Tom Davidson picked the "CEO" slip out of the hat at a recent EverFi staff party and has yet to be fired by the Board of Directors. Davidson ran for the Maine State Legislature while a senior at Bowdoin College in 1994 and spent the better part of three terms working to bring education technology to students in the Pine Tree State. As Chairman of the Utilities and Energy Committee, Davidson led a successful effort with Governor Angus King to provide laptops to every Maine seventh grader as well as to create a major expansion of the wiring of schools and libraries across the State.
After deciding that he needed to tell his children one day that he actually once earned a paycheck, Davidson left the Legislature in 2000 and began investing in early-stage technology companies in the education and social media spaces. He was a Venture Partner with Village Ventures, a network of venture capital firms across the U.S. Davidson graduated from Bowdoin College devoid of any academic honors of any consequence.
Back in 1996, Jon moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for a hot young start-up. Dashing his hopes for early retirement, the name of that start up was not Yahoo, Google or eBay. However, prior to co-founding EverFi, Jon did work in a variety of operating, marketing and business development roles for Kaplan, Inc. A good deal of his work focused on how to harness learning technology as a key component of the curriculum within the K-12 space. His contributions included running four different markets across the country with operating responsibility of up to $15 million. In each of these posts he championed initiatives that produced substantial and consistent top and bottom line growth.
Having now worked in the education space for over 15 years, Jon's role at EverFi touches every part of the business. He is responsible for all product development, design and strategy involving all of EverFi's platforms. In order to optimize that function, Jon also spends a lot of time across the country meeting with schools that utilize our products and the partners who help support those schools. Jon earned his MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College.
Chrissy Andrews, Schools Manager
A recent graduate from the University of Notre Dame, Chrissy moved back home to the DC area to work for the Navy buying boats after graduation. However, with her previous experience in a bootstrap start-up and business concentration in entrepreneurship, she jumped on the opportunity to re-enter the start-up world and joined the EverFi Schools team. Along with working with schools all along the Great Lakes region, she continues to join every intramural sports teams possible and undoubtably ends up being the enthusiastic yet uncoordinated one. She is now thrilled to be part of the schools team, a proud member of the DC EverFi Running Club, and the resident gluten-free expert.
Christina Baker, Assistant Director of Partner ServicesChristina joined Outside The Classroom in May of 2008 days after her college graduation. Her role started as Partner Development Assistant where she supported the PD team in all things SalesForce and Excel. After two years, she eagerly joined the Partner Services team and now helps high schools and Greeks successfully implement AlcoholEdu. Before Outside The Classroom, Christina worked as a talking map, food and entertainment critic, weatherman, and mind reader (otherwise known as a hotel front desk clerk.) She enjoys reading, dancing in the car, and Harry Potter.
Bria Barker, Schools Analyst
Bria grew up in Vail, Colorado, and within three weeks of her first day, was already discussing the "business" trips to Colorado that happen to fall between the months of November and April. Though few people understood why she left Colorado, she attended Duke University and graduated with a degree in Public Policy Studies. Bria is the office’s token ballerina and she was on Duke’s dance team during college. Luckily, the year she joined the team was the first year they were guaranteed a spot in the entertainment lineup at the Duke-UNC game so she didn’t catch pneumonia while camping out in K-Ville like most of her friends. Bria knew she wanted to move to Washington D.C. after visiting in 8th grade during cherry blossom season and did so after graduation with little more than an internship on Capitol Hill. Though she loved working for her Senator, she longed to work somewhere that she could see the impact of her work on individuals. Cue her introduction to EverFi, which fits perfectly into her passion for education policy. When not working, Bria can be found skiing the back bowls of Vail, boating, traveling, or in the middle of a good book.
John Boynton, National Director of Partner Development
John joined Outside the Classroom in January 2006 after a 'gap year' from his career in the hotel industry. John oversees all things related to AlcoholEdu for High School was instrumental in achieving the Evidence-based status for the company through SAMSHA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). John has always been socially conscious and entrepreneurial in his pursuits. As the National Account Manager for the country's original green hotel supplier, he was focused on helping hotels across the country become more environmentally responsible. Today he still smiles each time he checks into a hotel and notices sustainability efforts that have become commonplace across the industry. In his free time John is consumed by his very fancy hybrid dog (some would call a Weimador, others might call a mutt), restoring his antique farmhouse, sailing, or planning his next scuba adventure. John earned his degree from Clarkson University in Entrepreneurial Management before there ever was such a thing.
