Meet the Team

Francis is a Master Teacher Program Fellow under the ALforEducation Network of the African Leadership Academy. He graduated from Makerere University with a degree in Education, and is an alumnus and pioneer fellow of Teach for Uganda, where he served a two-year fellowship in a rural public primary school --an experience that gave him a deep appreciation for the extreme challenges that teachers and students face on a daily basis. He joins our team as a project-based curriculum designer, focused on foundational literacy and numeracy, SEL, and playful approaches to learning.

David is a software engineer, currently focused on managing the team's cloud infrastructure. His recent projects aim to improve the developer experience and online stability of Kolibri, and many of LE's other products. He has contributed to LE's work in various capacities, having progressed from a design intern to a UI-focused software engineer, he settled into his current role after recognizing the interesting design problems inherent to the distributed architectures he works on today. David earned his degrees in Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Science at UC San Diego. After developing his skills in problem-solving and User-Centered Design, he tries to carry these methodologies into all of his work -- no matter how much technical gibberish is involved. Learning Equality's commitment to equity in education aligns with David's belief in lifelong learning and fosters the desire for justice he developed as a child of immigrant parents. He's honored to work with the brilliant friends he's made here, and looks forward to furthering the mission in any way he can. Outside the office, David is usually neck-deep in some kind of story: he thirsts for the immersion offered by books, games, movies, and podcasts. He's loves exploring -- whether it's the libraries' stacks or the city's latest offerings. David has also been known to obsessively research bizarrely mundane subjects, making him an unreliable resource for fun facts.

Laura is energized by the dual goals of creating equitable access to educational resources and utilizing technology to help meet the needs of all learners. At Learning Equality she drives strategy for engaging with our grassroots community and supports development of our teacher training model. She received her B.S.Ed. in Human Development and Psychological Services from Northwestern University, her Ed.M in Language and Literacy from Harvard University, and has previously taught elementary school in Chicago. She spends her free time reading, long distance running, and trying not to burn her oatmeal in the oven.

Massa Mufti has 20+ years of experience in various arenas in the field of Education in the US, Lebanon and Syria. Massa's work at Learning Equality centers around the Arabic Curriculum library. In addition, she is the founder of SONBOLA, an NGO that provides education support for vulnerable and refugee children in Lebanon since 2014 and the Education Consultant at ESCWA. Massa’s work is mostly focused on education policies, NFE, curriculum development, and teachers’ training in crisis context. Most recently, Massa developed a new initiative, the Refugee Teachers’ Academy (RTA), a progressive leadership program currently its inception phase. In addition to holding two Master Degrees, Massa has a certified training in Education in Emergencies-INEE (Beirut, 2013), a certified training on Executive Management and Leadership from Harvard Business School (2011), and certified training on Project Zero from Harvard Graduate School of Education (July, 2017) among others. Massa is a Harvard’ MEPLI Fellow for the year 2019.

Allan is a tech enthusiast-turned-teacher, who believes that everyone in the world should have access to free, high-quality education regardless of their socio-economic status. As someone who is passionate about edtech and open source software as a tool to expand access to quality education around the world, he worked as a teacher in a rural primary school in Mayuge district, eastern Uganda, where he and a colleague mobilized resources to acquire tablets to support self-paced, practical scientific learning, and the continuity of learning during school closures due to the pandemic. Since then, he has never looked back. Allan holds a bachelor's degree in Information Technology from the International University of East Africa (IUEA). He is delighted to be a part of the Learning Equality team working to close the digital divide and fast-track educational equity. Learning Equality's commitment to equity in education resonates strongly with him. Allan is a natural water systems lover and spends his free time watching birds, learning how to sing children’s songs, listening to the BBC’s "Click" podcast, and showing off his newly learned baking skills.

Working from the Czech Republic, Michaela considers education to be one of the best tools for solving many social and environmental problems. She deeply believes in cooperation, volunteering, and open-source. Before she finally arrived at Learning Equality, she had been trying to find a meaningful job, so after her first job in a corporate, she moved through various development positions in Czech startups focusing on energy monitoring or medical education. She also worked as a developer for Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. She is grateful for having the opportunity to cooperate with such a wonderful team of hard-working people, for friendships and all support she is receiving, as well as for having innumerable opportunities to learn new skills in technology, communication, planning, education, and much more.

Richard has a PhD in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego, and is the Product Lead and a co-founder of Learning Equality. Richard’s dissertation research focused on the impact of forgetting on the time course of effective Mathematics learning. Prior to co-founding Learning Equality, Richard spent 3 years as a Secondary Science Teacher in the United Kingdom and 2 years as an educational consultant, working in K-12 schools in New Jersey and New York, training teachers in Problem-Based Learning, Educational Technology, and Student-Centered Teaching.

