based fundraising. After that, Matt then went on to work at a recording studio as an engineer and producer.
Though each of these jobs may seem extremely different, the common thread between them all is Matt’s passion for helping others. As Enrollment Coordinator, Matt continually strives to improve support for the Enrollment Team and University Partners.
Laura is currently an Enrollment Advisor in Philadelphia for Howard University’s Executive MBA program. She recently graduated from the University of Toronto, attaining a B.A. in Peace, Conflict, and Justice and Ethics, Society and Law and is currently pursuing a Masters of Education in Higher Education. She also brings experience working in student affairs, including work in undergraduate orientation, residence life, and other transition programming. She lives in Southern NJ and enjoys bullet journaling, music, and traveling in her free time.
Vinay joins Noodle after a decade of experience in the adult education space. His career spans online program management, education software, and strategy and operations consulting. Prior to Noodle, he was part of the Strategy team at Instructure, focusing on go-to-market and growth planning for the company's corporate learning offering, Bridge. Vinay was also part of the senior management team at 2U from 2013-2015 (where he got to attend the company's IPO celebration at Nasdaq) and was the General Manager responsible for launching the company's partnership with UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Vinay shepherded the successful development of the first-ever fully online data science degree in the country. He also created and built the company's first Content Strategy team, scaling course planning and production to over 200 courses per year. Vinay holds a JD/MBA from New York University and a BA in International Relations from Brown University.
.jpg){kind=avatar}
Andre adds over a decade of Higher Education enrollment experience to Noodle partners. He spent the last six years with HotChalk, serving various University Partners in multiple roles. His focus has been on building successful enrollment specialists and teams while putting students and partner universities' needs first. His experience includes building new partners and programs, as well as nurturing and growing existing programs. Prior to his tenure at HotChalk, Andre also served enrollment teams at Grand Canyon University. Before his Higher Education career, Andre had a strong business background at multiple fortune 500 organizations where he held roles in customer service, quality assurance, training and development, and financial services. As a lifelong learner, Andre holds a BS in Applied Business Management and an M.Ed. C&I focusing on Equity, Ethics, and Justice in Education.
Jamal joined Noodle with nearly a decade of experience working closely with over two dozen globally recognized colleges and universities to develop, scale, support and improve learning outcomes through the creation of high-quality digital educational experiences.
In former roles as Senior Director and Vice President of Production at 2U, Jamal and his teams created the necessary project and data management infrastructure, workflows and protocols leading to the ongoing iteration and continual improvement of 2U's expansive portfolio of academic coursework. Additionally, Jamal and his teams led the delivery of Semester Online, an interdisciplinary undergraduate program consisting of over twenty credit-bearing course offerings developed in partnership with a consortia of globally recognized American and international colleges and universities. In an earlier role, Jamal worked directly with faculty to develop the creative vision, production and delivery of the online Master of Social Work program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the online Master of Teaching program at the USC Rossier School of Education.
Prior to his pivot into higher education, Jamal was an accomplished multimedia producer and project manager helping Fortune 100 brands extend their marketing activations to hard-to-reach audiences. Jamal co-founded Wonderbox Studios, a Los Angeles-based production company, which partners with globally recognized brands, cutting edge technology firms, and front-line non-profit organizations to produce promotional and cause-based content.
Jamal earned a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications and Film with a minor in Business from California State University, Los Angeles. He subsequently completed coursework in Design Project Management and Digital Media for the Web and Mobile Devices. Jamal is now based in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area and enjoys golf, photography, and traveling abroad with his wife and young children.
Diamond is an Enrollment Advisor for Columbia University's Advanced Management Program. She graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington with a degree in Elementary Education, and completed her Master's in Educational Psychology from Ball State University. Diamond has years of diverse professional experiences in education ranging from teaching to corporate training to consulting. She enjoys connecting and collaborating with others, finding unique approaches to problem solving, and helping others set and achieve their goals.
As a true life-long learner, Diamond is always eager to learn something new. In her spare time, Diamond enjoys working on UX Design and Research, tutoring and mentoring youth, cooking, game nights, and spending time with her husband and Yorkie, Bennie.
Samantha joined the Noodle team as a Senior User Experience Researcher with over 7 years of experience in UX product research.
Samantha brings her background of user research from across multiple industries including health and fitness, e-commerce, and the mortgage space. Prior to her position at Noodle, Samantha was leading research initiatives with companies like iFIT and ICE Mortgage Technologies (formerly known as "Simplifile") specializing in championing the voice of the customer and identifying innovative product solutions to meet user needs.
Samantha graduated from Brigham Young University in 2014 with a major in Mandarin and minor in Localization. She is currently based in Utah where she enjoys adventuring outdoors with her husband and mini Australian shepard, Winston.
While teaching 3rd grade in the San Francisco Unified School District, Michela found her passion for EdTech and has since dedicated her career to reaching students and optimizing PK-12 schools and Universities through technology.
She holds an undergraduate degree in art, a master's in education, and a Teaching Credential from the University of San Francisco. Since her time in the classroom, she built a small interior design business and partnered with large tech firms like Airbnb and Twitter to optimize and organize their office spaces and helped develop and run a 300+ student PK-12 school, which she took online at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Josh is fascinated with understanding how people learn, what role that neuroscience plays in the learning process, and how educational technology helps us to become lifelong, independent learners. He was a captain in the Air Force and worked as a nuclear missile launch officer at Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, MT. He has been in the L&D field since 2006 and ran his own training firm, Game Plan Communications, for the past ten years. He earned his Ph.D. in Learning Technologies in the distance learning section of the University of North Texas. Originally from Dallas, TX, Josh now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Hello! I am an Enrollment Specialist in Arizona working with NYU Steinhardt. I have been working with their programs for almost 4 years now and have 3 years of previous Enrollment experience. My education includes a BA in Psychology and MA in Leadership. I am very passionate about the students I have the privilege to assist and being their mascot to root them on in their educational advancement.
Anna is an accomplished financial professional with 20 years of international experience in finance and operations management.
After spending 15 years in global finance roles at corporations including IBM, Omnicom and Deloitte, Anna joined the wonderful world of NYC start-ups, and fell in love with the dynamic energy, sense of purpose and meaningfulness of the work.
At Noodle, Anna oversees the financial operations of the company’s University partnerships and online programs, managing university budgets, developing financial modeling and delivering crucial information to the leadership regarding the company’s performance.
Anna grew up in Brazil, worked in Mexico City and speaks fluent English, Portuguese and Spanish. After 15 years living in the USA, she currently considers herself a New Yorker.
Stephen Green is the Chief Program Officer at Noodle, where he oversees all of Noodle Partners' 20+ university partnerships and 40+ online programs in the core functions of online program management. Throughout his extensive career in online education he has led more than 100 program launches and implementations. Stephen is committed to improving the intersection between access, education, and technology.
Prior to joining Noodle, Stephen was the CMO at eCornell, the online learning arm of Cornell University, and Qubed Education, an ed tech company that builds online career exploration programs for millennials with top universities and leading consumer brands. Earlier in his career, Stephen was one of the earliest employees at 2U, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU), where he helped several great institutions build and run high-quality online degree programs in a series of senior management positions including EVP/General Manager and President of Graduate Programs.
Stephen is a member of the National Alliance of Black School Educators and the National Council on Educating Black Children. Green also sits on the boards of Bright Star Schools, a Los Angeles based Charter School Network, and UThink PC, a build your own computer company. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross; an M.A. from Columbia University; and an Ed.M. from Teachers College.
