Tony Thomas

FOUNDER

Tony has been a programmer and entrepreneur for too long, from his start at AT&T Bell Labs, to co-founder and CEO of AdventNet (now Zoho), to co-founder or angel investor in other technology companies. His passion is building software, and he is excited by the potential for software to help teachers in the classroom. Tony got a lifelong appreciation for the teaching profession after teaching a summer course at Johns Hopkins during his PhD. He's back to learning from school teachers again, this time about what they want or don't want from software. In his spare time, Tony tries not to look too goofy pursuing his latest hobby, tandem biking.

Francis Joy

FOUNDER

Francis has worked in the technology industry for three decades. He has long been interested in problems facing education, from Illich's 'Deschooling Society' onwards. Now, with Edcite, he realizes the today's technology does provide some of the solutions that weren't possible earlier: learning webs, effective tools and resources contributed and maintained by communities of teachers and students. Francis has formal degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from IIT Kanpur and IISc Bangalore, and has discovered that he really enjoys MOOCs from universities all around the world. Outside education, his other interest is in natural farming, which some say consists of doing nothing while wild boars dig up everything on his farm.

Julia Sweeney

GLOBAL TEACHER

Julia earned her BA from the University of the Pacific with a major in Political Science and a minor in pre-law. She taught with Teach For America in the Mississippi Delta for two years, where she worked at a KIPP school teaching middle school English and Social Studies. Julia has worked with Teach For America’s Summer Training Programs for the past three years and loves working to support teachers and students. Julia moved to Ireland in August of 2013 and began creating content for Edcite and reaching out to Irish teachers. Besides her love for education, Julia loves good chats, spin classes, and flowers!

Josie Mittleman

PD AND CURRICULUM SPECIALIST

Josie Mittleman is a seasoned educator who has spent over 20 years serving the field of education. Josie began her career by studying Elementary Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She continued her journey by teaching elementary school in New York City at both public and private schools for many years. Throughout Josie's career, she has worked for a variety of well-renowned educational publishers including Pearson Education, McGraw-Hill, and The College Board. Because of her passion for helping teachers shift toward digital learning in the classroom, Josie joined the Edcite team in 2014. In addition to being passionate about the field of education, Josie is a mom to her daughter Dalia and her two dogs Speckles and Jasper.

Brian McIntosh

MATH CONTENT STRATEGIST

Brian majored in Economics at Harvard College. His favorite high school teacher, Mrs. Stuckey, excited him about math and inspired him to teach as well; after Harvard, he joined Teach for America in the Bay Area and taught Algebra 1 and 2 at KIPP San Jose Collegiate. In the Summer of 2013, he worked at Harvard Education Innovation Laboratory developing a year of 6th grade Common Core curriculum for use in their nationwide tutoring program. Brian now teaches Geometry and Pre-Calculus (and coaches soccer) part time at Gateway High School in San Francisco. Brian joined Edcite because he saw the need for more high-quality, rigorous computerized content to support his students in the transition to the common core Math.

Thomas Mathew

ENGINEER

Thomas has loved programming ever since he started doing this while in high school. And, he has loved teaching too even though he has never taught formally. Both these passions motivated him to join Edcite where he's excited about helping teachers use technology to create better engagement for their classes. He dives into building any software tool that helps teachers fully leverage the platform and applications. After completing his Bachelor of Engineering at University of Kerala (India), he worked at Cognizant for 6 years and became skilled at delivering software projects for large clients. Outside work, he loves torturing the piano, and shooting—with a camera.

Amar Rajasekhar

FOUNDER

Amar experienced education both as a student and as a teaching assistant in grad school; and sees the need to improve the experience for both sides. After his formal, and lengthy, education, Amar started his career in engineering and moved to marketing and strategic partnerships. Prior to Edcite, Amar worked on strategic partnerships for Cisco and developed go-to-market strategies to accelerate adoption of solutions. Earlier in his career, Amar was a management consultant with PWC and delivered process improvements to global clients. Amar has an MBA from the Darden Business School, MS from UT Austin and a BTech from IIT Madras. Outside of work, Amar enjoys Latin dancing, hiking and lots of yoga...and some meditation.

