Jeremy leads KickUp’s team, bringing a passion for ensuring that classroom educators have a voice in their professional learning to form partnerships that make this vision a reality. Jeremy has worked in district and charter settings, teaching high school Algebra and Spanish in the Arkansas Delta and in Washington, D.C.
Jeremy is an alumnus of the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs, where he gained his initial interest in and passion for public education. Jeremy has been featured in educational publications from The Huffington Post to podcasts on leadership in K-12 education. Jeremy is a magna cum laude graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and a proud Philadelphian.
Vicky is a proud edu-preneur, recognized as one of Billy Penn’s “40 under 40 entrepreneurs.” While in Philadelphia, Vicky has earned her Masters at The University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and participated in the first-year turnaround of Harrity Elementary with Mastery Charter Schools, where she taught elementary reading and Spanish.
Before co-founding KickUp, Vicky worked at Bridgepoint Education, where she spearheaded the pivot of Bridgepoint’s digital textbook library into a fully customizable digital content platform for educators, learning CSS and HTML coding to prove it could work. She brings this knack for listening to the market and improving solutions—as well as her love for education—to her multifaceted role of Chief Operating Officer at KickUp.
Ani has bounced between cold and colder (Toronto and Boston) for over two decades and has now chosen a place with no weather instead (San Francisco). She has two completely non-related degrees from the University of Toronto and Dartmouth College. Whether in the classroom, administrator office, or any of her past companies, Ani’s been helping educators use technology with intentionality for over a decade. She's super into evolving pedagogy and happened to do well in sales on account of being the right amount of awkward. It’s her permanent goal to rid the negative connotation around “sales” once and for all.
Most recently, Ani was at Desmos, leading the charge for equitable and accessible math education. Maybe it’s bravado and maybe it’s optimism, but now she’s focused on a new ambitious challenge: equitable and accessible educator development.
Arin's superpower is making authentic, meaningful, and lasting connections. She was an educator and administrator for 10 years before diving into the world of ed-tech. She looks forward to cross-team collaboration, continued growth, and being part of a team that stays true to "the why." Arin's passions include amazing food, traveling, live music, figuring out which sneaker goes with her dress, and her new status as an official Colorado Buffs bandwagoner!
Armstead works alongside clients to help foster responsive professional development programs rooted in data from reports configured to fit their unique needs. He is passionate about data-informed technologies that generate teacher and student growth. Prior to his time at KickUp, Armstead served as an AmeriCorps tutor in Philadelphia and Boston, after which he became a teacher in the city of Chicago for seven years. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Loyola University in Maryland and is a fan of the Toronto Raptors.
Ashlin works with clients to formulate measurable goals, analyze data, and identify next steps in order to improve professional learning for teachers. Upon graduation, Ashlin knew that he was passionate about improving educational outcomes for students from low-income communities. He consequently joined Teach for America and taught Spanish in Detroit, MI before spending a year teaching English in Spain. During his time teaching, he built a deep belief in the potential for professional learning to impact teaching and improve educational outcomes. Ashlin graduated Summa Cum Laude from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Economics and minors in Spanish and European History. He also holds a Master’s degree in Education from Oakland University in Rochester, MI.
Brittny is a product manager who is deeply driven by the opportunity to provide impactful professional growth resources that will help teachers feel more supported in the classroom. Brittny holds a Bachelors degree in English Education and a Masters degree in English with a concentration in composition and rhetoric from University of Missouri-St. Louis. With more than five years of teaching experience in St. Louis, Brittny has had the joy of working with students of every level—from 2nd graders to adult learners. They are passionate about education equality, teacher education, and always achieving their yearly GoodReads book goal.
As an Apprentice Software Engineer, Catrina is working closely with the engineering team to learn and improve her skills while building out KickUp’s architecture. She is a recent graduate of Flatiron School, where she learned full-stack web development. Before entering Flatiron Catrina founded Play Mobile Hookah, a small mobile event business serving Baltimore venues and individuals. When she’s not at work developing new features for clients, Catrina loves cooking, photography and spending time with her family.
