CO-FOUNDER

Michael has over fifteen years of experience in education management and data & analytics. After graduating from UCLA in 2006, he commenced his education journey as a math and science teacher for a charter school in South Los Angeles. He then joined a national charter management organization as its sole data analyst. Through his leadership, he expanded the team to nine top-tier analysts and managers, solidifying the organization's reputation as a frontrunner in data-driven excellence within the education sector. Serving on the executive leadership team, Michael orchestrated quarterly strategy retreats, and led cross-functional strategic initiatives, working with every department in the organization. Michael prides himself on wearing many hats, and uniting people across the organization to keep them moving forward. In other words, he can work the crowd, which he attributes to his brief stint as a touring rock star.

CO-FOUNDER

Abby has eight years of experience fundraising for a major charter management organization, including managing the entire life cycle of grants. She has led the writing process for multiple successful $10M+ government grants and multimillion foundation grants year-over-year, and led a three-person team that won $40M in competitive funding in just one fiscal year. She also has expertise in developing grants strategy, grant and donation management, and donor stewardship and engagement. Prior to working in education, Abby attended William & Mary Law School. She is a member of the California Bar Association. Abby loves helping a program manager take an idea through a needs assessment process to hone in on the problem, research to develop a rationale, design a logic model that maps out program implementation, set exciting outcomes, and craft the vision into a fundraising pitch to secure philanthropic revenue.

CO-FOUNDER

Julia spent the first seven years of her career in higher education, managing psychology research at multiple R1 universities before getting her master’s degree in education from the University of Virginia and transitioning to K-12 education. In working for a national charter management organization she oversaw all state, federal, and authorizer compliance work streams for 19 schools. Her passion is leading large-scale organizational improvement projects. Past projects include: developing assessment tools and evaluating growth markets, creating a comprehensive organizational health dashboard (alongside Michael), and applying for and implementing a multi-million dollar federal grant project to codify best operational practices in district-charter partnerships (with Abby). Julia is known for leaving no stone unturned when evaluating a problem and centering every discussion within the mission and values of the organization.