Tani Wong

WEB DEVELOPER

Tani earned her BA from the University of California Davis, majoring in both Graphic Design and Communication. She worked as a graphic designer for a diverse range of companies—from non-profit to e-commerce startups—around the Bay Area. Wanting to challenge herself more, she decided to do a web development immersive program in San Francisco, where she learned how to code. Tani is determined to combine her design background with her new skill of building applications. When she’s not beautifying Edcite, you can find Tani playing tackle football, watching documentaries, or going for ice cream runs (mint choco chip please!).

Sam Matthews

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

After studying sociology at the University of San Francisco, and working with technology startups in the city, Sam decided to pursue his desire to understand more about computer science by studying web development in New York City. As a software engineer and user experience designer at Edcite, Sam loves collaborating with teachers and administrators to build intuitive tools that enhance learning experiences. Outside of education and technology, Sam enjoys spending his time creating music, traveling, reading, and spending time in natural environments.

Sowmya Panjaje

PLATFORM OPERATIONS

Sowmya is an engineer by training from MSRIT, India and has experience developing software for the automotive industry. While taking graduate courses in business at the University of Houston, she began to appreciate the possibilities of education technology in furthering outcome-driven instruction. She joined Edcite to be able to dabble in both technology and content for K-12 learners. At work and otherwise, she enjoys reading, writing, and talking about brewing coffee and solving the world’s problems.

Parinita Mysore

CONTENT OPERATIONS

Parinita has done her Bachelors in Engineering from MSRIT (India) and has previously worked in the IT industry. Wanting to work in the education sector, she then took a different turn and worked on creating content for helping students crack competitive exams. Combining her passions for technology and education, she joined Edcite to help steer the content initiative. Outside work, she loves nature, enjoys traveling, and is a voracious reader. Which of course means picking up a book, walking to the swing on the porch and trying to map out Middle Earth.

Abby Baughman

Abby Baughman is a 4th grade math and science teacher at Maysville Elementary in Zanesville, Ohio. Abby has been a teacher for the last fifteen years and really enjoys integrating technology and curriculum. Lately, Abby has successfully delivered all of her assessments through Edcite and is amazed at how great the platform works for all types of content. Abby appreciates that Edcite is constantly adding new features that are relevant to 21st century learners.

Brenda Blee

Brenda began her educational journey focused on joining the medical community as a physician or a physical therapist, which led her to a BS in Human Biology from Eastern Washington University (EWU). Brenda was fascinated and intellectually moved by a teacher working with special needs students that she began to consider education as her proper path. Brenda completed a Masters of Education degree at EWU and was subsequently hired by the Clark County School district in Las Vegas, Nevada as an elementary school teacher. For the past 16 years, Brenda has been both a general classroom teacher and the instructor of math, science, technology and social studies as part of a departmentalized program. She was delighted that Edcite filled a void in preparing students for the new world of online testing. Edcite is not only employed in her own classroom, but Brenda has demonstrated its numerous positive uses to her colleagues. Learning, teaching, and enjoying technology are definite joys in the teaching life of Brenda.

Arlo Brookhart

Arlo Brookhart is a veteran educator who has spent over 17 years serving the field of education. Arlo began his career by studying Secondary Education at Youngstown State University. He continued his educational endeavor by teaching American History and American Government in Youngstown at both public and private schools for many years. During his years as a teacher, Arlo earned his Master's degree in Educational Administration at Youngstown State University. He then began to work at Warren G. Harding High School as an Assistant Principal. He now works for the Trumbull County Educational Service Center as a Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction Supervisor. In addition to being passionate about the field of education, Arlo is a father to his daughter Olivia and his son Chance.

Graeme Higgins

Graeme Higgins is a primary school teacher in Dublin, Ireland. After earning a B.Ed from Trinity College Dublin, Graeme took a teaching position at Gaelscoil Míde, an Irish speaking primary school. Graeme is very passionate about the Irish language and has taken a very proactive role in helping offer Edcite as Gaeilge (in Irish) for all schools in Ireland. Outside of the classroom, Graeme loves playing piano, traveling, and keeping fit and active!

Sharon Julien

Sharon earned her BS from the University of Maryland at College Park with a major in Elementary Education. Following that, she earned her MS in Elementary Education and MA in Instructional Technology from Georgian Court University. She has certificates in Instructional Technology, Associate School Library Media Specialist, and Supervisor. She has taught in Marlboro Township Public Schools in New Jersey since 1996 beginning with middle school computers. Currently, Sharon teaches elementary school third, fourth, and fifth graders, although her purview has included kindergarten through sixth grade students. Aside from school, Sharon enjoys spending time with her nephews and decorating cakes.