Brandon Busteed, President of Outside The Classroom
Brandon Busteed has spent the last decade building a sterling reputation as one of the most "reviled" figures among high school and college students, having launched the organization that has provided a course on alcohol education to millions of students. For reasons unknown, Busteed has always believed in tackling very unpopular but important issues - and he's now thrilled to be part of EverFi tackling some popular and important issues too. Lucky for Brandon, the alcohol course has actually worked, and high-risk drinking rates are dropping across the country along with rumors that Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Charlie Sheen have signed on to do celebrity endorsements.
Brandon has spent his career focused on improving higher education and regularly advises college and university presidents and boards in addition to being a regular speaker and author. He has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and NPR, but sadly Oprah has never called. Brandon graduated from Duke University in 1999 where he was class president, a two-sport athlete, and later a member of the Board of Trustees. His senior year, on Brandon's birthday, Duke lost the men's NCAA National Championship and he's never been able to enjoy a birthday since. Nonetheless, Brandon is excited to taunt the rest of the EverFi management team from Bowdoin with the fact that they will never have such an opportunity with their basketball team.
Megan Chiango, Creative Services Manager
In her third year at OTC, Megan's brings her design skills and strategies to OTC as Creative Services Manager. Pre-Outside The Classroom, with degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, she worked for 7+ years with several design firms in the Boston area. A wide range of clients included educational publishers, documentary filmmakers, healthcare organizations, sporting retailers, museum exhibits, non-profits, boutiques, restaurants, and architecture firms. These days, when not making designs or enjoying the wilderness somewhere, she's usually making something else (often with her husband), involving food, the garden, woodworking, or other various and never-ending home projects.
Jon Cirome, Director of Western US Programs
Ever since organizing neighborhood Atari game parties at the age of seven, Jon has been a passionate advocate of using technology for social change. Jon brings to EverFi over thirteen years working in the technology world. He started his career at the United Nations, finding innovative ways to build programs in developing nations, and then moved to help Fortune 500 clients build their global brands at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. When the call for social change beckoned, Jon left to join the founding team of VolunteerMatch.org to build the worlds largest volunteer networks. He spent over seven years at VolunteerMatch, bringing the power of the internet to millions of organizations and volunteers.
Jon is excited to bring his passion for web technology to EverFi and change the way students learn today. Jon is a graduate of Bowdoin College and has completed studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education program. In his spare time, Jon is a devoted reader of the Onion news, avid fan of Phil Collins and enjoys paragliding.
Elizabeth Davidson Carroll, Director of Southern OperationsBeth runs all school and partner operations in the South. She spent the last 13 years as Managing Director with Davidson Capital Group running their Southeast office and investment banking initiatives for companies nationwide. Prior to moving to the great South, Beth had an extensive career in Special Events and Marketing at Viacom International in New York. She was responsible for the large corporate advertising relationships for MTV Networks, VH-1 and Nickelodeon. The best part of the job was running the corporate skybox at Madison Square Garden in the 80's where she doubled her friendship base due to the fact that she held the tickets to everything from the Bulls-Knicks games to Madonna and Fleetwood Mac concerts to the Best in Show Dog events, and sometimes, the combination thereof.
William DeJong, PhD, Executive Director of Research and Analysis
Bill works with Outside The Classroom staff on new courses, presentations and publications for the Alcohol Prevention Coalition, and research projects and program evaluations. Previously, Bill served as director of the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention (HEC) from 1995-2004. Under his direction, the HEC emerged as the nation's primary training and technical assistance resource for helping institutions of higher education develop, implement, and evaluate programs and policies for alcohol and other drug prevention on campus. The fun lasted until George W. Bush came into office. Bill is also a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, where he teaches courses in intervention planning and health communications. He is the author of over 400 monographs, book chapters, and academic papers in substance abuse prevention, health promotion, criminal justice, social psychology, and the use of media to change social norms and behaviors. Bill graduated from Dartmouth College in 1973 and received a doctorate in social psychology from Stanford in 1977.