Chris leads the marketing, brand building, and demand generation efforts for KickUp. Prior to joining KickUp, Chris has spent the past 20 years leading the marketing function for various educational technology companies including Ellevation, Vocabulary.com, Amplify, and Kaplan/SCORE! Learning. Chris started his career with Saatchi & Saatchi advertising before moving to the client side with PepsiCo. His first start-up where he led marketing was Jamba Juice. Chris holds a B.A. in Political Science and Organizational Behavior from Brown University.
As the PT Data Support Specialist, Corey works closely with the Client Success team to strengthen the quality of client data within KickUp software. She is passionate about providing quality customer service via reliable, accurate, and up-to-date data. Corey has prior experience in early childhood education and market research. She continues to work in education as a Research Associate at Oakland Community College. Corey holds a BA degree in Anthropology and Research Methodology from the University of Michigan - Dearborn.
Dalton connects with partners through his passion for providing meaningful professional learning to educators, which will lead to successful student growth. As a former high school math teacher in Philadelphia, he understands the importance of impactful, data-driven decisions for better outcomes in teaching and student knowledge. Prior to teaching, he worked in client management and Human Resources at Northwestern Mutual providing financial literacy and tools for professional development. When he’s not connecting with new clients, Dalton enjoys video games and watching Premier League Football. Dalton holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the University of Delaware.
Dave works as part of the team focused on improving KickUp’s software and product experience. Before joining KickUp, Dave worked as a back-end developer at a large insurer. There he built software used to run mathematical models on distributed GPU grids as well as tools used for reporting and analytics. In his free time Dave enjoys tabletop games, pen and paper RPGs, and spending time outside with his dogs. Dave graduated from Temple University with a degree in Computer Science.
As part of KickUp’s Engineering team, Ehab builds and improves the KickUp platform. While in school at University of South Florida he studied computer science. After graduating, he has worked in a variety of fields with a myriad of different tech stacks. When he’s not at work developing the KickUp platform’s features and tools, Ehab is playing RPG games, catching up on the latest anime and taking care of his tortoise.
As a Product Designer, Erin works to create intuitive products that meet the evolving and unique needs of educators, coaches, administrators, and district personnel. Her background as a 2nd grade teacher gives her first-hand knowledge of what the users need and how they interact with KickUp’s products. Erin holds a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Carolina and a M.Ed. in K-6 Literacy and Math from Walden University. Outside of work, you can find her doing something crafty, reading a mystery novel, staying active, or spending time with family and friends.
Fred supports clients in the development, implementation, and evaluation of their professional learning initiatives. He has experience working with data in a range of settings, having previously worked as an in-house program evaluator at The Food Trust and as an Analytics Consultant for startups at Fishtown Analytics. Fred holds a B.A. in Psychology from Princeton University, where he also studied neuroscience and taught nutrition to middle-school students in Trenton. A native of New York City—and proud graduate of New York City Public Schools—he is passionate about empowering educators with the tools, information, and support they need to create outstanding educational opportunities for students.
As Software Engineering Manager, Gayathri helps build and sustain strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspective to accomplish common goals. She has a deep passion for Education and in-depth expertise in EdTech domains. When she’s not at work, Gayathri loves to go hiking, volunteer for the community, coach lego leagues, spending time with friends and family.
Javier is passionate about educational equity and the optimization of applications/products for all people, especially those in marginalized communities. After serving as a school administrator on both the collegiate and secondary school levels for the past seven years, he has gained extensive experience streamlining processes and best practices within established nonpublic and nontraditional schools. Javier holds a BA in Communication Studies from Pace University and is excited to work towards KickUp’s vision of “A world where every child attends a school with a team of trusted, inspiring, and life-changing educators.”
Jimmy is responsible for setting the product vision and guiding the technical strategy to get there. His number one focus is building a product that delights our users while supporting their most critical workflows. Coming from a background of software engineering, he keeps an ear to the ground to keep us apprised of current trends and best-practices in the tech industry. Prior to KickUp, Jimmy led web projects for Philadelphia-area schools, foundations, and nonprofits at P’unk Avenue. Jimmy graduated with high distinction from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Music and Computer Science.
As a member of the engineering team, Joe helps to build and improve the KickUp platform. While pursuing a combined degree in Computer Science and Music at Northeastern University, he explored development in multiple fields before finding a passion for full-stack development. Outside of work, Joe enjoys rock climbing, baking and making music.