Cat Hammett has worked in education and ed tech for over 11 years serving in admissions, admissions leadership, client services and recruitment leadership. Prior to joining Noodle, she was the Partner/Higher Education Lead at HireEducation, a search firm focused on education and technology professionals such as senior executives, general management, and more. Cat holds an MBA from Benedictine University and a BA in Journalism from Indiana University.
Robyn Hammontree has more than a decade of experience developing and supervising education programs in both the public and private sectors. She has designed curriculum programs for both K-12 and higher education, including undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. Robyn also has experience teaching at all ages and understands the practical concerns facing today’s education workforce. With a passion for reading and technology, Robyn has a gift for finding the heart of a lesson and pairing it with exciting and innovative storytelling techniques. Most recently she was a senior instructional designer at the University of Alabama, overseeing the team’s interactive technology efforts and the creation of hundreds of courses across all disciplines on campus. Earlier, Robyn worked at the Institute of Reading Development, building courses and supervising a team of hundreds of teachers across the United States. At the University of Alabama, Robyn earned a B.A. in International Studies and French and an M.A. in International Relations. She’s a mother, a reader, a runner, a traveler and an occasional maker of fine cocktails.
May graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Human Resources from Oakland University. She has a couple years of agency recruiting experience and is excited to dive into the educational industry, empowering future generations alongside Noodle! May is currently based in Sterling Heights, Michigan. In her spare time, she can be found thrifting, playing guitar, or attempting to make a home-cooked meal.
Greg Harris is a Solutions Manager at Noodle. Prior to joining Noodle, Greg supported admissions systems for undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University. A native of Virginia, he currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He holds a bachelor’s degree from William & Mary. In his spare time Greg enjoys reading, cycling, playing ice hockey, and relaxing with his dog.
Bruce brings almost 15 years of experience in higher education marketing and enrollment. As a Marketing Manager for Noodle, Bruce supports the development, implementation and maintenance of various marketing tactics within the portfolio of University programs. He is incredibly passionate about marketing and helping Universities develop and grow their online programs. Prior to joining Noodle, Bruce spent the last 5 years working as a Senior Account Manager for an EDU Lead Gen firm out of Las Angeles California and prior to that he spent 2 years at Ottawa University as the Marketing Manager overseeing their online program portfolio. Bruce loves spending time exploring the beautiful city of Kansas City along with his wife and 2 beautiful children.
Katelynn Heasley is a Software Engineer working remotely from Long Island, NY. Prior to Noodle and software engineering, she was a professional musician who played in the United States Marine Corps Band. She studied at University of Michigan and enjoys hiking, traveling, physical fitness, and making new friends.
Cammie has 15 years of experience working in higher education. She focuses on new business development, providing marketplace perspective and improving sales processes and operations strategy. Cammie has been working in the online program management space for over 4 years to develop, launch, and scale strategic online offerings based on institutional objectives and market demand. She spent 8 years with Pearson Education where she worked as an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships and an Institutional Sales Manager. During this time, she worked closely with higher ed executives to develop partnerships in an effort to power key institutional initiatives. While at Pearson, she led the efforts to develop and implement one of the first competency based education programs offered in the western United States. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing from Wichita State University and a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Laura serves as the General Counsel at Noodle, having previously held the same role at William Paterson University and Hunter College, CUNY. A litigator by training, Laura clerked in the Southern District of New York before practicing at the law firms of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind and Garrison, and Loeb & Loeb. She also spent several years on the faculty of NYU Law School and Cornell University, and was a Director at Chadbourne & Parke and at Credit Suisse. Laura enjoys working with her colleagues to create solutions for Noodle's partners and students. Away from work, Laura has been a board member of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, CASA NY, the New York Women's Foundation, her local Board of Education, and the Princeton Charter Club Graduate Board of Governors. She lives in New Jersey with her family, although she is always ready to hop on a plane to anywhere when given the chance.
Emily has worked in higher education for over 20 years. She joins Noodle after 5 years with HotChalk as the Vice President of University Partnership Operations. Passionate about service excellence, Emily has deep experience partnering with universities to manage online programs, execute on strategies, and deliver enrollment growth along with successful student outcomes. Emily has held various roles in the university setting from enrollment management to campus leadership, serving as President of the Art Institute of Portland prior to joining HotChalk.
Emily received her Bachelor of Science from Florida State University and her Master of Management from University of Phoenix. Moving a number of times during her career, she is happy to now call the Pacific Northwest home together with her husband, 3 children, and 2 dogs.
Marianne is a start up and people enthusiast who joined Noodle after working in Shanghai for several years. In Shanghai, Marianne helped run operations at a marketing start up and later shifted her focus to curriculum development and management in the Chinese ed industry.
Her global experience in education and leadership brought Marianne to Noodle first to oversee HR across all Noodle Companies subsidiaries, and later in 2019 to Noodle full time. Marianne received her BA in Chinese and Political Economics from Georgetown University.
Shelby Hoffman is from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. She grew up living on a boarding school campus where her mother was a dean of students. Shelby has always been surrounded by the value of education and is honored to make education her own career. Before Noodle, Shelby worked at 2U where she was instrumental in launching, developing and recruiting for both Simmons College and University of Southern California’s FNP program. During her spare time, you can find her on a Mountain in Colorado. She enjoys skiing, golfing, hiking, camping and taking pictures.
Keri Hoyt started her career at The Princeton Review. During her 18-year tenure, she partnered with colleges and universities to help improve their marketing and admissions processes, helped build online programming, and honed her marketing and product-development skills. Keri joins Noodle from Success Academies, where she ran 34 high-performing elementary, middle, and high schools throughout New York City.
James is a software engineer helping to build the systems that power Noodle. His previous experience includes working at Noodle Markets and developing business intelligence tools for online marketers, as well as working with K-12 educational publishers in Minnesota. He spends much of his free time playing music, and though he grew up in Colorado, he went skiing less often than you would think. He holds a BA from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.
Emily works with prospective students interested in the Master of Health Administration program at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. Prior to joining Noodle, she spent 4 years working in academic advising and admissions/recruitment for the nursing programs at the University of Saint Mary and the University of Missouri - Kansas City. She joins the Noodle team excited to continue working with students across the country who are passionate about providing the best quality healthcare services for their communities. Originally from rural Kansas, she spent her college years in Baltimore, MD completing her bachelor's degree in Economics at Goucher College. She now lives in Kansas City, MO with her partner and two rescue pups, Parker and Lucy. When she isn't busy supporting students through the admissions process, she enjoys practicing her fading Spanish, long hikes, learning how to play tennis and travelling everywhere and anywhere.
Kristina brings with her a life-long love of learning. She joins Noodle Partners with over 20 years of experience in education, ranging from Preschool-aged children, to teen-parent programs, to working with students at a private high school. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Child & Adolescent Development from California State University, Northridge, and has dedicated the past 10 years of her career as a high school administrator and teacher, specifically as Director of Service Learning & Student Activities, at a Los Angeles-based high school. Kristina was proud to grow the Service Learning program into a robust and important part of student life on and off campus, partnering students with local non-profit organizations. She also found fulfillment and joy in being a student advocate, teaching students about graphic design through her Yearbook course, and by developing students’ Social Emotional skills through her Human Development course.