Liana Harris is a recent college graduate with an avid interest in supporting communities and volunteering globally. She received her B.S. in Computer Science from Prairie View A&M University and aspires to use her problem-solving and technical abilities to promote equity within the nonprofit sector. This is what led her to Learning Equality. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to support and advocate for equitable access to quality education for all students. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, swimming, and vegan desserts.

Samson is a software developer based in Wakiso, Uganda. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Makerere University, in Kampala. He was part of the team that built awamo360, a banking software tailored for micro-finance institutions, and savings and credit co-operative societies. He is passionate about using technology to foster change and make the world a better place. He also believes in access to free education and information sharing, so joining Learning Equality presents him with the opportunity to advance this cause. Away from work, he loves to spend time with family and is a passionate soccer fan.

Rosanna supports the Learning Equality team while they stay laser-focused on Kolibri and its users. Rosanna has a background in nonprofit people management and operations. She comes to Learning Equality from 7 years at DonorsChoose.org supporting public school teachers throughout the US as they dreamed up the best possible classroom experience for their students. She’s thrilled to join Learning Equality to expand her focus to the global community’s access to the basic human right of education. New to San Diego, on her weekends you might find her exploring coffee shops with a book in hand or yelling at the TV - that is, joyfully cheering - for her hometown soccer team.

Navya brings her experience of working with schools, social organizations, and the government in India to her present role at Learning Equality. She is a Teach for India alumna and is deeply passionate about bridging the gap in education. She spends her free time planning for travel to different corners of the world and lives to eat.

Amelia earned a degree in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin, kicking off a winding path to software development at Learning Equality. She did stints in AmeriCorps, worked in healthcare, had adventures in social work, and held many odd jobs in between. In 2018, Amelia attended a coding bootcamp offered by LaunchCode, an amazing nonprofit in St. Louis focused on supporting people from underrepresented populations in tech. Through education, apprenticeship, and employment, she fell in love with coding, human-centered design, and startup life. Amelia likes crossword puzzles, thrift store vinyl, living your values, and mozzarella sticks. She has played through Ocarina of Time on three different consoles but only with the help of her older brother.

Hiba dreams that all children are empowered with high quality, individualized education to fulfill their dreams and those of future generations to come. She comes to Learning Equality with more than 15 years in monitoring and evaluation in education and hopes to bring a rigorous lens to both prove and improve Learning Equality’s work. Hiba holds an M.Ed. in International Educational Policy from Harvard University and a double major in B.Sc.Ed. in Social Policy and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies from Northwestern University. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree (Ed.D.) in PreK-12 Educational Leadership from SMU. You can find her recharging by chasing her energetic son, traveling with her husband, binging Netflix, or buried in a good book.

Jess is a recent college grad whose interest in social media started when she observed its power for social justice, while blogging against Islamophobia. In her free time, Jess enjoys studying South Asian genealogy and is currently in Phase 2 of an independent research project studying Punjabi Sikh identity in the US. Jess lives in Chicago with her two cats. She's excited to work in Comms with LE as a self-taught graphic designer.

Based in Barcelona (Spain) at the moment, in the middle of her graduate degree in Digital Content Management, Radina is a technology enthusiast and a Jill-of-all-trades permanently searching for new challenges. She has lived and worked in four different countries, but keeps carrying with herself a love for science museums, photography, walking, cacti & succulent plants... Having a passion for knowledge sharing made her feel at home since the first day she started contributing to making KA Lite more accessible for everybody. When not checking various a11y tips & tricks, she is working on her next visit to The Big Island to see the latest Kilauea flow.

Carine is a Brazilian-Australian whose life has been defined by the belief that education is the way not only to a purposeful and fulfilled life, but more importantly, to a more equitable, dignified, and just society. Curious by nature, her path has been particularly winding. She has worked in Print and Digital Media, TV, Film, Fashion, and Education. She survived cancer, lived on four continents, and learned how to speak four languages fluently. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Media & Communications with a major in French Studies from UNSW, and is both a Certified Translator and an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. At Learning Equality, Carine leads our Communications and PR efforts, liaising with the community, specialized media, and with our team in order to help raise awareness of our work across all facets of the organization. She also manages our internationalization (i18n) community which she's helped grow over the years. Her passions include but are hardly limited to film buffery, pilates, experimentation with plant-based diets, and optimistic-but-so-far-failed attempts at mastering the crow asana. She also loves dancing and knows the words to more cheesy 80's tunes than she'd like to admit.

Tomiwa earned a degree in Computer Science with Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University. He was introduced to Graphic Design as a student during an internship and has since spent his career working with design, marketing, and product teams across several sectors. He is passionate about using design thinking to solve socio-economic problems, and after working as a teacher at a State Polytechnic in Lafia, Nasarawa state in Nigeria's northeastern region during his mandatory youth service year, he became even more interested in using quality education to empower the underprivileged in society. Tomiwa enjoys excellent storytelling in all forms, from comic books to television, movies, fiction and non-fiction; he enjoys cooking Nigerian food and occasionally writes, takes photographs, and speaks on a variety of topics.