John is a Software Engineer supporting KickUp's engineering team. After graduating from St. Mary's College of Maryland in 2018, he worked as a federal contractor supporting the US Navy, where he developed and maintained web applications using various technologies. In his free time he enjoys making music, gaming, and hiking.
Julia crafts KickUp’s editorial strategy and creative output, helping distill big, complicated ideas into clear, compelling content. A New Orleans native, Julia comes to KickUp after a five-year stint advocating for racial and socioeconomic justice in the NOLA charter landscape with Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN). She’s also worked with nonprofits spanning the gamut from ecology to fair housing clarify their message, connect with constituents, and create exceptional communications. Her other interests include editorial design, equitable public policy, bourbon, terrible puns, biodiversity, Vietnamese food and telling stories (especially ones that end in terrible puns). Julia holds a degree in English from the University of Rhode Island and was a 2018 Education Policy Fellow at the Institute for Educational Leadership’s EPFP Louisiana chapter.
Kali Stewart builds and sustains meaningful partnerships with educational innovators nationwide. As a former elementary school teacher in New Orleans, she believes in the power of strong professional learning experiences. Kali knows that improved student outcomes rest in the competence and confidence of the instructor, and is optimistic about limitless possibilities of education and is excited to share the vision of KickUp. She holds a Masters of Arts in Public School Leadership from Columbia University and B.A. in Telecommunications from Howard University.
Kendra is passionate about helping clients gather data to find best practices to promote teacher growth and aid in supporting educators. She had firsthand experience as a teacher and professional development facilitator in her work in St. Louis Public Schools. As a former teacher, she believes that fostering close relationships is an essential part of educator development. Kendra holds a Masters from the University of Missouri St. Louis in Elementary Education and a M.A. in Psychology from Hendrix College.
As Event Coordinator, Kylie builds brand awareness through planning, executing, and overseeing all conferences and tradeshows nationwide. While in school at The University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!) Kylie earned her B.A in Public Relations, and continued her education at Lamar University by earning her M.Ed. in Educational Administration, along with her school administrator certification. Kylie leans on her former background in the marketing world, along with her seven years of experience as a former 6th grade middle school classroom teacher. Through this, she understands the value of how professional learning can truly impact teacher growth and student success.
As a Client Success Manager, Malika works with school districts to ensure they have the data needed to best support their teachers, which in turn supports their students’ growth. While in school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, she developed a passion for elementary education with a focus on urban education before diving into professional roles such as 2nd and 3rd grade lead teacher, instructional coach and assistant principal. When she’s not at work pulling custom data reports and meeting with clients, Malika loves spending time with her husband and son on family walks and trips to the New Orleans Children’s Museum.
Oscar has enjoyed taking non-linear pathways in his career, starting at an education non-profit in Guatemala, then as a teacher in rural Colombia and Chile before returning to the US to work in education technology for early literacy and math curricula. Oscar is excited to support educator growth by helping KickUp build partnerships with districts across the country.
As a client success manager, Rebecca is passionate about ensuring clients have the most useful data to reflect on in order to see the growth they desire. As a previous educator and teacher leader for the past decade for KIPP Philadelphia Schools, she sees the need to gather the right information to drive toward successful outcomes as deeply important. When she's not at work, she's spending time with her family and friends. Rebecca holds a B.A. in Secondary Education and English from Temple University.
Robert works with clients to equip them with actionable data that can enhance teacher instruction and improve student outcomes. He is a Philadelphia native who has developed a passion for education focusing on underrepresented communities and special education. Prior to joining KickUp, Robert held roles as a data analyst and implementation specialist. In his most recent position Robert served as the program coordinator for The School District of Philadelphia Department of Transportation developing trainings and coordinating professional development. Robert holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Vermont.
Sam is a Product Designer at KickUp where he designs user experiences and maintains the design system. He is originally from Lancaster, PA and studied a mix of design and programming in his undergraduate degree. Outside of class, he spent his free time learning Javascript and contributing to various student-led software projects focusing on linguistics and React Native. Prior to KickUp, he was the UI/UX designer at Noticed where he created data-driven ecommerce experiences and set the foundation of design processes and developer collaboration.
Stephanie generates opportunities for new partnerships with KickUp by connecting with district leaders. She has carried her passion for strong teacher support and development from her ten years as a lower elementary teacher at a Montessori school in New Jersey. Some of her greatest joy outside of education comes from traveling with family and friends. Stephanie holds degrees in Childhood/Special Education and Psychology from New York University.