Carrie Jesse has a background in education, as well as in health and fitness. She has an undergraduate degree in Health and Exercise Science and a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology. Before working in software and technology roles, she started her own business coaching endurance athletes for long-distance triathlon and running events. Her passion for coaching evolved into the education space, where she worked one-on-one with students diagnosed with learning disabilities.
Prior to joining Noodle as a Web Content Manager, Carrie managed website projects in the health and fitness industry, working with small to enterprise-level community centers, clubs, and gyms. She has experience in website design, QA, support, content writing, and SEO.
In her free time, Carrie enjoys trail running, hiking, and reading. She grew up in the midwest, and after spending over ten years in Southern California, she now calls the mountains of Colorado home, where she lives with her husband and their Corgi.
Mary Anne Johnson is based in South Florida and has spent more than two decades crafting innovative, integrated strategies. Her experience on both the agency and client side has given her a unique 360 degree perspective of how objectives are translated into strategies, tactics—and results. Her ability to rapidly move from strategic considerations to tactical executions, along with her strong grounding in analytics makes her a formidable marketer in both traditional and digital environments, and her Southern charm and ‘lead by inspiration’ style creates strong, loyal teams.She started her marketing career on the agency side, doing political advertising in Arkansas—her birth state—and later moved into healthcare marketing on both the client and agency side. Over the years she added financial services, technology, consulting, international banking and law and higher education to her industry expertise—and of course, experienced the birth and development of the now-ubiquitous digital media ecosystem. As with all good marketers, she has the ability to take lessons from one field and apply them to the next.When she’s not working, Mary Anne cooks like a contestant on Beat Bobby Flay, practices yoga, keeps the box scores for her nephew’s baseball team— and tries like the devil to find herself on the beach at least once a week.
John Katzman is the founder and CEO of Noodle. Prior to getting it right, he founded and ran 2U, which is also involved in online learning, and The Princeton Review, which helps students find, get into, and pay for higher ed.
Katzman is the co-author of five books, and has served as a director of several for- and non-profits, including Carnegie Learning, Renaissance Learning, the National Association of Independent Schools, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, and the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.
Lauren joins Noodle with nearly a decade of experience in education, and spent the past five years at Success Academy. She began as an Education Manager and soon became a Scholar Support Manager, a role in which she ensured that students with disabilities received the appropriate supports they needed to be successful across a cohort of schools. Lauren joined Tech for America where she taught 9th grade Special Education in Washington D.C for 2 years, and earned her Masters in Special Education from George Mason University while teaching. She is passionate about helping students find the right place to practice the skills they are learning in the classroom. She graduated from Cornell University in 2011.
Justin joins noodle after over 15 years in education. He has been involved in a wide range of organizations ranging from high school to university. Justin started his career as a high school mathematics teacher and gradually transitioned from a teacher role to a role in educational technology and distance learning administration.
Justin holds an A.S. degree in General Studies from Allegany College of Maryland, a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Frostburg State University, and a M.E.T. degree from Boise State University. Justin is currently working to complete his EdD in Educational Technology.
Susanna is an Enrollment Advisor based in Philadelphia working with American University's School of Education. She graduated from George Mason University in 2017 with a BA in Music and found her way into higher education by spending a year as an AmeriCorps member in Philly working as a College Coach for College Possible, an organization that serves students from low income backgrounds on getting to and through college. Susanna first joined Noodle in August of 2019 after working in undergraduate admissions for one of Penn State's commonwealth campuses just outside of Philadelphia. She left Noodle for a brief 10 month stint to get her Master's degree in Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania and returned to Noodle June 2022. Susanna loves the way Noodle fiercely supports the success of not only the students in our programs but also its employees.
Rachael Kelly has focused her entire career on improving student access to quality education. After graduating from UMBC, Rachael joined the 2013 Teach for America corps in inner-city Baltimore. While teaching elementary students full-time, she also received her Master of Science in Education from Johns Hopkins University. She then transitioned to clinical counseling after earning her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California. Rachael has spent the past several years focused on the intersection of higher education and social work, helping prospective students to find the graduate degree program to best suit their professional and academic needs.
Sarah Kelly joins Noodle as a recent graduate of the University of Maryland. As a lifetime learner, Sarah is eager to connect education and technology as an Enrollment Advisor with Noodle Partners. Prior to joining Noodle Partners, Sarah served on the Executive Board for her local Children's Miracle Network Dance Marathon program benefitting Children's National Health System in Washington, DC, and helped cultivate donor relationships and develop stewardship strategies. Sarah has also worked as a research assistant at the National Security Archive, and interned with the Pew Research Center.
Beth Kenney is a Director on the Solutions Architecture team at Noodle, which configures and supports the processes, tools, and technologies used to deliver an exceptional user experience from marketing to graduation.
Beth has over 25 years of experience as an IT professional in higher education with a passion for customer service, implementing projects, and finding fast workable solutions to problems.
Prior to joining Noodle, Beth implemented large IT projects such as a new university ERP System, Learning Management System, Help Desk System, Single Sign-On Solution, many academic tools, and managed an annual budget of approximately $1 million.
Beth holds an AA in Computer Science from Allegany College of Maryland, a BS in Computer Science and an MBA from Frostburg State University, and is ITIL Certified.
Miranda is a Pittsburgh-based graphic designer, specializing in marketing, branding, and digital accessibility. She has four working years of experience in education technology, with a focus on student centered-design and production. She received her BA in Graphic Design from Robert Morris University in 2016, where she discovered her passion for the intersection between education and design through her student job as a Google Suite trainer. Throughout her career, she has worked in tandem with design directors on product launches, marketing campaigns, and ELA online curriculum builds.
Sierra has always had a passion for education. She spent the first years of her career in secondary education before finding a passion for adult learning. After receiving her Masters of Education in Adult Education and Training, she began her career in higher education. Originally from California, Sierra left the state to work at several universities across different states. After finally settling in Kansas City Missouri, Sierra became one of the first enrollment advisors for the Tulane MSW program. Over the years, Sierra has continued to work with the Tulane Social Work program and has helped the program grow to the success it is today.
.jpg){kind=avatar}
Chris came on as a Market Research Analyst for Noodle in the Fall of 2021. Chris has been in research for over 6 years, starting his sophomore year during his undergraduate education. He brings research experiences from a diverse array of industries and academic fields, including international development, foreign economic policy, mental health/healthcare, race and ethnicity, gender and sexualities studies, and labor in higher education. Just before Noodle he had served as a research technician for Cornell University’s School of Integrative Plant Sciences.
Chris graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with minors in French and Philosophy from Ithaca College in 2018 and is currently based out of New York City. Outside of Noodle, Chris enjoys playing classical piano, exploring cultures through languages and music, and spending time with his beloved cat, Chi.
Noah is a storyteller on the surface but a story-listener at heart, as he’s a firm believer that a good sponge makes for a better author. He joins Noodle after two years of freelance and contract copywriting where he covered verticals ranging from fashion, to fitness, to food and drink. He’s committed to enhancing his passport of perspectives and will never say no to a niche work experience; he’s lifted stone in the quarries of Wisconsin, cared for livestock on an organic & sustainable farm in central Italy, and served up cocktails in a neighborhood L.A. bar.