Ellen Elliot, Application Engineer
Ellen joined Outside The Classroom as an Application Engineer in February 2010. Before coming to OTC, Ellen was a senior developer at EZDoesIt Software, a software company providing programming for the home healthcare business as well as web development for small businesses. Ellen has over 25 years of experience as a software developer also working at Logicomm, OneBeacon and ISI Systems. She currently lives in Norton, MA.
Mike Fee, Executive Vice President
Having given up on his dream of riding in the Tour de France, Mike Fee now uses his endurance working three time zones away from EverFi's DC headquarters. Mike's initiative to grow our western operations is the latest (and, he assures us, final) step in a career spent entirely in education: Mike moved from Stanford to the rural South, where he was part of Teach For America's pioneer corps in the Mississippi Delta. Since then he's held various roles in education, ranging from teaching to running a foreign-language instruction business, taking time out to earn his MBA from Stanford and to raise three kids in Oakland, California. All three have been certified in all of EverFi's programs; Declan, six years old, has shown particular proficiency in digital literacy.
Emily Finkelstein, Program Director - EverFi Network
Emily majored in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated with honors in 2009. While at school, Emily was a writer and editor for a national college magazine, worked for a marketing company in New York City, and was a production assistant on an MTV series. Her education and work experience helped her become a highly sought-after waitress upon graduation. Emily is thrilled to now be part of the EverFi team, where her main focus is product research, marketing and communications.
Linda Gernes, Director of Partner Services
Linda's wide-ranging experience speaks to her diverse interests - and her sheer longevity in the workforce. Linda holds degrees in Theater Arts and English from UMass Amherst, along with a MA in teaching from Rhode Island College. Her passion for learning and basic diva-like qualities led to a variety of roles in fields ranging from arts administration to education, R&D engineering, interactive marketing and management consulting. Her organizational credits include the Boston Symphony Orchestra (winner, best facility), University of Michigan (best "urban" campus), Thermo Electron Corporation (most techy), Wilde Direct Media Marketing (longest tenure) and the Dinosaur Dance Company (most extinct). When not eagerly performing for her partner base, Linda can be found singing, reading, community organizing, and competing for Mother of the Year (Sources say she's a shoe-in this year.)
Marcie Groller, E-Learning Project Manager, Curriculum
Marcie continues to pursue her interests in learning technologies at EverFi. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Marcie worked alongside doctoral students at Annenberg's Children's Media Lab to assess the educational impact of technology on young children (specifically, preschoolers). Realizing that the life of a Ph.D. student wasn't quite for her, Marcie decided to obtain her Masters of Education from Harvard's Technology, Innovation and Education Program. In 2007, Marcie put her interest in adult learning to the test, joining Outside The Classroom as a member of the Curriculum Team. She was pleasantly surprised to find that there are fewer obstacles when it comes to communicating with young adults compared to preschoolers. During her time at OTC, Marcie has worked on product development in multiple capacities, collaborating on AlcoholEdu, GreekLifeEdu, and The Alcohol Prevention Coalition research.
Ben Hatten, Director of National Programs
While searching for a center for the EverFi corporate basketball line-up, we also found a Director of National Programs. At 6'6", Ben can post up the competition but can also lead the implementation of the EverFi platform in schools, colleges, and community-based organizations. Prior to joining EverFi, Ben worked in marketing and business development roles at numerous companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Ben earned his MBA from the University of Maryland and his BA of from the University of Notre Dame.
Heather Haynes, Director of Technology and Development
Heather began her Web Development career working for a municipal codification company in western New York. Yeah, we didn't know what that was either. It was the early wild west days of the Internet and Heather soon found herself as the Webmaster for SUNY College at Brockport. While there she was instrumental in bringing many automated features to the campus Web site, training various faculty and staff on creation and maintenance of their department sites, and migrating the core Web site to a Microsoft platform. Being a thrill-seeker, she eventually moved east to Boston and rode the dot com rollercoaster during its peak, before settling down at Outside The Classroom in 2001 as the Director of Technology and Development. When not working, you can find her trying in vain to keep up with her twins Nate and Maya. Heather received her BS from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Kara Hedges, Vice President, Product DevelopmentA self-proclaimed start-up junkie, Kara has spent the past 12 years working in a variety of marketing, sales, and business development roles for early-stage educational technology firms. Kara started her career after college in management consulting and was soon drawn into the high-tech boom in 1999 where she worked as one of the first hundred employees at Blackboard, Inc., a then unknown company looking to become a leader in e-Education. For the next 5 years at Blackboard, Kara served in a variety of marketing positions and played an entrepreneurial role in building strategic marketing initiatives internationally. Prior to coming to EverFi, Kara served as Director of Channel Development for 3 years at Rave Mobile Safety, a leading provider of mobile GPS technologies & mass notification solutions. There she was responsible for national channel strategies and the direct sales strategy for 13 states across multiple verticals in the Northeast. In her "spare time" Kara is earning her MBA at the R.H. Smith School of Business, planning her wedding, taking care of her 60lb Pitbull and heading up the EverFi soccer and lacrosse teams, which she played in college.