As a Software Engineer, Syed works with the products and engineering team to help build, maintain, and improve KickUp’s software. While in school at the University of Houston he developed an interest in backend development before diving into professional roles in full-stack software engineering. When he’s not at work developing new features, Syed enjoys video games, basketball, and spending time with his family and friends. Syed holds degrees in Management Information Systems from the University of Houston, Computer Science from Oregon State University, and is currently pursuing a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin.
Anna Jackson's 33 years of experience in public education have equipped her with real world insight to empower her role as a KickUp Product Advisor. Anna served as a classroom teacher, school counselor, and coordinator of behavior programs. Her most recent role as Executive Director of Leadership and Professional Development in Lubbock Independent School District gave her first-hand experience with various KickUp features. Lubbock ISD utilized KickUp for coaching logs, student surveys, professional development surveys, and evaluation management. Now retired, Anna is utilizing her practical experience to guide future development of the product. Her primary desire is to meet the ever-changing needs of districts and support the work of helping educators meet their professional goals.
For the past seven years, Dan Katzir served as the CEO of Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, a public charter school system that serves 13,000 low-income students and nearly 20,000 alumni across 26 high-performing middle and high schools in Los Angeles.
Before joining Alliance, Katzir was an education advisor to CEOs and boards of directors in school districts, charter networks, state departments of education, and education for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Katzir was the founding managing director at the Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation, where he served for eleven years and where designed and implemented four national flagship initiatives — the Broad Prize for Urban Education, the Broad Institute for School Boards, the Broad Superintendents Academy, and the Broad Residency in Urban Education.
Katzir also served as the regional director for Sylvan Learning Systems in Los Angeles, the executive director for UCLA School Management Program, and chief operating officer for Teach for America. He began his career as a consultant for Bain & Company, an international management consulting firm in Boston and London.
Katzir has served on many education boards, including The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth College, Caliber Public Schools, Progressus Therapy, the Milton Hershey School and the Hershey Trust Company.
Katzir earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. He lectures at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and is a volunteer leader at Dartmouth and Harvard. He is the co-editor of “The Redesign of Urban School Systems: Case Studies in District Governance,” published by Harvard Education Press.
Christy Hanson is a 35+ veteran of both public and private schools in Texas. As a former teacher, counselor, principal and district administrator, Christy brings a strong commitment to providing high quality instruction for every child. Dr. Hanson retired from Tyler ISD as an Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix, a M.S. in Counseling from Texas Women’s University, and a B.S. in Elementary Education from University of North Texas. Dr. Hanson was part of the KickUp implementation team for Tyler ISD.
Dr. Michele Bowers proudly launched Vital Educational Leadership Consulting (ELC) in July, 2022 to train, coach, and support educational leaders, teachers, and support staff. She has been a school educator for close to 30 years and has the distinction of being the first woman and the first African American to be appointed as Superintendent of Lancaster School District in Lancaster, CA where she successfully served for 10 years.
Dr. Bowers is an experienced adjunct professor for CSUB in their Administrative Credentialing Program and an active member of numerous professional and community organizations. She is the President for California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators (CAAASA) and Chairperson for the National Coalition on Educational Equity (NCOEE).
Dr. Bowers maintains an uncompromising commitment to equity in education and is deservedly a celebrated educator, trainer, and public speaker receiving numerous awards and recognitions.
Joellen Killion is a senior advisor to Learning Forward and served for many years as the association’s deputy executive director. As senior advisor, she leads initiatives related to the link between professional development and student learning. She led the most recent revision of the Standards for Professional Learning, and has extensive experience in planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of professional learning at the school, system, and state/provincial levels. She works with coaches, principals, district and state leaders to support understanding and embedding standards-based professional learning in a system. The author or co-author of numerous books, her most recent book, published in 2015, is The Feedback Process: Transforming Feedback for Professional Learning. Her other books include Coaching Matters (with Cindy Harrison, Chris Bryan, and Heather Clifton); Assessing Impact: Evaluating Staff Development; Taking the Lead: New Roles for Teachers and School-Based Coaches (with Cindy Harrison); Becoming a Learning School (with Patricia Roy), and others.
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