Noah graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with B.A.s in Narrative Studies and Public Relations. Though he now calls L.A. home, he hails from a small suburb of Milwaukee, WI where open plains and lakes abound. He spends his free time and emotional bandwidth creating deep, meaningful relationships. If he’s not hosting loved ones for dinner or drinks, he’s probably sleeping, at the beach, or if he’s really lucky—both.
Cheryl joined Noodle as a Senior Analyst, Market Research with over 15 years of market research experience in various industries. Prior to working for Noodle, Cheryl spent 5 years on Pearson Online Learning Services’ market research team assessing and optimizing program opportunities for both current and potential partners.
Cheryl holds a BS in Education from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Baker College. She is based in Orlando, FL, and when she’s not working, Cheryl is usually enjoying the outdoors, traveling, and spending her time with her husband and two daughters.
Victoria (Tori) is passionate about helping people achieve their goals, especially when it comes to receiving a better education. In January of 2017, she joined Noodle Pros where she was heavily involved in Marketing and eventually the Operations side of the company. After two and a half years, she decided to take what she had learned and shift her career path where she became a recruiter helping people find and obtain their dream job. After a year of being away from the education world, she came back to Noodle joining Noodle Partners on the Enrollment team, as an Enrollment Advisor, taking the skills she learned while she was away to help students achieve their educational goals. She enjoys working with students and being part of the Enrollment Team at Noodle Partners. Tori currently lives in New York City with her husband, two dogs, and a cat, otherwise known as "the zoo".
Kirsten Kraklio serves as a Copy Editing Specialist at Noodle. She has more than a decade of experience as a writer and editor for companies including the Arizona Republic, Arizona Highways magazine and Arizona State University. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication as well as a master’s degree in sustainability leadership. In her free time, Kirsten enjoys reading, roller skating and gardening. Originally from Iowa, she traded shovels for sunscreen and now lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
My past experience, aside from higher education, includes working with the elderly population and people who are struggling with addiction. I have also and provided therapy to teenagers in a school/outpatient setting.
I have my MS in Marriage, Family, and Child counseling from the Unversity of Phoenix, Bay Area campus and my BA in Psychology from San Jose State University.My current role with Noodle is Executive Student Services Advisor and I moved over with that title from a 6 year 8 month employment with Hotchalk!
In my spare time, I love to work out, spend time with friends and family, travel (my favorite place so far is Italy) and listen to music/go to concerts (when we can).
My name is Jay Lach. I joined Noodle in July 2019 as an EA. I grew up in the Buffalo/Rochester NY area and now live in Denver, CO. I have been married for over 25 years to my wife Jeneane and we are blessed to have 2 children. Emma is 20 and is attending CSU and Easton who will be a JR. in H.S. We have 3 dogs and love being outdoors to hike, bike, golf and ski. I am an active member of the local Rotary and Kiwanis clubs here in Denver.
Angelica has worked in Ed Tech the last 3 years serving as an Enrollment Counselor, Trainer, and Manager assisting in creating new processes for tenured and incoming employees. Believes in the motto 'work smarter not harder' which drives her to constantly find ways to improve the work place for all. As the first college graduate in her family she has a strong passion for finding better ways to provide higher education to those who come from areas where higher education is not easily accessible. Before her career in Ed Tech she worked and volunteered in various positions for Non-Profits and Event Planning.
Elissa Lappenga has served as a leader and educator in higher education, as well as the nonprofit and technology sectors, for more than 20 years. Early in her career, Elissa served as Director of Education for a women’s resource center, where she led a grant-funded team of educators in developing and delivering sexual health and substance abuse education programs to 6th-12th grade students across three Michigan counties. In the higher education space, Elissa has led teams in student life and academic services at both private and public institutions, most recently managing UCLA’s graduate and undergraduate programs across three different life sciences departments. Just prior to joining Noodle, Elissa designed and launched a global online customer education and community program for a software company based in the UK. Elissa completed her B.A. at Hope College in Michigan and earned her M.Ed. from UCLA. In her spare time, Elissa volunteers as a domestic relations mediator and enjoys spending time with her family on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan.
Darwin serves as the Chief Privacy Officer of Noodle and is responsible for Information Systems and IT operations. In this role, he identifies security concerns, maintains the cybersecurity, data privacy, and compliance scope for the company, as well as establishes policy in each of these areas. Across the ecosphere of the company, Darwin and his team endeavor to foster a culture of privacy. This involves designing, implementing, and ensuring compliance within the organization, addressing security framework, products, infrastructure, and software development lifecycle.
With over 15 years in IT leadership, including systems management, project management, data center operations, mission-critical infrastructure, and software-defined networks, Darwin is driving Noodle Partners forward as an agile, groundbreaking technology company. He is passionate about cultivating a work environment that promotes a sense of purpose, ownership, and meaning amongst his team members in order to deliver a superior product to Noodle Partners’ clients.
Whenever he can find spare time, Darwin enjoys family activities, gourmet cooking, great wine, and competitive sports.
Owen has spent over 15 years working in the higher education marketplace, and is deeply experienced in building strong partnerships with top tier universities. Before joining Noodle he spent a number of years at Wiley Education Services working with academic institutions to kickstart and grow their online programs. Owen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Eastern Illinois University and a MBA in Strategic Leadership from the University of Delaware.
Rebecca has worked in higher education for over a decade with a focus in non-traditional learning. She joins Noodle Partners from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where she worked with Kenan-Flagler Business School’s online graduate programs including MBA@UNC and MAC Online. Most recently, Rebecca was the Director of Academics and Operations for the UNC Master of Accounting Program where she played an integral role in the launch of the online format of the program. Leveraging the curriculum developed for online, she led the operational effort to re-launch the on-campus program using a blended delivery model. Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University.
Over the past 10 years, Lauren has dedicated her career to helping universities build outstanding online graduate programs that attract top students across the country and internationally while upholding academic quality and integrity. She has been integral in launching and growing enrollment for graduate programs at the University of Southern California, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, American University, and recently Tulane University. Prior to specializing in online program management, she gained experience in working in higher education admissions and student development departments at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and Loyola University, Maryland. Lauren holds a bachelor's degree in English from Dickinson College and a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from Loyola University, Maryland. In her free time, Lauren enjoys hiking, playing golf, and photography.
Dejean joined Noodle from Dewey Square Group (DSG), a global strategic communications and advisory firm, where he was a Principal in the State and Local Affairs and Multicultural Affairs practices. During his more than seven years at Dewey Square, Dejean advised Fortune 500 companies, foundations and emerging companies on strategic communications, stakeholder engagement, crisis management, diversity, reputation, and public affairs matters with a particular focus on education, media, technology and aerospace sectors.
Prior to joining DSG, Dejean had a proven track record of accomplishments with more than a decade of public and national government affairs experience, as political and fundraising strategist. He began his career working for the Kerry- Edward Presidential Campaign, followed by several years at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Obama Victory Fund 2008 in the following roles; Southern Deputy Finance Director, Northern Deputy Finance Director, Finance Director for the African American Leadership Council (AALC), and later as a consultant with the Dejean Group.
Alix is active in the community serving as the Vice Chair of the board for Democracy Prep Congress Heights School (DC), Episcopal High School’s The Promise Campaign (VA), and the Jessie Banks Scholarship Foundation (NJ).
Raised in South Carolina, Alix is a graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. He is currently studying for a Masters of Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary and lives in Washington, D.C.
