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.
Alanna is part of the KickUp team as a full-stack developer. As a senior member of the engineering team, she helps build and improve KickUp’s software products and platform. She also coordinates KickUp’s engineering apprenticeship program. During her undergraduate studies, she was employed by the University of Alberta as a teaching assistant and as a summer research assistant. A major highlight of her degree was her volunteer work with Ada’s Team—a student group that promotes diversity in computing science, games and technology. After obtaining her Computing Science degree, she continued to work for the university to help develop and write the Software Design & Architecture MOOC. After that, she joined a local AI startup as a software developer before relocating to Philadelphia to join KickUp.
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 Head of People Operations, Cara focuses on the development, engagement and retention of KickUp’s talent. Prior to KickUp, Cara started her career at the Defender Association of Philadelphia working with attorneys, social workers, investigators and fellow administrative staff to provide quality legal representation to clients. While there, Cara honed her interest in organizational culture, recruitment and professional growth and development. More recently, in her roles with Schaffer & Combs and OE Consulting, Cara partnered with nonprofit and mission-driven organizations to build their executive teams. Cara also holds a Masters of Science in Human Resource Management from the University of Scranton and a B.S in Business Administration from Boston University. Cara is native Philadelphian who enjoys spending her time away from KickUp with family and friends.
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.
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.
Erica develops and maintains partnerships with school districts and professional learning providers. As a former early childhood teacher, she brings empathy into every new relationship she builds. Erica’s firsthand experience with high quality professional learning during her five years teaching in DC Public Schools and NYC made her a firm believer in the power PL can have on both the teacher and student experience. Erica holds a Masters in Early Childhood Education from George Mason University and a B.A. in Psychology and Women’s Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.
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.
Gabby brings her passion for building authentic relationships to her work as an Account Executive. As a former 5th-grade teacher in Dallas, she has firsthand experience with the impact that supportive administration and positive school culture can make on educator and student success. Through her time in the classroom, she has witnessed the beneficial effects of excellent professional learning. Gabby holds a Masters of Education from Southern Methodist University and a B.A. in Music and Theatre from Rollins College.
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.
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.
Lynsey collaborates with clients to organize and interpret their data in order to drive teacher learning and student success. She has a passion for improving outcomes for students from underserved communities. Lynsey graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, but fell in love with the Philadelphia education community through her work with a youth media outlet called POPPYN (Presenting Our Perspective on Philly Youth News). In order to deepen her connection to students, she served as a Teach For America corps member in Philadelphia in 2012. She worked for six years as a high school special education reading teacher at KIPP Philadelphia Schools before transitioning into the role of Dean of Culture. She holds a Master of Science in Education degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is pursuing her Educational Doctorate from Vanderbilt’s Peabody Online as an avenue to bolster her practical and theoretical knowledge of leadership and improvement in schools.
McKenzie is passionate about helping clients support teachers through collecting valuable data effectively. She is passionate about education equity and believes that all children deserve quality education regardless of who they are or where they live. Prior to her time at KickUp, McKenzie worked as a Partnerships Manager at a Philadelphia-based nonprofit where she able to work closely with Philadelphia schools and students. She holds a B.S. in Applied Psychology from New York University.
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.
Selena Richey builds partnerships with district leaders and stakeholders by championing their professional learning needs to impact educator and student growth. She has carried her passion for establishing genuine relationships with school officials and teachers to her role at KickUp from her time as an instructional coach and secondary teacher at Dallas ISD. Prior to her career in education, Selena worked in fundraising & development for local and international nonprofits whose mission was to provide educational tools for women and children. When she’s not working with clients to achieve their vision, she can be found spending time with family or watching reality competition television shows. Selena holds a B.A. in International Relations from Texas A&M University and M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from University of Texas at Arlington.
Shannon cultivates relationships with all stakeholders rooted in a common passion for empowering educators through professional learning, in turn leading to student success. As a former 3rd grade teacher and English Language Development Specialist in the Bay Area, she has first hand experience in facilitating professional development focused on supporting educators and collaborating across teams. When she is not working with clients to achieve their goals, she is traveling, being active, and spending time with friends and family. Shannon holds a Masters in Teaching from San Diego Christian College and a B.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Arizona.
Shannon is a Product Manager at KickUp, where she brings a passion for improving people’s lives through sophisticated software. In this role, she collaborates with customers, sales, client success, design and engineering to understand the unique problems that professional learning leaders are facing, and enhance the KickUp platform with new features that solve those problems. Prior to KickUp, Shannon spent several years as a product manager in the Assessment and Intervention industry, building reporting and instructional tools that give teachers insight into their student’s reading development. In her spare time, Shannon enjoys cooking and traveling, whether it be around the world or in her hometown of NYC.
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.
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