Kyle graduated from Providence College with a degree in Political Science, focusing on comparative European political systems, and was president of the Debate Society. Somehow he ended up writing code in a half dozen programming languages for a living. He isn't quite sure how that happened either. On weekends he enjoys drinking hoppy beers, playing board games, and watching Newcastle United lose every Saturday morning.
Katie Hughes, Schools Analyst
Katie is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame who left South Bend with a degree in Arabic and Political Science. As a student, she studied abroad in both Morocco and London and was an avid fan of Saint Patrick's Day on campus. A mid-west girl at heart, she was sad to leave her hometown of Chicago and the Fighting Irish behind, but after watching a few episodes of The West Wing, she decided that Washington, D.C. was the place for her. Although she didn't quite make it to the White House, her plans changed for the better when she joined EverFi. She is quickly learning to love our nation's capital and is thrilled to be a member of the EverFi team.
Abby Koenig, Senior Director of Partner Services
Abby Koenig, Senior Director of Partner Services, grew up on a college campus listening to and observing her mother as she served as Vice President for Student Affairs at The University of Southern Maine. Without knowing at the time, this role is eventually what would lead her to work at Outside The Classroom. She always knew she wanted to work in education so after graduating from Hartwick College, she became a teacher at a small prep school in Maine called Hebron Academy. She taught, coached, and was a dorm mother in the boy's dorm. Surprisingly, living in a boy's dorm was not why Abby left Hebron, she left to finally try out city living. After managing a learning center in Boston for a year Abby learned about Outside The Classroom. She has now been at Outside The Classroom for three years. When Abby is not working she enjoys singing, speaking Spanish, and attending weddings.
Devon Lancaster, Director of Curriculum and Student Engagement
Devon leads the design and development of Outside The Classroom's online and face-to face learning programs for students and professionals. Constantly learning about new subject areas and finding ways to creatively engage all kinds of learners suits her just fine, because she'd really rather be a student herself. Prior to coming to Outside The Classroom, she worked in product marketing and project management roles at various education companies, such as WebCT (now part of Blackboard) and Pearson Education. Devon's first attempt at a career, however, was as a "rather serious" business and marketing consultant for companies like Accenture and The Yankee Group. Luckily, she soon figured out that Education is much more fun and requires less suit wearing. She wisely went back to school and got a Master's in Educational Technology from Boston University. This degree has also proved more lucrative than her first two undergraduate degrees in Economics and French from The College of the Holy Cross, given that she doesn't know much about interest rates or creme brulee, but she has been known to master herself some technology from time to time.
Lara Loveman, Sales and Account Manager
Unaware that Ithaca, New York averages temperatures near 0 Kelvin ten months of the year, Lara nevertheless thought Cornell was the perfect place for someone nicknamed the Spanish Omelet to go to school. Upon graduation, she moved to Washington, DC, and landed a job at a foreign policy think tank. Hailing from the Island of Mallorca, Spain, Lara's English is still mediocre at best, but she gets by with smiles and a proclivity for inappropriately timed high-fives. She is an avid Jimmy Buffet fan, despite a dogmatic hatred of fishing, a quality she picked up attending high school in the Florida Keys. When she started at EverFi she was given the title of "Account Manager," but to this day no one in the office knows what that means.
Cody Lycke, Director of Midwestern Operations
Cody is a graduate of Upper Iowa University. When not practicing football or basketball he managed to squeeze in a few minutes a day for academics. Cody majored in Communications and graduated with honors. The day after receiving his diploma, he began his career as a sales rep for a Fortune 500 industrial supply company. After several years, he left to become a marketing consultant for Dex One throughout the state of Iowa.