Vinay joins Noodle after a decade of experience in the adult education space. His career spans online program management, education software, and strategy and operations consulting. Prior to Noodle, he was part of the Strategy team at Instructure, focusing on go-to-market and growth planning for the company's corporate learning offering, Bridge. Vinay was also part of the senior management team at 2U from 2013-2015 (where he got to attend the company's IPO celebration at Nasdaq) and was the General Manager responsible for launching the company's partnership with UC Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Vinay shepherded the successful development of the first-ever fully online data science degree in the country. He also created and built the company's first Content Strategy team, scaling course planning and production to over 200 courses per year. Vinay holds a JD/MBA from New York University and a BA in International Relations from Brown University.
Jamal joined Noodle with nearly a decade of experience working closely with over two dozen globally recognized colleges and universities to develop, scale, support and improve learning outcomes through the creation of high-quality digital educational experiences.
In former roles as Senior Director and Vice President of Production at 2U, Jamal and his teams created the necessary project and data management infrastructure, workflows and protocols leading to the ongoing iteration and continual improvement of 2U's expansive portfolio of academic coursework. Additionally, Jamal and his teams led the delivery of Semester Online, an interdisciplinary undergraduate program consisting of over twenty credit-bearing course offerings developed in partnership with a consortia of globally recognized American and international colleges and universities. In an earlier role, Jamal worked directly with faculty to develop the creative vision, production and delivery of the online Master of Social Work program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and the online Master of Teaching program at the USC Rossier School of Education.
Prior to his pivot into higher education, Jamal was an accomplished multimedia producer and project manager helping Fortune 100 brands extend their marketing activations to hard-to-reach audiences. Jamal co-founded Wonderbox Studios, a Los Angeles-based production company, which partners with globally recognized brands, cutting edge technology firms, and front-line non-profit organizations to produce promotional and cause-based content.
Jamal earned a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunications and Film with a minor in Business from California State University, Los Angeles. He subsequently completed coursework in Design Project Management and Digital Media for the Web and Mobile Devices. Jamal is now based in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area and enjoys golf, photography, and traveling abroad with his wife and young children.
Cammie has 15 years of experience working in higher education. She focuses on new business development, providing marketplace perspective and improving sales processes and operations strategy. Cammie has been working in the online program management space for over 4 years to develop, launch, and scale strategic online offerings based on institutional objectives and market demand. She spent 8 years with Pearson Education where she worked as an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships and an Institutional Sales Manager. During this time, she worked closely with higher ed executives to develop partnerships in an effort to power key institutional initiatives. While at Pearson, she led the efforts to develop and implement one of the first competency based education programs offered in the western United States. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing from Wichita State University and a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Kamilah Lewis brings to Noodle 20+ years of experience supporting product innovation as a classically trained brand manager and certified Facilitator, amassing a consultant portfolio that includes several Fortune 500 companies and series funded start-ups.
Before joining Noodle, Kamilah came from EAB where she was a Principal & Senior Consultant, and one of the architects for the Agency's digital strategy product offering.
She is a highly-requested speaker for a range of industry topics, from online content strategy to enrollment marketing, and has been a panelist and presenter at several higher education events including the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), and regional CMO Roundtables.
Lewis earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Maryland Global Campus (formerly UMUC) and a Master of Business Administration from American InterContinental University.
Brandon Martínez joined Noodle after working at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Education and as the Principal of one of the largest and highest-performing high schools in northern Orange County, California. In his role at USC, he helped design, build, and teach in the MAT@University of Southern California program and in the Ostrow School of Dentistry, has taught in the on campus Ed.D. and the online Ed.D. in Organizational Change and Leadership.
Mike McKito is a hands-on marketing executive with over 15 years of operations experience in higher education. Mike was most recently Vice President of Marketing and Enrollment at HotChalk, Inc supporting 6 universities and over 25 online degree programs. Prior to HotChalk, Mike was Vice President of Marketing at Northcentral University, an online university serving over 10,000 graduate students. Mike began his career at Education Management Corporation (EDMC) working in campus and shared services roles across a variety of departments including marketing, enrollment, finance, financial aid and business analytics. Mike has a passion for using data, analytics and technology to drive accountability and institutional outcomes. Mike graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Business Administration and Psychology and Certificate in Human Resource Management from Washington & Jefferson College and earned his MBA from the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.
Abe' has spent a majority of her professional career in Higher Education. Prior to joining Noodle Partners, Abe' worked at 2U where served as Managing Director of Recruitment running several of 2U's largest programs. During her 8 years at 2U, Abe' played an integral role in launching and delivering record enrollments numbers for several universities. USC, Simmons, NYU, Fordham, University of Denver, Pepperdine, Northwestern, American University and Washington University, St. Louis to name a few.
Abe' holds a BA in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
A seasoned executive and international consultant with over 30 years of experience in business, government, and higher education, The Honorable David Ramadan, Ed.D., was elected and served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Dr. Ramadan is an adjunct professor at George Mason University. He also served as a member of GMU’s Board of Visitors, appointed by the Governor of Virginia. David previously taught at George Washington University. In 2021, he was named a Resident Scholar at the University of Virginia Center of Politics.
David emigrated to the United States from Lebanon in 1989 after attending International College in Beirut. He graduated from GMU with a Bachelor’s in Government and Politics, and a Master’s in International Trade and Transactions. David completed graduate studies at Oxford University, the American Graduate School of Business in Geneva, Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University.
In 2022, David earned a Doctor of Education degree in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from the prestigious Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University. His doctoral research focused on online higher education and workforce development and training.
David Sals is the SVP of Product at Noodle. He has spent the last 9 years leading teams that build innovative technology solutions for education. In previous lives, David has been a web developer, a journalist, a playwright, a screenwriter and an improv performer; he has coached executives and provided test prep and computer training; led mens groups and performed weddings; sold computers and business insurance; has been an office manager and has worked in HR.
David believes that trust is contagious and leadership is earned, and he brings his eclectic experience, “Yes, and…” improvisor attitude and “people first” focus to bear in every meeting and every communication.
After graduating from Fairfield University, Jed served as a volunteer in Quito, Ecuador at the Centro del Muchacho Trabajador. When he returned, he started his career at The Princeton Review, where over the course of 20 years, he managed business units throughout the northeast including Marketing, Sales, Operations, Customer Service, Management and Partnership Development. His last few years there were spent working closely with K12 school districts, colleges, and universities, and non-profits to develop specialized programs for their students.
Jed came to Noodle after working for the last 5 years at Bottom Line, a highly regarded college success non-profit, where he was the National Director of Development Operations. While at Bottom Line he helped to build fundraising and organizational capacity as the organization expanded, opened new offices in New York and Chicago, and more than doubled the number of students they served annually. Jed lives in the suburbs of Boston with his wife, 3 kids, and his dog Sandy.
Anne joins Noodle Partners from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she helped lead Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Executive Development team for several years. As the Director of Operations, she developed effective operating procedures and policies for program deliveries to create strong client relationships. Prior to working at UNC Chapel Hill, Anne worked in politics for 10 years in Washington, DC, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Florida. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Meredith College and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Kathy is passionate about improving education through innovation and providing access to underrepresented populations. Prior to joining Noodle Partners, Kathy was the Senior Director of Field Placement at 2U, Inc. She developed a standardized process and managed a dynamic team to place over 7,000 online students nationwide. Kathy joined 2U’s early stages as a start-up company from the University of Southern California School of Social Work leading recruitment for on-ground campuses. Early in her career, she was a social worker providing mental health services to diverse populations and organizing community efforts. Kathy also served as a consultant to various social service organizations, foundations, and higher education institutions in leadership development, program management, and policy. She holds a master’s degree of Social Work from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in International Business from Pepperdine University.