Jacob is a full-stack developer, new father, cat-parent of three, and all-around nerd. He believes that education and open access to it is one of the best paths toward creating a better world.

Blaine is a San Diego native who loves JavaScript, Physics, and all things web. Blaine graduated with a degree in Applied Physics from CSU San Marcos, where he also spent time as a Learning Assistant (LA). His love for education and self-improvement was established through the LA opportunity as well as during his time at a local web company, TakeLessons.com. In his free time, Blaine likes to play board/video games with friends, go to movies, and look at "doggo" pics on Instagram. He's also a Corgi fanatic.

Before joining LE as a Junior Python Engineer, Vivek volunteered at freeCodeCamp.org, helping them fix software bugs. There, he developed a cryptography curriculum to teach learners about Internet Security and also helped with QA. Vivek has always been passionate about free education and open source software, therefore, Learning Equality's Kolibri caught his attention during Google Summer of Code 2021, and he's been with us since then. An avid reader of all things finance and commerce, Vivek loves helping his father with business taxation, and going on adventurous trips.

Carlos is a software engineer with a love for all things design related, a passion for education and service work, and a strong interest in any infrastructure that's built with people in mind first and foremost. His teaching and finance background, as well as his love of art, science, and design, are constantly informing his engineering work. His non-traditional career path has been his greatest asset in how he approaches current challenges. He's always open to exchanging ideas and collaborating with his peers.

Jamie graduated with a PhD in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego in 2014, and is co-founder of several educational technology platforms, including thisCourse, ESL Genie, and KA Lite. He loves taking things apart and putting them back together again, eating delicious vegan food, and thinking about what an awesome world he lives in and how to make it even better. He has crawled through the tunnels of Knossos, but didn’t find the Minotaur.

An is a Site Reliability Engineer and dog mommy. As a first generation immigrant, An has a strong belief in the value of universal education and desire to help improve global learning through the use of technology. She spends her free time reading, staring at her dog and doing diy projects around the house. When she can get away from her responsibilities, An loves to travel and explore the world.

Marcella is a software developer based in Brooklyn who is less than 4 years away from achieving the coveted status of “being a New Yorker”. She studied Political Science and Sociology at Middlebury College and then transitioned to engineering. She’s built software and websites at UNICEF Innovation, Census Open Innovation Labs, and a college counseling consultancy. She joined Learning Equality to bring together her interests in education technology and open source software. Marcella spends her free time cooking, knitting poorly, reading magical realism, and wandering around her neighborhood seeking out dogs to pet.

Lauren brings her passion to Learning Equality of working together to support innovations to break down barriers to education so all children and youth have their right to quality education realized. Her work aims to uphold human rights, ranging from supporting the work of corporates engaging in education to fighting crime by investigating international financial movements. Lauren holds a M.A. in International Educational Development with a focus on Peace Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a B.A. in Comparative Politics and a Certificate in African Students from Princeton University. She reps the Learning Equality team on the East Coast in New York.

Sarah’s love for learning has led her to work in a variety of program and operations roles with education nonprofits. In her current role as Director of Financial Operations at Learning Equality, she manages organizational resources in support of their mission to help provide equitable access to education. Previously, she was Director of Girard Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation, where she helped support the work of inspiring community leaders driving change and improving K-12 education for San Diego students. Sarah is committed to equity in the nonprofit sector and is an advisory board member of The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego. She relishes unhurried meals over great conversation, long meandering hikes, and discovering new music with friends.

Jessica is an L.A. native and has a background in Cognitive Science (B.S.) and Sociology (B.A.) from UCSD. While a student, she was introduced to UX and Product Design. She became interested in ethical and equitable approaches to building technology and is driven by the positive impact that can have on our world. She joined Learning Equality as an intern in 2014 and transitioned to full time in 2015. Since then, she’s striven to improve craft, process, and ways to collaborate to design products that empower learners and educators around the world. In her spare time, she likes trying new recipes, road trips with friends, dance, and expanding her musical tastes.

Vahid Masrour joined Learning Equality in 2020, assisting with Kolibri’s content shepherding. A world citizen, he has resided in 7 countries thus far and speaks 4 languages. His interest in the edtech field started with the Internet and the questions that he currently spends a lot of time on are: How should educational systems adapt to the 21st century? How do we foster the competencies that will enable world-civilization building? He has been a Wikipedia+Education volunteer since 2013, and an open education advocate. He has also been known to enjoy pc gaming since before wifi was a thing.

José is an Engineer and proud teacher. Previously, he was in charge of the development of LinEx (Linux educative distro) that was installed in thousands of computers in the schools in Extremadura (Spain) when few people knew free software exists. Passionate about technology, he has continued teaching and working with all kind of technologies, from robotics to web development, hoping to help build a better world. The only things able to move him away from the computer are his family and a nice sunny trip