Cody Maggard, Senior Engineer
Cody joined EverFi after a solid stint as a government contractor at White Oak Technologies, where he worked on [REDACTED] for [REDACTED] and also had a hand in [REDACTED]. Cody was initially hired as the VP of Donut Acquisitions, but has since taken a lesser role in that regard to doff a new hat as senior engineer. During work hours you can find him at work at his desk, on the couch, or any random location with an electrical outlet. Outside of work, you can find him enjoying a beer, a fun board game, and a good book- often at the same time.
Tammy Mank Wincup, Executive Vice President
Throughout her career Tammy has done anything possible not to spend too much time in any one location. We think she was secretly working for the CIA, while proclaiming to be working on education projects for the past 16 years. Tammy spent a half-decade working in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East leading education and workforce development projects for Alex Brown Investment Bank, Price Waterhouse Consulting LLP, and Diamond Technology Partners. She then moved to the foreign land of San Francisco where she built the client services side of an education and knowledge management technology start-up. Tammy came home to Washington D.C. to help manage a $300 million fund of economic and education foreign assistance to the Middle East from a cushy office at the U.S. State Department. In 2006, Tammy returned to the private sector as the Managing Director of a boutique consulting firm leading U.S. and international education reform efforts. Tammy earned her Masters in Public Policy from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. We still wonder why she cannot really tell us what she did in all these places.
Ray Martinez, Executive Vice President
To the delight of the EverFi team and the dismay of his lower back, Ray has traveled across the country to meet with superintendents, principals, teachers, and State Department of Education leaders. These body sacrificing drives and flights have brought the EverFi&trade Financial Literacy Program to thousands of communities throughout the country. He has also been a featured speaker and guest at numerous state-wide teacher conferences. Ray brings an extensive background in both building successful partnerships with schools across the country as well as running large scale professional development programs. Before joining EverFi, Ray successfully managed cutting edge supplemental education programs for Kaplan, Inc. in San Francisco, Sacramento, Dallas, Northern Virginia, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Ray is a graduate of Bowdoin College.
Josh Miramant, Program Director
After learning about the mission of EverFi, Miramant was determined to join the team to bring education solutions to as many students and teachers as possible. In his role as Chief of Staff, Josh helps build the EverFi School Network and assists in operations management. Before joining the EverFi Team, Josh worked to shape education policy through Political Campaign Management in his home state of Maine. After moving to Washington D.C. from Maine, Josh took some time transitioning to the city. He still refuses to believe that L.L. Bean does not make proper work attire. Josh is a graduate of the University of Maine, or as upper management calls it, "Not Bowdoin".
Craig Noto, Regional Vice President, Partner Development
After a 6-month hiatus to help introduce college and universities to new recruitment technologies, Craig began his second tour of duty in July 2011. Now with nearly 5 years of service, he is excited to help the EverFi team educate 20 million students by year 2020 (it will happen!). Before originally moving to Boston and joining the Outside The Classroom team back in 2006, Craig spent 3 years working for a small packaging distributer in upstate New York upon graduating from Skidmore College. In his free time, Craig enjoys playing basketball, hiking and engaging in heated discussions in the lunchroom.
Megan Palame, Director of Partner Services
Megan was born and raised in Buffalo, NY, which should explain a lot. Wait until you hear her accent. After receiving her bachelor's in both Environmental Studies and Psychology from the University at Buffalo, Megan realized she had no idea what she was doing with her life, but wanted to make a difference. The next logical and very American step was to attend more school and move to Boston to earn her Master's in Health Communication. Somehow she wound up doing most of her graduate and consulting work on youth and substance abuse - a perfect precursor into her role at Outside The Classroom in the Communications and Partner Advocacy department. Megan's background ranges from designing and executing statewide and school specific social marketing campaigns, to teaching high school students about health behavior. Working on various marketing initiatives at Outside The Classroom, Megan tries to make peace with the company website and runs most of their social media work. However, she takes most pride in her role as the designated fun consultant and hosting "Coffee Talk" with her colleagues early in the a.m., where mostly she talks and pretends to listen.