With over a decade of experience in education technology, Bradshaw heads the University Partnerships team at Noodle. He has formed deep relationships in a breadth of academic disciplines including Public Health, Social Work, Education, Business, Law, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Health Informatics, and Speech Pathology.
Before joining Noodle, he lead 2U’s new-program software integrations, collaborating with teams at USC, Berkeley, George Washington, American, SMU, Yale, Northwestern, Syracuse, and NYU. By implementing nuanced workflow efficiencies, he deployed more software in the first 18 months than had been deployed in the previous five years of operations.
You can reach Lee at lbradshaw@noodle.com.
Stephen Green is the Chief Program Officer at Noodle, where he oversees all of Noodle Partners' 20+ university partnerships and 40+ online programs in the core functions of online program management. Throughout his extensive career in online education he has led more than 100 program launches and implementations. Stephen is committed to improving the intersection between access, education, and technology.
Prior to joining Noodle, Stephen was the CMO at eCornell, the online learning arm of Cornell University, and Qubed Education, an ed tech company that builds online career exploration programs for millennials with top universities and leading consumer brands. Earlier in his career, Stephen was one of the earliest employees at 2U, Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU), where he helped several great institutions build and run high-quality online degree programs in a series of senior management positions including EVP/General Manager and President of Graduate Programs.
Stephen is a member of the National Alliance of Black School Educators and the National Council on Educating Black Children. Green also sits on the boards of Bright Star Schools, a Los Angeles based Charter School Network, and UThink PC, a build your own computer company. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross; an M.A. from Columbia University; and an Ed.M. from Teachers College.
Laura serves as the General Counsel at Noodle, having previously held the same role at William Paterson University and Hunter College, CUNY. A litigator by training, Laura clerked in the Southern District of New York before practicing at the law firms of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind and Garrison, and Loeb & Loeb. She also spent several years on the faculty of NYU Law School and Cornell University, and was a Director at Chadbourne & Parke and at Credit Suisse. Laura enjoys working with her colleagues to create solutions for Noodle's partners and students. Away from work, Laura has been a board member of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, CASA NY, the New York Women's Foundation, her local Board of Education, and the Princeton Charter Club Graduate Board of Governors. She lives in New Jersey with her family, although she is always ready to hop on a plane to anywhere when given the chance.
Keri Hoyt started her career at The Princeton Review. During her 18-year tenure, she partnered with colleges and universities to help improve their marketing and admissions processes, helped build online programming, and honed her marketing and product-development skills. Keri joins Noodle from Success Academies, where she ran 34 high-performing elementary, middle, and high schools throughout New York City.
John Katzman is the founder and CEO of Noodle. Prior to getting it right, he founded and ran 2U, which is also involved in online learning, and The Princeton Review, which helps students find, get into, and pay for higher ed.
Katzman is the co-author of five books, and has served as a director of several for- and non-profits, including Carnegie Learning, Renaissance Learning, the National Association of Independent Schools, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, and the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.
Alan leads the Solutions Architecture team at Noodle, which designs and configures the tools and technologies used to deliver an exceptional student experience from marketing to graduation.
Prior to joining Noodle, Alan Mlynek was a director of data and technology for Success Academies. At Success, Mr. Mlynek led the delivery and integration of solutions for digital learning, content management, project management, helpdesk support, and communications for 14,000 students and 2,000 employees. He created a team of IT specialists, project managers, and developers dedicated to automating processes across the 41 schools in order to support organizational growth and efficiency.
Before Success Academies, Mr. Mlynek worked in strategic communications for members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He holds a Master's of Public Policy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan.
Allison Nugent leads Noodle's People team as Chief People Officer; she is responsible for developing and executing human resources strategies supporting the company's overall business plan and strategic direction. These strategies include succession planning, talent management, change management, organizational and performance management, and forward years workforce planning.
Allison is a people-centric HR leader with 20+ years of experience spanning global HR operations, global mobility services, talent acquisition, expatriate management, change management, and employee program management. Crafts human capital, workforce planning, and succession planning strategies that build organizational capacity and fuel long-term sustainability. Champions employee engagement, wellness, and diversity and inclusion programs foster a positive culture and promote a thriving, high-performance workforce.
Before joining Noodle, Allison spent several years as the Corporate Human Resources Principal of Relationship and Programs Operations for an Aeronautic-Defense organization. In this role, she conceptualized and delivered high-impact human capital initiatives, harmonizing strategies with business needs, operations, and people strategies.
During her career, Allison has held leadership roles in the full life cycle of Global Human Resources, global immigration and mobility, talent acquisition, operations, mergers and acquisition, and business development at Fortune 500 companies.
Allison is an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering (CE) and a Master's of Business Administration (MS & MBA).
Allison currently sponsors orphanages for abandoned children in the Caribbean.
Ali Rubin has spent her career working to improve education. After graduating from Barnard College, Ali joined Teach for America and began her career as a New York City public school teacher. For the past seven years Ali has worked at Success Academies where she helped to build and run high performing charter schools across New York City.
Meredith has been CFO for Noodle Companies since June 2017, and recently transitioned to CFO of Noodle Partners where she leads capital raising and financial and accounting efforts. Prior to joining Noodle, Meredith served as CFO for iD Tech Camps, the largest tech camp education company in the country, where she helped double revenue over three years. Meredith spent 14 years covering education as an investment banker first for Legg Mason and later for Stifel Nicolaus. She holds her BA in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Starr has spent her career helping financial services and education companies accelerate their growth through customer acquisition, retention, and cross-sell marketing efforts. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Starr has held growth marketing positions at brands such as Discover, Charles Schwab, and GE and helped launch new products and business lines across credit cards, deposit, and lending products. Starr spent more than three years at Wiley where she was the head of marketing for the Education Services business and most recently served as SVP, Growth Marketing at a fintech lender.
Catie received her bachelor of arts in advertising from Bradley University and has an MBA with a concentration in marketing management from San Diego State University.
Melora joined Noodle Partners after working at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education as a Professor of Clinical Education. In that role she designed, built and taught in several online and blended doctoral programs. She also served as Executive Vice Dean, overseeing degree programs, student services, faculty affairs, continuing education and research. Sundt also chaired the design teams to create the MAT@University of Southern California program, the Global Executive Ed.D. and the new online Ed.D. in Organizational Change and Leadership.
Moshiur is a versed technologist with 18 years of hands-on and management experience in developing technology solutions with a particular focus on the education industry. Before joining the Noodle family, he co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer at Story2. Under his leadership the company transformed an offline storytelling based college admissions essay business into a seamless and integrated online experience, significantly increasing company exposure and business volume. Story2 was selected for the Techstars accelerator program, invested in by Kaplan, and named one of the "10 EdTech Companies You Need to Know About" by Forbes.
Prior to Story2, he was the Director of Application Development at 2U, where he led a large team of engineers in developing cutting-edge web and mobile applications to facilitate higher-ed online education, Chief Technology Officer at Unigo, and Assistant Vice President at The Princeton Review. At Princeton Review he played an integral part in building learning solutions for grades K-12 and college students. He also managed the development of standardized online test products for SAT, MCAT, and GMAT exams. Moshiur studied computer engineering at Polytechnic University concentrating in VLSI. During his off-time, he is a devoted father of four and an avid camper.
