My career in education started in a 6th grade ELA classroom at a high-need middle school in Miami-Dade. At the time, I wasn’t on a mission, I wasn’t trying to change the world and, quite frankly, I wasn’t an effective teacher. Over the next few years, all of those things changed.
After transitioning to a blended model, breaking the classroom up into smaller groups and giving students choice and flexibility, I started to see engagement and achievement increase. This positive change got me hooked--and since then I have spent the better part of two decades on a mission to help teachers, schools and districts improve outcomes and create personalized learning experiences for students.
Over the years, I have been able to do this work through a range of positions--all of which found me learning alongside amazing people. Over the summers, while still teaching, I supported and led professional development for career changers to teach in hard to staff classrooms in Miami and Louisiana in partnership with the New Teacher Project. During the school year I supported new Teach For America corps members as they helped so support classrooms across the county.
After a stint in graduate school, I returned to the classroom and taught for a final amazing year at a KIPP school in San Jose, CA. From there, I learned about and joined the Education Elements team. At first, I was charged with analyzing the ed tech market and supporting our team and districts in selecting and infusing technology. Next, I spent a few years working with engineers and designers to build software products to support personalized classrooms and project management. Finally, I moved on to the work I do today--supporting schools and districts across the country with strategic planning, adopting curriculum, building responsive team structures and recruiting and retaining employees--all in service of designing and facilitating high quality, personalized learning experiences for students.
I graduated from the University at Albany with a B.A. in English and from Stanford University with a M.A. in Policy, Organization and Leadership Studies. Miami is my home and outside of work, you can find me running (to chase my daughters and to stay in shape), listening to music and making plans to open a pizza farm.