Tom Parisi, Schools Analyst
Before joining the EverFi team, Tom spent four years teaching math and explaining why pink Uggs were not part of the dress code at a middle school in Alexandria, VA. He also coached soccer at the school. However, after three straight championship losses, school boosters bought out the remainder of his contract. Prior to teaching, Tom worked as a tutoring center director using adaptive computer software to individualize instruction for students. He continues to be interested in utilizing technology to improve education and is thrilled to, once again, be part of the movement. Tom grew up in a small town in western Pennsylvania with only one street light, he attended Duke University mainly for the weather and the basketball, and his mother tells him that he is one of, if not the, worst singers that she has ever heard.
Charlie Peabody, Schools Analyst
After graduating from Boston University in 2009, Charlie moved to DC to find his fortune. Unsure of where to start, he eventually realized that his love of regular hours, strict dress codes, and bureaucracy made working at a start-up the perfect choice. Within the first week of his internship he had no idea what people were referring to when they said "9 to 5", but he was positive he enjoyed working in his jeans. Charlie's quick wit and southern charm proved invaluable, and he soon became a full-time member of the schools team. His mentality towards his job is reflected in his favorite quote: When a great collegiate basketball player was asked why he always shoots three's he candidly replied, "Because there are no fours".
Jenn Regan, Director of Implementation and Operations
Back in 2002, Jenn ran into an old colleague while out at a bar, found out there was an opening at her organization and next thing you know had landed a job in the alcohol prevention field. Ironic isn’t it? Since then, Jenn has developed extensive knowledge of the successful implementation, technical support and administrative functions of the AlcoholEdu online programs. Keeping track of the details involved affords her the opportunity to create spreadsheets galore! She once made up a spreadsheet that covered the entire conference room table. In her spare time, Jenn is practicing Jiu Jitsu or planning her next vacation.
Georgina Sanger, Senior Vice President Strategic Partnerships
Georgina began her career in Northern California during the good old early days of the internet and e-commerce - when it really meant something great to have no revenue. During that period she was co-creator of one of the first independent on-line stores in AOL's Marketplace, The Cheeky Weasel, a purveyor of all sorts of unmentionables. In the late 90's, Georgina, convinced that there was no tech bubble, moved to NY where she was a founding team-member of an internet based B2B home installation services company that was subsequently absorbed by Home Depot. Just prior to joining EverFi, she was the founder and President of the Trust for the National Mall, the first official partner of the National Park Service to provide for the restoration of the National Mall in Washington. Georgina brings her verve for connecting assorted people, businesses, organizations and institutions into play on a daily basis at EverFi. Georgina is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Lani Shumway, Associate Director, Partner Services
Lani joined Outside The Classroom after working in the non-profit education sector for 7 years: at Big Picture, primarily funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create small schools across the United States and internationally; and four and a half years at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) in Newton, MA. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology along with an Associate’s degree in Anthropology from Keene State College (KSC). Born in Rach Gia City, Vietnam, and adopted at the age of two, Lani didn’t speak until she mastered her new language – English. Ironically, she is in the process of finishing her master’s degree in Educational Psychology with a concentration in literacy and resiliency. Her thesis is an autobiographical memoir of her learning journey in the American educational system entitled, The Courage to Learn; specifically how she acclimated and developed a passion for learning and reading. She is an outdoor enthusiast: you can find her behind her camera, in a kayak, on the golf course, sailing, traveling, romping in the woods on a long hike, or with her nose buried deep in a good book perched on a grassy knoll.
Dan Sinnott, Regional Vice President, Partner Development
Dan joined the Outside The Classroom team during the early years in 2002 and was aboard for nearly 6 years. After a 3-year stint away from the company working at Oracle Corporation, Dan rejoined the OTC/EverFi team in June 2011 as Regional Vice President for Partner Development. During his absence the decibel level in the office helped increase everyone's productivity. Now that he's back, we're rearranging the seating so we can stick him in a back office and maintain peace of mind. Truth be told, Dan missed the people at OTC and the social mission tied to his daily activity. He's back to make a difference and help to change the course of our country around a number of key critical education issues...that is, until we stick him in the server room.