Patrick T. Halfmann, CFA is a Partner of Inclusive Capital Partners. Mr. Halfmann is currently a director of Noodle Partners and GreenStruxure, and a former director of AppHarvest. Mr. Halfmann was previously an Associate at ValueAct Capital. Prior to joining ValueAct Capital, Mr. Halfmann worked at Morgan Stanley, where he held roles in investment banking and equity and fixed income research. He graduated Summa cum Laude from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Business Administration and is a CFA charterholder.
John Katzman is the founder and CEO of Noodle. Prior to getting it right, he founded and ran 2U, which is also involved in online learning, and The Princeton Review, which helps students find, get into, and pay for higher ed.
Katzman is the co-author of five books, and has served as a director of several for- and non-profits, including Carnegie Learning, Renaissance Learning, the National Association of Independent Schools, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, and the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.
Ann Kirschner is an American entrepreneur, educator, and author of the books Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story and Lady at the OK Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp. A veteran of four start-ups, Kirschner launched the National Football League's NFL.COM and co-founded Columbia University's interactive knowledge network Fathom.com. She is Dean Emerita of Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York (CUNY), a University Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a faculty fellow of the Futures Initiative. She is the co-founder of the Women In Technology and Entrepreneurship in New York (WiTNY), a collaboration between CUNY and Cornell Tech to increase participation of women in computer science.
Nate joined Osage Venture Partners in 2008 and as Managing Partner oversees investment and portfolio management activities. He serves on the Board of Directors of BA-Insight, Canvas, InstaMed, FieldView, OpsDataStore, PeopleLinx, Pneuron, Phone2Action, RackWare, and Sidecar. He is also a board observer of 51Maps, Brazen, ExecOnline, Identropy, and ResiModel and formerly was on the board of Carnegie Speech and Medallion Analytics. He is a member of the Technology Investment Advisory Board for Ben Franklin Southeast Pennsylvania. Nate is a frequent speaker and panelist at venture events and is actively involved with numerous venture focused organizations including PACT, NJTC, MAVA, GCV, and Early Stage East.
Prior to joining Osage, Nate was President and CEO of Verticalnet, Inc., a publicly traded SaaS solutions provider, which was sold in January, 2008 to Italy-based BravoSolution. He served as the Malvern, PA- based Verticalnet’s CEO for over five years and was attributed with leading the transformation of Verticalnet from an online operator of web portals to a proven software solution provider, while navigating the company through a financial turnaround. Prior to Verticalnet, Nate was a Partner at Mercer Management Consulting and led both the San Francisco and the Hong Kong offices. During his time at Mercer, he worked closely with multinational companies and high growth emerging businesses both in the U.S. and in over fifteen countries across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Nate began his career at Chemical Bank in New York providing lending and structured finance services to mid-size companies. He is a graduate of Brown University and of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he graduated with honors. Nate resides in Philadelphia, PA, with his wife Suzanne and his two sons and daughter.
Tory is actively involved with all facets of the firm and serves on the board of directors of Accelerate Learning, BetterLesson, Degreed, DreamBox Learning, Kiddom, LearnZillion, Newsela and Noodle. As one of the pioneers in the next generation of EdTech companies, Tory has led investments in some of the most successful companies in the sector. As a lead investor and board member he has helped them across all facets including their sales and distribution models, hiring, funding and path to successful exit.
Prior to Owl Ventures, Tory was a Partner at Catamount Ventures where he founded and ran Catamount’s education investment practice and led investments in education companies TenMarks (acquired by Amazon), MasteryConnect, PresenceLearning and EdSurge. Tory began his career as an investment banker focused on technology and healthcare companies holding investment banking positions with GCA Savvian, Wells Fargo Securities and Robertson Stephens. Tory is a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow and holds a B.A.in Economics from Williams College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Rubina Singh is a tech industry veteran with experience scaling impactful, data-driven marketing for hyper-growth companies. She joined Arcadia, a climate technology company, as the SVP of Marketing and previously led global consumer marketing at Pinterest. Prior to joining Arcadia, she was head of marketing at Jumpstart, a SAAS recruiting platform. Rubina holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Judith Spitz, Ph.D. is the Founder and Executive Director of Break Through Tech, a national initiative that propels women and underrepresented groups into higher education and careers in tech through curriculum innovation, career access and community building. She is a member of the Advisory Board of an AI company called ASAPP. From 2005-2016, she was a senior vice president and CIO at Verizon. Forbes named her to their 2021 50 over 50 Women of Impact list.
Melissa Beckwith serves Butler University as the University’s first Vice President for Strategy and Innovation. In this role, Melissa is primarily responsible for leading the University’s forward looking efforts to ensure Butler is well positioned to leverage future opportunities and emerging trends in the ever-changing higher education landscape. Melissa directs and oversees the University’s strategic and long-range goal planning function and serves as a catalyst for strategic initiatives that support the long-term growth plan including strategic partnerships, new program development, and new mission-aligned ventures. In addition, Melissa oversees Butler Ventures, a subsidiary focused on the transformation of higher education.
During her fourteen years at Butler, Melissa has served in variety of roles including the manager of a start-up consulting organization for privately-held businesses across Indiana, the Director of Strategic Initiatives within Information Technology and Interim Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
Melissa regularly engages with early stage education companies as a board member and advisor. She is also on the Board of Advisors for High Alpha Innovation.
Melissa earned her bachelor’s degree from the Lacy School of Business at Butler University and MBA from Valparaiso University. Prior to joining Butler, Melissa served in industry as a management consultant and in higher education as marketing and communication leader.
Wendy Colby joined BU in 2022 as the inaugural Vice President and Associate Provost of BU Virtual, a new unit designed to advance BU’s online presence – bringing innovation and service capabilities to support the creation of high-quality online programs. Working in close collaboration with BU’s deans and academic leaders, Wendy provides strategic leadership in the design, development and scalable delivery of digital teaching and learning models, programs and solutions, designed to increase access and impact for more learners, and promote student success. She oversees a team that manages a portfolio of online degree and certificate programs that provide students with the flexibility and mobility to advance their education and accelerate their careers.
Wendy brings more than 25 years of leadership and expertise in online and hybrid program creation and development, working closely with major institutions across higher education to lead, design, implement, support, and scale high-quality degree and certificate offerings. Most recently, she served as chief executive officer of UMGC Ventures, a portfolio of education technology and services businesses affiliated with the University of Maryland Global Campus (serving over 90,000 students) and the broader University System of Maryland’s regional campuses, working collaboratively with university leaders to design new programs, optimize existing systems, and enhance the overall student journey. She has extensive experience in strategic product management, innovation, portfolio development, marketing, online program management, entrepreneurial leadership, technology enablement, and more
Prior to UMGC Ventures, Wendy was divisional vice president at Laureate Education, where she led the development, commercialization, and scale of digital teaching and learning solutions for over 80 universities around the world. During her tenure, she also led the College of Nursing at Walden University, overseeing enrollment, marketing, portfolio management, online program development, and profit and loss operations. She has additionally held senior leadership roles with Carnegie Innovations (an affiliate of Carnegie Mellon University), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Thomson Reuters, and Silicon Valley-based startup DigitalThink, guiding digital transformation efforts and spearheading new lines of business growth.