Jonathan Muster

Jonathan was a computer science major at a community college for two years, during which time he worked designing websites and building computers. He then changed majors to Mathematics and transferred to Fresno Pacific University. He completed his B.A. in Mathematics and then earned a Single Subject Credential in Mathematics from Fresno Pacific. Since that time, he has worked as a middle school Mathematics and Computer teacher within Fresno Unified School District. He has also been doing district level training on computer resources and technology integration in the classroom, which is the focus of his Master's degree.

Dr. Kristen Taylor

Dr. Kristen Taylor entered the teaching field after her ministry in Nashville at Vanderbilt University where she taught middle school math. In her decade-long year career as an educator, Dr. Taylor taught middle school in Nashville and St. Louis charter and public schools. In addition to serving the St. Louis educational scene as an advisor for various educational opportunity groups, Dr. Taylor has built a professional reputation though development of teachers around the United States. Before entering the classroom, Dr. Taylor earned at Bachelor's Degree from Kent State University and a Master's degree from Vanderbilt University, most recently graduating from University of Missouri—St. Louis with her PhD in Urban Educational Policy. When she is not at BKG Pamoja at Cole serving in her role as an Assistant Principal, Dr. Taylor enjoys hanging out on her deck with a few friends, and her cat!

Melanie Thiesse

Melanie has been in education for 31 years. She attended the University of Arkansas earning a Business Education degree with a minor in English education. She began her career teaching junior high English, adding in a few business classes as the opportunity arose. After 18 years, she was able to start teaching business classes full time. With her experience in both English and business, she was asked to design a course and write the curriculum for a class that combined business skills with English skills. It was adopted by the state, and several districts in Arkansas adopted the course for their schools. For the last four years, Melanie has been working as an Instructional Facilitator. She enjoys working with teachers to help them provide rigorous instruction to students to prepare them for the future. Outside of her work, Melanie enjoys singing in her church choir, riding in her Miata on nice days, and spending time with her family.

Tracey Tisdale

Tracey Tisdale is currently a teacher at Walnut Township School District (Millersport Schools) in Ohio. She earned her BSED from Ohio University. She also holds a MSED from the University of New England in Curriculum and Instruction. She has been teaching middle school students for 23 years. Her passion in education is serving as a facilitator of her students' learning. Edcite has become an excellent fit for that love of empowering her students to advance their knowledge in all areas of their assigned curriculum and personal interests. Knowing that our kids are entering into a vast world of technology, with a multitude of resources at their fingertips, Edcite is the perfect platform for exploration and assessments. When free time rolls around, you will find Tracey working outside on anything that keeps her in the beautiful outdoors.

Adrienne Winders

Adrienne Winders graduated from Muskingum University in 2000 with a degree in Elementary Education. She received her Master's in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of New England in 2009. Adrienne has taught in both the private and public school setting. She is in her 15th year of teaching with the past nine years spent at Millersport Elementary, where she currently teaches 5th and 6th grade Social Studies and 6th Grade English Language Arts. Adrienne is always willing to try new and innovative ideas to help engage and instruct her students. When Adrienne is not working she can be found watching her three children with their sporting events or working outside (when the weather is nice) in her yard.

Cory Henwood

Cory majored in Math and minored in Biology and Physics, earning his BSc from the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. He went on to be awarded his BEd in Mathematics Education from the U of L. Since 2007, Cory has been working in education both in Canada and the USA as a teacher, math coach, and curriculum designer in both K-12 districts and private schools. "Common Cory" has been leading professional development for teachers over the past few years as they have adopted common core and made the key shifts in pedagogy. He enjoys providing teachers with resources and support, as teachers are the lifeblood of education. Edcite is one of those resources he has found to be a most excellent help in preparing and assessing students for the aspirations of the common core.

Courtney Starling Stewart

Courtney Starling Stewart is the Technology Coordinator for Mary Blount Elementary School and Technology Trainer for Blount County Schools in Maryville, Tennessee. Courtney has been working in education for the past six years. She enjoys integrating technology in every aspect of life and loves how it can personalize learning for students and make a teacher's job easier. Courtney started using Edcite during the 2015/16 school year to help her students prepare for new state online assessments. The resources available on Edcite not only helped prepare her students for assessments but also helped her teachers create technology integrated assignments and lessons.