Helen Stubbs, Senior Director of Partner Education
Helen Stubbs came to Outside The Classroom to help launch the Alcohol Prevention Coalition, disseminating research and best practices in campus alcohol prevention. The Coalition serves as the foundation for OTC's position as a thought leader in the field, with research and tools that enable campus administrators to evaluate and improve upon their alcohol prevention efforts. In the development and delivery of Coalition products and services, Helen provides campuses with tailored support that examines their data and marries it to the national research on effective prevention practice. Helen came to Outside The Classroom having worked extensively in the non-profit sector, from women's health to international health, to public health communications. Helen holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Vermont and earned a Masters degree from Harvard School of Public Health, where she focused on the prevention of high-risk behaviors among youth and health communications.
Sue Squires, Vice President of Finance and Administration
Throughout her 20+ years in leading the finance and human resource teams of small emerging companies, Sue has found three things to be vitally important; an ample supply of diet coke, the freedom to wear flip-flops at work, and the fun and excitement of entrepreneurial companies. For the last eight, she has been the VP of Finance, Administration and Human Resources of Outside The Classroom, Inc., where she and her team were responsible for anything dealing with numbers, spreadsheets, people issues, and the challenges of keeping an office up and running.
Prior to coming to Outside The Classroom, Sue has had diverse experience, including being a VP of Finance at a natural language software start-up during the boom years, Treasurer of an international publishing company, Financial Analyst at a garbage company and ticket seller at Disney World. She has an MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies from Babson College and an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Delaware.
Ryan Swift, Vice President, Business Development
Ryan came out of retirement to join the EverFi team in the spring of 2010. We knew that anyone foolish enough to leave the comfort and relaxing lifestyle of a retiree to work for a start-up with no processes in place and no guarantee of regular work was an ideal fit for the EverFi team! Before joining EverFi, Ryan successfully managed cutting edge supplemental education programs for Kaplan, Inc.in the Washington, DC area for nine years. Ryan has a Bachelor of Arts degree as well as Masters degrees in Social Work and Business from Boston College. Ryan will be a key reserve for the EverFi Corporate Basketball team and his playing style has often been compared with Dennis Rodman, except without the hustle, rebounds and defensive ability.
Jennifer Sykes, Director of Marketing
Jenny leads the Marketing department at EverFi, where she oversees development of product marketing tools, strategic communications, social media, web marketing, and PR tools that help maximize media opportunities for the organization. Jenny's love for languages, culture, and understanding how people think led her to Georgetown University, where she majored in French and Italian (a safe bet for landing a lucrative job after college), minored in business, and spent a year in studying in Paris and eating lots of crepes. Soon after graduating, Jenny realized her passion for social enterprises after working for a start-up that helps energy companies educate their customers on making smarter energy decisions. She joined Outside The Classroom in 2006 and then made the move down to DC to work for EverFi in 2011. Jenny grew up in Lexington, MA (yes, the birthplace of the American Revolution) and enjoys buying Groupons to every amazing restaurant within a mile radius of her apartment.
Stephanie Tallen, Human Resources and Accounting Specialist
Stephanie joined Outside The Classroom in 2004, and relocated in 2006 for a new adventure down south. Big mistake! Who likes warm weather, anyway? Stephanie missed her work family and moved back in 2007 as the Human Resources and Accounting Specialist. Ever since, Stephanie has been the woman behind everything, but really Outside The Classroom just keeps her around because she is responsible for payroll. Prior to Outside The Classroom, Stephanie worked as a Human Resources Assistant at Nova Biomedical, a medical device company. Stephanie graduated from Aquinas College in Newton, MA, and currently has three amazing children that keep her very busy.
Kimberley Timpf, Director of Prevention Practice Management
Kimberley Timpf began working in the education field first as a high school music, then math teacher. Realizing quickly that she wasn't cut out for high school, she decided to make her first career change, returning to school to get her Master's degree in Educational Administration from Boston College. This led to a 16-year career in higher education, working in the field of alcohol and other drug prevention at both public and private universities. Kimberley's expertise lies in program design and development, application of prevention theory in higher education settings, training and instruction, methods of evaluation, and the ability to identify every defining moment in Red Sox history. She has served in leadership positions for national higher education organizations and has presented at multiple conferences, including the Department of Education's National Meeting. Prior to Outside The Classroom, Kimberley served as the Assistant Dean for Alcohol and Drug Education at Boston College, where she spent 14 years attempting to recover some of the money she had "invested" in that institution several years earlier. Now happily employed in the business world, she is able to apply her expertise and passion for the alcohol issue to her work with numerous campus partners, rather than just a single institution. More importantly, she feels fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Brandon Busteed, whom she considers a significant role model...just behind her father and Walt Disney.