A graduate of Illinois State University, she holds a master’s degree from the University of San Francisco.
Ranjan Daniels is a global enrollment pioneer skilled at recruiting and developing diverse leaders. As the Senior Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Global Outreach for the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, Ranjan leads admissions, marketing, financial aid, executive education, new program development, and international partnerships. Ranjan is responsible for transforming the admissions process at the Harris School and spearheading tremendous growth. Under Ranjan’s direction, Harris achieved 62% enrollment growth in his first year, setting Harris on a path of growth that would exceed leadership expectations. He has also led the significant diversification of the Harris student body, increasing enrollment of populations typically underrepresented in graduate enrollment and enrolling students from 40 different countries. Before joining the University, he spent twenty years building new products and championing innovation at Kaplan, Berkshire Hathaway, the Tribune Company, and the City of Chicago.
Ranjan earned an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and an MPP from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory University. Ranjan serves on the Board of Trustees of Fourth Presbyterian Church, and in his free time enjoys running, grilling, and coaching baseball.
In his role as the founding executive director of the University of Michigan Center for Academic Innovation and associate vice provost for academic innovation, James works at the intersection of strategy, design, policy, and technology while leading University-wide programs and initiatives designed to extend U-M’s academic excellence, expand the institution’s public purpose, and foster equity and inclusivity in higher education. He also works on a range of multi-institutional initiatives, advisory councils, and advisory boards to help build and sustain a global network for academic innovation. Prior to serving as the chief architect of U-M’s academic innovation strategy, James worked with and provided strategic counsel to more than 60 universities in more than 15 countries across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Australia and North America. His work centers on transforming access and developing sustainable models for equity, inclusion, and innovation in higher education.
An American Counseling Association (ACA) Fellow with 30 years of experience as a former kindergarten teacher, elementary school counselor, family therapist, and most recently university professor and administrator, she has a wealth of knowledge, expertise and wisdom. Dr. Holcomb-Mccoy is currently the Dean of the School of Education and a professor at American University (AU). She is also the author of the best-selling book (including revised edition) School Counseling to Close Opportunity Gaps: A Social Justice and Antiracist Framework for Success (Corwin Press) and the edited book, Antiracist Counseling in Schools and Communities (ACA Publishing).
In her six years as Dean, Dr. Holcomb-Mccoy has significantly increased enrollments via the launch of successful online graduate programs and through new partnerships such as becoming the higher education partner with Urban Teachers, a national teacher residency program. In addition, she founded AU’s Summer Institute on Education, Equity and Justice, and the AU Teacher Pipeline Project, including an early childhood educator stackable credentialing partnership with Trinity Washington University, and Martha’s Table, a DC-based non-profit organization. With colleagues in the AU teacher preparation program, she is actively working to develop an antiracist curriculum for teachers-in-training.
Prior to leading the School of Education at AU, she served as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs campus-wide and Vice Dean of Academic Affairs in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, where she launched the Johns Hopkins School Counseling Fellows Program and the $25M Faculty Diversity Initiative. Dr. Holcomb-Mccoy has also been an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Personnel Services at the University of Maryland College Park and Director of the School Counseling Program at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.
A decorated scholar, she has written more than 100 publications, including articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and white papers. From 2014 to 2016, she served as a consultant to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher Initiative, a program dedicated to supporting first-generation students make it to and through college. A proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Dr. Holcomb-Mccoy holds her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Virginia. She earned a doctorate in Counseling and Counselor Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
She lives in Potomac, Maryland with her husband and two children.
Dr. Joshua Kim is the Director of Online Programs and Strategy at Dartmouth College, and a Senior Fellow for Academic Transformation, Learning, and Design at the Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship (CNDLS) at Georgetown University.
Josh has a PhD in sociology and demography from Brown University. He started his career on the faculty at West Virginia University, helped start Britannica.com’s education division in San Francisco, and was one of the original founders of Quinnipiac University Online. He has taught both on-ground and online courses in sociology, marketing, and higher education leadership.
With Eddie Maloney, Josh published Learning Innovation and the Future of Higher Education and The Low-Density University: 15 Scenarios for Higher Education. Both books are from Johns Hopkins University Press, and both came out in 2020.
Josh is best known for his Learning Innovation blog on InsideHigherEd.com, a website that receives over 3.6 million unique monthly visitors.
Josh and his wife Julie, a pediatric oncologist at Dartmouth, live in Hanover with their (now college and graduate school going) daughters.
You can follow Josh on Twitter @joshmkim and he can be reached by e-mail at joshua.m.kim@dartmouth.edu
Dr. Edward Maloney is the executive director of The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), a professor of the practice of narrative literature and theory in the Department of English, and the founding director of the Program in Learning, Design, and Technology. As executive director of CNDLS, a research center on teaching, learning and technology, he helps to define Georgetown’s strategy to advance teaching and learning practices at the University, including developing innovative approaches to technology-enhanced learning, learning analytics, and fulfilling the Jesuit mission of teaching to the whole student. As a professor in the Department of English, he teaches courses on modernism, postmodernism, critical and narrative theory. He has a particular interest in the works of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov, and Jorge Luis Borges, and he has published on Joyce and others, as well as on issues related to narrative theory, film studies, and hypertext fiction. As founding director of the Program in Learning, Design, and Technology, he works with students to engage in a critical study of higher education through the lenses of learning, design, technology, and analytics. He is the author (with Josh Kim) of Learning Innovation and the Future of Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, February 2020) and The Low-Density University: 15 Scenarios for Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, August 2020).
Ben Vinson III was appointed Provost and Executive Vice President at Case Western Reserve University on July 2, 2018, and is responsible for all facets of the academic programs and research of the university.
During his time at CWRU, Dr. Vinson has spearheaded the university’s Think Big strategic planning initiative—which has received national attention for its innovative and inclusive planning process. He has also worked to increase collaboration and entrepreneurship on campus by naming an associate provost to the post of interprofessional education, research and collaborative practice; and by appointing a founding director for the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship. He is Co-PI of the Humanities in Leadership Learning Series (HILLS) program, funded by a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to promote leadership development and diversity in the humanities.
Vinson is an accomplished historian of Latin America, and the recipient of the 2019 Howard F. Cline Book Prize in Mexican History for his book, “Before Mestizaje: The Frontiers of Race and Caste in Colonial Mexico.”
He is chairman of the board of the National Humanities Center and member of the board of the National Humanities Alliance. He serves on the advisory board for Dartmouth’s Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and also serves on the board of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He is a former member of the University Council for the United States International University-Africa (USIU).
Additionally, Vinson serves on the Association of American Universities’ (AAU) Advisory Board for Racial Equity in Higher Education, and is a member of the AAU subcommittee on faculty advancement and tenure. He was a member of the Academy of Arts and Science’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, and currently chairs its subcommittee on higher education. He was elected Vice President of the Research Division of the American Historical Association (AHA) in 2020 and is the elected President of the Conference on Latin American History (CLAH).
Before coming to CWRU, he served on the faculties of Barnard College and Penn State before joining Johns Hopkins as a professor of history and founding director of its Center for Africana Studies. At Johns Hopkins he went on to serve as a vice dean for centers, interdisciplinary studies and graduate education before becoming dean of George Washington University's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Vinson earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a doctorate from Columbia University. He has been awarded fellowships from the Fulbright Commission, National Humanities Center, Social Science Research Council, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Ford, Rockefeller and Mellon foundations.