Connie Tracey, Finance and SalesForce Coordinator
Connie has had many title changes throughout her career at Outside The Classroom. In 2006 she was hired as a Customer Service Administrator, then a Finance and Client Services Coordinator, and now is the Finance and SalesForce Coordinator. Prior to her work at Outside The Classroom, Connie worked in the banking industry for 14 years. For fun, Connie loves to bike in nice weather and never fails to get her two teens to their sporting events, always cheering them on from the sidelines.
Jen Vaden, Texas Schools Manager
Jen brings a necessary dose of Southern charm and hospitality to the EverFi team, which is already overrun with Left Coast and Northeastern members. A resident of Houston and 2002 graduate of the University of the South - Sewanee, Jen has worked professionally in supplementary education for more than six years. She entered the industry in 2004 with an affiliate of Kaplan Inc. and then joined a subsidiary of Knowledge Learning Corporation in 2007. She successfully managed programs and operations for these companies in the Washington D.C. suburbs, Chicago Loop, and the Houston metro area. Jen brings a contagious passion to her work, which has allowed her to develop deep professional and personal relationships in each location. When not engaging with EverFi clients and developing new business for the company, Jen can usually be found in her front yard chasing after her 1- year old son (or 10-year old hound dog).
Tyla Vercollone, Associate Director, Partner Services
Tyla is excited to join the AlcoholEdu High School Partner Services team. She received her bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music. Although her "day job" has never been in the music industry, she does direct a children's choir and dreams of getting them on "The Sing Off" mainly so she can meet Nick Lachey. Professionally, Tyla comes from the corporate retail industry where she managed vendor relations as the assistant buyer for a large supermarket chain. She is eager to contribute to an organization with such an important mission to improve educational standards.
Lauren Wooley, Analyst, Partner Education
While in graduate school at Emory University, Lauren held positions at the CDC and the VA Medical Center. After graduating with her Master's in Public Health, Lauren pursued a fellowship at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. While working for the state allowed Lauren plenty of time to train for marathons and finish a few triathlons, her desire for a faster pace took over and she tested the water in the world of marketing at Digitas, providing clients with strategic web analytics. Lauren ran over to Outside The Classroom's Partner Education team in 2009. She spends her day at OTC cycling between keeping up with the latest research and sharing insights with Coalition partners. Lauren earned her undergraduate degree at College of Charleston.
Todd M. Wyatt, Director of Research
Todd oversees the collection, analysis, implementation and dissemination of data for Outside The Classroom. If that's not absolutely riveting enough, in addition to his data-geek work at the office, he is a doctoral candidate in Applied Developmental Psychology from George Mason University - home of the reigning national college cricket champions.
Todd brings with him extensive experience with leading large-scale research initiatives and a proficiency in using cutting-edge statistical analysis techniques, which are used to address public health and wellness challenges facing America's high-school and college campuses. His research interests range from child development to the implications of substance abuse for social and academic success in adolescence and early adulthood. To top it off, this guy is the author of numerous academic papers and book chapters that focus on development, self-regulation, social-emotional development and substance use prevention.
Lexie Yang, Director of Partner Services
Lexie, born and raised in New England, who made the big move from Connecticut to the Boston area nearly eight years ago, has been a Director of Partner Services at Outside The Classroom for over two years. She loves that her role allows her to have daily interaction with Partners who so driven to make a difference. She also loves the opportunity to visit various colleges; not being a student anymore has made her miss the time she used to spend on campus. Previous to working at Outside The Classroom, Lexie was a Campaign Planner at Health Dialog, a leading provider in care management and healthcare analytics. Before her time at Health Dialog, Lexie worked as an Account Executive for MPG Promotions, a promotional products company. For a short period, Lexie also worked as a pro bono consultant to Brookline Department of Public Health, developing a social norms marketing campaign and communications plan for Brookline High School. Lexie holds a B.A. in Communications from The University of Connecticut and received her Master’s degree in Health Communication from Emerson College. When Lexie's not working you can find her running, traveling, listening to music, out eating sushi or planning house projects!